Bring it to the Mat: How Yoga Helps Your Mental Health
Yoga is known for its ability to limber you up and calm the mind, but can Yoga really help your mental health?
Yoga has been a part of my life for over 20 years, but only seriously in the last 5-10. I began practicing yoga as a form of exercise, one of the only I truly enjoyed, and in a very dark time it became a light to find my way out of emotional turmoil.
When the Covid shutdowns happened, I was not nearly as flustered about it as other people seemed to be. I am very introverted and prefer when my family is all home with me. However, like so many people, I was suddenly thrown into homeschooling, 100% home cooked meals, no outside entertainment for my 4 children and also having to keep everyone calm and quiet as my husband was working. It also became quickly apparent that this was likely going to go on for months or more. I slowly lost my will to keep moving forward. I began drinking too much – literally counting down the hours from coffee to alcohol. Being so overwhelmed had me turning to old habits and my emotional eating was out of control and I was not working out. I had definitely packed on some weight. My mind and body were spiraling.
I think we were about 2-3 months into the shutdown when I could not take it anymore and realized I needed to do something for myself so that I could pour into my family who were suffering in their own ways. I decided that I would try doing yoga at some point every day. I was not interested in long or advanced classes, just getting my body moving. I know people who have claimed that Yoga got them through major life events like divorce or death of a loved one so I thought I could try it out, at the very least. It was slow, but it was enjoyable and sometimes the kids even joined in with me. At that time, there wasn’t really room to practice anywhere in silence, so I threw my mat down wherever there was room. I often practiced outdoors while my kids played.
After doing this for a little bit, I was feeling a bit better and I was really interested in what was happening. I had always liked the idea of being a trained yoga teacher and I began investigating programs. I was not in the position to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on classes, so I decided I would begin by doing the recommended reading for many of the programs I had looked into. That took me to a point where I was listening to youtube videos and podcasts on yoga and then spirituality and I was hooked. My life has been consumed by these topics ever since. In the last 2 years I have received my 200 Hr Yoga Teacher Training, certification in chair and childrens Yoga and earned my Reiki Master certification. It truly changed me.
But why did Yoga help to pull me out of my spiral? Let’s take a look:
Exercise Improves Mood
Exercise of any sort is known to lower stress and anxiety levels by increasing endorphins and bringing more oxygen to the brain. Yoga, specifically, increases GABA production (gamma-aminobutyric acid) which also improves mood.
Meditation Controls Emotions
Meditation reduces activity in the limbic system which controls emotions. If there is less activity in that part of the brain, then your emotions will be less reactive and more in your conscious control.
Breathework Regulates the Nervous System
Your emotional and physical states are closely linked. For example, when you are angry or scared, your breathing tends to quicken and become shallow. Your body works best with a balance of Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide and when they are out of balance you will not feel well.
When you are calm and collected, your breathing is often slower and deeper. This is the result of a regulated nervous system. Changing the way you breathe can trick your body into experiencing the emotions that you wish to feel. Deep, measured breathing, practiced in Yoga will help your body to regulate the nervous system and create a calm mind and metered emotions
Regular Practice Prevents Cognitive Decline
Studies using MRI imaging show that people who do Yoga regularly have thicker Cerebral Cortexes (responsible for information processing) and Hippocampuses (responsible for learning and memory). This suggests that practicing yoga will help prevent age related cognitive decline.
The science on Yoga is amazing and I’m grateful there are facts to back up what I already knew inside. It also gives me the information to pass along to others when they ask me what the big deal about Yoga is.
Do you practice Yoga? Has it healed you? Please share your story below!