Nikolai Blinow is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and yoga teacher in Cranston, RI. In her TED talk at the TEDxSalveReginaU event, Nikolai explains the similarities between mental health treatment and yoga practices.
Drawing specific instances from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and the Astanga 8 Limbs, Nikolai explains the ways that these can both be seen as treatment plans, or steps to take towards living a better life.
Though both have their benefits and disadvantages, Nikolai shows us how by bringing together yoga’s focus on self-awareness and insight, as well as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy’s professional support, guidance, and feedback, we can create truly holistic mental health care and space for healing and growth.
Have you ever found yourself getting overly worked up or anxious about something before it even happened? This common anxiety is known as a cognitive distortion. By identifying these distortions, we can learn to isolate and overcome cognitive distortions – using a tactic known as "reframing."