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 at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/8limbs

Join the online Mental Health Aware Yoga training in September at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/online 

Join the hybrid Mental Health Aware Yoga training today at https://www.mentalhealthawareyoga.com/hybrid 


This podcast is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional advice or training. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional for personalised guidance or come and join one of our programs at the Yoga Psychology Institute for professional training. While we are grateful for our guests and sponsors, any statements, claims or endorsements made are their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of the Yoga Psychology Institute.