Yoga as Movement for Health: Mental Health Awareness Week 2024

May’s here and this week (13-19 May) marks Mental Health Awareness Week.

This year’s theme is ‘Movement: moving more for your health’ and Mental Health Foundation, the charity behind Mental Health Awareness Week, says:

‘our bodies and minds are connected, so looking after ourselves physically also helps us prevent problems with our mental health.’ 

This idea that body and mind are connected is fundamental to the practice of yoga and so it’s heartening to see Mental Health Foundation bringing this into the national spotlight. Visit the Mental Health Awareness Week website to find out more or to access support.

In recognition of Mental Health Awareness Week, here are some quick tips from me on how to bring more yoga movement into your life: 

Tips for bringing more yoga movement into your life

1 Join a local yoga class*

Us humans are social creatures and we need connection with others. Signing up to an in person yoga class is a great way to add regular movement into your weekly schedule and feel part of a bigger community. There are lots of classes and styles of yoga to choose from these days so find one that works for you and jump in.

2  Take what you learn in class home

If you have a favourite yoga pose or practice that you do regularly in class, why not try it out at home? Poses like Cat-Cow or Downward Dog can be done anywhere where there’s a bit of floor space. Oh and summer is the perfect time to practice outside so embrace the call of nature and get out when the sun shines!

3 Embrace the idea of ‘yoga snacks’

For a long time I thought that my practice needed to be at least 1 hour, otherwise it wasn’t good enough. And as we all know, life gets busy and sometimes finding that hour everyday was tricky. 

Missing a practice would make me feel bad so I began to hop on the mat whenever I found a little gap in my day. This has been a game changer. Some days it might only be for 5 minutes, other days it might be longer but how long isn’t really the point - the fact is that I’m showing up everyday and that’s what matters most. And if you think you don’t even have 5 minutes spare, next time you’re tempted to pick up your phone and scroll, choose a 5 minute ‘yoga snack’ instead and feel the difference!

4 Learn to listen to your body

While postures (asana) are a vehicle for movement, one of the biggest benefits of yoga is that it offers us a rich and diverse choice of ways we can nurture mind-body connection. 

Practices such as pranayama (breathing techniques), meditation, restorative yoga and yoga nidra all help to bring our awareness to what’s happening in the mind and body. It’s good to remember this - particularly on those days when we just don’t feel like moving much.

If you have tips to add to this list, please send them my way - it’s always good to hear from you 😊.   

*A little note to those interested in yoga who haven’t tried it yet

If you’ve been thinking about joining a yoga class but want to get an idea of what to expect first, I’ll be running a Yoga Foundations workshop next Tuesday evening (21 May) at Stellaluna Yoga.

This will be a 90 minute session where we’ll be exploring some of the foundational yoga poses and techniques that you’re likely to come across in a weekly class - see booking details here.

This will be a small group in a relaxed and welcoming studio space. Mats and props will be provided - all you need to bring is yourself or a friend ❤️. Please drop me a line if you have any questions.