10 Yoga Poses For Depression And Anxiety

Depression and anxiety have become common in these fast-paced lives. Keeping the mind calm and away from anxiety and depression has become a daily routine for many of us. 1 in 15 is affected by depression every year. Although depression can strike at any point of time it usually strikes teens and mid-20s besides this, women are more prone to this. But the good part is yoga and meditation can calm the mind and keep our mind healthy. Let us see the list of yoga poses for depression and anxiety that can easily save us from depression and anxiety.

What Is Depression?

Depression is a major depressive ailment and has turned out to be common across all ages and genders. Depression is a medical illness related to the mind and it affects a person negatively. To describe depression in even more simple terms it negatively affects how you think, how you feel, and how you act. Depression leads to sadness, loss of enthusiasm in activities and this could include both personal and professional activities. It leads to a lot many negative emotional thoughts which eventually affect a person’s physical abilities. Although it is common and serious the good part is it is curable.

Symptoms Of Depression

Symptoms of depression vary in proportion and range from severe to mild and include the below;

• A sad feeling or a depressed state of mind
• Loss of interest in activities that were once enjoyable
• Changes in hunger — weight gain or loss that’s not linked to diet
• Lack of sleep, trouble sleeping or too much sleeping
• Increased fatigue or loss of energy
• Increase in meaningless physical activities (e.g., pacing or hand-wringing) or reduced movements and meaningless speech
• Feeling guilty or worthless
• Difficulty in thinking, concentration, and making decisions
• Recurrent thoughts of suicide or death
• Headaches and digestive problems

Note: Such symptoms should last for a minimum of 2 weeks to diagnose depression.

[Also Read: Natural remedies for cluster headaches]

Causes Of Depression

Causes are several and range from circumstantial to biological, however, the common ones include;

• Family history with depression
• Early childhood disturbances
• Brain structure
• Medical conditions like ADHD, insomnia and so on
• Drug and alcohol misuse
• Personal loss

What Is Anxiety?

Anxiety is the body’s and mind’s reaction to dangerous, stressful, or unfamiliar conditions. It is the feelings of distress, uneasiness, or fright to some major event or occasion say for instance an interview or a test. Anxiety to a certain level is needed and it makes us aware and alert but a constant feeling of anxiousness even to routine conditions, situations, and tasks is called anxiety disorder and is debilitating.

Symptoms Of Anxiety

Symptoms change from person to person and so one should track the symptoms in anxiety situations. The symptoms consist;

• Augmented heart rate
• Fast breathing
• Restlessness
• Difficulty in concentrating
• Trouble falling asleep
• Dry mouth
• Nausea
• Tense muscles

Causes Of Anxiety

• Genetics
• Brain chemistry
• Environmental stress
• Drug misuse or withdrawal
• Medical conditions

Can Yoga Cure Depression And Anxiety?

Without any doubt or second opinion yoga cures depression and anxiety. Studies have time and again proved that certain types of yoga postures and meditation were effective in treating these conditions. Coming to nations like India yoga has been the way to treat these conditions for ages. However, the seriousness of associating yoga to treat medical conditions like these has taken momentum since the 1970s and all the studies towards this end were positive and fruitful.

According to one recent study more and more population is starting to rely on yoga and meditation to curb anxiety and depression. People are also increasingly dependent on such techniques as they come with no harm although time-consuming.

Although there are many types of yoga postures and meditation methods, not all go well for everyone and this is where one should choose the right yoga asana and meditation technique to get well soon.

All in all, studies have proved that yoga and meditation are safe methods to combat mental problems like these.

Yoga Poses For Depression And Anxiety

The negative effects of depression and anxiety are unhealthy and an unhappy mind and to tackle these below are the yoga asanas to do to lessen anxiety levels and depression symptoms.

• Dhanurasana (Bow Pose)
• Matsyasana (Fish Pose)
• Setubandhasana (Bridge Pose)
• Marjariasana (Cat Stretch)
• Paschimottanasana (Two-Legged Forward Bend)
• Hastapadasana (Standing Forward Bend)
• Shavasana (Corpse Pose)
• Adhomukhashwanasana (Downward-Facing Dog)
• Shirshasana (Headstand)
• Janu Shirsasana (One-Legged Forward Bend)

Remember to club meditation with these yoga poses for depression and anxiety for a quicker heal.