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I don’t practice yoga. Yet I can’t walk five feet at any professional conference without bumping into at least one clinician who does. Am I missing something? Why are so many mental health clinicians embracing yoga as their primary method of self-care?
Get out of your head and into your body
“As a psychologist, I spend a lot of time in my head listening, analyzing, talking, and interpreting,” said
Dr. Johanna Lamm
. “Yoga allows me to get out of my head so that my body becomes grounded and centered. When I am doing yoga, I am present in my body and mindful of each breath and each movement.”
School counselor
Hilari McLaughlin
praises yoga’s connection to the body. “Yoga is the only time that I’m able to feel truly in the moment. The physical portion of yoga seems to help me work out the anxiety and tension that I carry as a clinician so that during the mediation portion of class, I’m able to let go. One of the Yoga Sutras states that ‘yoga is to still the fluctuations of the mind.’ That’s exactly what it does for me.”
Leave it on the mat
“If my mat could talk, the stories it could tell,” said
Leslie Marchand
, founder and president of SoYoCo Wellness. Leslie started practicing yoga five years after becoming a social worker. “There’s a saying in yoga, ‘Leave it on the mat.’ When I walk into a yoga class or practice at home, I can leave my worries and stress on the mat and walk away. You’ve heard the saying, ‘If these walls could talk.’ For me, the saying is, ‘If this mat could talk.’”
In addition, Hilari reported, “Yoga is the switch that enables me to sleep at night. I can say, ‘Leave that thought for tomorrow,’ close my eyes, and rest.”
Practice self-care
These clinicians have utilized yoga as a staple self-care method, especially on the most stressful days in the field. When Leslie was called to the emergency room after a fire at a local daycare, she needed yoga. “I knew it was going to be chaotic and emotionally challenging,” she said. “That night after the kids went to sleep, I got out my yoga mat and laid down on it. I didn’t even have to do a yoga pose. I just knew that my mat is the place where I am able to let go.”
Dr. Lamm brings yoga into the office. “I incorporate yoga into my therapy practice for myself as well as my clients. Between sessions, I do a few sun salutations or a brief meditation to clear my mind and refresh my spirit. I might teach a timid, anxious teenager how to do warrior poses to help him/her feel powerful.”
“In order to live healthy, balanced lives, we need some kind of mindfulness practice,” Hilari reported. “Yoga is great because it combines meditation with a physical practice that benefits the body while regulating blood pressure and increasing circulation.”
Advice for beginners
Hilari Gray, who also a yoga instructor, recommends that clinicians who are interested in trying yoga attend classes at a yoga studio, not a gym. “Many classes at gyms are more about a hard, physical practice and don’t focus as much on the philosophy of yoga and the stilling of the mind. Also, don’t just go to the class that fits with your schedule; go to a beginner’s class. This ensures you get the instruction you need so that the poses aren’t overwhelming and so that you understand how to release thoughts and be present in class. Lastly, go as frequently as possible. Yoga is something that needs to be done consistently to see true results. A yoga teacher said to me, ‘Practice doesn’t make perfect. Practice makes permanent.’”
Dr. Lamm agrees, “If you’ve never tried yoga before, I recommend taking a beginning class or a beginner’s series where you can learn proper alignment and understand the basic principles of yoga. Any body type can do yoga, and everybody can benefit. If taking a class is too intimidating, there are great yoga videos and even some apps that have yoga instructions so you can feel safe practicing at home.”
I’d love to be able to “leave it on the mat” like Leslie, “work out the anxiety and tension that I carry,” as Hilari does, and “incorporate yoga into my therapy practice for myself as well as my clients,” as modeled by Dr. Lamm. Perhaps at the next professional conference, I can report to my colleagues that I, too, practice yoga.
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