Culturally Competent Care: Ayurveda & LGBTQIA+ Healing

10/11/24 • 46 min

In this episode of The Yoga Therapy Hour Podcast, Amy Wheeler welcomes Anuradha Gupta, an Ayurvedic doctor and educator from Kerala Ayurveda, to discuss best practices for culturally competent care in healthcare, particularly with respect to LGBTQIA+ issues. Anuradha shares her background in Ayurveda and how she has worked to integrate cultural competence into the Ayurvedic healthcare system. She reflects on the challenges of providing care to marginalized communities, such as the LGBTQIA+ community, and the importance of creating safe and affirming spaces for healing.

Key points include:

Cultural Competency vs. Cultural Humility: Anuradha explains the distinction between cultural competence, which involves learning about different communities, and cultural humility, which emphasizes curiosity and respect for individual experiences.
Challenges in LGBTQIA+ Healthcare: She highlights the systemic issues, such as discrimination and lack of access, that disproportionately affect the LGBTQIA+ community. Anuradha also discusses the health implications of minority stress and trauma.
Trauma-Informed Care: Both Yoga Therapy and Ayurveda are ideally suited to offer personalized, trauma-informed care that supports the unique needs of LGBTQIA+ clients.
Historical Context: Anuradha discusses the history of LGBTQIA+ acceptance in India, dating back to Vedic times, and how colonization introduced homophobia and discrimination.
Best Practices in Care: Drawing from her research, Anuradha outlines best practices for healthcare professionals working with LGBTQIA+ clients, emphasizing the need for open affirmations, trauma-informed approaches, and integrating alternative care with allopathic practices.

Resources shared:

GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality, a resource for culturally competent healthcare practices.
PFLAG: A support organization for families and allies of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Listeners are encouraged to reflect on their own biases and to create spaces of healing that are inclusive, respectful, and affirming for all identities. You can connect with Anuradha Gupta via LinkedIn or explore her work at Ayurvedic Footprints.

LinkedIn: Anuradha Gupta

Ayurvedic Footprints: Anuradha's private practice focused on sustainability and gentle healing.

This episode serves as a powerful reminder that culturally competent care is not only about knowledge but also about empathy, curiosity, and creating safe spaces for marginalized communities.

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Instagram: @TheOptimalState
Facebook: The Optimal State of Living

Don't forget to subscribe to The Yoga Therapy Hour for more expert discussions on yoga therapy and emotional well-being!

Additional Resources with Amy Wheeler:

Key points include:

Cultural Competency vs. Cultural Humility: Anuradha explains the distinction between cultural competence, which involves learning about different communities, and cultural humility, which emphasizes curiosity and respect for individual experiences.
Challenges in LGBTQIA+ Healthcare: She highlights the systemic issues, such as discrimination and lack of access, that disproportionately affect the LGBTQIA+ community. Anuradha also discusses the health implications of minority stress and trauma.
Trauma-Informed Care: Both Yoga Therapy and Ayurveda are ideally suited to offer personalized, trauma-informed care that supports the unique needs of LGBTQIA+ clients.
Historical Context: Anuradha discusses the history of LGBTQIA+ acceptance in India, dating back to Vedic times, and how colonization introduced homophobia and discrimination.
Best Practices in Care: Drawing from her research, Anuradha outlines best practices for healthcare professionals working with LGBTQIA+ clients, emphasizing the need for open affirmations, trauma-informed approaches, and integrating alternative care with allopathic practices.

Resources shared:

GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality, a resource for culturally competent healthcare practices.
PFLAG: A support organization for families and allies of the LGBTQIA+ community.

LinkedIn: Anuradha Gupta

Ayurvedic Footprints: Anuradha's private practice focused on sustainability and gentle healing.

This episode serves as a powerful reminder that culturally competent care is not only about knowledge but also about empathy, curiosity, and creating safe spaces for marginalized communities.

Follow Us:

Website: TheOptimalState.com
Instagram: @TheOptimalState
Facebook: The Optimal State of Living

Don't forget to subscribe to The Yoga Therapy Hour for more expert discussions on yoga therapy and emotional well-being!

