How does one do yoga for mental health?
Often in our lives we experience our days as being full of things to do. The busyness of running from here to there gives birth to excess noise that takes the form of thoughts and emotions. That’s often why when we are busy in our actions we can become more emotional.
In addition, when we go through such an experience of being busy, we lose touch with our bodies and act unconsciously. Getting caught up in our thoughts, we lack the awareness to do things attentively and properly.
Many years ago a friend of mine would often repeat out loud as she went on about doing her work that she feels like a chicken with its head cut off.
When we get caught up and swept away by all the doings and beings we can experience a loss of connection to what is happening in the moment.
Because we have become unconscious with our actions (operating from habitual energy or the lower mind), we lose energy and feel depleted. As a result things become more unclear and we resort to poor habits.
Being run by our habits or what I like to call habitual energy is similar to being stuck in a fog, where we are not seeing and perceiving clearly in our moment to moment experience. Just as it can be dangerous to drive when there is fog present, so too when our internal landscape is fogged we can create havoc for ourselves and others. What we need is a practice of yoga for mental health.
To step out of the fog means to do your work and make an effort to be more conscious. This is also means to take care of yourself by creating space for stillness. When you find yourself “like a chicken with its head cut off”, pause and take a few minutes to ask yourself what it is that you need.
Sometimes it means taking time out to meditate and breath. Other times it may call for a change of environment like going for a walk outdoors or doing some mind/body exercises like Yoga or Tai Chi. Sometimes there will be a call to take a nap and rest the body/mind. A 20 minute Yoga Nidra can be very helpful. Even sitting down to enjoy a cup of tea in silence can do wonders.
The key to yoga for mental health and success is to be present and mindful. Set aside all other thoughts of things you did in the past or what you need to do in the future. Then you can recharge and revitalize both your body and mind to become more awake and vigilant.
Alertness is an important attribute of an aspiring Yogi or master of any sort. It is what’s needed to come out of the fog and reside in the here and now. Through alertness and clarity you become more centered and reclaim your inner peace.
This is the real yoga for mental health.