The National Institute of Mental Health lists mild exercise as a way to cope with depression. Yoga uses body postures, or poses, breathing exercises and meditation to stretch, strengthen and balance the body and mind, and to create inner harmony. Yoga is not a replacement for psychological or psychiatric help. Many forms of anxiety and depression require medication.
Significance
Yoga Journal mentions specific poses for the relief of depression and anxiety symptoms. Founder of ParaYoga Rod Stryker emphasizes that some yoga poses make students feel good by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system, and on a more holistic level, by moving prana, or life energy, back into balance in the body and mind. The Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA) purports that all forms of physical activity alleviate stress and produce endorphins in the body.
Styles of Yoga
A typical yoga class includes a variety of poses--all designed to twist, fold, balance, restore or strengthen the body. Some yoga styles, such as Ashtanga, rigorously challenge the body by linking poses together with the breath and working students toward increasingly complex poses. Restorative Yoga classes use props, blankets and pillows to support students in gentle stretching poses for minutes at a time. People with anxiety may benefit from gentler styles of yoga, while depressed people might enjoy a faster-paced class that includes inverting and twisting poses. Those suffering from anxiety and depression should try a variety of yoga formats to find what feels the best.
Energizing Poses
Poses may serve the body in more than one way. For example, the backbending pose, Bridge, energizes the body by relieving fatigue, but also calms people with anxiety. Dolphin Pose, which looks like an inverted V, with elbows on the floor under the shoulders, simultaneously relieves depression and fatigue. Inversions, like Handstand, serve as the ultimate poses for depression. Being upside-down stimulates the brain, builds confidence and provides students with a change of perspective. If Handstands or Headstands are a bit intimidating in the beginning, then students with depression can benefit from the half inversions like Standing Forward Bend.
Calming Poses
Some of the yoga poses most suited for relieving anxiety are Bow Pose (grabbing ankles from behind with belly on the floor), Child's Pose (seated on calves and ankles with head face down and arms stretched out straight in front) and Triangle Pose. A simple combination of poses just about anyone can do is Cow and Cat. A student starts on the hands and knees and simply shifts the belly down for Cow, with an inhale, and the back up toward the ceiling, with an exhale, for Cat.
Considerations
People with anxiety and depression should consider trying yogic meditation and breathing exercises. Along with physical activity, the ADAA also lists meditation as a stress-relieving activity. Many yoga classes use meditation and breathing in combined exercises. For example, an instructor has students focus on smoothing out their breath with a certain number of seconds for inhales and exhales. The act of concentrating on the breath helps students become more present, which is part of meditation.
