Yoga and mental health issues

[rydra_wong]

Because I'm guessing I'm not the only person in the comm who's dealing with some form of crazy, I thought we might talk about it a bit.

How does yoga affect your mental health issues? For example, do you find that yoga is helpful in coping with anxiety or depression? Is it helpful at some times but not others? Or is it more something that happens alongside whatever issues you may be dealing with?

Conversely, how do your mental health issues affect your yoga? How do you manage to keep a consistent practice when you have a Bad Brain Day? Or do you have to accept that sometimes, practice just ain't happening today?

For me, it's been hard to acknowledge that yoga is not going to change my depression directly, even though it's been a lifeline for me through it. And when I'm feeling terrible anyway, beating myself up for not practicing doesn't help.

Comments

[zats_clear]

yes, I have a whole load of The Crazy at any given time, and this despite having an essentially wonderful life! Yoga has definitely had an influence on me when I am going through "mental health issues," as you so kindly put it :)

If I drag my sorry asana to the mat, I can count on an improvement in my state of mind. Like anything that will help you but still requires effort (oh woe to our McDonald's mentality!), you have to get there first LOL.

At some unknown point in my past, I began to perceive part of my yoga practice as spiritual. It was not a conscious decision but I am pretty sure it began as part of coping with some stress and mild depression. I am still not all new age-y about it (and there is wrong with being new age-y! if it works, go for it!), but there is a sense of resetting my mind, accepting myself, placing myself in my world at that juncture, seeing the beauty of my surroundings, and understanding there is a higher force at work in my world. I don't specifically meditate my way to to the spirituality - this state of mind comes about as a function of keeping myself "in the moment" while doing yoga. The beauty of yoga is that you really need to remain "in the moment" or you fall down!

The one practice that has a more direct influence on depression and stress is Yin yoga. There is something peaceful about remaining in a position for 5 minutes or more, sinking into yourself, clearing your mind, and working those chakras and meridians. I come out of a Yin Yoga practice feeling very free and soothed.

[rydra_wong]

and this despite having an essentially wonderful life

The Crazy is no respecter of how good our lives are or how otherwise sane we are, I've found.

There is something peaceful about remaining in a position for 5 minutes or more

*nods* I've found that hip openers and hamstring stretches in a yin style can feel very therapeutic, somehow. Like they're digging into held tension deep in the muscles and connective tissue, right next to the bone.

It can feel like it's clearing out stresses from the body, and make me less anxious -- if my brain is in a state when it will permit that at all.

[zats_clear]

waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, I meant there is NOTHING wrong with being new age-y! this is what happens when you type tired!

[rydra_wong]

*re-reads your comment*

Apparently my brain filled in the missing "nothing", so I didn't even notice *g*.

[muck_a_luck]

I am pretty sure yoga didn't really lessen the impact of SAD, though I practiced regularly (about every other day) through the dark months. And I'm pretty sure it doesn't help my PMS because PMS usually causes a who-the-hell-cares mentality for a few days where I don't DO anything, but I EAT lots of things. *nods* Too bad I don't have a mommy to make me do my yoga whether I care or not.

I do find that during the time I am doing yoga, clearing my mind, focusing on my breathing and movement, I am very centered and calm, with the occasional dash of excited accomplishment, even when I am down or stressed otherwise. And days that I do yoga I am happier, because I know I had some good exercise for the day. And I know that days I do yoga I feel healthier all day, either for psychological reasons, or from actual physical effects of this type of exercise. (I'm guessing a little of both.)

So as you have also observed, I'm not sure yoga "fixes" anything, exactly. But the movement meditation, and the reality of having done strenuous physical activity, with the contingent awareness of that fact, do seem to carry through my day with positive aspects.

On the even larger scale, I definitely like having physical fitness and the ability to manage my own body weight through arm balances, lunges, squats, inversions and backbends as part of my self-image. I'm slimmer than I have been in 15 years, and probably more physically fit than I have been in my entire life. That definitely makes me feel good about myself.

[rydra_wong]

But the movement meditation, and the reality of having done strenuous physical activity, with the contingent awareness of that fact, do seem to carry through my day with positive aspects.

Oh yes. The fact that it can't fix my brainweasels doesn't mean it doesn't do a lot for my mental wellbeing in the broadest sense (as and when my brain permits).

That definitely makes me feel good about myself.

A sense of achievement can be a damn good thing. At really bad times, it's helped me to feel that at least one thing in my life is progressing.

(My consultant gets reports: "Well, I think we may need to tweak the meds, but I can do full splits now.")

[muck_a_luck]

we may need to tweak the meds, but I can do full splits now

Ahahahaha!

The conversation continues: "If only they could put Shoulder Stand in a pill. Or Gomugasana. Can we get that added?"

:D

[rhi]

My GP recommended 100 mg of B6 daily for PMS (when I started hitting 10 days of mood swings a month ::shudder::). It started helping me in less than two months. No idea if it'd help you, but mentioning it anyway.

[muck_a_luck]

Interesting! I will ask!

[rhi]

Good luck!

[rydra_wong]

(Btw -- and feel free to ignore if you've already tried this, it's obnoxiously obvious, etc. -- but you've got a lightbox for the SAD, right?)

[muck_a_luck]

I have not yet gone full-on lightbox. I have a natural light lamp, extremely bright, that is over my desk all day at work, but that may not be enough. Next winter I'm doing the lightbox thing. Also, I just started taking D3, in which I would not be shocked to find out I was deficient, and which can impact mood. Hoping that will help with SAD next year, too.

[rydra_wong]

Yep, natural light lamps are lovely to have, but the intensity of a regular light is completely different from a lightbox (which is basically drug-level light; a few people actually get agitated or manic if they use the light for too long).

