sun_salutation | Entries tagged with mental health

I had what I think was a PTSD reaction in a yoga class, triggered by a pose. Putting the description of my reaction under a cut, although I'm not describing the original trauma itself at all.

( Read more... )

What I am looking for here is some (gentle) advice, ways to think about this, and to see if anyone else has experienced this kind of thing.

Here's what I'm already thinking of trying:
+ practicing the scary poses on my own, outside of class, so I can get used to how they feel
+ ditto practicing meditation
+ seeing if my dialectical behavioral therapy notes have any useful ideas
+ talking to my teacher about it
+ talking to my therapist about it (if it keeps happening)

rydra_wong

Note: this is based on various comments I made to

erika, who suggested that I write it up and post it here.

One of the things that has helped me do a lot more yoga over the years has been learning a bunch of relaxing asanas that I can do while watching TV/DVDs (downloads, YouTube,vids etc).

I used to feel that this was terribly un-yogic of me, but then I realized that it was better and more productive than the occasions where I was practising with gritted teeth because my brain was in a tailspin of depressive rumination, or I was just too tired or bored or antsy to focus.

Sometimes it's good to get your mind out of the way (and remove the self-imposed pressure to have a Mindful And Meditative Experience), and let your body get on with things. Which can ultimately lead to relaxing far more, and to developing some trust in the body's wisdom.

And putting on an engaging DVD can help motivate you to do some yoga on days when you're short on mental energy and drive.

( Cut for length )

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.

beachlass

One of the seemingly universal pieces of advice about spiritual practices: They take practice. Especially on the days when you don't want to, and it goes wrong and you are sure it's going to accomplish nothing. In one of Thomas Merton's books, he advises that if prayer always feels great, you're doing something wrong, because you need to pray through the bleak empty times as well.

One of the things I'm loving about yoga practice is the quietness of mind that I reach during it. And yesterday, when I woke up having a crap day, and didn't manage to start my morning practice until 3pm, I knew that quietness was probably going to be out of reach. And knowing that is probably one of the things that kept delaying me from trying. But I'm trying to practice every day during Lent, no exceptions, and I know that the days I am too busy/don't want to/feel useless are days that I really need to push through.

And then suddenly, when I was reaching for a forward bend, and realized I needed to let go rather than stretch, I experienced one of those shifts, and it wasn't just physical. More of an epiphany than a piece of quiet - and I realized that maybe letting go was what I needed for the problem that had thrown off my whole day.

I feel a bit more at peace this morning, and am going to try to carry the sensation of letting go and relaxing into the bend from my physical pose into my heart and actions.

mlyn

Posted here by

green_grrl's request. :)

I'm not a yoga practitioner, but I'm thinking about it. Money for classes is my main concern for not doing it right now, so I've been putting it off.

Yesterday I read this article about the benefits of yoga in mood stabilization and pain management. It's published by Harvard Health Publications. They're talking about actual medical studies with controlled experiments that show yoga does appear to make a difference. I thought this was especially interesting because it mentions fibromyalgia, and I know a couple people on my reading list might be interested to read that.

Read the article here.

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Sun Salutation

If you don't have time for any other yoga in the day

Entries tagged with mental health

Yoga and trauma

Yoga for TV-watching

Yoga and mental health issues

(no subject)

Study on emotional benefits of yoga

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February 2017

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