Yoga for Depression
Yoga for depression; how does it work?
It is a wonder to many how yoga works on your entire body. In one of my previous articles about yoga, I mentioned that the word itself means ‘union’. The union we are talking about here is of the body, mind and soul as one. ‘A union of a healthy body and a calm mind and soul’ – this is the goal yoga aims to achieve.
Depression; a killer
Pause for a minute and think about how depression strikes.
It is like a thief that comes at an unexpected hour, uses our situations, eats away our life, savings, memories, time and finally tries to kill all our possible solutions.
Depression is like cancer, if not dealt with straight away it eats away your entire body.
Why do you think we go through depression? Why has it become a common term?
Well, as the demand goes up and the supply is reduced and when all our plans come to an end due to lack of supply, when you think that all hope is lost and no way out – then we leave ourselves with one option and that is depression.
Depressed people have a busy mind, with all the possible negative thoughts. They are constantly engaged in thoughts that lead them further to destruction.
Then what is the solution?
A solution that I personally think is effective is clearing your mind of all these negative thoughts and gaining a positive energy and a positive spirit, which opens the way to a new day and a new, beginning.
I think it is about being hopeful and burying all those thoughts that limit your life.
How can we work towards the solution?
Research proves that, yoga has been an effective treatment for depression. It fights the second facets of depression like stress, anger, anxiety and tension. It enhances a calm and soothing mind and a relaxed body.
Yoga for depression
Yoga is a form of exercise that connects an individual’s body to their inner self. It brings an awareness and importance of their being and promotes positive energy. Depression breaks the connection to oneself and activates the negative energy within our mind.
How does yoga’s remedy?
During the ancient times, when yoga originated, it was more of a practice that activated the positive spirit and through the mind, worked on the body. In our modern world today, several other benefits of yoga have been discovered with time. But since the beginning yoga was believed to be a cure for all diseases of the body and the mind. It is through years of practice and researches that people having finally understood that it sure does fight many disorders.
Yoga’s first remedy is meditation. Meditation was initially practiced only by yogis or sages to instill a calm mind and to gain self control. They believed that through meditation, they reached deep within themselves and overcame all the other desires that life placed before them. They gained inner peace and harmony and a complete oneness within themselves.
Meditation may also involve chanting. This causes a vibration within the body and the brain and clears the mind of any thoughts and promotes silence within a chaotic brain. It clears the mind of any stressful situations and helps you establish a positive outlook towards your situations.
Another remedy that yoga offers is asanas. There are some asanas that can be practiced on a regular basis, that ease your stress and anxiety levels and promote a calm and relaxed mind and body.
Yoga asanas for depression
- Pranayama (breathing techniques)
- Lion Pose
- Fish pose
These poses are specific for fighting depression. However there are several other asanas, which do fight depression whilst working on the other areas of your body. Other poses include;
- Forward bend
- Dolphin pose
- Happy baby pose
- Child pose
- Inverted poses
- Corpse pose
There are other poses that focus on relieving stress and anxiety but you have to start somewhere to see the effect they can have on your body mind and soul.
If you are someone who is going through that time in your life where nothing seems right, just pick up your mat and get geared to undo all the negative energy and bring in all the positivity into your life. Just follow these simple asanas and you can see for yourself the wonders of it all.
