Yoga for Better Mental Health

19th May 2022 | Author - Viraj Malik

Mental health can be defined as a sustained state of wellbeing and a lack of negative emotions. It can also be defined as our ability to manage our feelings and emotions. 

Yoga can help with managing mental health just as it helps us to stay physically fit and agile. It raises our awareness to see and acknowledge our emotions and feelings while also providing us with tools to relax and calm our minds, as it greatly aids in the release of stored tensions in the body and mind. Modern medical science has successfully combined yoga with psychotherapy and other psychiatric treatments.Yoga-based interventions have been successfully used both as a standalone and a supportive treatment of disorders such as depression, anxiety, and insomnia. 

As per modern science, there are multiple factors responsible for mental disorders, which include our  genes and family history, our life experiences, such as stress or a history of abuse, especially if they happen in childhood, or even biological factors such as chemical imbalances in the brain. This is no different than yogic understanding and the principle of Karma, which attributes every effect to a cause and considers genes as the end result of our ancestors’ karmas. All the energy centres of Yoga correspond to a specific endocrine gland which is responsible for regulating the important hormones in the body. The practice of yoga works on the parasympathetic nervous system and impacts the endocrine system, which  is a complex network of glands, hormones, and receptors. It provides the key communication and control link between the nervous system and bodily functions such as reproduction, immunity, metabolism, and behaviour.

Every person faces tough depressive times in life either through traumatic events, work situations, or relationships. A pandemic like corona and restricted life due to lockdowns etc has also pushed a vast majority of the population into depression and other forms of mental disorder. 

When facing a mental health issue, it is advisable to see a mental health professional and compliment the treatment with yoga rather than become complacent with just practising yoga. While yoga can work in the long term to release you permanently from the root cause of the mental affliction, psychiatric therapy can provide you with quick relief from the physical and mental suffering arising out of mental disorder.

A lot of time the person who faces a mental disorder is unable to distinguish a disorder from a temporary painful phase of life, It's also important for one to understand the most common forms of mental disorders and immediate seek remedy if we feel these symptoms on the consistent basis,

Anxiety Disorders:

Anxiety is a feeling of fear, dread, and uneasiness. It might cause you to sweat, feel restless and tense, and have a rapid heartbeat. It can be a normal reaction to stress. However, anxiety disorders are conditions in which you have anxiety that does not go away and can get worse over time. The symptoms can interfere with daily activities such as job performance, schoolwork, and relationships. Various kind of anxiety disorders which we experience are;

• Panic : Panic disorder is a type of anxiety disorder. It causes panic attacks, which are sudden feelings of terror when there is no real danger. You may feel as if you are losing control. You may also experience physical symptoms such as a racing heart, chest or stomach pain and so on.
• Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder in which you have thoughts (obsessions) and rituals (compulsions) over and over. They interfere with your life, but you can not control or stop them.
• Phobias- A phobia is a strong, irrational fear of something that poses little or no real danger.

Depression: 

We are born with our natural ability to bounce back and most of us are able to bounce back in positive territory. However, when our ability to bounce back does not work and we are in a constant negative zone, we can call it clinical depression. Some of the symptoms of depression are;

• Feeling sad or "empty"
• Loss of interest in favourite activities
• Overeating, or not wanting to eat at all
• Not being able to sleep, or sleeping too much
• Feeling very tired
• Feeling hopeless, irritable, anxious, or guilty

Bipolar Mood Disorders: 

Bipolar disorder is a mood disorder that can cause intense mood swings. Sometimes one may feel extremely "up," elated, irritable, or energized. This is called a manic episode.

Other times you may feel "down," sad, indifferent, or hopeless. This is called a depressive episode. You may have both manic and depressive symptoms at the same time. This is called a mixed episode. Along with the mood swings, bipolar disorder causes changes in behaviour, energy levels, and activity levels.

Personality Disorder: 

Personality disorders are a group of mental illnesses. They involve long-term patterns of thoughts and behaviours that are unhealthy and inflexible. The behaviours cause serious problems with relationships and work. People with personality disorders have trouble dealing with everyday stresses and problems. They often have stormy relationships with other people.

Psychotic disorders

Psychotic disorders are severe mental disorders that cause abnormal thinking and perceptions. People with psychoses lose touch with reality. Two of the main symptoms are delusions and hallucinations. Delusions are false beliefs, such as thinking that someone is plotting against you or that your TV is sending you secret messages. Hallucinations are false perceptions, such as hearing, seeing, or feeling something that is not there.

Above are just some of the major classifications of mental disorders that need expert medical professional attention and guidance. However, complimenting your therapy with yoga practice may help people with mental illness in the following ways;

Yoga helps to Calm our mind : Physical practices such as Asanas, breathing practices and pranayama breathing techniques such as kapalabhati, Trataka, Neti, etc. can help to reduce mental agitation. This benefit can be felt with just a few sessions of yoga.

Yoga helps to Increase awareness: Yoga practice increases awareness of oneself and of one's surroundings. As a patient begins to be aware of the most basic physical sensations such as heartbeat, pulse, etc., it becomes easier to suggest increasing the scope of awareness to include awareness of the surroundings and of other people.

Yoga can help increase the attention span: One of the reasons why it is very difficult for a mentally ill patient to return to work even after the acute phase is because of the markedly reduced attention span and easy distractibility. By practising yoga, a patient may be able to maintain a state of focused attention with greater ease and for longer periods.

Acceptance and adaptability: Certain ideas of acceptance and adaptability, which are part of yoga philosophy and lifestyle, can help the subjects make a good transition from the state of agitation to a peaceful state where they can accept the world and situation.

A sense of security:  In today's logical world, we lack faith and devotion. Bhakti yoga, or indeed any form of devotion and surrender to a supreme entity or a role model, will be a great source of strength to a person who is suffering from anxiety, fear, and is constantly under the spell of mental delusions and distorted reality.