Experiences with Depression and Yoga

I was terrified before my first Bikram yoga class. What if I passed out? What if I felt fat? What if I looked gross as a sweaty person? Will everyone else be awesome and flexible and judge me? I am telling you, with no exaggeration, all of these anxieties became sweat evaporating from my body not three minutes into the class. To be honest, I still feel this way, but these, like all worries I have, become evaporated sweat. I think this is the most profound thing about yoga for me; the ability to be in control by losing all control. There is no option to dwell on the negative stresses in my life because in order for my practice to be a true moving meditation, I need to completely let go of my thoughts. Outside of the class, I carry this perspective with me. I find myself able to “let go” in just about any scenario that would have caused me great anxiety before. I can handle bouts of sadness and stress knowing that at some point in that day, or some point in the week, I have 90 glorious minutes to mentally escape and show the love and appreciation I have for my mind and my body.

I first started yoga because I wanted an alternative to going to the gym. They gym cultivated a strange mindset for me. I was never at ease, I was self-conscious, there were so many egos walking around, and I would usually end up more stressed by the time I left. If I wanted to feel better about myself, the gym was not the place to do it. My first yoga class, although challenging, really helped to show me how “working out” was really about honoring myself, and my body. The practice of yoga is born out of a philosophy of Universal love. It is about opening to, and working with our connection with everything around us. I found that by opening my body the way yoga forces you to do, it also started to open my heart. For the first time in a long time, I felt really good about myself, dare I say I even loved myself. I felt more accepted in the world and more present in the world. Yoga keeps me from returning to that dark place of self-loathing that so many of us return to. I can truly say that it changed my life.

I found the improvement to depression resulted as a pleasant side effect of doing yoga to treat fybromialgia. I wanted to relieve some of the pain, but the yoga did much more than ease the pain, it improved my depression symptoms, and has aided me to lose 40 lbs. It also improved my confidence level and has inspired many of my friends and family to get on the floor along side of me and try it.

I love yoga. I've practiced on and off for almost 15 years, and whenever I'm consistent about it I see improvements in my mood, energy and stress level. Just taking the time to focus on breathing deep, clearing your mind and stretching out the day's stress goes a long way.

Yoga is not a mystery. It opens up the fascia tissue so that vital organs have room to operate. These organs are compressed and released through yoga postures to stimulate their cells and detoxify them. The discs between the vertebrae must be refreshed by movements in the back's full range of motion to circulate synovial fluid so that they can remain healthy. Low back dysfunction is the main source of worker disability. Yoga forces us to fortify our nervous system so that it can hold our muscles steady through strange and static postures. This calms the mind and expands the capacity to endure stress. Stress and the subsequent production of cortisone are the main cause behind the chronic diseases that are modern society's chief killers. Yoga teaches you to live in your body and recognize what is healthy and unhealthy. It increases awareness so that you don't do stupid things like slam your hand in a car door, fall down stairs or anger people who might be inclined to throw you a haymaker--or leave your body behind by doing drugs (even legal ones). Yoga is not a mystery. It is common-sense science constructed over millennia through trial and error. This experiment yields results better than any pharmaceutical. Wake up! Begin your own experiment today.

As a psychologist, I'm always trying to get my clients and students to exercise to reduce stress. Since I began practicing yoga, I have a higher appreciation of its value and urge my clients and students to give it a try!

Yoga is an amazing way to rid yourself of depression or at least lessen it. Not only is it a great workout, but it's also really relaxing and I always leave happier and calmer than when I entered. Even if I had a rough class or I was particularly tired, I am at least proud of myself that I even went to a yoga class. It always helps me to set an intention before I start my yoga class. I find that if I have an expectation to do all the advanced moves when I am feeling sore or had a long day, if I don't meet that expectation, I become sad. But, if I had a long day and set my intention for the day's yoga class to only focus on my breathing, then I am able to walk out of the class accomplished and feeling happy no matter what. This has been really helpful in keeping me happy and healthy.

Yoga has been a mental healing medicine for me for about 4 years. I started to practice yoga after I broke up with my long time boyfriend...I was devastated at the time so I started going to the gym to take workout classes. On Tues and Thursday, I would take yoga and pilates to balance out my other workout sessions. My mind has been so much clearer after I started the body and mind classes. I feel life can be so much peaceful and beautiful if we listen to ourself and our bodies. I think it's a great way to learn to be patient and to think of what is best for us in our lives. I highly recommended.

I had been suffering from depression for several years before I began practising yoga. Depression runs in my family. Yoga helped me tremedously to overcome my depression. It has helped me to feel more grounded and happy with the small things in life and has also opened up my potential for the future. As well as restoring a sense of well being after I practise, yoga also allows me to think more about the potential of me doing what i love in the future. So it empowers me to think more positively about the future and about my life in general. I would definately recommend yoga to someone suffering from depression. On a side not I tried prescription medications for several years and they did not appear to help to ease my depression at all.

Yoga has brought me tremendous peace of mind. I started with a lot of negative talk in my head -- now I am able to be present, patient, and compassionate with myself.

I started doing yoga to help calm my mind - to help stop the over-analytic and circular loops that perpetually took up my energy. I started to see profound effects pretty quickly - within about 2 weeks. Working with a practitioner one-on-one, we created a 20 minute personal practice that focused on simple moves that were guided by my breath and a period of meditation in a seated lotus position (the stereotypical "meditation" looking pose.)

I'm convinced yoga can work for people in different ways, but people need to be specific about what they're looking for. Going to yoga classes at the gym can be a great physical exercise, but might not include the breathing and meditation components that you want. Likewise, a yoga practice with simple poses may not physically stretch your muscles and get your heart pumping, so if this is what you're looking for, seek a more strenuous yoga practice.

In the end, finding effective treatments is all about self-reflection... no one treatment works for everybody, and really, you're the only one who knows what works for you.

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