Say it with us: Mental Health Matters
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and we're here for it.
Yoga is one way people care for their mental health… Yoga for mental health, you ask? Yes! Yoga has been shown to lower stress hormones while increasing beneficial brain chemicals like endorphins and GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) to make us -humans -feel better. Focusing on breath, mindful movement, and stillness activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which can reduce negative emotions like depression, anxiety and anger. Yogic activity can even help protect against the effects of aging on our memory and cognition.
Studies do show connection within a caring community can alleviate loneliness and despair. Beyond the science, the Samadhi Sangha (sacred community) is so welcoming and inclusive that we personally find we help improve each other’s moods upon entry, and further in practice together.
Friend, we get it: When we’re down, we might not feel like entering a yoga studio where people are positive, wearing spandex, just to try something new and potentially strenuous; especially if that something might involve headstands or “pretzeling.”
We feel this. In those times, perhaps try a passive practice like Restorative Yoga, where our sole goal is to teach you to find the most comfort possible, within poses where you are lying down with the support of bolsters and blankets.
Or, yoga nidra, also known as “sleep yoga.” In this class, your only job is to get as comfortable on your back, as you can, again with blankets and pillows for padding. Then, stay still, and don’t fall asleep (but, you might, and that’s ok). While you are settled into this magical place between wake and sleep, we’ll continue to verbally encourage deeper relaxation and impart positive messages to stir up your innate wonder.
From these soft, compassionate practices, perhaps you’ll find interest in getting more active in a Vinyasa or flow-based class. We even offer the best of both worlds Flow and Restore. A bit more movement triggers the brain to release serotonin which, you guessed it… improves mood. Is there anything yoga can’t do??
One important thing: This (yoga at Samadhi) is not about denying the intensity of emotion or the dark side we all feel at times. It IS about understanding that it is human to suffer sometimes. And, we can choose to be kind to ourselves, and each other, when those times inevitably come. It’s about being the light to others, holding the light for all and ultimately finding the light within again and again. In troubling times, come as you are. We’ll leave the light on for you.
Maybe the most important thing: If you truly feel hopeless and don’t think you can find your light, or you’re questioning if it’s really still even there, reach out to a mental health professional for guidance.
Here’s a list of Colorado-based resources, just in case.
May the long time sun shine upon you,
All love surround you,
And the pure light within you guide your way on.
~ written by Mike Heron from the Incredible String Band
With love and acknowledgement of this, sometimes painful and other times painfully beautiful human experience we’re sharing,
~Emelia
