Mind Body Wellness (NHS)

Mental health challenges like stress, anxiety, and depression have risen sharply, straining NHS primary care services and lengthening counselling waitlists. This ongoing crisis has led to an increased reliance on psychotropic medications, highlighting an urgent need for accessible, holistic interventions that empower individuals to manage their wellbeing and relieve pressure on our healthcare systems.

Our approach focuses on empowering individuals to take ownership of their health by supporting both physical and mental well-being. We address critical challenges—including loneliness, anxiety, emotional stress, and depression—through clinically-informed yoga, mindfulness, and advanced breathing techniques, featuring Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY), a powerful rhythmic breathing practice shown to reduce stress in high-pressure environments.

We encourage self-referrals while also accepting direct referrals from GPs and healthcare workers to keep waiting times minimal. To deliver these interventions directly to healthcare workplaces and institutions, IAHV partners with the independent social enterprise Thriving Communities CIC to support NHS staff across the UK. Furthermore, under the Holistic Health Care (HHC) Project, we bring these proven SKY breathing practices and peer support frameworks directly to medical school students.

• Inaugural Pilot (2022): The program launched with a voluntary service evaluation project called “Yoga and Mindfulness Therapy” in Blackwood, running from April to November 2022, which tracked 48 core participants.

• Mental Health Relief: Participants in the evaluation project achieved significant, measurable improvements in their mental health, explicitly reporting a marked reduction in both anxiety and depression alongside feeling calmer, happier, and more positive.

• Reduced Medication Reliance: The pilot demonstrated clinical efficacy by helping multiple participants successfully reduce their daily dependency on antidepressants.

• Physical Wellbeing Gains: Beyond psychological benefits, participants reported major improvements in chronic physical symptoms, including noticeable relief from arthralgia (joint pain), fibromyalgia, and acid reflux.

• Continued Scaling (2023–2026): The program has scaled into consecutive community and workplace cohorts, actively reaching its fifth cohort in the Blaenau Gwent area by May/June 2026, alongside expanded sessions in Cardiff.

• NHS Integration: The model has broad institutional reach across Welsh healthcare systems, delivering specialized Mind & Body Wellness taster sessions to hospital staff, dental consultants, Psychological Health Practitioners (PHPs), and GP trainees across facilities including Ystrad Mynach Hospital, Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr, Cardiff and Vale UHB, and The Heath Hospital in Cardiff.

Medical Education & Service Expansion:

• Cardiff Medical School Pilot: The framework was introduced into medical education, where participating students reported reduced stress, lower anxiety, improved sleep quality, and greater resilience.

Our innovative and preventative approach to mental health, diversity, and community wellbeing has received multiple prestigious national recognitions across Wales:

• NHS Wales Sustainability Award Winner (2025): The Mind & Body Wellness Programme—delivered in partnership with the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board and supported by IAHV—was named Joint Winner in the Well-being of Future Generations category. The award recognized holistic, community-driven framework for reducing stress, workplace burnout, and prescription dependency.

• Welsh Charity Awards (2025): Project Lead Dr. Manmeet Kaur was named a finalist for Champion of Diversity, celebrating her efforts in developing inclusive, barrier-free health frameworks within the Mind & Body Wellness Programme.

• National Recognition at 10 Downing Street (2026): In recognition of the program’s measurable impact on public health, Project Lead Dr. Manmeet Kaur was invited to attend a special St David’s Day reception at 10 Downing Street.

• Individual Leadership Accolades (2024):

  • Winner, Aneurin Bevan University Health Board Staff Recognition Award (Population Health & Wellbeing category) awarded to Dr. Manmeet Kaur.

  • Winner, Inspiring Individual Award at the Mental Health & Wellbeing Awards Wales, presented to Dr. Manmeet Kaur by the Ajuda Foundation.