Long gone are the days when yoga was considered more as a hobby. Now, it is a wonder drug that helps millions to relieve the symptoms of daily stress. The advantages of yoga – low cost, great calming ability, and improvement of mental health – make it a natural anti-depressant that can help men and women, young and old, regardless of the fitness level. While for the past decade the science has explored many of both physical and mental benefits of doing yoga, today we focus our attention on one fresh study that has a lot of recommendations for yoga devotees and those struggling with depression.
The Study To identify the poses recommended by science, we are going to use a study titled Treating Major Depression With Yoga: A Prospective, Randomized, Controlled Pilot Trial published in PLOS ONE Journal earlier this year. It was completed by a group of scientists from the University of California, Johns Hopkins University, and Cornell University. The main purpose of the study was to examine how an 8-week hatha yoga intervention impacted people with mild to major depression. To achieve this purpose, the researchers recruited 38 adults who were diagnosed with depression.
According to the results, the group who practiced yoga during the study period exhibited a considerable decline in depression scores than the group who did not. The decline was statistically and clinically significant, so the study concluded that the yoga intervention can serve as a tool for reducing depression severity.
Recommendations on Yoga Poses: Below is the specific hatha yoga sequence used by the researchers in the study.
Breath Regulation
Mindful Poses & Movement
Final Deep Relaxation
Now that we know what poses were effective for battling depression, we can turn our attention to them and learn how they help. The following section reviews some of the poses used in the study.
Breath Regulation Poses “These poses improve your ability to focus, settle stress, rejuvenate the nervous system, restore the balance in the left and right hemispheres of the brain, and support respiratory functions,” says Matt Curry, an in-house yoga teacher from Assignmenthelper.com.au. “They are a perfect tool to calm a worrying or overactive mind.”
Ujjayi (Victorious Breath)
Bhastrika (Bellows Breath)
Nadi Shodhana (Alternate Nostril Breathing)
Mindful poses teach to focus on present, dissolve tensions, build strength, and increase mobility.
Bhujungasana (Cobra Pose)
Setu Bandhasana (Bridge Pose)
Final Deep Relaxation Pose Shavasana (Corpse Pose)
Time for Yoga! If you are experiencing depression or just want some relaxation, hatha yoga is the easy and proven tool that offers a wide range of benefits.
By Lucy Benton Lucy Benton is a writing coach, an editor who finds her passion in expressing own thoughts as a blogger. She is constantly looking for the ways to improve her skills and expertise. Also Lucy has her own blog ProWritingPartner where you can check her last publications. If you’re interested in working with Lucy , you can find her on FaceBook and Twitter.
Try these YogaDownload.com classes to combat depression:
Yoga for Depression: Flow into Happiness with Maria Garre
Yoga for Depression & Anxiety with Ira Israel