Out of all of the rotten things that one must cope with while struggling with anxiety, one of the worst is being told “just cheer up!” by friends and family. However well-wishing they are, they might not realize that it is virtually impossible to plaster on a smile and feel better.
For those who are dealing with depression and anxiety, the goal of ‘feeling happy’ quickly fades into the background; a much more attainable position is that of complete neutrality, finding a calm emotional and mental center where one’s head is clear enough to be able to function day-to-day.
Depression and anxiety can be crippling in many ways. For sufferers, the ability to arrive at an emotionally calm place, even for a few minutes, is the first step to an eventual recovery. One of the most common techniques used by counselors and therapists in these early stages of treatment is mindfulness.
Trying to squash down your negative thoughts is a useless exercise; instead of trying to change these feelings, professionals teach their patients to sit in a state of open, active attention, observing their present emotions in a non-judgmental manner. Practitioners use controlled breathing and meditation to draw their focus to a different place—not good or bad, but simply somewhere new.
Yoga: A Tool for Focus
If breathing exercises and sitting meditation sound familiar, then you’ve likely been to a yoga class; national surveys indicate that at least 7% of US citizens have tried it at least once. While some types are highly challenging and provide strenuous exercise, others are calmer and use the positions and environment to promote a state of bodily awareness and control. Studies conducted in the last ten years have shown that certain aspects of the practice can help those suffering from depression and anxiety.
While it’s still not entirely clear how yoga helps to improve mood, evidence suggests that it works similar to other relaxation techniques. It tames the stress response, and thus can decrease the physiological symptoms of anxiety, like quickened heart rates, while redirecting a patient’s focus elsewhere. A 2005 German study examined 24 women who had reported feeling depressed in the last 90 days, and followed them as some took two yoga classes per week for three months. At the end of the experiment, those who had done the practice reported positive improvements in their mood across the board.
The Sudarshan Kriya Yoga method involves several different types of controlled breathing patterns, ranging from rapid, intense cycles to slow and calming exercises. A study compared this practice with electroconvulsive therapy and tricyclic antidepressants in 45 people who had been hospitalized for depression; after a month of treatment, 67% of those who had practiced the breath control were in remission. While it wasn’t as effective as the other two methods, it was still a significant improvement.
Yoga can be a great exercise for improving flexibility and core strength, and its popularity in North America is only increasing. While practitioners have always touted its calming abilities, the hard science is now proving those claims to be true; the practice can indeed help to alleviate feelings of anxiety and depression. As a small part of the long and difficult process of recovery, it can help to focus one’s mental state somewhere other than their feelings, and breathing exercises can calm anxiety. It’s not a cure-all, but it can be a healthy, positive start in the right direction.
About the author: Paul Condon is a representative of Breathemat.com, a retailer of quality, thick yoga mats which give a comfortable, dry layer of protection between the exercising body and floor of the yoga studio. Breathemat cotton yoga mats are both tough and flexible enough to toss in the washer and dryer with ease. The hand-made design, including the trademarked Rabbit Flap, and high quality materials make it the yoga mat for any hot yoga enthusiast.
Reference: Harvard Health