4 Ways to Use Yoga to Manage OCD

1. Explore the Notion of Mindfulness

Mindfulness is the practice of being in the moment. It stresses calmness and stability and allows you to observe your emotions without judging them. When obsessive thoughts arise, you do not deny them, but neither do you allow yourself to be carried away by them. You simply notice them, accept them and retain your sense of calm as they move through your consciousness. Mindfulness usually requires a quiet place and can utilize a number of different yoga postures, but it is really more of a state of being than a specific technique or style of meditation. The more you explore notions of mindfulness, the better you will be able to control your obsessive thoughts.

2. Practice Deep-Breathing Exercises

Breathing exercises are excellent means of reducing stress and anxiety, which exacerbate the symptoms of OCD. You can practice them at work or in public, and you needn't adopt any formal yoga positions to do so. Sit down comfortably or stand up straight with your spine erect. Focus your vision on a non-fixated location, like a blank wall. Breathe inward slowly with your mouth closed, taking in all of the air through your nose. Expand your diaphragm and silently count to four as you do so. Feel the breath travel all the way down to your stomach. Hold it in for another silent count of four and then exhale for a count of four. Count to four one more time before inhaling again and repeating the process. You can do this for several minutes each day or whenever an OCD episode is triggered in your mind.

3. Practice Muscle-Relaxation Techniques

Muscle relaxation helps engender mindfulness as well as mitigating the anxiety of an OCD episode. It works especially well at the end of the day just before you go to bed. Sit in a comfortable position without any restricting clothes. Make sure your surroundings are quiet and without distractions. Curl your toes and hold them in that position for a silent 10 count before releasing them. Then, flex your feet and hold them in a tense position for another 10 count before releasing again. Move slowly up your body, tensing the muscles in each portion for a 10 count before relaxing them. When it comes to your hands, tense them first in a fist for 10 seconds and then in an outward position with your fingers splayed forward. Scrunch the muscles in your face when you reach your head. The process makes you extremely aware of the state of your own body while concentrating your feelings on physical sensations rather than your obsessions.

4. Adopt an Alternate-Nostril Breathing Exercise

This technique is practiced by Kundalini yoga and has been proven particularly effective in addressing OCD symptoms. It is essentially a variation of the deep-breathing exercises above. The only difference is that you use your finger to close your right nostril and breathe entirely through your left. The belief is that it influences the right hemisphere of the brain, which is where your obsessive thoughts are believed to originate. Ideally, the cycle of breathing should take exactly 1 minute--15 seconds to inhale, 15 seconds to hold your breath, 15 seconds to exhale and 15 seconds to wait before breathing in again. It may take time to build up your lung capacity to do this comfortably, but regularity is important. Each of the four breathing steps should take the exact same amount of time. Practice this every day for at least 1/2 hour.