Holding Space Through Yoga During Tense Times

By Kathryn Boland 

Do you hear students talking about the news? Do they seem tense, tenser than usual? Does it seem like they’re coming to yoga to find tension release from all the craziness? No matter what side of the political divide people fall, we all feel - and likely internalize - the enormous amount of partisanship and tribal fighting currently happening in America. 

There are also existential threats that (at least should) transcend partisanship - such as the interference of autocratic Russia in democratic politics and the nuclear threat of North Korea. The news also seems unrelenting - new revelations, new rulings, new leaks, new “tweets”, new controversies coming out by the hour. The advent of widespread social media use, and subsequent sharing of news over social media, is inarguably a lot for the human system to handle - arguably more than we were designed to take in. 

Add on increasing responsibilities at work, with family and friends, with other miscellaneous obligations, and it can certainly be - at the very least - far more than we’re used to handling. “Mindfulness” is a term that’s spread through modern culture far beyond yoga. Yet it can understandably feel out of reach for many people, caught up in all those stimuli as they may be. Some may still come to yoga for a great workout or other physical health benefits, or perhaps to be in community. 

Yet, and I want to emphasize that I don’t know this, I wouldn't be surprised to hear proof that more people than ever are coming to yoga for a place of calm amidst a socioemotional, sociopolitical storm. I hear the need for that respite far and wide - in media, on the street, on public transit lines. It seems a natural progression that yoga practitioners - more or less regular people out there in the world - are looking to practice to satisfy this need for calm. Should this need change our teaching? 

I would only say that, as teachers, we should do our best to serve the needs that we observe. Perhaps teaching as we always teach  will do that. We can, however, be more intentional than ever about holding space. One way that we can do this is to stay fully focused on yoga and avoid conversation on controversial socio-political topics in yoga spaces. 

In my view, we can engage if students bring up such topics, and we can’t frame or prohibit their speech - being clients and autonomous adults. If studio owners might want to set in place some sort of disincentive for such speech in their spaces, that’s perhaps another discussion. What we can do is perhaps shift conversations away from these matters. 

We can do what we can to help preserve yoga spaces as neutral, peaceful, and sacred space away from all the external commotion. That offers people a place to go to escape it. There are plenty of other spaces for valuable discourse, activism, organizing, and learning. In having a calm, centered demeanor as a teacher, we can be part of that holding space. 

A concrete example of benefiting from this holding of space was when I recently took a Hands-on Restorative Assisting Training. We learned about important concepts in safety, consent, principles of empowering touch, the nature of trauma, and trigger symptoms. No one brought up the news. I didn’t look at my phone. As (admittedly) a staunch Progressive, a small piece of the back of my mind was likely still concerned about the direction of the Supreme Court (given recent news) and what it will propel in this country. 
        
Yet that piece was silent quite quickly. I felt held and supported in this space of learning and sharing. In a community of like-minded individuals, all supporting one another and growing together, any external threats that I'd been empathically perceiving (as a person of relative privilege) didn’t have to matter. This seems like a context that any yoga class could become, with the teacher effectively holding space for this communal support and growth. 

At the same time, yoga is in the world, and should act like it. In addition, seva - or selfless service - is a yoga practice. There are ways we can beneficially engage in current events, taking into consideration the studio community and local community. An example of this was a benefit class at a studio where I teach, for RAICES - a legal defense fund for immigrants. 

While I wasn't available to attend the class, promotional materials and discussion about the event seemed focus on compassion and connection - very much yogic values - rather than any political specifics. The class was also a values statement from the studio. In the Progressive community surrounding the studio, and within the studio itself, this statement would seem to be well-received. 

This might not be the case in communities with a different worldview. All of that aside, the class offered space for people distressed about current events (again, in the worldview of these external and internal communities) and to feel as if they were doing something to help. At the same time, the studio practiced seva by offering this space. There’s no right or wrong way to do that, only effective or less effective for any given context. I’m sending peace in your efforts to hold space in these tense times. 

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