Men’s Mental Health Awareness: How Yoga and Travel Support Wellbeing

Men’s Mental Health Awareness: How Yoga and Travel Support Wellbeing


How yoga work exchange and skill sharing abroad can boost mental health and emotional resilience:

Understanding and navigating the nuanced reality of mental health has been a central theme of my life and yoga practice. Prioritizing mindfulness helps mute external noise, dull internal chatter, and archaic expectations of stoicism and self-reliance, which reject seeking help, being beginners, or expressing vulnerability.

Humans often love the familiar and fear the unknown. Yoga and wellness included. Like beliefs that you must be flexible to practice, which is as misguided as saying only chefs can make dinner. Perceived exclusivity around yoga stems from modern marketing and the commodification of an ancient, inherently inclusive practice. Yoga meets you where you are, not vice versa. Trying something new always includes a learning curve, and nerves are normal. The difference is engrained patriarchal norms and rigid gender roles that have no place here. 

“So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad, and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.” – Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Travelling abroad, intentional skill sharing, global wellness retreats, and yoga work exchanges positively contribute to well-being by fostering self-awareness, clarity, growth, and connection. Normalizing open discussions about embracing vulnerability and prioritizing wellness reduces stigma, encourages conversation, and provides accessible resources. Yoga supports stress reduction, mood, and mind-body connection, while travel builds cultural empathy. Yoga Trade opportunities blend these practices for holistic wellness. 

This piece intends to encourage positive mental health maintenance through yoga and travel and share the perspective of Yoga Trade partner Patrick McMahon.

Patrick lives in Southern Costa Rica, where he has run an intentional community and retreat village for 15 years. When he’s not managing the tech side of Yoga Trade, he’s with friends and family, surfing, playing music or reading what he’s next interested in.

How have you seen yoga, meditation, and mindfulness positively impact well-being, especially in travel and skill sharing?


Pat: I think yoga and meditation have had a net positive impact on everyone exploring it. I don’t tend to see the world through a gendered lens. Still, I would say the male friends and acquaintances in my life who practice either or both are generally happier, less rattled by the world, and able to embrace change and find meaning in their day-to-day lives – all of which contribute to a healthy state of mind. 



What shifts and self-discovery revelations have you experienced or seen in others?


Pat: I think any practice that involves self-reflection and quiet observation of the world around you can bring revelation at any moment, but usually slowly, as a result of consistent work. In men, these practices can bring about less reactivity and more mindful decision-making, just to name a few behaviors common to traditional masculinity.



In a world where vulnerability isn’t always encouraged, how do wellness practices break down barriers, especially when combined with travel and culture exchange? 



Pat: Wellness practices can sometimes be more difficult for men to get into, at least in many normy cases, myself included long ago, but the act of getting yourself over that hump and then diving into a beginner mindset with something you may not be initially comfortable doing is a great way to get comfortable being vulnerable. 

Eventually, getting comfortable with being physically vulnerable can help with other forms of vulnerability. You arrive at a point where the courage to be vulnerable is a more satisfying challenge than what is encouraged in the broader culture. 



For example, practicing vulnerability can extend into experiencing new cultures and accepting your lack of perspective or language skills. Many of us from developed countries have difficulty understanding the economic inequalities baked into our worldviews and privileges. Yet, we still often cannot see or accept them. Vulnerability helps us to own those blind spots or lack of skill, and in doing so, we open ourselves up to growth and deeper connections with others and the world around us. 

What has surprised you most about how you or others embrace or approach these practices in different environments? 

Pat: I’ve been surprised in both good and bad ways. I’ve seen people take practices meant to dissolve the ego and nurture liberation from the material world and twist them into self-serving, ego-inflating, profit machines. But alternately, I’ve been surprised and inspired by men who have stitched wellness practices into their own broader worldviews and pursuits and become examples of a newer kind of masculinity that is more nuanced and sensitive to all beings while not abandoning everything that has come before. This kind of synthesis of strength and sensitivity is inspiring, and I try to emulate it in my life.

How did the experiences of yoga, travel and connecting with others influence your well-being and outlook on life? What aspects are crucial for other men to explore or understand? 

Pat: My own journey into travel and yoga (and surfing) continues to shape my mind, body and perspective. I wouldn’t presume to tell others what’s right for them, but for me, any practice that brings you closer to nature and her mysteries is for me, the most crucial aspect of maintaining a healthy mind. Secondly, living in another culture for a while and embracing its ways and worldviews is an excellent way to break the spell of ethnocentrism most of us are born into. At least that’s been formative for me. Then, we can envision a more harmonious and equitable future for all humanity, not just our tribe.

What insights or encouragement would you offer others just starting to explore self-discovery/care?

Pat: Be patient with yourself. Embrace beginners’ mindset in everything – it makes life much easier, more lighthearted, and enjoyable. It’s cliche to say, but the journey is all there is. 

How might they begin to see these practices as a path to a more connected, fulfilling and intentional life?

Pat: Don’t overthink it. Do the work, and you’ll know it when you see it. 

 

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Amanda Bertucci
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