Finding Community Through Yoga After Brain Injury

By Kyla Pearce, CBIS, RYT, MPH, PhD Senior Director of Programs and Research, LoveYourBrain Foundation

The list of benefits from social connection and building meaningful relationships is long: less anxiety and depression, improved sleep, lower risk of chronic disease, better cognitive performance, longer and more satisfying lives. And yet, after brain injury, social isolation and loneliness are among the most common and devastating experiences. This happens for a variety of reasons—environments that trigger sensory overload, cognitive fatigue from social interaction, lack of understanding among friends and family, and heightened self-criticism that something is “wrong with me.”

Although research has identified important strategies for addressing loneliness, including improving social skills, enhancing social support, increasing social contact, and addressing maladaptive social cognition, the medical system faces major gaps in effectively supporting brain injury.

So, how can we do better?

The most effective approaches to building a sense of belonging are multifaceted, working both at the external level by connecting people together who have meaningful, shared experiences, while also at the internal level by addressing false narratives about our self-worth. That’s why mind-body activities like yoga have particularly strong potential as a pathway for community building after brain injury. You might wonder, how?

Connection to Self – When we turn inward through practices like yoga and meditation, we begin to see more clearly what’s happening in our minds, bodies, and hearts. Our thoughts shape our experience of life. So, if we have a habit of thinking negatively about ourselves, we’ll mistrust our abilities and incorrectly assume others don’t like us, which only furthers isolation. Research shows that when we become more aware of our self-talk, we’re better able to focus on thoughts that foster self-confidence, resilience, and relationships with others. Neuroscience shows that when we’re aware of how our body feels (known as interoception), we’re more able to empathize with the emotional experience of others. Matthew Sanford, a disabled yoga instructor who specializes in adapting yoga for people with disabilities, shares, “As you’re more in your body, you do feel more connected to people. You think about the importance of other life. You are here. It’s beautiful. It’s subtle. It’s all one big thing. And so I think that as you move back into your body or more deeply into your body, it makes you in contact with the world more. And when you’re part of the world, it’s much harder to not feel compassion about the world.”

Connection to Others – When we feel seen, accepted, and valued by others with shared experiences or identities, we feel a sense of belonging that makes a big difference. Think about it for yourself – at times when you’ve felt your lowest, when you’ve connected with another person who “gets it,” what did that shift for you? This depth of connection is directly tied to our level of vulnerability. Because yoga is a practice of uniting the different parts of ourselves – our physical, emotional, energetic, and spiritual selves – it teaches us to accept our strengths and limitations and show up more fully, which is central to vulnerability. And, because yoga is highly adaptable, it’s inclusive of all injury severity levels, which is important because receiving peer support from people at different stages in healing gives perspective and hope for what’s possible. As Sanford shares, “Yoga can travel through any body. It’s not about the perfect pose; it’s not that. It’s literally – it’s a phenomenon that occurs at your mind’s intent and your body’s limits, and it – poof, it happens. And it travels through any body.”

Kyla Pearce, CBIS, RYT, MPH, PhD, is the Senior Director of Programs and Research for LoveYourBrain, a national nonprofit that offers free, research-backed yoga and mindfulness programs for people with brain injury and caregivers.

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