When depression attacks, life becomes stressful but practicing yoga helps improve your mental health. Do you often experience a meritless feeling? Are you getting out inconsistently? Do you feel like you have no tomorrow? These are things that could lead to depression.
While you might wonder how stretching, breathing, or reaching can improve your physiological well-being, there is extended evidence that yoga can effectively reduce depression. Some of the research suggests that yoga is like an antidepressant and acts as a kind of exercise in reducing depression.
That is why yoga therapy can play such a huge role in the treatment of depression. Yoga possesses a combination of breathing exercises and meditation, which causes a reduction in blood pressure, slows down heart rate, decreases the production of stress hormones, and releases good chemicals in the brain such as serotonin.
Here are 6 ways yoga can improve depression.
1. Reduce The Impact Of Stress
Practicing yoga helps reduce stress. Yoga postures release muscle blockage as well as emotions and tension. Yoga also activates endorphins, which are feel-good hormones that help control stress. Some research suggests yoga is a complementary medicine and decreases the need for prescription drugs. More in-depth practicing of yoga reduces long-term stress, anxiety, and depression. Finally, breathing exercises teach you to relax and regulate your breathing, which also helps reduce stress and calm your body.
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2. Improve Mood And Relaxation
There is no doubt that the regular practice of yoga results in many physical benefits, such as reducing anxiety or stress or calming your body, which increases emotional stability. There are many types of yoga, such as Hatha yoga, Restorative yoga, Kundalini yoga, etc., which can greatly affect mood and well-being.
People with bipolar disorder are often prescribed antidepressants. However, with continuous use of antidepressants, bipolar disorder can worsen. Yoga can be a powerful addition to the treatment of bipolar disorder, as it incorporates a physical and emotional element that helps to manage the condition.
Yoga releases an important chemical production called serotonin, which plays a very important role in the treatment of depression. Studies suggest that people who are going through depression have low levels of serotonin.
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3. Help With Anxiety And Depression
Depression and anxiety kill energy and make it harder to get going. Yoga is a good way to feel better and get back into a positive routine. In general, yoga leads to lower stress, lower heart rate, and lower blood pressure by increasing the relaxation of the stress response in the body.
Research directed by Dissertation Assistance UK shows that yoga might help to control depression, but its effect on anxiety isn’t confirmed yet.
4. Improve Energy
Sometimes stress or lack of sleep can make people tired. Traveling for long hours, or being stuck with a long day meeting can make a person tired, making it impossible to spend quality time with loved ones. Are you unable to enjoy your weekend because of a stressful week? If you answered yes, then you may be suffering from a low-energy problem.
Yoga poses are helpful in reducing fatigue and balancing hormones, which brings energy back. They bring deep relaxation to the body by lowering the stress level.
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5. Yoga Remedy For Bipolar Disorder
Yoga is an impressive antidepressant and the perfect mood stabilizer. It is an activity that brings physical and mental well-being together. Bipolar disorder is a mental health condition that involves irritability and unpredictable mood swings. People who are suffering from bipolar disorder tend to move or speak slowly and ultimately gain weight. Moreover, they are likely to have psychotic depression.
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6. Treatment Of Spiritual Well-Being
United Nations and World community acknowledged that yoga practice is associated with several aspects of spirituality. Yoga is the systematic method associated with spiritual concepts to help the human consciousness. By practicing yoga, humans can find the highest coordination of mind and body. Plus, those who practice yoga not only connect better with themselves, but also with the natural world.
Conclusion
Yoga is safe and is practiced by many people all around the world. Like meditation, controlling thoughts and emotions is a core experience with yoga, and that helps with depression and anxiety.
Because yoga teaches the strategies of self-control, the continuous practice of yoga creates a positive life effect. And practicing yoga in a place where you feel relaxed and comfortable is a very helpful, natural way to control depression.
Author Bio: Claudia Jeffrey is currently working as an editor at CrowdWriter, where she helps students with academic and professional careers. She is a fitness freak and practices yoga daily. She also serves as a personal health trainer. Claudia loves to travel and explore different cultures of the world.
