Yoga for Mental Health

Transform Your Mental Health: The Power of Yoga for Anxiety and Depression

By Dennis Bluthardt, Namaste Studios

Recent studies show that an astonishingly high number of Americans, nearly 20 percent of all adults, experience mental health illnesses, with a gigantic rise in cases of anxiety and Depression in recent years alone. Considering these statistics, Americans need ways to cope with their mental health disorders. Yoga can help.

Yoga is a holistic school of thought that believes you can combine physical postures, breath control, and meditation to control your physical body and, more importantly, your mind.

This article addresses one of yoga’s many benefits. Regularly practicing will familiarize you with a quiet, relaxing community of people on the same journey as you, not to mention your own body and brain.

Understanding Mental Health

Mental health affects how we think, feel, and act. It is essential at every life stage. Good mental health helps us handle stress, make better choices, and enable us to relate to others.

Anxiety and Depression are so common that everyone will, at some point in their life, either struggle with their mental health themselves or know someone who is. When talking about mental health or mental illness, it is essential to understand what we mean. 

We use the term anxiety to talk about a lot of different conditions or feelings of excessive worry (like always thinking the worst is going to happen), restlessness (like not being able to sit still), and physical symptoms (like a racing heart).

Depression can be anything from feeling a little down to feeling overwhelming sadness. It usually means that the feelings are sticking around, along with other symptoms.

These conditions can present themselves in many ways, together or alternately. They can be severe or occur only occasionally. They make it hard to do well at our jobs, have good relationships, or enjoy other parts of our lives.

Mindfulness has been used widely in recent years to describe mental health. Mindfulness helps many people decrease stress.

And be better with emotional regulation. It involves being fully present and creating a nonjudgmental awareness of our experiences.

So, how does yoga fit in? I’m glad you asked!

Yoga touts the idea of a mind-body-spirit connection, which makes it a perfect place to practice mindfulness. It creates a THREAD among all three: your body moves, your breath draws your attention inward, and your mind starts to let go.

For that 75-minute Power Flow Class, forget it! The demands of your to-do list and the fight with your significant other suddenly become the last thing on your mind.

The very nature of mind-body activities lends itself to more acute awareness. For that, you need to know how the discipline of yoga describes the human organism.

The Benefits of Yoga for Mental Health

Yoga offers a well-rounded practice, complete with easy-to-follow mindfulness techniques. These techniques will give you the tools to live less stressed and approach situations with a clearer mind. When in a mindfulness state, you only focus on the present moment. From here, you can listen to your thoughts or feelings and decide whether this is something you could use and do so without judgment.

This umbrella will protect things like pranayama breath work, allowing it to close external, daily stimuli, restore the body, and clear the mind. Pranayama, otherwise known as synchronized breath movement, can be used as a preventative measure to reduce triggers of anxiety-related symptoms.

Other types of anxiety-reducing devices in yoga include restorative yoga and using the 4-7-8 breath. The former is a series of comforting, body-coddling poses that use long, passive holds to help prepare the mind’s physical dialogue at day’s end. Many of these positions (poses) come complete with props to assist in maintaining position. The 4-7-8 technique is essentially a “brain reset” sequence. This four-part process allows the body to stop entirely and safely atone for runaway heart rates and reduces tunnel vision, each of which is a trademark of very high anxiety polarity.

Are there studies behind yoga as a valid mental health tool? Johns Hopkins and Harvard have research that proves the truth of yoga’s reaching effects on Depression and how these effects contribute to instances of anxiety. A plethora of continued studies and testimonials give even more depth to the truth of yoga’s effects and add credibility to the practice.

