*this post is an expansion of what is shared today on my social media.

Today, October 10th, is observed as World Mental Health Day. Last year I shared this post about the benefits of yoga on mental health as well as some reflections by my clients. In a previous year I spoke with one of my clients about her experiences with yoga and its impact on her mental health. 

This year when I saw the call for exhibitors for The Rotunda Gallery’s current exhibition, "Stronger Together: Nurturing Mental Health Through Community", I thought about my work as a yoga instructor, the community we build together through practice, and how I could possibly express that.

I am happy to share that my mixed media collage piece, based on Sutra 1.2 of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras and my experiences in community, is a part of the current exhibition. I spent most of the time between seeing the call for exhibitors and submitting my piece thinking about what it could be. Then in the final week before submission I began creating. There were many ups and downs but eventually I was happy with my piece and I submitted it on the final day one could submit. To say that I was excited to hear it had been selected for the exhibition is an understatement. 

Here is a bit of the write-up that I submitted about myself and my piece, and that was shared by The Rotunda Gallery as part of their digital showcase:

My art is a result of experimenting with collage, and other forms of media, as a method of  exploring and understanding the philosophy of yoga. Through yoga I have been learning presence, observation without judgment, and detachment. Collage allows the exploration of these principles in a very tactile way.

One definition of yoga is given in Sutra 1.2 of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, yogaś-citta-vṛtti-nirodhaḥ - yoga is the cessation of the fluctuations of the mind. These fluctuations are the thoughts, patterns and imbalances in the mind. Through collage, this piece explores these mental fluctuations, through waves and textures, and how we can bring ourselves into a centred space.

As a yoga instructor I have created spaces for groups to come together to discuss and share about mental health and have facilitated sessions for both individual and group meditations. This gradual stillness experienced through meditation has been the inspiration for this piece.

There is a lot of information being shared today for World Mental Health Day and I am adding to it with two simple practices and these last points:

🔸Be discerning - see what applies to you and do your own research

🔸Notice if there are feelings of overwhelm and give yourself space

🔸Be still and know - sometimes the best thing one can do for one's mental health is to rest

I hope that you are also inspired to create, and to share your creations. 

peace,