Luvena Rangel is the Founder of The Curvy Yogi modeling inclusive and accessible yoga & wellness. She is one of Bangalore’s leading Yoga Anatomy, Philosophy & Ayurveda educators. Her corporate experience makes her a powerful voice in the DEIAB forum focusing on Organizational Culture and Emotional Intelligence. She has been an advisor to Yoga Alliance for the Standards Review Process in the Inclusion workgroup. Luvena is the Vice-President of WICCI National Yoga Council & the recipient of awards from the Women Economic Forum as well as the Patanjali Award from eduGLife and the MDNIY / Ministry of Ayush in 2021.
1. The theme for the 2024 mental awareness week is “Movement: Moving more for our mental health.” Movement has so many ways of interpretation. How do you define movement in the context of mental health and wellbeing?
When we talk about health & wellbeing, it is important to understand that our entire human system is integrated. We do not go to work or events leaving a particular part of us at home. Likewise, we do not do any physical activity, or even exercise, leaving our mind out of the equation. So the mind and body are closely connected and influence or impact each other in very powerful ways.
When you say movement has so many ways of interpretation, you are right. The mind is an organ that we all have - just that we cannot see or feel it doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. The functioning of the mind - and its health - are aspects we need to focus on.
Just like a well utilized, and exercised physical body, helps to keep our muscles, bones and joints in a condition that facilitates daily activity, a well maintained mind helps to facilitate daily cognitive as well as personal psychology. The thoughts that our minds carry - especially the nature, quality and, to some extent, the number of thoughts bombarding our mindspace, all affect the mental traffic and load we experience. Interestingly though, all of these can be influenced by including mindful physical movements that gently furnish us with tools to manage our thoughts.
Our ability to limit reactions and manage our responses to situations guided by a mind-body connection, using movement and somatic work is a great tool towards mental health and wellbeing. Movement, then, can be for the physical form as well as mental, psychological and emotional thought forms - all working towards using movement to balance.
2. How do you believe yoga contributes to mental well-being, particularly within the framework of body positivity?
The beauty of yoga is that it is a complete practice and wisdom tradition that looks at the mind-body-spirit-environment complex. You cannot take it in isolation - the philosophy and teachings are constantly informing the practice to influence one another with values, Eastern wisdom, as well as an understanding and respect for the body-mind complex. If you practice asana (yoga postures) alone, it may ‘look’ like yoga, but it is just a physical practice. The teachings, however, include an understanding of the nature of thoughts, how our minds work, attitude towards oneself and society and moment-to-moment presence and awareness. Overall, the inclusion of conscious choice to the physical practice gradually enables and conditions the practitioner to be in control and mindful of their choices, and the impact of their actions.
Now when it comes to body-positivity, we have had centuries of patriarchal and media-supported misguidance about what kind of a body is fit, healthy and ‘beautiful’ leaving a lot of trauma in its wake for people who do not conform to these ideals. The misunderstanding that you have to be flexible to ‘do’ yoga can only be addressed by explaining that you ‘practice’ yoga to imbibe flexibility - both in body & mind. Bodies of all shapes, sizes and limitations can practice yoga asana that is always customized to where they are at - that includes their state of mind (that changes from morning to noon to evening due to a number of reasons!) Yoga asanas encourage the practitioner to embrace their ever changing bodies by first and foremost teaching them a healthy respect for their bodies under the tenet of non-violence and causing no harm through the practice. There is no such thing as a ‘yoga body’.
The value systems and conscious movements that yoga teaches helps practitioners recognize changes in evolving bodies and takes the pain of ‘weight loss and weight gain’ out of the equation. We are left with care, kindness and compassion towards our bodies and a gentle clarity of the thoughts - both positive and challenging - that affect the way we see ourselves. From this clarity, we can take charge of our mental environment better.
A yoga asana practice of both static (Hatha Yoga) and more dynamic (Vinyasa flows) influences mental health in specific ways. Slow & static Hatha yoga invites steadiness to an overactive mind-body, while dynamic Vinyasa flows mobilizes & invigorates practitioners encouraging a shaking up of stagnant thoughts and mind blocks to bring in more clarity. Together, a balanced practice including breathing practices and quiet contemplation introduces silent observation of thoughts and an overall calm that sets the rhythm throughout the day.
3. As a big, tall, and curvy yogi, how do you navigate and promote inclusivity in the aspect of body positivity?
It’s all about representation - representation of who I am with authenticity and integrity. I remember the very first group class that I taught and the student who walked in looked me over from top to bottom - it felt like she was rethinking her decision to sign up! I caught that look, but I also took a deep breath and welcomed her - reminding myself that I was the expert here. That student ended up being one of my most dedicated students who stayed with me till I left that teaching space. When we are limited by self-doubt and are hung up on the limitations that society brands us with through body shaming and vile comments or restrictions, we end up believing those things about ourselves - and that is what we portray to those who see us.
Today, I have over four decades of experience in this body that has seen weight gain, weight loss, health challenges, motherhood, debilitating injury, surgeries, mental health crises, etc… and I’m still standing. I have also journeyed through a society that didn’t ever imagine that a person in a larger body could actually talk about health and wellness, let alone teach and ‘lead’ a yoga class. There was no representation for people to see an alternative possibility - the norm was a lean, able, rubber band body.
