My Strongholds for Mental Health

I’m a mother with two teenage boys who have autism.

In the early days of their diagnoses and succeeding years of intervention, I was wrought with stress, anxiety and overwhelm with the challenges that emerged.

At that time and even until today, there were no psychotherapists who offered counseling services in our community of residence.

Writing poetry and essays became my avenues of mental and emotional release. It helped me process my emotions as I navigated the phases of acceptance of their condition, as well as the mental and emotional challenges our family faced as a result of it.

The Gifts of Yoga

In 2017, I began practicing yoga.

During this time, my eldest was already twelve and youngest nine years old. I delved deeper into the practice of yoga, and eventually underwent teacher training in 2020.

In the process, I discovered how, after every class I attended, whether virtual, in-person or from my own personal practice, I found cathartic release from physical tension. I know now that it was storage for my mental and emotional stress and overwhelm.

Inspiration and insight emerged seamlessly through rhythm, rhyme and a storyline.

It was as if a mental lock was eased open, along with the spaciousness my body arrived at after a yoga practice, which allowed me to find perspective in any trying situation I faced.

The Weaving of Yoga and Writing

Since then, it was as if both writing and yoga weaved infinitely with each other, never to be untangled. Both supported my mental and emotional health as never before.

Writing, I felt, addressed the needs of my mind and heart. Yoga, on the other hand, held space for the needs of my body and in turn, also nourished my writing.

In numerous studies, creative writing, as one of the forms of creative expression, has been found to have significant positive effects on mental health. Like yoga, writing can greatly support mental health.

Mental Health and Self-regulation

According to the World Health Organization, “mental health is a state of mind that encompasses emotional, psychological, and social well-being, crucial in shaping thought processes, emotional responses, and actions.”

In relatable terms, being mentally healthy is not just the absence of mental disorders. It means that an individual engages in decision-making and relationships in a functional and productive way.

Emotional health, which is a crucial component of mental health, involves the regulation of feelings in response to these processes of decision-making, organization, and problem-solving.

Self-regulation, on the other hand, means being able to process feelings about thought processes and actions properly through awareness, acceptance and productive expression. On this note, without the adequate agency to self-regulate, mental health would decline.

Writing for Mental Health

In my experience, creative writing has supported my mental health in a way that it provides an avenue not only for emotional release, but in particular, self-awareness.

Christina Thatcher, a creative writing lecturer of Cardiff Metropolitan University in Wales writes in her article, Writing Can Improve Mental Health—Here’s How: “In essence, self-awareness is being able to turn your attention inward towards the self. By turning our attention inward, we can become more aware of our traits, behaviour, feelings, beliefs, values and motivations.”

In another article in Science Direct, Journal of Creativity, Creative Expression and Mental Health, it states that creative activities such as painting, writing or playing a musical instrument lets the individuals express their emotions in a concrete and symbolic form, allowing them to have a sense of control and feel empowered over their inner experiences.

The cathartic release that comes as a result compels a deeper self-awareness, understanding and introspection.

Yoga for Mental Health

In the case of yoga, emotional regulation has been indicated in several studies to be one of its benefits.

Studies show how yoga offers two tools for emotional regulation; the top to bottom approach, pertaining to mind-body, and the bottom-top approach, referring to body-mind.

Meditation, as one of the limbs of yoga, trains the practitioner to stay present with whatever experiences they have at any given moment, minimizing rumination and practicing non-judgment and self-compassion with every thought and emotion that arises.

This top-to-bottom approach leads to better management of emotions by fostering less reactivity and more awareness and mindfulness in responses.

On the other hand, the bottom top approach addresses the dysregulated nervous system through postures and breathing practices that bring the heart rate down, lowering blood pressure.

This is critical, as it brings the practitioner out of the fight-flight-freeze response to the rest, relaxation and digestion response, leading to a state of calm and equanimity.

Yoga and Writing as an Autism Parent

With creative writing and yoga, it’s clear how emotional regulation is a key benefit in this mode of expression and practice.

In my personal experience as an autism parent, the self-awareness and emotional release I constantly receive from both practices have been truly instrumental in nurturing my mental health.

When my children were younger and I was beset with the challenges autism constantly presented, writing was my form of emotional release and therefore regulation.

My boys are teenagers now with different and maybe will be faced with more difficult hurdles this time.

Thankfully, I not only have my writing but also yoga as a profound stronghold for mental health.
Because of this, I have found and continue to find myself having the agency to hold space for stress, anxiety and overwhelm that come my way.