Mindfulness and Mental Health for BIPOC Christians: Q+A with KiYada Upshaw
published April 10, 2023
KiYada Upshaw is a mindfulness coach for Christian women. She is a certified meditation instructor and EFT/TFT tapping practitioner. growblackgirlgrowcoaching.com
Catharine: How did you first get started with mindfulness? Did you feel that your needs and perspective were understood and respected?
KiYada: I first got started with mindfulness back in 2015 when I read the book The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer. I feel like my needs and perspective were respected by some and not others. This was during the time when mental health was still something no one was comfortable sharing with others.
Catharine: I’ve heard that some BIPOC mindfulness practitioners have had negative experiences on retreats and in meditation classes, with people asking inappropriate questions or treating them like an object of curiosity.
Have you ever had an experience like this? Do you have any advice for mainstream/secular mindfulness teachers on how to better meet the needs of BIPOC Christians?
KiYada: I haven’t had any “race” specific encounters related to mindfulness. In terms of the Christian community, mindfulness is seen as new age by most because it’s only ever been seen and presented by those that practice new age spirituality.
I would say the best advice is to not question out of curiosity. During my time in therapy, I had a white Christian therapist who I absolutely loved, but sometimes I felt because of the disconnect in culture, she asked questions out of her own curiosity not necessarily in order to help me.
Catharine: Why did you decide to focus your coaching practice specifically on Christian women?
KiYada: I decided to focus specifically on Christian women because I hated feeling alone and misunderstood. I never felt like God didn’t care about me, but I felt like the people he had put in position to preach the gospel were not equipped to help me in the way I needed help. I want to be the help I once needed.
Growing up I, like most people my age, received similar commentary “Just pray about it” “You don’t have enough faith” “There’s nothing wrong with you.” These types of comments were meant to mask the real issue of needing help understanding how the mind processes information after going through what seemed like a traumatic event. Most of the sermons I heard were all about finding where you lack connection with God or something about sin or tithes, instead of how to use God’s word and truly glean healing from it.
Catharine: What connection (if any) do you see between EFT/TFT and mindfulness, and how does it help with anxiety and trauma?
KiYada: Mindfulness is all about where you choose to place your awareness, so I believe EFT/TFT is a tool that someone can use to help them focus their awareness. Sometimes meditation can cause more harm than good, and tapping is another avenue that someone can use if they want to go the holistic way.
I personally feel like meditation is a tool that can be really beneficial to becoming your true self in Christ, but not everyone has the capacity to sit for long periods of time in stillness, and if they are not being guided by a person properly trained to be sensitive to their needs it cause them to be more anxious and more frantic about their life experiences.
Someone can use tapping to go on a similar journey, but you’re using your body and language to help you on this healing journey. In my opinion, tapping is similar to EMDR light therapy. When I began my therapy journey, I did light therapy to reprogram some of my traumatic thoughts, and tapping is a similar self help tool to reprogramming the thoughts we tell ourselves.
Catharine: What does your own personal practice look like? How do you integrate Christian devotional practices with mindfulness and self-care?
KiYada: This is a great question. Ever since I have been practicing mindfulness, it has allowed me to elevate my devotional time. Many of the devotionals I was reading still were not doing what I felt like I needed to grow in my connection with God. My mindfulness practice has allowed me to connect spiritually with God on a deeper level than I would’ve been able to had I not been introduced to it.
I like to switch things up depending on the season of my life. Sometimes I am reading a devotional plan and meditating afterwards, other times, I am conscious journaling. It really just depends on what I feel like I need, and mindfulness has allowed me to keep my connection with God fresh and versatile and open to receive what I need from him during that season of my life.
Related Posts
There are many more resources on mindfulness for Christians here at MindfulTeachers.org, including the following posts: