I feel if you know someone who regularly practices yoga, you may have heard how yoga has changed their life. For years I had heard the same thing from other “Yogis” – I never thought I would become that person, but here I am! Yoga has – quite truly – changed my life. From an academic myself to (in all likelihood) an academic yourself reading this, in my opinion, it is one of the best and most useful investments you can make in yourself.  

I am so grateful to have yoga with me now and for the rest of my life. Yoga is often suggested at academic institutes to help with mental wellbeing of staff and students. I believe the use of yoga is under-utilised here; a yoga practice (and meditation) is an effective way of helping stress management and general well-being, an improvement in both of which can lead to increased focus and productivity.

About Non-Yogi me: Academia and my Mental Health

I have been in academia now for around 14 years – this time includes my PhD (Microbiology, University of Newcastle), two postdocs (both in Cancer Biology, one at Dartmouth College and one at University of Liverpool), and I now have a permanent position as a Lecturer at the University of Liverpool.  At this present time, I can say my mental health is in a good place, but this certainly has not always been the case.

From my PhD to postdoc life, my mental health declined, with the clinical diagnosis of anxiety, as well as periods of depression. Whether my mental health issues would have come to fruition in a parallel non-academic life I cannot say, but I know the usual pressures and environment of academia have contributed to my mental health decline (including the high pressure to publish, unpredictability of lab work and results, imposter syndrome and the feeling of being alone) In addition to my academic journey, as an adult I have been diagnosed with ADHD and throughout my life I have had terrible sleep (insomnia). I can also say I have been a “high achiever” most of my life and I have come to “burn-out” stages at multiple points in my adult life; all of these factors, no doubt contributed to my poor mental health at various times.

With these experiences, my mental health awareness has increased over the last decade of my life, providing me the opportunity to become self-aware. I started therapy when living in the United States and this continued when I moved back to the UK around 5 years ago. I have a very good therapist now, and this is something that I find true value in. If you struggle with anything in life, I completely encourage finding a therapist that works for you, if you are financially able to.

In addition to my academic world, I have quite a full life outside of work. I have been a competitive athlete most of my life; I spend a lot of time exercising and I genuinely love it. I also have a side hustle business related to coaching scientists, which has now extended to teaching yoga and personal training. I love spending time with loved ones, and I place a lot of value on fostering good relationships. I love travel, music, food, good wine, and coffee. I also relish in being creative, developing new ideas for whatever my next venture will be. To summarise, I am very active physically, mentally, and emotionally (and yoga helps to tame this and provide me with a sense of calm!).

So why did I start yoga?

To keep it short, I started yoga for two main reasons:
1. For my emotional self, as I had heard it could help with relaxation.
2. For my physical self, as I had heard it could help with becoming more flexible and less injury prone.

Little did I know the real magic of yoga…

An elevator pitch on why you should start yoga

Yoga can help you become more grounded, in every single moment.
It can help you fret less about tomorrow, but to think more about today and right now.
It helps you take away judgement from yourself and others.
It helps you talk to yourself in a way that is kind and compassionate. 
It teaches you that everything will pass and that nothing is permanent.
It teaches you to let go from whatever isn’t serving you.
It helps you open and listen to your heart.

All the above is ultimately what can help academics become more focused and effective daily, but more importantly happier and kinder human beings in life.

Why You Should Start Yoga (The Long Version)

The physical benefits of yoga are great but will not be discussed here. This is because the physical practice of yoga (called the Asana) is only one part of yoga, also known as one of the “Limbs’. In Yogic theory, there are 8 Limbs of Yoga (Figure 1). These Limbs of yoga make up the Sutras. The Sutras were written in approx. 500 B.C. Side note- I found the history of these remarkable as they are so relevant for today’s Westerner lifestyles!

The Limbs of Yoga are as follows: 

1. Yamas (meaning social-ethics). These include Ahimsa (non-harming in thought, word and action), Satya (truthfulness), Asteya (non-stealing) Brahmacharya (‘right use of energy’), Aparigraha (non-greed)
2. Niyamas (meaning self-practice). These include Saucha (cleanliness), Santosha (contentment), Tapas (discipline), Svadhyaya (study of the self), Isvara Pranidhana (surrender to a higher being) 

3. Pranayama (breathing),
4. Asana (physical poses),
5. Pratyahara (withdrawal of senses)
6. Dharana (single point of focus)

7. Dhyana (meditation) 

8. Samadhi (enlightenment)


Figure 1 – The Eight Limbs of Yoga

The steps of the 8 limbs of yoga are used to find ultimate enlightenment. The 8 Limbs are a guideline for living, helping us move from a way of “doing” to “being”. They’re used to help us find unity in body, mind and soul. The meaning of the word Yoga is “to unite”.

