Local Business Helping Young People Cope With Stress

 Local Business Helping Young People Cope With Stress

Editor's Note: This interview is one in a series of conversations with Indianapolis business owners working to make it through the winter. 

The pandemic and its impacts increase uncertainty, fear and stress. In our series on Indianapolis-area businesses navigating the pandemic, some businesses are able to respond directly to those feelings.

Business owner Lade Akande is working to help Indianapolis teens right now. She is a registered yoga teacher and founder of The Yoga Counselor, and she teaches an advanced physical education and yoga mindfulness class at University High School for seven years. For this segment in our series, she spoke with WFYI’s Terri Dee about what her clients are saying to her about their mental health. 

WFYI Anchor and Reporter Terri Dee:
What are the young people saying to you about how they're feeling the effects of the pandemic?

Yoga Teacher Lade Akande:
Social interaction is so crucial, and so important to their overall mental health and well being. Google is a place where students are getting that social interaction through their peers, their boards, their clubs, as well as for many, where they're getting vital resources, you know, meals support, mentorship, accountability. So for school aged children and teens, finding themselves isolated. And even though they're already pretty used to communicating through technology, when that becomes the only way. It really has created a lot of stress and symptoms of depression and anxiety. And so that's one reason why, you know, the services I've been providing, as a yoga counselor are becoming even more relevant.

TD: Stress levels, has that influenced an increase in the demand for your services?

Akande: In some ways, yes. Because people now are starting to realize just how connected we are. So that we're experiencing this collective trauma of the effects of the pandemic, whether that be grief, for loss of routine loss of work, loss of life, with the time that people have in their isolation. In many ways, I have seen an increase in this, you know, topic and in the services that are being requested. Yeah, it's an opportunity for people to realize that we're not going to be able to control the chaos that's happening all around us. But there are practices that we can do to regulate what's going on inside. And that's huge right now, because everyone's in a state of stress in survival mode. And when we're living in suspended states of stress, that is the root cause of other injuries, illness, chronic illness, and disease.

TD: What creative methods are you using to not only retain current clients but also attract new ones?

Akande: Collaboration is a huge part of being able to attract new clients. So I partner often with one of my friends and colleagues, her name is Nadine laniado. She's a social emotional learning teacher for IPS. And to just help pretty much connect to resources and plant seeds of wellness and self care, through virtual trainings through outdoor trainings through collaboration that we continue to kind of put this message out there and support communities, educators, students, in this time especially.

TD: Thank you so much for your time.

Akande: Thank you, Terri.