Yoga for Mental Health: Finding Balance and Inner Peace

When most people think of yoga, they picture a person in tight fitting clothes bending and twisting their body into seemingly impossible and painful positions. However, yoga is so much more than that. While the physical practice of yoga (known as “asana”) is important, it is just one aspect of this ancient practice. Yoga is a way of life that encompasses physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.

Yoga is when the body, mind, and spirit become one. It is a way to align your complete self – physically, mentally, and emotionally. When you are in alignment, you are in a state of effortless ease where your actions are in line with your highest purpose. You can practice yoga in many different ways, however, all forms of yoga have the same purpose: to still the mind. When the mind is still, we are able to connect with our true self.

Yoga is when the body, mind, and spirit become one

There are many benefits to a regular yoga practice, both on and off the mat. The physical benefits of yoga are very well known, such as, improved flexibility, strength, and circulation. Recent scientific research has found that yoga can also have important impacts on our mental well being. A number of studies have found that yoga can help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, and can also improve sleep quality and overall well being.

One of the main ways yoga can help with our mental well being is by reducing the stress we hold in our bodies. Stress is a major trigger for mental health problems such as anxiety and depression. Yoga helps us release our stress in a variety of ways. First, it helps to improve how we breathe, which has a calming effect on the body. It also encourages mindfulness, which helps you gain control of your thoughts that lead to stress and anxiety. And additionally, because yoga is a physical activity it helps to release the tension that we tend to hold in our body.

yoga can help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression

Yoga may also be helpful in reducing feelings of depression because it helps to increase our body's level of serotonin, which can have mood-boosting effects. Serotonin also helps to reduce stress levels and improve sleep. This is important because poor sleep can worsen mental health symptoms and make emotions such as anxiety and depression more difficult to regulate. Yoga can also help to reduce our body's level of cortisol, a stress hormone. Since yoga involves deep breathing, which helps to calm our nervous system, the “flight or fight” response which is triggered when we are anxious can be effectively be reduced. Since yoga helps to increase blood flow to the brain, it is possible that we can have better cognitive function and memory, this is because of the improved the function of the hippocampus. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that is responsible for memory.

Overall, yoga has numerous mental wellbeing benefits since it can help to reduce stress, anxiety, and depression, and can also improve sleep quality and overall well-being.

If you are suffering from mental health problems, please seek help from your health provider.