Now, without generalising academics that whole paragraph may seem perhaps too spiritual, but picture this…

Non-yogi mindset

You’re a PhD student, stressed and anxious on most days; you feel over-whelmed, alone, and scared. You don’t have time to spend with your parents/loved ones as you must work all the time. You can’t enjoy the things you usually would because of the stress. You’re nervous about the future and what you will do with it. You think you’re not good enough and don’t know enough.

If you were to apply the true Yogi mindset, or the application of the 8 Limbs, this could shift those thoughts to:

Yogi-mindset

You are present. You are focused. You can do what you can today. You are not worrying about tomorrow. You know you work hard but you deserve rest. You are disciplined to take a break when needed. You do not judge yourself. You do not rely on external achievements for satisfaction. You find balance between work and leisure. You love yourself and know you are enough.

I might be biased but I think the Yogi-mindset beats the non-yogi mindset any day! Honestly, most traits I believe Yoga has helped me with which has hugely improved my academic life (and therefore my whole life). I find now, I love my academic work. I recently gained a permanent role in my university. I wake up on Mondays excited for work, and importantly I go to bed calm. My sleep has massively improved (it is no longer an “issue”).

Notable traits that have improved for me as yoga has become a daily habit for me include being more present, patient, calm, empathetic, mindful, focused (see Figure 2 – yoga has massively helped me “de-clutter” my ADHD brain ☺ ) and unattached (to results/achievements). Additionally, I have made wonderful friends outside of academia which I otherwise would likely have not connected with, without yoga.

A disclaimer here! Yoga is not the only tool we can use to help with our mental wellbeing. I think it is ultimately important to find what works for you, do some self-study. I find journaling (reflections) an extremely useful activity to help with self-awareness and introspection.

Figure 2- Yoga Mind

All of which I believe can help anyone in academia, but importantly in life.

Tips to get into Yoga as an Academic

The Physical practice is most likely the gateway to a Yoga mindset, so

• Carve time for it – when can you have “you” time? Most likely this time is early morning or late in the evening right before bed (perhaps as a “night time routine”). Make this time protected. Block it out in your calendar, tell family members this is your time.
  
• Exploring yoga options in your area. There are lots of different types are around including, Yin (slow), Vinyasa (flowy type), Power yoga (more physical), Hot yoga (likely ore physical, but added heat element), Hatha and Ashtanga (traditional),
  Ask a yogi friend, or ask at different studios if you can have a trial session. Try different types.
  
• Don’t expect to be hooked by your first session. For me it took around 2 years to find a studio that worked, this was due to the classes themselves and the yoga community there. However, I’ve realized this is hard to find. So be patient and don’t expect too much. You’ll know if it is for you or not after a few sessions.
  
• Try yoga at home (Youtube or fitness app such as Peloton). The benefit of this is you can do it in your own time, and you can start “small” – start with ten minute classes. I believe most people have time of ten minutes of yoga each days.
  
• Don’t wear a watch – probably the most important thing for me. In a class you do not need to know the time. The instructor should keep to schedule and then you can go. You have dedicated that time, to that practice. Learn to be patient. Learn to be disciplined. Learn that hard things will pass (even if that is doing something that is “boring”).

The Other Stuff… “The Magic”

I hope that this comes with practicing the Asana, but if it doesn’t here are some things I’ve learned and strategies that have helped:

• Notice the small things. Take time daily to ask yourself “what can I be grateful for right now”? Examples, “I am breathing”, “I have a roof above my head” “I can have a hot shower” “I can move my body” “I am working in education” – not everyone has these things. We are lucky we do.
• Start journaling – this should help with being more self-aware. Google this as there are loads of great ideas!
• Start a meditation practice. I struggle with this even now. But set a timer for 1 min at first. And just sit with your eyes closed. What comes up? I now try to do a Peloton meditation as I really struggle with this. Find what works with you. Ultimately the path to enlightenment is through listening to yourself. 
• Notice your breath. How do you breathe? Take a moment each day to become aware of this, slow it down, feel the inhale and exhale through the body. Breathing is giving us life. How lucky are we to have this?

Concluding Remarks

I do not want to say that yoga will make you happy and positive all the time – that is not the goal. Essentially if the Yogi mindset sits well with you, it can help guide you to become calmer (those results can wait until Monday), confident (less “imposter”), and more content (less perfectionism!), allowing you to handle the challenges of academia (and life in general) a little better. 

Namaste!

Lorna is a lecturer in the Cancer Department at University of Liverpool, UK. Before this, Lorna was a postdoc in the Zech Lab (Liverpool) and Higgs Lab (Dartmouth College). Her PhD was completed at Newcastle University. Outside of academia and yoga, Lorna has been a competitive runner most her life, she trains regularly for fitness events, enjoys good food, wine, and coffee! Lorna also follows Bruce Springsteen around the world. 

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