Mind, Body & Equality: Yoga as a Mental Health Exercise

ABOUT

“My name is Zakiya Bishton and I am the founder of Mindwalk Yoga, a virtual yoga studio and social enterprise focused on yoga therapy for anxiety, stress and trauma. Our vision is that yoga tailored to treat common mental health conditions becomes as normal and accessible as going for a walk in the park, and that all people get the opportunity to self-manage mental wellness with yoga. For Mindwalk Yoga this means creating an affordable, inclusive, accessible, digital, and on-demand Yoga service for mental health. We want to break down barriers to access yoga for mental wellness and share healing practices with diverse communities.

Mindwalk Yoga is a social enterprise which means we have a triple bottom line: People, Planet and Profit. We are committed to developing and investing in accessible mental wellness programs. But we can’t do this alone. Joining our progressive movement of yoga for mental wellness means you will be taking action against the inequity that exists in access to mental health services.” 🇬🇧

HOW WE MAKE CHANGE

Mindwalk Yoga was looking for volunteers to help them with Fundraising, PR, Social Media, Videography, Writing and Research in order to reach Sustainable Development Goals Good Health & Well-being (3) and Reduced Inequalities (10).

Here is how ChangeMakers helped 🙌

“IT HAS BEEN EXTREMELY INTERESTING TO WORK FOR A SOCIAL ENTERPRISE”

Aparna Menon 🇬🇷🇮🇳🇵🇹

‘My name is Aparna Menon and I was born and raised in Greece. My family is originally from India, but a job transfer led us to Greece. I did my higher education in England and specialised in mass communications, but I previously worked in the shipping and logistics industry in Singapore. I decided to return to Europe and freelance in my passion which is writing and communications. I’ve used these skills in my voluntary work as well.

At Mindwalk Yoga I have been writing blog posts. It has been extremely interesting to work for a social enterprise and I’ve gained a lot personally. It has enabled me to explore and learn about new topics and subjects that I then converted into blog posts.’

“IT HAS BEEN A VERY NICE EXPERIENCE”

Carla Marti 🇪🇸

‘My name is Carla Marti and I am from Spain. I have a background in mechanical engineering and I am currently working as a Graduate Engineer in the UK. At Mindwalk Yoga I’ve been carrying out research in key business development areas, looking at funding, competitor benchmarking and online platforms.

It has been a very nice experience as I have been able to support Mindwalk Yoga with skills that come as a part of being an engineer. It has also been beneficial for myself as I have learnt more about social enterprises and how they operate in early stages.’

RESULT

Since Mindwalk Yoga joined We Make Change a lot has happened. Zakiya Bishton explains:

“In less than seven months, and all by word of mouth, the Mindwalk Yoga drop-in class community has grown from zero to 100 members. This means 100 people have access to free live yoga classes tailored to treat anxiety, stress, and depression.

Our mission is to break down barriers to entry for yoga tailored to treat mental health and to reach under-represented people, and especially womxn of colour. Wellness should not be a luxury, it is essential.

As I enter into the next phase of growth I have three main goals. Engaging and working with social justice organisations to deliver yoga for mental wellness to under-represented people, supporting purposeful businesses with yoga for mental wellness programs, reaching even more people with our community classes.”

“We Make Change meant I could get my start-up social enterprise going. Once featured on their website I received a brilliant response from talented and diverse people from across the world! I now have a regular team of volunteers. Huge thank you for the support.”

ZAKIYA BISHTON
FOUNDER, MINDWALK YOGA

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