The benefits of yoga practice on mental health « Beth Rogerson

The practice of Yoga and Meditation is good for your overall mental health

It seems I feel a need to give a testimonial concerning the practice of yoga and meditation. Because I participate in a yoga class and experience the benefits I want to pass on the good news.

I feel exhilarated and positive after my yoga class and the benefits continue into my week.
I also feel stronger,
I am more flexible,
Better yet I feel calmer
And approach problems in my life with more ease and confidence and less anger.

I am only a beginner in the practice yoga and already I have received the benefits of feeling more positive and energetic. I have heard others speak in a similar way about their experience with the practice of yoga. This has led me to examine if research shows what I feel to be true about the practice yoga and meditation. Does it relieve stress and increase emotional well-being? The answer it YES.

I have and do recommend to my clients to supplement counseling/therapy with the practice of yoga and meditation. I have felt confident this would help support them emotionally because of my own personal experience with yoga and meditation.

However, there are also recent research studies which examines the outcome of practicing yoga and its possible effects on stress reduction and mood elevation

Here are a few of the headlines from the research examining yoga and its effects on well-being:

Relaxation techniques reduce anxiety

In a recent study all those who took part in the relaxation exercises, yoga, stretching, and imagery reported that they were more calm and were able to cope better with anxiety.
The researchers concluded that the relaxation methods were capable of inducing a deep state of relaxation and that these techniques should be more widely taught to patients who need help controlling stress in their lives.

Source: Percept Mot Skills 1999 Apr;88(2):409-16
Stress, relaxation states, and creativity.
Khasky AD, Smith JC

Yoga course demonstrates significant decreases in self-reported symptoms of depression and trait anxiety

Subjects who participated in the yoga course demonstrated significant decreases in self-reported symptoms of depression and trait anxiety. These effects emerged by the middle of the yoga course and were maintained by the end. Changes also were observed in acute mood, with subjects reporting decreased levels of negative mood and fatigue following yoga classes. Finally, there was a trend for higher morning cortisol levels in the yoga group by the end of the yoga course, compared to controls. These findings provide significant evidence of the utility of yoga in improving mood and support the need for future studies with larger samples and more complex study designs to more fully evaluate the effects of yoga on mood disturbances.
J Affect Disord. 2005 Dec;89(1-3):13-24. Epub 2005 Sep 26. Review.Pilkington K, Kirkwood G, Rampes H, Richardson J.PMID: 16185770 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Can meditation help relieve the symptoms of other medical conditions?

Meditation isn’t typically used in place of traditional therapies, such as medications your doctor prescribes. Instead, you might use meditation to supplement your other treatments. Medical research into meditation is limited, and the validity of some studies has been questioned. Keeping that in mind, some research shows that meditation may be beneficial for certain conditions when used along with medications or other interventions recommended by your doctor, including:

Anxiety
Depression
Stress
High blood pressure
Heart Disease

The best research will be the one in which you are the participant

What do we gain by practicing yoga?
“to be able to help ourself in all life circumstances
to be healthy
to develop good concentration
to develop self-confidence and calmness
to gain physical and psychical integrity
to attain balance between inner and outer activities
to free ourselves from addictive habits and attachements
to attain self-realisation”
“Meetings with a Yogi” author Swami Maheshwarananda

The worse is that you will loose interest and stop going to yoga. The worst won’t happen if you consider the following:

work with a yoga instructor who suits you
one who guides and instructs you in the practice of yoga in a way that fits your needs
find yourself a yoga course in English, that is if English is your first language.
feel good about your instructor and
pick a time for your yoga class that doesn’t have to compete with other things in your life.


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		© 2009 - 2012 Beth Rogerson.

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