Can Yoga Help Heal Depression?

Discover the effects of regular yoga on depression.

It doesn’t matter if you are a housewife or an award winning athlete, depression is something that most of us cannot escape. Every year, depression affects approximately 14.8 million Americans, or roughly 6.7 percent of the US population age 18 and older. As many as one in 33 children suffer from clinical depression, a number which increases to 1 in 8 in regards to adolescents. People who suffer from depression are more likely to develop other illnesses like heart disease and heart attacks, and it can co-occur with other illnesses such as cancer, strokes, HIV, and substance abuse. The moral of the story is that none of us are immune to depression, so we must all find our own ways of fending it off.

I know I talk a lot about yoga, but that is because it is one of the easiest ways to get physical exercise, since you can do it no matter where you are, or what time of day it happens to be. Recent studies by The Harvard Mental Health Letter state that yoga can reduce stress, improve energy, function as a self-soothing technique, and help deal with anxiety and depression.

READ MORE: Can Yoga Help You With Infertility?

Two symptoms of depression are difficulty concentrating and loss of energy. Yoga can help alleviate these symptoms because it is a form of meditation. The deep, controlled breathing techniques and physical movement can help bring your into the present moment, and the natural serotonin produced by yoga will help boost your mood. Yoga is also helpful with reducing your resting heart rate and lowering your blood pressure, which helps with anxiety, and in turn, depression.

If you are new to yoga there are plenty of tutorial videos online, yoga studios around every corner, and types of yoga to try out.

I always say, if you can get ahead of your health problems, you will have a much easier time dealing with them, and then healing afterwards.

Depression is a catalyst to many health problems, so it is wise to fight it from the beginning, especially with stress-reducing measure like yoga.

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