D3 sounds like a very smart idea. The other thing that might be worth trying is an Omega-3 supplement (fish oil if you're not vegetarian, or one of the vegetarian alternatives) -- there's a fair amount of evidence that they can help mood.

[muck_a_luck]

In early March - or maybe late February - there was an incredibly sunny day and I did my yoga that afternoon in front of our wall of windows with the full, not sun beating down on me. I did a nice long practice, over an hour. When I was done, I *was* manic. I think after weeks and weeks of dark and cold, all that light and heat had very drug-like effects! Which was when I realized that it was me and a light-box next winter, because the effect was SO dramatic.

[rydra_wong]

I hope that was colloquial "manic" (bounce around feeling hyper and up-up-up) as opposed to clinical "manic" (I AM ON THE ROOF BECAUSE I CAN FLY, ALSO I HAVE ORDERED A FERRARI ON MY CREDIT CARD).

Assuming the former, then it sounds like there's a good chance a lightbox will be the thing for you *g*.

[muck_a_luck]

:D I suppose I should choose my terminology more carefully in a thread that is actually about actual mental illness.

No, I do not have a new Ferrari or a massive head injury. :D But I did have a fantastic rest of my day!

[rydra_wong]

You see why I felt the need to check *g*.

(Anything with an antidepressant effect can tip people with bipolar disorder into mania or a mixed state -- it's a big problem in treatment -- so I meant "manic" in the clinical sense.)

But yeah, it sounds from that as if a lightbox should work wonders.

[pepper]

I don't have any serious MH issues, but I've found that I feel measurably happier and more serene after I've done yoga. Even when I don't want to do it, I know that if I do, I'll feel like my veins are full of sunshine.

I discovered that I feel a lot more emotionally vulnerable immediately afterwards, though. I'd had a Really Big Argument with himself before one session, and it took me ages to relax into it, but eventually I mostly did. But then he turned up, unexpectedly, to walk me back home afterwards (to make up), and I found it so hard to keep it together - much harder than I had beforehand. I'd managed to lower my defences, and while generally that's a good thing, right then it was really tough. I needed some space between [yoga] and [dealing with real life].

So I guess, for me, it's an opportunity to stop being mentally guarded.

[rydra_wong]

Oh, that's fascinating (and must be useful to know).

I'm finding that yoga classes can make me feel very exposed and vulnerable if I'm having a Bad Brain Day.

[recessional]

I've had to accept that practice just ain't happening for a few months now. =\

Yoga . . . depends. When I'm really bad, it's actually toxic: it's too much time spent with too little to distract my brain with a body that's never quite as good at what I'm doing as I want it to be. This is a similar reason I don't meditate or do other tasks that allow me too much time to think clearly (because of the way my brain works, most physical activity just takes the distraction of my body and the world away; my best trance states are when walking with an iPod).

Hyping up my awareness is really bad for me, if the inside of my brain is made of rusty nails: I just wind up MORE crazy. When you add that to the inertia problems I get when the MDD, is reeeeally bad. (Because then I'm fighting the inertia problems to do something everyone says should make me feel better, but it doesn't, and now I'm crazy AND wrong, at the same time!) So I just sort of put it aside, then.

I'm getting back to a state where I should start going back, though, because once I'm not needing to actively make a lot of mental noise to make the ideation go away, it becomes way more beneficial, and of course brings the exercise-caused good-chemicals with it.

[rydra_wong]

When I'm really bad, it's actually toxic

That happened with me and meditation; I had to take a break from it completely. I'm now back to the point where informal mindfulness is helpful again, but only just.

For me, yoga hasn't caused that particular problem, maybe because I don't particularly have issues with my body not being able to do things (I expect my body to be terrible at anything physical, so I'm still in the throes of amazement and glee at any progress). And I'm easily distracted by physical things, so it can occupy my brain to a certain extent.

But I had a patch when the prospect of trying to do anything (yoga or anything remotely constructive) made me want to lie on the floor and scream.

Um. It's been a fun year.

[recessional]

I think for me the trouble is that it provides just enough distraction to make me incapable of doing the mental equivalent of putting my hands over my ears and going "LA LA LA CAN'T HEAR YOU!" to whatever awful thing the Crazy is shouting at me at the time.

And yeah, I grew up as the inflexible, broad-shouldered girl in the company of a bunch of future professional ballerinas. Me and what my body can do, we have some issues. It's something to work on, but when I'm badly off is so not the time, you know?

[viklikesfic]

Good question! My anxiety being out of control was a big reason I started yoga. It worked well at first. Now I find it harder to focus and the anxiety ends up taking over the yoga rather than the other way around. I did notice though that when I took a break, depression took over, so I think it's overall good for my mood, even if it's just the feeling of accomplishment having done it.

[rydra_wong]

Now I find it harder to focus and the anxiety ends up taking over the yoga rather than the other way around.

I have a tendency to recursive anxiety, though for me it mostly happens with climbing rather than yoga -- I'll start worrying about whether I'm going to enjoy it and whether I'm going to start feeling anxious/depressed, which then pretty much guarantees that I'll start feeling anxious/depressed.

I don't know if this is similar to what you're dealing with, but it's a pain.

[rhi]

I enjoy yoga, but for depression or anxiety, I find a half hour walk (even at a mall for the AC) helps more.

[rydra_wong]

I love walking and it's generally very good for me, but when I'm in a bad brain state, I can end up obsessing and ruminating while I walk, which is unhelpful.

[rhi]

Oh, ouch. I'm more likely to do that while driving, but I know precisely what you mean! Does an mp3 player help any with that? Or plotting stories?

[rydra_wong]

Unfortunately, in my case the particular bad brain states are too bad to permit stories. But I am in the process of recovering right now.

[rhi]

Glad to hear you're recovering, then!