Additional Resources with Amy Wheeler:

Previous Episode

Making Ethical Decisions and Policy with Ahimsa at the Core – A Review of Yoga Alliance & IAYT

In this solo episode, host Amy Wheeler explores the concept of Ahimsa (non-harming) and being in relationship with one another as the key guiding principle for making ethical decisions and policies in both individual and organizational contexts. Amy focuses on how yoga organizations like Yoga Alliance and the International Association of Yoga Therapy (IAYT) can enhance their decision-making processes by prioritizing non-harming, inclusivity, and community involvement from the ground up.

What is Ahimsa?

Amy defines Ahimsa as non-harming and non-violence toward oneself, others, and the environment. Ahimsa applies to emotional, mental, financial, community and societal well-being, guiding how we treat ourselves and each other.

Ahimsa as a Guiding Principle in Organizational Decisions

Amy explores how Ahimsa can shape ethical decision-making in yoga organizations, including Yoga Alliance and IAYT. She encourages a review of their policies and decision-making frameworks to ensure that they uphold the values of non-harming, transparency, and inclusivity. Amy discusses the importance of community involvement in shaping these policies, particularly through a collaborative, ground-up approach that empowers individuals and organizations to take shared responsibility for one another.

Humanistic Secularism and Its Connection to Yoga Ethics

Amy discusses humanistic secularism as an ethical framework based on human values like empathy, social responsibility, and inclusivity, without relying on religious or spiritual beliefs. She highlights how this worldview aligns with Ahimsa and discusses its practical application in modern decision-making, both in personal choices and at the organizational level. Amy also discusses the challenges that organizations face in maintaining ethical practices in a fast-paced, competitive environment and provides solutions on how to stay aligned with Ahimsa.

Call to Action

Amy invites listeners to join the new Facebook Group, "The Future of Yoga Therapy," to voice their opinions, introduce themselves, and participate in shaping the future of yoga therapy. This is a space for meaningful dialogue about ethical decision-making and shared responsibility within the yoga community, with a focus on Ahimsa and being in relationship with one another as a grounding foundational principle.

Follow Us:

Website: TheOptimalState.com
Instagram: @TheOptimalState
Facebook: The Optimal State of Living

Don't forget to subscribe to The Yoga Therapy Hour for more expert discussions on yoga therapy and emotional well-being!

Additional Resources with Amy Wheeler:

Next Episode

Healing Through Yoga Therapy and Somatic Experiencing with Melaney Seacat

In this episode of The Yoga Therapy Hour, host Amy Wheeler welcomes Melaney Seacat, a yoga therapist and somatic experiencing practitioner, to discuss the powerful intersection of these two healing modalities. Melaney shares her personal story of recovery from a serious hip injury sustained during a hiking accident, her healing journey, and how it shaped her approach to working with trauma and the nervous system.

Melaney explains how life experiences are like boulders in a stream, and how we can navigate them using the principles of both yoga therapy and somatic experiencing. She emphasizes the importance of regulating the nervous system, titration of trauma release, and building a "healing vortex" through small, manageable steps.

In this insightful conversation, Melaney and Amy dive into:

The trauma vortex and healing vortex models in trauma recovery
How yoga therapy uses breath, movement, and mindfulness to stabilize the nervous system
The integration of somatic experiencing techniques with yoga therapy for trauma resolution
Practical tools like finger slides and orientation to the senses that empower clients to manage their nervous system
How to safely navigate trauma processing without re-traumatization

Whether you're new to these practices or a seasoned therapist, this episode offers valuable insights into the healing potential of combining yoga therapy and somatic experiencing.

Key Timestamps:

[10:24] Melaney shares her personal story of healing from a hiking accident.
[10:25] Using the metaphor of life as a stream and the trauma vortex.
[10:27] The role of yoga therapy in stabilizing disorganized nervous systems.
[10:29] Ethical considerations in integrating yoga therapy and somatic experiencing.
[10:30] Melaney’s favorite mini-intervention for regulating the nervous system.
[10:33] Tools for orienting to the senses and reducing hyper-vigilance.
[10:37] The resolution model in somatic experiencing and its parallels in yoga therapy.

Learn more about Melaney Seacat's work at seacatsomatictherapy.com

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