Yoga Practices for Mental Health

Mental health can receive significant benefits from many different yoga poses. Child’s Pose, for instance, is a resting, restorative pose that encourages practitioners to slow down and instill qualities of introspection and relaxation. Child’s Pose is recommended for decompressing and reducing stress naturally. Another mentally beneficial pose is Cat-Cow; this pose allows for the stretching of the spine (resulting in the opening of the rest of the body) and the cultivation of mindfulness through the connection of the breath with the movement to reduce anxious feelings. The yoga pose, perhaps the most critical yoga pose, necessary for helping mentally specifically is Corpse Pose (Savasana) since the class ends with this pose to allow for the practitioner’s integration of their yoga practice to be paired with a moment of stillness to think more clearly and find some peace.

Still, within yoga, there are additional beneficial practices besides the physical postures related to the discipline of pranayama (controlling or restraining, in specific ways, the breath) to find more mental peace. Practices, such as one that calls for the outflow of the breath as you release it through the nostril in a slightly stronger (to maintain its control) and gentler (to regulate the emotions) manner, as is the purpose of the practice of Nadi Shodhana (alternate nostril breathing) as well as the exercises that call for the in-breath to be transitioned into smooth, long belly breathing to encourage that you release any thoughts that aren’t serving you (to cultivate a more peaceful, open, and balanced, in the left moon/feminine (or ida nadi) and right sun/masculine (or pingala nadi) sides of the network of energy pathways inside of you (within your nervous system or mental state) and the outflow of your breath to be sent out through the nostril to achieve the same desired mental result more efficiently. Exercises (such as these and others) that focus on the breath can be practiced to manage anxiety symptoms and/or focus more effectively on the task.

Considering yoga for mental health, a yoga practice should fit your personalized needs and schedules to make it easier for the user to access and practice. For the physical yoga practice, start with the top key yoga posture (from above) and go more efficiently to allow one, if not two, of the others to practice. Incorporating breath into the practice more quickly (or “capacity of regulation”). At the same time, the rest of the yoga sequence comes more easily to the practitioner. Like an organized yoga class, the best yoga practice for mental health includes balancing rest and work.

Integrating Yoga into Daily Life

Working yoga into your otherwise busy schedule can be enough to make a noticeable difference in your mental health. Simple exercises, including some basic stretches or a quick breathing exercise, can be enough for you to get started. You can even do it during your daily commute to and from work or school on public transport or during short breaks at work or school, as it is possible to get into a regular yoga session at any time or frequency without needing to dedicate a lot of your day to the practice.

Yoga also does not have to be a standalone treatment; you can use it with others. Therapy and related treatments, such as medication, can be helpful. These allow you to stay focused in the present moment and be aware of what you are doing. You can also supplement treatment practices in a therapeutic setting in addition to conventional medication. As such, practices like yoga are beneficial for supplementing Depression, anxiety, and similar treatments by allowing you to treat further the symptoms associated with these conditions so you can better manage their symptoms.

Taking yoga classes or studying with others can motivate you to work harder throughout the week. Finding a group that shares a common interest, goals, and values as you do can also be beneficial. Studying with a group or involving yoga in social activities gives you the drive to improve alongside others. Other benefits of studying in groups are the possibility of developing lifetime relationships and getting into a shoulder-to-shoulder fashion with someone who can push you to work harder and longer throughout the week. To start taking or eventually get into group classes, find an instructor or class that suits your learning style and abilities.

Connecting with your breath and body through yoga has many benefits for mental health. Yoga can reduce anxiety and emotional resilience, leading to more calm and clarity. Creating a space for yourself to rest, worry, and think anxious thoughts can be so calming, and incorporating just a little yoga into your day can make it a sanctuary for you.

Yoga is not a solution to mental illness, and anyone who is struggling or thinks they may be should always reach out to a professional. Yoga can be a great tool to destress and relieve anxiety symptoms. Professional help can help with more profound problems. Using yoga and therapy together can teach patients to explore their feelings and some ways to deal with them.

There are so many resources online with video yoga instructors catering to every level, most of which are free. You should also look for classes near you to join. Several channels offer yogis beginner, intermediate, advanced, power, athletic, bedtime, morning, restorative, yin, and more guided sessions focusing on relaxation and mindfulness.

In conclusion, taking care of yourself is necessary to lead a happier life.