Yoga and Mental Health: Beyond the Stretch

The link between yoga and mental health has become sufficiently well established as to be practically mainstream. What was associated with “hippie” culture in the 1960s and 70s is now recommended by your insurance company and the AARP as an alternative or complementary treatment option to help manage depression, anxiety, insomnia, and overall stress. While downward facing dog might be familiar, the philosophical underpinnings of yoga are less well known. Understanding yoga as more than a “stretch and tone” workout or a stress management tool may help you gain even more benefit from this ancient and rich way of life.

What Is Yoga, Really?

If yoga isn’t all about stretchy pants and a sticky mat, then just what is yoga? I have come to define yoga as the practice of taking unconscious habits and making them conscious in order to manipulate them, with the goal of increasing awareness, self-knowledge, and ultimately achieving a blissful spiritual state called “samadhi” (much like nirvana in Buddhism).

Did I lose you? Let’s take that apart and look at the pieces. First, yoga is taking unconscious habits and bringing them into awareness. The breath is the most obvious example of this – most yoga classes begin with seated meditation in which students are encouraged to “notice the breath.” Practicing yoga means that you observe, notice, and devote your attention to something that is typically habitual and not part of your conscious awareness – your own breathing.

The Power of Conscious Breathing

Once you’ve become aware of a habit, like breathing, you can choose to change it. In yoga class, we might practice ujjayi breathing (this is the “power breath” used to increase energy and is characterized by that whispered “ha” sound) or alternate nostril breathing (also called nadi shodhana, the “sweet” breath – my favorite for insomnia or intense anxiety). During the rest of our day, we tend not to pay much attention to the breath, and breathing is very much an unconscious activity and an extremely healthy habit! In yoga we make the conscious effort to notice this habit with the aim of changing it for a specific purpose.

How This Helps Mental Health

You can see how this practice of noticing an unconscious habit, bringing it into awareness, and then changing it, might be really helpful for dealing with depression or anxiety. Negative thinking is often unconscious and can become a habit. However, with awareness and practice, it can be changed. The goal might not be quite so lofty as attaining enlightenment or a state of perfect bliss, but to live better – with more ease and comfort, and more awareness. More awareness might not sound pleasant if you’re struggling with difficult emotions, but increasing your awareness can help you catch negative thoughts or unhelpful habits sooner than you used to, thus preventing low moods or anxiety spirals before they take hold.

The Eight Limbs of Yoga

If that’s what yoga is, then why all the exercise? Yoga is an “eight-limbed practice” and physical exercise is one of those eight limbs. The first two limbs are what I jokingly refer to as the yogic ten commandments. They are suggestions or guidelines for living in harmony, both within yourself and with others. They are not commandments at all, but there are ten of them. The first five are called the yamas, and they are a bit like the shalt nots, but yoga style. The next five are called niyamas and are practices that keep us grounded and moving forward.

Yamas and Niyamas: Ethical Guidelines

Here are some examples of yamas and niyamas:

• “Tapas” is passionate focus – working with enthusiasm or even fervor towards your goal
• “Santosha” is contentment – being at peace and practicing calm joyfulness at all that is
• “Aparigraha” is all about keeping your eyes on your prize and not anyone else’s
• My favorite is “ishwara pranhidhana” which translates as “to lay your actions at the feet of god.” I interpret this to mean do your best and then let go of the outcome. 

The Physical and Meditative Practices

The next two limbs are the specific breath practices (called pranayama) and the bendy twisty physical practices (called asanas). The asanas are designed to promote physical health so that you’re not distracted by dis-ease when you try to meditate. The next four practices are all about deepening awareness – by blocking out the distractions of the outside world, focusing your attention, meditating and ultimately by reaching a state of such intense spiritual development and presence it’s understood mostly as a goal to pursue over multiple lifetimes.

Why We Move in Yoga Class

Yoga classes are all about breathing and moving our bodies in nonhabitual ways. You can see how standing on one leg, or wrapping your arms and legs around each other is taking a habit (moving our bodies), making it conscious, and then changing it. The goal of asana practice is to prepare the body for meditation. The exercises are supposed to hone your body so that when you sit to quiet the mind, your body doesn’t require your attention. Yoga classes achieve this by teaching and practicing a mix of asanas: some poses improve balance, others increase strength, and many develop flexibility.

The Benefits Beyond the Mat

Working on physical strength, flexibility, and balance is wonderful – most people who find a yoga class they feel comfortable in report immediate benefits of attending classes. Feeling “good-tired” and deeply relaxed, physically and emotionally, is a common post-yoga sensation. While any physical workout can lead to the production of endorphins and a positive sense of relaxed fatigue afterwards, what’s different about yoga is this built in goal of developing yourself in other ways as well.

As asana practice builds your strength, flexibility, balance, and endurance many people report that these exact same improvements happen in the emotional realm as well: a sense of emotional flexibility, balance, and strength can develop alongside those physical qualities. And yoga classes can reduce social isolation, even if they’re online – there’s something nice about looking up from your mat and seeing a screenful of equally awkward, wobbly people trying their best to hold tree pose for 10 seconds.

Is Yoga Right for You?

Perhaps I sound like a cheerleader or sales rep for yoga and maybe you’re just a wee bit sick of hearing how great it is. If yoga isn’t for you (and it’s definitely not for everyone), or if you’ve tried it and are less than thrilled with the results, consider talking with a therapist about other ways to reduce symptoms of anxiety or depression, or deal with the other issues you may be facing. Yoga is one tool that may help, but many others exist and can be equally effective.