CJ Butler

Not a fan of joining after-school activities, my daughter was unconvinced with a capital ‘UN’ as I took her to my yoga studio for a taster session of yoga for children.  Her unwillingness began to thaw a little at the warmth emanating from the welcoming yoga instructor who greeted her so kindly.  As I watched them interact, I realized that very few adults talk to children in the way the way yoga instructor was doing; actually listening to my daughter’s comments and responding to them fairly, respecting her with equal gravity as she would another adult.  By the time they had spoken for a very short time, my daughter seemed thoroughly bought in, seeming relieved there were no demands, obligations or rules.  It was totally different to school, and introduced her to an activity which invited her to unplug from all the stresses, rules and routines which make up children’s lives – The things we impose on them through our system of education, and which they generally accep...

‘Strong’ seemed a strange word for the context, yet there it was scrawled on the board – as a negative word.  It was during an event I helped facilitate at my local yoga centre in support of mindfulness and community mental health as all the participants – all of whom were acknowledging their everyday internal struggles, like depression or anxiety – came up with their word of significance with regards to mental health.  There were many other words you may expect, like apathy, numb, alone, angry, isolated – But ‘strong’? The person who contributed the word shared with the group that for a full two years after her mother’s death (when she was urged to be strong by herself and others) she did not grieve.  Instead she became emotionally numb; she felt no sadness, no joy.  She was simply functioning, and living an emotionally numb existence.  She described it as having a muffler on her life – none of her experiences during that time were truly felt in the same w...