Yoga is a quick way to lift mood
Yoga is supremely suited to help those who suffer depression but who don't buy into the medical model of 'disease'. Ciara Cronin explores how different forms of yoga can help
The
practice and philosophy of yoga, based as it is on the study of human
nature over millennia, allows us to understand and treat depression
beyond its medical label. Stephen Cope, author of Yoga and The Quest
for True Self, says: "Depression manifests as our inability to be
present for the experience of life. At its root, depression signals a
difficulty with Being itself." Through yoga we can remember our divine
nature, rise above the chattering mind, cease clinging to what we love
and avoiding what we hate and gracefully ride the currents of change.
Yoga can help awaken us to our true self, to return us to Atman, the
‘source', so we can know we have lost nothing and that everything is as
it should be.
In the Yoga Sutras, the quintessential
yoga text compiled in the fifth century by the scribe Patanjali, the
author offers the Eight-Fold Path of yoga as a prescription for all
mental and physical disturbances. In a variety of practical ways
adherence to the Eight-Fold Path can help someone suffering from
depression; by caring for themselves and others (yama/ niyama), through
the physical practice of yoga postures (asana) and breathing exercises
(pranayama) and through the healing practice of relaxation and
meditation they can return to Atman, true Self.
The
physical practice of yoga postures (asana) is often the first avenue of
treatment of depression through yoga. A common characteristic of
depression is mental preoccupation coupled with not enough physical
exercise. Dr Alexander Lowen, body-centred psychotherapist, founder of
bio-energetics and author of Depression and the Body, explains that
depressed people are detached from their bodies. Their energy resides
in the upper chakras, or energy centres, and never grounds through the
core and legs. Encouraging meditation and focus on philosophical tenets
may exacerbate this energetic imbalance. Through the practice of hatha
yoga; the ‘Ha' and ‘Tha' are balanced energetically so neither the
mental or physical faculties predominate.
It is a
well-known fact that physical exercise is effective at treating
depression by increasing the amount of oxygen and endorphins in the
bloodstream. Recent studies have revealed more beneficial changes from
yoga than from exercise. In his book Meditation as Medicine, Dharma
Singh Khalsa MD describes how yoga and meditation can radically alter
the biochemistry of the brain. The balance of stimulation and
relaxation achieved through yoga practice stimulates the pituitary
gland to release endorphins, while the peripheral glandular system
produces adrenaline and norepenephrine to stimulate brain activity. The
levels of the stress hormone cortisol drops and oxygen consumption
increases, reducing muscle tension. This unique combination of factors
working together raise conscious awareness while promoting deep
relaxation. A clinical study in Scandinavia revealed that following a
two-hour yoga class the alpha waves (relaxation) and theta waves
(unconscious memory, dreams and emotions) were increased in the brain
by 40 per cent. The stress hormone cortisol was shown to have
significantly dropped in participants, in a study at the Jefferson
Medical College in Philadelphia, after a single yoga class.
Yoga
postures, breathing, and the use of sound as a mantra or chant give us
a powerful recipe for positively altering the body's biochemical and
hormonal balance. Mantra causes the master glands of the brain, the
pituitary, pineal and hypothalamus, to release hormones that give "a
light, natural stimulation of the mind and body - the opposite of
depression".
Asana — the physical practice of yoga
There
seems to be two distinct schools of thought when prescribing yoga poses
for a depressed person. BKS Iyengar and others, including The Bihar
School of Swami Satyananda, advocate a vigorous programme of asanas,
focusing on backbends and sun salutations, to keep the person
externally focused, avoiding forward bends and shavasana (lying down
relaxation) - postures that promote too much introspection. Kripalu
yoga champions the benefits of holding the ‘introspective' asanas to
explore, experience and clear the underlying feelings and causes of the
depressed state.
This ‘only-way-out-is-through'
philosophy of Kripalu yoga sees the yoga mat as an appropriate place to
explore the darker feelings that characterize depression. Students are
encouraged to move slowly, holding postures, while staying present to
the emotions that may arise. Kripalu teachers encourage a slow,
deliberate movement that anchors the mind in sensation and allows a
deep relearning to happen. By applying the yogic principle of svadyaya,
‘self-study', a profound level of healing can occur. "All the practices
in Kripalu yoga are simply tools to strip away the layers of armoring
that keep us feeling separate from ourselves and others," says Amy
Weintraub. In this way, witness consciousness is cultivated so a deeper
acceptance of reality can take place.
