Yoga For Depression And Anxiety - 7 Effective Tips To Follow

When we suffer from depression and anxiety, finding the will to exercise can be a huge struggle. The idea of putting on leggings, grabbing your bag and walking out the house can all be a bit too much, but what about yoga? You don't need a lot of equipment to start practising yoga, you can do it from the safety of your own home and if you want to, you can even do it in your pyjamas. So, how can yoga help with depression and anxiety? Here's 7 effective tips to follow. 

Reduce The Stress Response

When we are suffering from depression and anxiety, our cortisol development is often in overdrive. Cortisol is the hormone that is responsible for stress and it can make us feel incredibly under the weather. The website concerned with the matter 889 Yoga shows that practicing yoga can reduce stress, this is due to the focus on our breathing and holding positions that can help us streamline and control our thoughts. 

Relaxation Techniques

Anxiety attacks can be debilitating and often take over from what you are doing, but when you first start to practice yoga, you will be armed with new relaxation techniques. These come from the way you breathe during the practice and how you hold yourself in positions. A lot of these techniques that you learn can be applied to everyday life and can help you when you next have an anxiety attack. 

Serotonin 

When we exercise, we produce serotonin. It was previously thought that you could only achieve this through extensive exercise, which is why it is commonly referred to as the runners high. In fact this isn't the case at all, even 10 minutes in the morning can help your brain produce and release this, making you feel around happier and more balanced. 

Sunlight

If you can, why not practice yoga in some sun light. As you don't need a lot of equipment, you can easily take your matt outside, or place it near a window. Doing yoga in sunlight can help you feel invigorated and reduce fatigue. There is something about natural light that makes us feel better, the vitamin D and the calming effect can help your body and mind feel 

Routine

Some days, it can be hard to get out of bed, even if that is for something to eat, but if you can try and build a routine around practising for 10 minutes in the morning, the sense of accomplishment you will feel can help you for the rest of the day. You don't need to do it in the morning, even if you just do sun salutations in the afternoon, you will still feel better for moving a little bit and practising your breathing. 

Pull In All Those Rogue Thoughts

One of the great things about practising yoga is that it gets you to focus on very small aspects of physical self, rather than your mental self. You will spend the time concentrating on your breathing and making sure this breath reaches the spaces you want it to go. You will also be thinking about the stretch it is giving you, along with your body's response to that stretch. With all this thinking about your physical self, you won't have the capacity to consider how you are mentally feeling. Once practice is over, you will feel like a weight has been lifted as your mind has had a chance to focus on other things. 

Follow Yin Yoga Videos Online

If the idea of going to a studio to practice yoga is a bit too much, there is no reason you can't practice from your home. Yin yoga is the restorative practice that calm help calm your mind and relieve the physiological impacts of depression and anxiety. It may take a while to get into, but once you are involved in yin, you will find that you become relaxed and you can give your mind and body some space. What's even better is that you can do it in your pyjamas if you don't want to leave the house.

Final Thoughts

Traditional exercise can all seem a bit much if you are suffering from anxiety and depression and the idea of leaving your house can often be worse. The beauty of yoga is that you can practice in the comfort of your own home and better yet, you don't need to get dressed if you don't want to. Practice in the sunlight to help increase your energy and follow yin yoga videos online to help you curtail rogue thoughts. You may find that you enjoy it so much that you want to practice it every day!