Yoga for mental health

The ancient science of yoga unites poses with breathing and concentration to build strength, awareness and harmony between mind and body. Yoga provides many obvious physical benefits – flexibility, stamina, circulatory health, to name a few – and now more than ever, we realise its important role in our mental wellness too.

Self-care is a hot topic, thankfully, as with life continuing to pick up speed all around us – we’ve got to slow down and look inward, at our own mental health.

Yoga helps our mental health by:

• Relieving anxiety

• Lowering depression

• Promoting better sleep

• Fighting fatigue

• Decreasing stress

• Improving focus

• Increasing tolerance

Up the ante with the extensive neurological benefits of meditation. Studies show that it increases focus and concentration, and lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

Anxiety, stress and depression are often inter-linked. They manifest in many different ways, causing everyones’ experience of mental illness to be unique, sometimes including:

• Physical sickness

• Difficulty breathing

• Emotional outbursts

• Low mood

• Poor sleep

• Physical aches and pains

• Coping strategies such as addictions

Yoga and meditation promote relaxation

Yoga and meditation promote relaxation – the opposite of anxiety, stress and depression. They build our ability to stay centred, which is vital for stress management. By pausing to breathe, meditate or stretch, the mind is directed away from the trigger and a biological reaction of calming begins.

Specific yoga and meditation practices stimulate our vagus nerve which is involved in our parasympathetic nervous system – our rest and digest response.

These simple practices amplify awareness of what’s happening in our body, making it possible to detect changes and early signs of mental health issues. How? One way is by teaching us to be present, rather than worrying about what’s occured in the past or what may happen in the future.

And… Exercise naturally increases the flow of serotonin, ‘the happy hormone’. So moving and relaxing our body calms the mind, and enhancing our mental health positively affects our physical health.

When the world feels out of balance, unequal or low, yoga can help us maintain our internal equilibrium and elevate our experience of daily life. And it’s available to us anywhere, any time.

4 Easy Steps to Help You Get Back Into Your Yoga Routine

Some things are easier said than done, especially if your fitness routine falls by the wayside. If you haven’t worked out for a while, here are some useful tips and tricks to help you get back on track.

1) Start with Visualisation.

Sometimes the first step can be the hardest. This is why the power of visualisation can be the key in the first step to taking up a consistent workout routine again. Having recently undergone a minor surgery myself, I can only speak from experience when I say that visualising yourself doing what you’d like to do is key before starting any kind of routine. Your mind is a powerful tool and can aid in preparing your body for any upcoming activity. Ideally, it would be highly recommended to practise meditation, as it in fact helps your mind to become focused on any tasks ahead of you. 

2) Simply Breathe.

Another possibility to ease yourself back into your workout routine would be simple breathing techniques. After my surgery I was very restricted in my physical capabilities and I was not allowed to move about a lot. However, I still had my breath. And guess what…lungs need to be exercised too! One of my go-to breathing techniques in this case is Nadi Shoda, also known as alternate nostril breathing. What may sound simple is actually quite challenging: While holding one of your nostrils closed, you breathe in through the open one. Once you take a deep breath, you close both of your nostrils for a brief moment before you open the nostril that was previously closed and then you repeat this for at least ten times. Trust me, this will not only challenge your breathing muscles but also strengthen your concentration! 

3) Walk, Forrest, walk!

If you haven’t noticed already, I believe in small but consistent steps. So if you feel like you are totally unfit and need to take it easy or need to recover slowly like me, I would strongly encourage you to start going for little walks. Whether you measure those with a step counter or by minutes, the important thing is not to overdo it. Aim to walk a little further everyday and you will see that you will build up some strength. Promise! 

4) Work it!

 Last but not least, the only way to build up a workout routine again is by exercise itself. However, you should not overwork yourself as pain and sore muscles on the next day usually discourage people from continuing to exercise again. And if you have just undergone surgery like me, it is best to start exercising those muscle groups which you can work and move fully. 

Overall, the above steps do not need to be followed strictly and can be combined in whichever way you want to. Just remember: Be kind to yourself and take it easy.