05/11/2026
May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and this is probably one of the more vulnerable things I’ve shared here.
I’m a yoga teacher, studio owner, mother, wife, friend… and I also live with clinical depression.
I think because of what I do for a living, there can sometimes be an assumption that I’m naturally calm, grounded, positive, or that yoga somehow makes me immune to struggling mentally. I wish that were true. Depression runs in my family, and it’s something I’ve had to learn to manage intentionally over the years.
Honestly, this is also why I believe so deeply in the work we do at Soul Society. Not because yoga, recovery, meditation, breathwork, or self-care magically cure mental illness, but because these rituals genuinely help people feel more supported, regulated, connected, and steady. I’ve experienced that personally.
But I also want to say something that took me a long time to understand: you can do all the “right” things and still need medication. You can practice yoga, meditate, eat healthy foods, journal, sleep eight hours, and still need additional support for your mental health. And that is okay.
For me, managing mental illness has been a combination of small rituals, support systems, medical care, self-awareness, and daily effort.
That management looks like movement. Sunlight. Sleep. Journaling. Nervous system regulation. Community. Medication. Making myself go on the walk. Saying yes to the coffee date or phone call when my instinct is to isolate.
Some days these things come naturally, and some days they take real effort.
I’m sharing this because I know I’m not the only person quietly struggling while still showing up for life. Mental illness doesn’t always look the way people think it does, and there is absolutely no shame in needing support.
Healing, at least for me, has never been one big breakthrough moment. It’s been small rituals repeated over and over again. Tiny choices that help bring me back to myself.
If you’re struggling too, you’re not weak. You’re human.
