Yoga For Depression
|
|
Also on the Web |
|
|
|
|
|
Amy Weintraub is what you might call a yoga expert. She not only sells the art of yoga in her book and CD as a way to relieve stress, but she sells the ancient art as a way to combat mental health problems. It's been 15 years since Amy began her battle with depression. She was on several antidepressants before she stumbled on a yoga class, "I got there and I immediately started feeling better."
Now she's medication and travels around the country performing yoga workshops and selling the science behind its benefits through her book "Yoga For Depression" and a CD entitled "Breathe To Beat the Blues."
Amy says, "When you begin to introduce the breath, you're opening the lungs, so that's there more oxygen absorption and carbon dioxide elimination. You are immediately reversing the effects of depression with the breath."
Yoga has also shown to help lower the amount of cortisol, a stress hormone, in the body while elevating other "feel good" hormones. It's recommended that people who are trying to feel better or simply ward off depression should pick three poses that appeal to you and do them every day, focusing heavily on breathing. Amy also says, if you're really motivated, join a class that fits your style, "I would try something that really meets you where you are."
It's important to note that if you are feeling depressed you should see a doctor and Amy also recommends, in some cases, using yoga as a supplement to anti-depressants.
|