I had a real adventure in September with the (temporary) move to France and the weekly returns to Bristol University, where I was launching my Yoga for Medical Student Wellbeing program.
(I realised, btw, that I love both the peaceful country and the vibrant, creative city life and that my focus from here is to create a hybrid of the two, somehow.)
This highly impactful, trauma-informed course has evolved out of a similar program I offered at LMU during my Masters and later at Queen Mary University between 2019 and 2022. Next year it's looking hopeful that it'll expand to Kent & Medway and Exeter universities too (fingers crossed!)
The program works as a support for student mental wellbeing, personal development and whole-person education and explores yoga practice, science, history, spirituality and philosophy as well as the evidence basis for using yoga in managing stress and anxiety, reducing burnout and healing trauma.
93% of students surveyed before the course said they wanted to change something about their mental health.
Surveyed afterwards, 100% claimed the program had positively impacted their wellbeing
What's vital is that trauma informed yoga practice and research brings a holistic complement to medical students’ knowledge of the body’s biomedical workings and asks them to confront their own humanness and vulnerabilities.
We examine non-Western models of healthcare; the nervous system; the mind-body connection; the gut-brain axis; self care; contemplative practices such as compassion and gratitude; mindfulness; and the connection between personal and planetary health.
In taking time to examine their own personal thoughts, patterns, behaviours and lifestyle choices, students are given a chance to focus on themselves as subjects worthy of examination and care, and to set themselves up for successful professional practice with their own wellbeing in mind.
Through self-awareness and self-compassion, by knowing how to self-soothe and self-regulate, they mature emotionally. By sharing personal insights, they create an environment of mutual trust, non-judgement and openness between peers.
And by being trauma informed, they can apply that knowledge to their own symptoms and responses to their environment as well as to those of their patients and colleagues - all crucial skills if they are to provide compassionate and resilient care in the future.
Photo: our final session exploring restorative chair yoga. Taken with permission