Mental Health Awareness Week
What does the phrase “mental health” mean to you?
Please take a breath and a moment to consider.
To many people it means struggle, the phrase has negative connotations, but it doesn’t have to be that way, it shouldn’t be that way. In 2025 as a society, we have a greater awareness of mental health and hopefully there is no longer the stigma around “mental problems” that there were when I was growing up.
Although there is more acceptance and openness around mental health there is still an element of unease for many people. Mental dis-ease is usually an invisible health issue, it can’t be seen or touched. It’s something when the system is out of balance.
When the Mind is in Dis-ease
I believe that regular yoga practice both prevents and eases mental health problems. The right type of yoga with the right teacher builds on balancing the mind body heart connection, creates greater awareness of breath and gives tutees the opportunity of the tools that help to settle the mind, help to drop anchor at times of stress and anxiety, to find ways to lift the mind out of depression and to banish the body’s physical responses to the dis-ease of the mind.
My yoga is not all about balancing mental health, it is about the individual finding a way for the poses and movement to work for them and finding the way to connect the mind with the movement and the movement with the heart, for the mindset to come from the heart, for the movement to support the mind and the mind support the movement and bringing joy to the heart. This is all done with carefully constructed class plans and movement that utilises the energy or “prana” of the breath.
Whether it’s a foundation class, a flowing hatha class or a slowly paced yin class, the connection that supports the person within, the real, authentic you within your body and mind is reached, often bit by bit bringing you balance where there was none, increasing balance that already existed and aiding you to live your most authentic life.
Talking of balance; above I refer to the mind-body-heart balance, but yoga is frequently about challenging your physical balance too. Doing so builds strength, both physical and mental. Challenging the balance through poses helps you in many ways including improving:
- Coordination
- Spatial awareness
- Strengthening
- Flexibility
- Body awareness
- Mental resilience
- Equilibrium
- Focus
Balancing poses work to balance us, physically and mentally. Other poses and stretches that you think are not doing much will be helping you to build strength, flexibility and to build your personal connection with yourself.
Parasympathetic & Homeostasis
I factor some parasympathetic work into my classes, incorporating the restful elements of PNS with movement and stillness. Doing so naturally builds homeostasis whereby your body works in minute ways to create or maintain stability.
Surrender and Restore
As you practice classes with me your body and mind learn to trust and surrender in a wholely beneficial way. Through yoga practice you relax, restore and your system benefits in a huge number of ways. Your general health and wellbeing is increased, breathing, digestion, flexibility (of body and mind) improves, immunity increases to list just some benefits.
Mindfulness & Meditation
Yoga classes usually include meditation, mindfulness and meditation is widely accepted these days to support positive mental health, to aid and ease things like anxiety, loss of focus, depression, anger, self-loathing and so on.
The meditation aspect of yoga is a major part of the original purpose of the exercise element of yoga. I believe that meditation helps everyone, during your end of class meditation time the body relaxes, the mind focusses, and your body is in a state of rest and repair as it settles after exercise. When we practice yin, the class is recuperative, and many participants are in a meditative state the whole time. The way I start classes ensures that the mind and body are prepared through memory of previous yoga with Lyn classes. This centering works to start the process of balancing, repairing and exploring the mind-body-heart connection.
Regular Practice
Regular yoga practice is your gift to yourself.
Through regular yoga practice cortisol levels are lowered, adrenaline can be lowered and controlled. Yoga with Lyn provides you with the tools to aid you when your body wants to go into flight or fight mode.
I honestly believe that yoga and specifically the yoga I teach can really help your mental health balance regardless of whether you have a problem or not. It’s all about teaching all aspects of the self to work together in a controlled way. Yoga brings all the benefits of regular exercise along with a huge bonus!
Optional
I believe that meditation is a massive part of yoga practice. However, I also know that not everyone wants to lose themselves in meditation. When you attend a yoga with Lyn yoga class you are led to a few moments of relaxation at the end of class before the optional meditation part of the session. You are welcome to quietly leave at that point.
I also teach Yogalates classes; a more core exercise focussed fitness class that combines my trademark slow and steady with harder core exercises. At the end of yogalates there is also the few moments of relaxation. However, each group of participants can choose whether or not the class includes a 3-7 minute meditation at the end. Again, if the majority of the class have chosen to practice meditation then if you don’t want to practice meditation you just quietly leave at the end of the class.
Almost Finally
Lyn is invested in continuous professional development and brings a wide range of life experience and professional circumstances to her yoga teacher role. Lyn is the real deal, she cares, teaches from the heart and has a firm understanding of how the body works and the healing aspects of yoga. This is enhanced by the settings she brings to led and semi-led meditations.
Dis-ease
I utilise the word dis-ease because I am referring to when the person is not at ease, therefore in a state of dis-ease as appose to disease which usually refer to illness. Dis-ease or unease around a person’s mind health is not necessarily due to illness. People may have a sense of lack of ease for a wide number of reasons. My yoga helps the mind and works with the body how it is on the day.