मनः प्रसमनोपायः योग इत्यभिदीयते
Manaḥ prasamanopāyaḥ yoga ityabhidhīyate
Yoga is said to be a trick for calming the mind.
—Yoga Vasishtha: 3.9.32
The Living Tradition of Yoga Therapy for Mental Health
Yoga has always been about the mind. Many practitioners will be familiar with Sage Patanjali’s definition of yoga as restraining or stilling the mind’s movements (Yoga Sutra 1.2), or with the Bhagavad Gita’s identification of yoga with equanimity (Bh G 2.48). Numerous other sources of the yoga tradition joined them in equating yoga with clarifying and stabilizing the mind. In ancient and medieval scriptures, the aim of controlling the mind was to progress toward liberation from the suffering of the rebirth cycle.
Later texts began bringing forward the potential health benefits of yoga, including benefits for mental health. As yoga chikitsa (yoga therapy) developed in the context of Ayurveda (the pre-colonial Indic medical model), the ancient knowledge of the yogis inspired holistic therapies for whole-person wellbeing that included mental health. This indigenous wisdom tradition, embracing modern science as a partner, informs current-day research and implementation of yoga therapy for mental health and integrative yoga psychotherapy.
Today, the mental benefits of yoga are known widely beyond circles of spiritual aspirants. Yoga therapy for mental health has emerged as a trend that is substantiated by a growing research base in areas such as insomnia treatment, integrative medicine for adjuvant cancer care, and psychological issues such as depression, anxiety, stress, and PTSD. Some of the highest efficacy for yoga appears in the research on mental health.
The Minded Institute: Championing Ancient Wisdom and Modern Science
The Minded Institute is a world leader in evidence-informed yoga therapy for mental health. Minded founder Heather Mason, in the recent BBC article The mind-altering power of yoga could improve your mental health, shared her powerful personal story of meditation and yoga empowering her to manage intense anxiety, depression, and trauma. Inspired by her transformation, Heather went on to create the renowned Institute to train yoga therapists in the medical, psychological, and traditional foundations of yoga for mental health.
Heather and the Institute’s work in yoga and integrative yoga psychotherapy draw heavily on psychophysiology, neuroscience, and Buddhist wisdom, all areas in which she has extensive higher education and research experience. An example of a research milestone that informs the Minded curriculum is the finding that slow breathing, such as that in yoga, may increase levels of the calming neurotransmitter GABA, which can reduce anxiety. This is an instance of modern research catching up with the ancient wisdom of pranayama (breath and energy control) found in yoga. Research also suggests that yoga, largely through its exercise aspect in asana, can help decrease stress hormones such as cortisol, which can affect not only stress and mood but also the immune system, sleep, digestion, memory, and cognition.
“Yoga therapy is considered a healthcare profession and is underpinned by biomedical understanding and psychotherapeutic training.” – Rachel Bilski (PTSD UK)
Brain, Mind, and Spirit Healing Together
By incorporating Buddhist mindfulness practices and yogic meditation techniques, Minded yoga therapy may be especially powerful in helping the brain to “rewire” itself toward enhanced self-awareness, self-acceptance, and resilience. These practices train the mind to notice, identify, and soothe or stay present with experiences as needed, thus enabling the person to oscillate between activation and relaxation according to their needs and values, rather than staying “stuck” in a fight/flight or frozen state of stress. The brain’s own transformative power of neuroplasticity is harnessed as the practices over time can potentially lead to structural changes such as increased grey matter, which can improve the ability to solve problems and to analyze one’s thought processes.
An exciting development in yoga therapy has been the recognition of yoga’s potential to help people with PTSD, including the challenging form of complex PTSD (CPTSD). Again The Minded Institute appears as an international leader in the field, with research vouching for its trauma work and prominent organizations such as PTSD UK partnering with them to train trauma-informed yoga therapists and integrative yoga psychotherapists to serve these populations. PTSD UK manager Rachel Bilski, also a lecturer for The Minded Institute, works alongside Heather Mason in this area. Together they are offering the first yoga therapy training to address CPTSD in depth from a research-informed perspective.
Profound transformations such as trauma healing are not “quick fix” processes, despite the current surge in promotion of mental health first aid courses online. The International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) acknowledges this in their recent blog post by Kristine Kaoverii Weber, First-aid yoga is no band-aid. Weber emphasizes that the psychology of yoga has always promoted change within the individual over time. While yoga does offer practices that can help to ground, centre, and regulate the nervous system quickly in a moment of stress, the lifelong benefits that reach into all domains come from the steady establishment of internal awareness and connection with the higher self.
Minded Institute Training Opportunities
For yoga teachers, yoga therapists, and qualified healthcare professionals interested in helping others through yoga for mental health, The Minded Institute offers several holistic training options. Yoga teachers and yoga therapists may like to explore the professional yoga therapy diploma, which concentrates heavily on mental health. Yoga therapists and healthcare professionals may also wish to take advantage of continuing education courses or observations with experienced yoga therapists, or to expand their scope by enrolling in the professional diploma in integrative yoga psychotherapy. Healthcare professionals can also pursue their own yoga therapy diploma track to gain deeper yoga knowledge for enhancing patient care.
We are here to welcome you and help you join this rewarding field.
