I know it's early days, but things are opening up to me in a way I never thought possible. I can't be the first person to effusively describe the effect your teaching has had on them. But it is such a big deal it makes me want to laugh and cry the whole time. I feel more in touch with myself than I ever have, work is going well because I have enough peace of mind to do it - I actually hit my first deadline ever for a script because the yoga stopped me freaking out and gave me objectivity. It's like a big spiritual, physical and mental reset button. I feel calmer, sleep better, have calmed down, I wake earlier, I feel healthier... I hoped life could be like this, and I think it can be…I just feel like... myself
Paul
About Heather Mason
Heather Mason offers Yoga Therapy for the mind and the body based on her extensive training in psychotherapy, yoga therapy, and mindfulness-based practice. Having suffered from both depression and anxiety Heather offers an approach that is both experientially and scientifically based. She integrates the benefits of yoga postures, breath practices, mindfulness techniques, and psychotherapeutic principles to help people alleviate stress, anxiety, and depression.
Using this approach Heather is able to work with both the mind and body meeting the psychological and physiological aspects of mental-health through a process of mutual cure. Heather holds an MA in Buddhist Studies from SOAS University London, and completed an MA in Clinical Buddhist-Based Psychotherapy, she is now enrolled in an MSc in Neuroscience at Roehampton University with hopes of conducting research on how Yoga therapy and mindfulness can positively influence the brain.
This educational journey is an accompaniment to a three year meditative and yogic exploration in South East Asia where she resided in Buddhist monasteries and learned how to transcend her own emotional suffering. Heather has been teaching yoga since 2001 after completing a teacher training with Guruji Sunil Kumar in Varanasi and later qualified as yoga therapist. She is also trained as a Lifeforce practitioner with Amy Weintraub in the United States. Lifeforce Yoga specializes in for Yoga for Depression. Recently, she also became a teacher of Mindfulness-Based-Cognitve Therapy after completing a TDR with Bangor University.
Additionally, Heather is the only person in the UK to have trained extensively with the Boston Trauma Center Massachusetts on how to use yoga as a complementary treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Complex PTSD. Further she is undergoing certification in Trauma Incident Resolution.
Heather's special approach combines insight from her own practice, the support and holding of a trained psychotherapist and yoga therapist, with the academic acumen of neuroscience student. She develops mind-body techniques based on this overlapping of skills to provide gentle, compassionate, and scientifically sound teaching.
About Yoga for the Mind
Yoga for the Mind is the leader in developing and disseminating information on yoga for depression, anxiety and stress in the UK. We offer teacher training, workshops, courses, classes, and private instruction.
Joining ancient yoga practises, with modern science and psychotherapeutic support we provide a comprehensive modality for the self-healing of emotional pain.
For a free video taster on how to use yogic breathing for mental health please click here.
Yoga for the Mind (YFTM) is a completely unique approach to healing mental health issues that integrates the inherent resources and capacities of the mind and body As a mind-body therapy YFTM uses yoga postures, breathwork, and mindfulness techniques to regulate and gain awareness of all parts of ourselves. When we suffer from emotional stress our psychology and biology are influenced, essentially our whole being is affected from the inside out. Yoga for the Mind therefore teaches us to harness the combined the power of the body and mind in a process of mutual cure. By uniting yoga therapy for mental health, mindfulness, and psychotherapy with the latest research in neuroscience and the psychobiology of stress, Yoga for the Mind provides a cutting edge strategy for self-healing that is both potent and effective.
Our philosophy is that true healing must work with all aspects of a person. We believe that by combining practices that regulate the nervous system with self awareness practices individuals are able to ease the process of recovery. All parts of the person are honoured appreciated and supported.
If you join one of our courses we will teach you how to work with your mind and body in a way that suits your specific mental health needs, and if you prefer private instructions you can work at a pace and with particular issues in an deep and transformative way.
Whether you are enrolled in one of our renowned courses, dropping in on a class, or prefer one to one instruction you will find a personalized approach that will satisfy your individual needs.
What Skills do we Use?
The process of emotional healing must include the body and the mind as both are influenced when we are stressed, depressed, or anxious. If we only work with the body we miss the thought patterns that cause stress, and if we only deal with thoughts we ignore our biochemistry and physiology, which often changes during prolonged emotional distress. Appreciating the deep mind-body connection, Yoga for the Mind combines yoga movement, with breath regulation, and self-awareness practice.
The yoga postures (asanas) help to replenish the systems of the body increasing blood flow, overall bodily function, and improved functioning of the nervous system. In general asana helps to improve well-being. This means going to any yoga class can boost positive feelings. Yoga for the Mind, however, is unique in that it uses sequences which are specifically geared towards mental health and improved equilibrium in the brain.
Breath regulation (pranayama) allows us to retrain and also regulate the nervous system. Often when we are unhappy for extended periods of time the nervous system remains on constant alert. Through breath-work we can undo this patterning and teach the nervous system to better manage stress. Yoga for the Mind works with breath that both calms the system, and helps to increase feelings of joy.
Self-awareness or mindfulness practice is a method of watching and better understanding our thoughts and feelings. Through this awareness we are able to see through our perceptions and conditioning to allow us to let go of negative thoughts and feeling about ourselves and the world. In every Yoga for the Mind session we engage in mindfulness practice during postures and also include specialized mindfulness exercises based on the (The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program) MBSR. MBSR is a highly acclaimed evidenced based program for the treatment of stress and depression.
Psychotherapeutic holding provides an environment where self-exploration is supported and encouraged. Students are given a strong foundation and the space to investigate their personal processes with all it's ups and downs. Further everyone is offered individual attention and support.