Yoga for Depression

(August 8, 2008)

Hi, I'm 23yrs old. I'm suffering from mental depression and it has affected my family. Kindly suggest some yoga for anxiety and depression?

Yoga is ideal to treat depression in a positive manner. It increases concentration and helps the mind to be free from negative thoughts and move towards positivity. It increases human tolerance levels and helps the individual to face life with courage and high spirit. It increases the self esteem of the individual and increases the ability to solve the problems with ease and determination.

The main purpose of practicing the yoga poses is to enhance blood circulation to various nerves and muscles of the head and the brain. The increase of oxygen delivered to various organs of the body provides energy to the muscles and helps them relax. This helps the body and mind to be refreshed. It provides capability to have better insights to the problems and also offers better problem solving capabilities too.

Yoga is not difficult to learn but to gain mastery over it indeed consumes time. Yoga provides flexibility to the body and it brings better awareness and helps in concentration. The breathing exercises in yoga have great effects on the body of the individual.

Various postures of yoga are beneficial for treating depression. The Yoga posture Simhasana (lion pose) increases the glow of the face by providing more oxygen to the facial muscles. It helps to remove the stiffness in the jaws and provides relief to the upper part of the body.

Matsyasana (fish pose) is another important yoga posture which helps in providing relief from tension and relaxes the mind and the body. This asana has great benefit as it provides relief from anxiety and tensions and treats all from depression. It eases the pressure on the mind and provides support to the back and the shoulders. It is a comfortable Yoga pose which does not cause strain to the other organs of the body. Deep breathing as a part of Yoga asanas help in providing energy as the stretching exercises involved in it offers total relaxation to the stiff body parts.

These asanas show great results on the mind and the body. To achieve optimum benefits a single Yoga pose should be held for a longer amount of time rather than shifting to a wide variety of different postures. Staying in one position helps in providing equilibrium to the body and offers the stability to both the mind and the body. Shavasana (dead corpse pose) should be practiced at the end of various postures of yoga as it helps to calm the body.

Submitted by R J on August 8, 2008 at 01:33