My Mental Hygiene

I remember back in grade school we learned a lot about hygienne.  Most of the emhasis was on physical hygiene-- washing our bodies, flossing and brushing our teeth, rinsing off fruits/veggies before we eat them, etc..  Physical hygiene is really important and valuable for us, for sure!  However,  I've been thinking a lot about the importance of mental hygiene.  'Hygiene' means health.  So,  I guess I've been thinking a lot about mental health-- nothing new there.  I think a lot about mental health.  I'm especially sensitive to the lack of mental hygiene in our society. 

Through GreenTREE Yoga, I have the honor of teaching yoga to the female prison inmates at the Timponogos Correctional Facility.  It is an awesome experience.  There are times when I walk out of there with tears in my eyes and a huge feeling of gratitude in my heart.  It is a volunteer position but if any money were every exchanged for this, I feel strongly that it would be me paying them for teaching me about survival and the human spirit.  

Here are my top 3 favorite mental hygiene practices that I learned from my incarcerated sisters--

1. Humility

Humility is the most important characteristic for emotional growth.  These women have stories; heck,  we all have stories but they have incredible stories about survival.  They are so strong and humble- two of my favorite qualities!  It's easy in our society to build on strength and loose the humility.  I feel strongly that the value of humility in our daily existence is a foundational quality; it must be applied before all other human characteristics.  Being incarcerated is humbling.

 2.  Compassion

When we are humble,  we open up our hearts to this beautiful practice of compassion.  My heart bleeds wide open with this feeling of compassion for these lovely ladies.  They desperately want to recreate their lives.  When I walk across the courtyard towards the gymnasium,  I watch them working in the gardens, dancing in the basketball courts or just hanging out talking to teach other.  Occasionally,  I'll hear communication bantered back and forth.  Lots of  "Love you, sister!" are exchanged among the inmates.  They have created a community of compassion.  During the yoga class,  we often hold a pose for a few minutes and talk about an emotional holding pattern in that specific part of the body.  Stories are shared and emotions are expressed.  Through this gift of humility,  compassion has naturally evolved into the hearts and minds of these warrior women. 

3.  Evolution

At this point in their lives,  the inmates need to evolve.  Many of them are embracing this opportunity to evolve into a higher state of being.  They are thirsty for it.  Yoga is an easy way for me to get them to start looking inward towards this journey of evolution.  The notion or concept of evolution starts out on a micro level with their thoughts.  When they start to look at their thoughts,  they notice that their desire to evolve starts with an awareness of how their thoughts effect their evolutionary process.  If we think 80,000 thoughts per day,  what percentage of those thoughts are channeling us towards a higher evolutionary state? 

I asked a group of 25 teenage girls the following question: "If we think 80,000 thoughts per day,  what percentage of your thoughts are positive?"  One of them anxiously blurted out 5%.  Ouch.  No wonder we have an epidemic of poor mental hygiene!  So,  perhaps we can start to look at our thoughts and examine each one to see if it is supporting our desire to evolve into the brilliant divine creatures that we truly are.

I actually have many more heartfelt experiences with my sisters at the Correctional Facility I would love to share but I'll save it for another time.  In the meantime,  let's work our mental floss and embrace the importance of mental hygiene. 

Lots more to come.  Stay tuned.  I'll be out of blog commission for the rest of the week.  I'm being trained to be a white water river guide for SPLORE in Moab!  Yahooo!  I love water! 

Namaste brothers & sisters!