The art of negotiating a corner - danger ahead?

Teaching my son to drive recently (which is another story entirely!) reminded me of the instructor who taught me to drive at age 16. He was wiry, 50ish, with a military-style moustache, and a habit of swearing at tail-gaters, but once he felt you’d grasped the basics, he would light up his pipe (well, it was 1977, and that was still acceptable) and impart some gems of wisdom while puffing smoke out the window. “Have you ever heard it said that a driver ‘lost control on a corner’ and crashed?”, he once told me, “Well, that’s bulls*&t! They don’t lose control on the corner; they’ve lost control well before the corner because they may be going too fast, not watching the road, or not choosing the best line. Once they’re at the corner they’re not in control of the vehicle and it’s too late to prevent the crash.” Then he’d take another puff on his pipe.

It's great that we’re getting a lot better at recognising the signs of a mental health crisis, and a lot better at asking for help. But I’m not sure we’re so good at seeing what’s ahead on the horizon and putting ourselves in the best position to negotiate a difficult turn skillfully without the risk of losing control. “She’ll be right” doesn’t serve us well as a mental wellbeing strategy.

As a yoga teacher with a background in working with people whose mental wellbeing is being challenged in some way (including teaching yoga inside prisons), I’ve definitely found that yoga can be really helpful in a crisis. Reconnecting mind and body, breathing deeply and releasing the tension that we may be holding in our muscles and joints, can help us deal with the symptoms of anxiety and depression, re-establish a sense of calm and safety, and help us start to engage with the impacts of trauma, both present and past. However, it really helps if we’ve done some of the work before the crisis breaks. Resilience means having some tools available to recognise a tricky situation forming on the horizon, and put ourselves in a better place to deal with it. It may even mean we glide skillfully through that sharp bend and barely notice it.

Some of the ways yoga helps create mental resilience include:

• Learning to breathe deeply and steadily to strengthen our inner ‘calm response’ (known as the para-sympathetic nervous system)

• Undoing patterns of tension we may be holding in the muscles, joints and connective tissues that create discomfort and a sense of unease, and can pre-dispose us to negative emotions or being triggered (eg grabbing that first drink because we feel tense)

• Encouraging better spinal posture (remember our central nervous system comprises both the brain and the spinal column, which govern how we experience the world and respond to it)

• Helping us experience “flow-states” which give us a sense of well-being and ease and help us reset our emotions

• Learning deep relaxation techniques to let go of tension and improve sleep and digestion

There is now considerable evidence linking regular yoga practice to improved mental well being. Just as one example, a study at Boston University indicated that even a few sessions can increase levels of Gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), a neurotransmitter that helps to regulate the nervous system, and thereby mitigate depressive symptoms.

Yoga is a skill, however; not a pill. It takes practice and a competent instructor who can adapt the practices to our unique body type, age, medical history, and other life circumstances, to get us to the stage when we’re becoming more resilient and more skilled at avoiding trouble and coping with it when it occurs. Inspired by my pipe-smoking driving instructor, here’s my prescription if you can see trouble ahead:

1. “Reduce speed”: practicing a slower, fuller breathing pattern can actually slow down time (or at least our subjective experience of it) allowing us to see more options, avoid knee-jerk actions (which are often counterproductive) and establish a ‘safe space’ within our body and mind from which to assess and implement wiser choices.

2. “Pay attention to the signs”: yoga practice improves our internal ‘map’ of ourselves, including “proprioception” (our awareness of where we are in space) and “interoception” (our ability to sense more subtle aspects of our state of mind and body, such as our heart-rate, or where mental tension is showing up as physical tension – Clenched jaw? Hunched shoulders? Chin pushed forward? Hips held off-centre?).

3. “Pick your line and lean into the corner”: yoga practice not only helps us find good, balanced posture, but also trains us to maintain it even when we’re feeling uncomfortable (a common experience in yoga, but mostly in short doses) and under pressure.

What research is revealing is something we often intuitively know: that our mental health is strongly influenced by our physical wellbeing, including things such as our posture, our diet, our sleep and our breathing patterns. Improving these takes a little time and effort, but it puts us in a much better position to cope, and indeed thrive, even when life takes a sharp, unexpected turn.

References:

Chris C. Streeter and others, Thalamic Gamma Aminobutyric Acid Level Changes in Major Depressive Disorder After a 12-Week Iyengar Yoga and Coherent Breathing Intervention, The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol. 26, No. 3, Published Online: 11 March 2020.

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John Sinclair is an Ignite yoga teacher, business owner and advocate for reframing problems to find solutions. If now is the time to craft your practice with an expert like John, explore Ignite's individual support subscription options or ask your employer to consider employee subscriptions for your workplace.

Contact hello@ignite.org.nz to find out more.