Kula's mission is to make mental health a human right by providing equitable, accessible, and affordable mindfulness-based mental healthcare to underserved and marginalized communities. 

 

Post-pandemic, the need is greater than ever. Americans realized the impact of our mental health on our daily lives, our health, our families and schools, and our social and economic health. We were also hit with the realization that effective mental healthcare is not easy to find, access or afford. 

 

TIME recently reported in an article called "America Has Reached Peak Therapy. Why is Our Mental Health Getting Worse?" that despite a dramatic rise in Americans seeking and receiving traditional therapy and/or medications over the past 20 years, the stats show that our mental health is only declining. One factor is that the system is overtaxed and people can't get the help they need. Another factor, experts say, is that the methods underpinning modern psychiatry only "skim the surface of a vast ocean of need." In other words, therapy alone isn't changing things. 

 

While proponents (and partakers!) of therapy, Kula for Karma offers an alternative and complementary solution that is effective and easily scaled. We utilize mindfulness, restorative yoga, guided meditation, empathetic community discussions (dharma talks) and breathing exercises to teach people in crisis how to use awareness, breath and movement to calm their nervous system, regulate emotions, soothe anxiety, and cultivate clarity and focus. Mindfulness has also been shown to change neural pathways and DNA, opening people struggling with trauma, addiction, and mental health issues to new habits and mindsets and releasing the bonds of familial, ancestral, or communal trauma. 

 

Since research shows the symptoms and effects of trauma live mainly in the body, bringing the body and mind together in mindfulness-based mental healthcare yields impressive changes, and also equips people with skills, practices and tools to continue managing their mental health into the future. 

 

For stats on the proven medical and scientific impact of mindfulness on trauma, addiction and mental health, check out our WHAT WE DO page and listen to some of our testimonials on the OUR IMPACT page.

 

In May of 2023, Kula launched our campaign called Mental Health is the Next Human Right to raise the profile of mindfulness-based mental health care as a solution to the national mental health crisis during Mental Health Awareness Month. Our vision is to expand the availability and impact of mindfulness-based mental health care to every community.