As a celebration of World Mental Health Day on October 10, CandleX’s World Mental Health Week took place during the second week of October with the goal to promote mental health among Beijing communities. We collaborated with an old friend of ours: Moishe House. Together, we organized a special yoga session, and facilitated a community discussion on depression and bipolar disorder.
In addition to the usual stretches of regular yoga sessions at Moishe House, this session, on October 12, was an especially rewarding one for all our participants, for they were introduced to the link between yoga and mental health. Understanding the closely interlinked nature of yoga and mental wellbeing is integral to utilizing this therapeutic method to lower stress and anxiety. Studies have shown that the continuous practice of yoga allows for an increased sense of consciousness; this is essential in building a health relationship with self and body, adjusting mindsets and attitudes and developing resilience to anxiety.
Yoga is the ultimate remedy for healing of the body as well as the mind. Xiaojie from CandleX kindly shared some personal experiences regarding how she employed yoga as a form of therapy to maintain and strengthen her mental health over the years. Throughout the entire session, the room was imbued with an atmosphere of tranquility and positivity. We look forward to seeing more of you using mindfulness as an approach to balance and adjust to a positive lifestyle!
Following on from this, CandleX joined Moishe House from 8:30pm to 10:30pm on October 13 to initiate further discussions regarding issues of mental health. Marco, from CandleX, delivered a short and educational speech about his personal experiences with mental illness. It was followed by an hour of open discussion as well as a Q&A session, which were both led by Xiaojie. The open session engaged many of the listeners and the participants were not only curious, but were also given a safe and comfortable platform to share their personal experiences and thoughts on mental health issues. It is safe to say that this event was beyond beneficial for all the participants, and further drew the community to become even more amicable and close-knit.
