We are committed to ensuring yoga therapy education is accessible for all populations.
Please see below a list of our current free offerings.
First Chapter Free on Yoga for Mental Health
In 2018, Heather Mason and Kelly Birch Co-Authored the book on Yoga for Mental Health, available to purchase here.
Yoga is a comprehensive mind-body practice that is particularly effective for self-regulation, mood management, fostering resilience, and promotion of wellbeing. Inherently, yoga is a system for improving mental health and alleviating suffering at the deepest levels. Consequently, yoga’s potential as a key component of integrative and complementary mental health is now being recognised internationally.
This book serves as a reference, but also as a bridge between yoga therapy and healthcare, helping to add to the process of growing integration. It provides a professional resource for mental health professionals interested in the potential for yoga interventions that facilitate the therapeutic process, and who want to learn ways in which yoga can catalyse and deepen this process across a broad spectrum of mental health approaches. Similarly for yoga professionals with a focus on mental health and wellbeing who want to expand their understanding of how yoga relates to mental health approaches and their knowledge of best practices.
The format is designed for consistency and ease of reading. Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the yogic viewpoint of mental health and wellbeing, and the psychological and neurological rationale for yoga’s usage in mental health conditions. Each subsequent chapter is organised into a clinical overview of mental health conditions, followed by sections on current research and the rationale for incorporating yoga into the treatment of the condition, recommended yoga practices, and future directions.
Download the first chapter for free here.
Free Handout on Tips for Severe Anxiety
Severe anxiety is difficult to treat and even if you find it passes briefly, research find it will likely return if you do not actively work to change neural pathways.
“Over the years I’ve been very honest about the mental health challenges I have faced and how Yoga and Buddhist practices have transformed my life and been my saving grace. However, what I rarely address is the difference between techniques that can help manage low to moderate level anxiety vs. severe anxiety.”
In this handout, Heather shares suggestions for when you feel you cannot move and are almost pinned down by your anxiety, even though you might also be, ironically, struggling with sitting still.
Download your free PDF for Tips for Severe Anxiety here.
Guided Walking Meditation for Stress, Depression & Anxiety
As yogis we know that movement is an inherent part of wellbeing. Postures (asana) is one of the 8-limbs and one of the most commonly practised aspects of yoga. When we practise postures, we become more flexible, stronger, improve balance, and a corpus of research reveals that we change our neurochemical environment for better enhancing our mood. We increase GABA, something we often discuss at Minded, increase serotonin, and lower levels of hormones.
Although not technically yoga, walking meditation, derived from the Buddhist tradition, is a wonderful gentle mindful moving technique that has shown to have significant mental and physical health benefits. Like yoga it is practised for self-development and considers the mind-body connection. Heather is an ardent practitioner of this meditation and has decided to offer a free walking meditation recording.
Download the free walking meditation recording here.