Yoga as a practice and philosophy has been my strengthening substratum. When I step into a room today, I own the space I step into - as a woman, as an individual or a professional. While my experience and body of work does lead the introduction in some places, most times it is the expertise and confidence of bringing value through me. Are there areas of improvement & challenge? Of course there are, and I don’t hide or deny them. Leaving options for myself and others to explore what we can do and always keeping the door for a respectful ‘No’ is another way of ensuring one’s autonomy and agency to advocate for a body positive experience. It is important to highlight that body positivity is not just for people in larger bodies. It is an idea of being positive, loving, caring and compassionate to bodies in the vast spectrum of human existence - big, short, tall, able-bodied, with limitations, disabled, wheelchair-bound, with invisible disabilities, the entire flavor. To recognize, in ourselves and those around us, that our variety makes us individual and unique threads in the tapestry of life is the cornerstone of seeing and being seen with grace and immense power.
4. Can you share some personal experiences or insights on your journey in mental well being?
I think my biggest insight and personal experience would be of life itself. As a single parent to three and entrepreneur, life has definitely not been a bed of roses, there have been many challenges that often seemed to have no solution at the time. It took a massive toll on my mental health and eventually I crashed, burning myself out, losing creativity, energy and drive. My personality and public ‘image’ perhaps demanded that I only portray a ‘strong’ façade for the world, but I realized that I was not prioritizing self-care – putting everyone and everything before me and not really being of greater service.
A long while back a teacher had taught us to make your Karma your Dharma – meaning, use your experience to be of service. I realized that while my students and larger audience were happy to be inspired by stories of mental strength, it takes a lot of courage to live through pain and grief and those stories showed solidarity with mental health challenges – making people’s pain seen and heard through a shared experience of mine, and further using yoga to manage it, see the flip side, laugh or cry about it, or just simply leave it as it is, for what it is.
Mental wellbeing is the crux of wellness for individuals and societies. We live in times when we are inundated with information on shoulders, should nots and how-tos of managing our mental health. However, I feel it is a shared vision and mission. We need to connect with each other, check-in on each other – sometimes just to talk, other times just to listen and mostly just to be there for each other.
I must share here, in all honesty, that while I acknowledge that I have had some horrifying challenges in life, a genuine observation has been that in hindsight, when I look back, I don’t really see the challenges, but a journey and the amazing observation that I have crossed that path. This, I think, is an observation of self-management, self-care, community involvement (strong support system of family & friends) – and a relentless sense of gratitude for making it through the intense and tough times. That, and a great sense of humor that embarrasses my children endlessly and brings me closer to a growing community of people who enjoy corny jokes, puns and PJs.
5. In what ways do you encourage individuals from diverse body types and backgrounds to prioritize mental wellness, especially those who are underrepresented?
All bodies are diverse - and generational conditioning often influences how we see ourselves. People can be cruel, and that takes a toll on those who are already under represented and struggling. I remind folks to work in different ways, based on their comfort, to enhance how they see themselves - from inside out as well as the reverse. Photographs are a great tool to showcase and, if required, to show off positive vibes of how you see yourself.
How do I encourage this? By showing up, speaking and aiming to walk the talk. The only example I have for anyone to receive encouragement from is my own. By being honest about myself - my ups and my downs, successes and challenges and still highlighting my commitment to do better when I can, I show up in the fullness of who I am.
As an educator, I am responsible for making my spaces safe so people can belong. I employ a lot of ‘common sense’ and ‘thinking on my feet’ for when I am not necessarily aware of a practitioner’s requirement - especially in group settings. But being prepared and doing my homework beforehand is helpful. Also being honest about my ignorance about some spaces helps in the learning. So showing up is foremost.
Communication: talking to people and active listening is key. Not everyone is meant to be my yoga student. My writing, blogs, and articles often do the outreach for the rest. Shared experiences, and insights often help people to feel seen and heard. I use what I feel is my forte to do just that. Sharing perspectives through struggles helps to amplify our mental ecosystem and makes our stories reach wider audiences, encouraging them to step into a world unlike their own and get some insight.
6. In a world where social media has a huge influence on our mental well and a need to conform to certain standards, especially the youth and gen Z’s - What’s your message to them?
Social media is just a fraction of what we show to the world – many times just a flawed fraction. In a plethora of filters and catchy captions, our flaws can be hidden and well-worded text can blur the line between reality of who we are and what we are going through, and as aspiration of what we want to be and what we think the world wants to see of us. The pandemic, also, has left many people in pockets of isolation, especially the youth, who struggle with real interactions and believe that the façade of constructed social media is not reality.
Conforming to a standard that does not accurately reflect your twists and stuffs you into a box that is stifling. It does not give you the space to be the fullest representation of who you are, in the body that you have, with the abilities and capabilities that you can share with the world just because of how you are designed. To all this I say, “Shine unapologetically and be yourself - everyone else is already taken! But also, as you shine, make meaningful connections with the world around you. Interact safely for yourself and others.
