Reflections on the Yoga for Mental Health Summit – March 2025
When given an opportunity to present at Yoga Australia’s Yoga for Mental Health Summit, I knew immediately: I wouldn’t be reading from slides.
This was a gathering of intelligent, heart-led, diverse professionals—Yoga Teachers and Yoga Therapists from across the country—coming together for a weekend of learning, reflection, and shared purpose. To show up fully in that space, my only option was to be brave, generous, and real.
So I opened the floor to discussion. I invited enquiry. I set aside “talking at” and instead encouraged thinking with—with energy, with heart, with aliveness.
My mentor in group facilitation, Andrew Mournehis, once said, “Blast them with love.” And I did.
I chose to show up authentically, not perfectly. I wanted to elevate the room, not just inform it. As can happen, however, in the morning light, I reflected on what I could’ve defined more clearly or explained more thoroughly—but the truth is, the felt-sense in the group told me we had created something meaningful.
So for those who were there, or those simply curious about what I shared—here’s a glimpse of what I offered, along with a few reflections for those working at the intersection of yoga and mental health.
I wanted to demonstrate how I work as a Yoga Therapist, not just techniques, but a tone. I invited fellow teachers to notice the difference it makes when we speak in real, responsive language—not overly prescribed scripts—and how our students’ bodies, breath, and nervous systems will often show us how deeply they receive that.
The tone created in a yoga therapy group has a feeling of permission, where less is more and what is happening is more interesting than what ‘should’ be happening. Individuals find their own way of sensing the wholeness and naturalness of easeful movements and the deep release felt by a simple sighing breath.
I provide the space for the nervous system to really feel grounded and supported so that it can settle into a more supported, regulated state. This is achieved through skilful repetition of movement and regularity of breath when movement and breath are combined in a simple, continual flow.
My Top 3 Takeaways for Yoga & Mental Health:
Know what it feels like when your own nervous system is in fight-or-flight.
Informed by years of observation of our body’s way of responding to both stress and ease, we engage in svadjyaya (self study) and apply our insights to life. This way we recognise nervous system patterns in others—and meet their needs with skill and empathy.Listen to the nervous system, not just the words.
Words can mask the embodied truth a person is experiencing. Think of times in your life when a partner or friend sounded defensive or attacking but really it is a cry for help from a place within that had not agency, no voice of its own. The body whispers the truth of what’s needed. The right conversation pitched gently and lovingly and the right yoga practice will have a profound effect on the outcome. The benefits of this wise approach ripple out beyond the individual and out into our families, friendships and communities. As teachers we listen to our students bodies as energy patterns (nervous system, endocrine & respiratory systems) and adjust our instructions as needed.Most of us need at least half an hour of supine yoga.
Let it be luscious. Let it be grounding. Let it be enough to help someone fall in love with themselves again. That’s the therapeutic potential of yoga.
We are living in a time where mental health needs are high—and skilled, embodied yoga therapists are essential. I hope something I shared planted a seed of inspiration in someone.
And the way forward is imperfect, just like my presentation to my professional peers, but it can be brave and it can be real.