The Importance of Connection and Support in the Wellness Industry
In this blog post, I share my thoughts and experience about the importance of feeling connected and supported during your wellbeing journey, however that might look for you as you navigate neurodivergent parenting, either being neurodivergent yourself or looking after a child or children who are neurodivergent.
Background
My own wellbeing journey started around 2018. That's when I started getting more into meditation and exploring different types of meditation, mainly through YouTube before I discovered the Headspace app. I came to the realisation that meditation could help with slowing down my mind and quietening different thoughts.
I realised that at bedtime, or close to bedtime, I was doing something called bedtime procrastination. I didn't know what that was until a couple of years ago, I'd never heard of the term before. I would procrastinate going to sleep and instead I would spend time either scrolling or doing different activities that were not switching my brain off. I did this rather than getting into the relaxation state for getting ready to go to sleep.
I started looking for meditations to help me fall asleep at night. My sleep patterns have always been quite variable. From quite a young age I could fall asleep really instantly. I've got pictures of myself as a toddler falling asleep in random locations like in a high chair or on the floor and just sleeping a lot. Then when I got older, I was still able to sleep quite easily. Even now, if I'm not working on my phone, I usually fall asleep quite quickly. However, my brain does have a lot of thoughts going through it, even when I'm trying to go to sleep. So it is very variable. Yet, I found that meditation has helped to quieten my mind a lot.
How can I feel more mentally present?
It was particularly mindfulness meditations and becoming more present that helped me feel more relaxed. Then in early 2020, I wanted to learn more about mindfulness and how mindfulness could be practised in different times of the day, that wasn't only through meditation.
I decided to look into different mindfulness courses and learn more about the background of mindfulness and how to bring it into informal everyday activities, as well as continuing practicing meditation.
I kind of hyper-focused on mindfulness for a little while and then decided that it was something I wanted to keep doing. From noticing the benefits myself, I wanted to share it with other people, which is when I started looking into mindfulness teacher training and different mindfulness certifications.
The first course that I completed, other than the certification that was generally about mindfulness, was a mindfulness teacher training for children, and then subsequently mindfulness for teenagers.
I studied the Creative Mindfulness Teacher Training and became a qualified Children and Teenagers Creative Mindfulness Teacher. This mindfulness course teaches you how to teach children and teenagers creative ways to become more mindful and present.
Becoming a yoga teacher
Photo of Natasha Iregbu in a tree yoga posture in Meadowlark Studio, Edinburgh. Photo Credit: Karen Kirkness
At the same time as looking more into mindfulness and starting my kids Creative Mindfulness certification, I had in my mind from after being on a holiday that was yoga focused practicing yoga two to three times a day. I thought “I would love to become a yoga teacher”, learn more about yoga and teach others because I'd been practising yoga for years. I had been going to drop-in classes on and off for a while, and I went to regular blocks of classes as well.
I've always had an interest in yoga, even from childhood, I used to go to a kids yoga class with my sister, which I really enjoyed. My favourite part of the class or after the class was the meditation, where I used to sit cross-legged and chant Om. I really enjoyed just being present.
What is the difference between Restortative Yoga and Yin Yoga?
In 2020, I decided to sign up for my first yoga teacher training, which was Yin Yoga. In the same year, I learned to teach Restorative Yoga. These types of yoga had been of particular area of interest to me for a while. I did practice flow style yoga, that was more dynamic, but for Yin and Restorative, they're both very mindful, relaxing practices, with very minimal movement in the postures. With restorative yoga, in particular, you hold the postures for 5 to 20 minutes in stillness, and you're fully comfortable with props. The whole purpose is to be, relax and bring your body into relaxation mode, taking it away from the stress response.
Similarly with Yin Yoga, the postures aren’t held for as long as restorative yoga, but they are held for between three and five minutes. The postures help you release physical tension, because you're in the postures for a few minutes. They can help you release tightness in your hips or back and other areas of your body. Because you're in the postures during Yin and Restorative Yoga for so long, it quietens your mind, you become more present and go into a meditative state. These yoga practices helped and supported my mindfulness journey.
Why is connection and support important?
In all my teacher trainings I always appreciated the sense of connection and support. Although some of them were online, I still had the live interactions with the teachers, especially for my 200 hour yoga teacher training and my Yin and Restorative teacher training.
Having that space to either ask questions during the live calls or the opportunity to email and get in touch with the teachers to ask any anything or just share my experiences and insights with someone else was really helpful. I think sometimes when you go to a drop-in yoga class or a class that you don't go to very often, you go to the class, either online or in person, and maybe ask a question at the end. However, you might not feel a full the sense of connection and support, or may not feel comfortable to ask anything or share your experience.
I've found with the regular, ongoing, either teacher training or going to a class, if it’s a block of classes or someone that you're in contact with regularly helps a lot on your wellness journey, especially for accountability too.
Sometimes, I know myself, I can find it hard to stay motivated or if I go through a phase of not doing a practice or being ill, it can be hard to come back to it. Usually I've got a sense of inner motivation, but I've always liked having someone external to just be there, not that you have to reach out to them, but just knowing that they're there if you need extra support can be really beneficial.
During my mindfulness teacher training, especially during lockdown and having that sense of community, added extra support and connection in a time when people didn't feel as connected in person. Having the live meditation and discussion sessions, and webinars where people could be together, although we were all in different places across the world, yet practising the same meditation practice, was quite a powerful experience. I believe this can be the case within virtual one-to-one programmes.
Conclusion
To summarise, feeling connected and supported on my wellbeing journey has helped me sustain positive habits and wellness practices. Looking after you mental health and wellbeing is an ongoing journey that never fully ends. It is always changing and adapting depending on what, what season of life you're in.
I want to remind you that connecting to yourself and your needs is just as important as connecting to others and the other external responsibilities in your life.
When I create my offers in Butterfly Minds, I like creating and sharing different ways to support people through their wellbeing journey and being aware of different learning styles and commitments. I understand that everyone's time commitments vary depending on your caring responsibilities and personal circumstances.
If you would like to feel connected to yourself when starting a journey of prioritising your wellbeing while being in a neurodiverse family, download my relaxing guided meditation for mums.