Asian Americans are the least likely racial and ethnic demographic to seek out care, which can make getting care for mental health concerns even more difficult in our communities. Many among us tend to shy away from emotional and mental health and wellness. Growing up, we might have been surrounded by adults who never broached the topics of feelings, identity, and selfhood, rarely going beyond asking if our day was good or bad. I, for one, recall being told that outbursts of emotion, both excitement in a gleeful way and big tantrums, were disruptive and unallowed “in this household.”
Truly naming your feelings or identifying as Asian American as an adult might be difficult because, in your childhood, you might not have been exposed to discussions or vocabulary around managing emotions or exploring your cultural identity. This can lead to emotional voids, with feelings around racial identity tied to the unspoken ways our Asian families view success.
While meditation might not be the most obvious way to address these emotional voids, being more mindful can help with these issues. Mochi talked to Mel Mah, a film director and meditation and yoga teacher, about the pressures of growing up Asian and her journey toward mindfulness.
Mah was originally a professional dancer, and she remembers competing with other Asian dancers at auditions for the token spot. She recalls, “At certain auditions, we were categorized by our heritage group. It fostered a lot of unnecessary competition among your people, and I always found that really toxic that in order to make a paycheck and to get a job as a professional dancer, I [had to beat] out all these other Asians.”
Today, Mah has found community rather than competition among other Asian women. Her coaching and mentoring company, You Got This Girl, attracts a lot of Asian clients, and she notes that together they are able to uncover “a lot of traumas that we might have gone through in our upbringing.”
Understanding Familial…
Read the full article here
