On Ahimsa, Mental Health and Yoga with Dr Lauren Tober
Welcome to the first episode in a special five part pop-up series on Patanjali’s eight limbs of yoga, exploring what each limb means for us as yoga teachers supporting our students’ mental health.
We’re beginning where Patanjali begins, with ahimsa.
Ahimsa is the ground everything else is built on, so it felt only right to start here.
In this episode we look at what ahimsa asks of us as teachers, what real students told me helped their mental health in class and what harmed it, and how we can create a safe container for the people who walk through our doors.
Everyone is welcome to listen to this episode, but for this special series I’m speaking directly to yoga teachers.
In this episode, we explore:
- How Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras still speak to our very modern mental health challenges
- Why almost 80% of yoga students come to yoga for mental health reasons, and what that means for us as teachers
- The yamas as conditions for safety and non-harming, rather than moral rules to live up to
- Ahimsa, non-harming, and why it might be the most important consideration when supporting our students’ mental health
- What real students said helped their mental health in class, and what harmed it, in their own words
- Practical ways to create a safe container, including invitational language, predictability, consent, boundaries and scope of practice
- Ahimsa toward ourselves, and why the way we treat ourselves is part of what we teach
Download the accompanying Patanjali’s Eight Limbs and Mental Health Aware Yoga ebook
Join the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training in September
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Dr Lauren Tober (she/her) is a Clinical Psychologist, Yoga Teacher, founder of the Yoga Psychology Institute, host of the A Grateful Life podcast and author of Mental Health Aware Yoga: A Guide for Yoga Teachers.
Lauren developed the Mental Health Aware Yoga training to help yoga teachers make their classes safe, nourishing and transformative for all.
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The information provided on this blog is intended for informational purposes only and should not be considered professional advice.
Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs for professional training.
Any statements, claims or endorsements expressed by our guest authors, speakers and podcast sponsors are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Mental Health Aware Yoga and the Yoga Psychology Institute.
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Hi, I'm Dr Lauren Tober!
As a Clinical Psychologist and Yoga Teacher of nearly two decades and the author of Mental Health Aware Yoga: A Guide for Yoga Teachers, I'm passionate about integrating yoga and psychology on the mat, in the counselling room and in the world.
With the growing interest in mental health and yoga, yoga students are attending yoga classes for the mental health benefits in unprecedented numbers.
In fact, 79.4% of yoga students report practicing yoga for the mental health benefits.
It's important that Yoga Teachers know how to support them.
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