Inverted postures
such as shoulder stand or headstand, both camps agree, are particularly
useful as they alter the flow of blood, lymphatic drainage and cranial
sacral fluid. This increases the availability of oxygen and glucose in
the brain required for the creation of the feel-good neurotransmitters
of norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin.
Standing
poses help ground energy, elevate mood and build confidence. Backbends
invigorate and give a feeling of hope as they open the chest. Seated
forward bends can be helpful in calming an agitated, anxious mind.
Leading Iyengar yoga teacher Patricia Walden advises different
sequences for particular forms of depression. Chronic depression
sufferers benefit from beginning their practice with quiet
chest-opening postures, progressing to more active, energising poses.
Someone suffering from an anxiety-based depression may start with a
series of active poses to release excess energy, which can be followed
by some calming, restorative poses.
The breath
Breath
is often described in yogic tradition as the bridge between the body
and mind. The practice of yogic breathing, pranayama, can have a
powerful effect on the mind and body of a depressed person - elevating
mood and consciousness by directly increasing the flow of prana, life
force, through the entire system. By consciously controlling the breath
through pranayama the amount of prana in the body may be controlled,
either energising or calming the system, depending on the practice.
The
internal state of a person can be revealed by close observation of
their breath. A depressed person often breathes shallow, short breaths
into the tops of the lungs. Donna Farhi equates this upper-chest
breathing to people being out of their body and ‘in their head'. Dharma
Singh Khalsa explains that this type of breathing can become a vicious
cycle, further locking tension into the body. Alexander Lowen observed
that many of his depressed patients had actually immobilised their
diaphragm, unconsciously trying to control powerful feelings of fear,
aggression or sexual response.
Simply teaching a
depressed person how to breath evenly and deeply can have a profound
effect on their mental state. Deep diaphragmatic breathing fully
exposes the blood in the capillaries to air, and circulates the
oxygenated blood to the lower parts of the lungs. Deeper breathing
brings a more grounded feeling of being in touch with the body and its
feelings. With the breath more grounded in the body and the diaphragm
relaxed, the body often begins to allow the experience of repressed
feelings to emerge. Feelings of anger, fear, resentment, grief may
surface and need to be held, integrated and processed, either on the
yoga mat or with a properly trained therapist.
Meditation
Conscious
relaxation and meditation can create a calm, healing state in the body,
balancing and purifying the mind, although it is important for teachers
to evaluate when meditative practices are appropriate for a student
suffering from depression. Attempting to meditate in an excessively
negative or agitated mind-space may be counter-productive. There are a
large number of meditation techniques that have proven their
effectiveness at calming and quieting the mind, from prayer,
visualisation, mindfulness meditation, medical meditation,
Transcendental Meditation, and many others.
The state of
samadhi, surrender into wholeness, can be seen as the ultimate healing
state. This state is not reserved to the yoga mat, nor is it to be seen
as an ultimate goal to be sought in yoga practice. This surrender to
what is can allow a state of grace to emerge where everything in the
moment feels exactly as it should be. This profound healing state may
catch us unawares while watching a bird in flight, following
meditation, or it may find us in a yoga asana as the grasping mind lets
go for several moments of bliss.
Through the regular
practice of yoga it is possible for suffers of depression to be
profoundly healed and helped. The more regular the practice, the more
profound the results. It can be difficult to motivate a depressed
person to do anything and not to increase their sense of failure if
they fail to live up to the demands of a daily practice. But if,
through the gentle guidance of an understanding teacher, they can feel
safe and empowered it is hoped that the results incrementally grow and
the tangible benefits will promote the desire to engage more and more
with their yoga practice.
Ciara Cronin is a Registered
Yoga Teacher and qualified holistic therapist. She teaches regular
classes to groups and individuals in south Dublin and Wicklow, and
residential workshops in the west of Ireland. Visit www.yoga.ie for
further information or e-mail ciara@yoga.ie
Bibliography
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Epstein, Mark: ‘Sitting with Depression'. Yoga Journal (September/October 2000)
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Feuerstein, Trisha Lamb: ‘Yoga and Depression Bibliography'. Yoga Research and Education Centre, 2000
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Suffering Through Yoga (New York; Broadway Books, 2004)
See
www.yogafordepression.com/Yoga_For_Depression.htm
Worthington, Roger. A Student's Companion to Patanjali. (London; Theosophical Publishing House, 1987)
Singh Khalsa, Dharma, MD. Meditation as Medicine (New York; Fireside, 2002)
Raskin, Donna: ‘How Yoga can Banish the Blues'.
www.allspiritfitness.com/library/features/aa031501a.shtml
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www.yogamag.net/archives/2000/5sep00/depres.shtml (England, 2000)
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