Sunrise by John Miller

by Nina

Many of you may know this by now, but it’s worth saying again: The reason I became a yoga teacher was because I saw how tremendously helpful yoga was for me in managing depression and anxiety. As someone who many years had two breakdowns (the diagnosis was agitated depression or anxiety-based depression), I found that yoga not only helped me alleviate feelings of anxiety and depression in the moment, but it also helped me stay balanced throughout the years since I started practicing, preventing any serious bouts of either anxiety or depression from reoccurring. I think it’s safe to say that yoga changed my life.

That’s why over the last eleven years, we’ve had many articles about both depression and anxiety on this blog, and not all of them by me! When I recently checked to see if I had done one of my overview posts on depression, I was surprised to find that I had not yet done one. So that’s why I decided it’s about time to share the wealth of information we have about depression and yoga with all of you, with links to all the articles going back to the beginning. The articles are divided into two categories: background articles about depression and yoga, including articles about scientific studies, and articles with specific practices for alleviating depression.

By the way, there is also a new chapter in my book Yoga for Times of Change about depression and anxiety as well as anger, so you can find even more information about depression there, including two sequences. And Barrie Risman has video classes based on those sequences here.

About Depression and Yoga

Learning About Yoga for Depression by Nina Zolotow gives background information about depression and yoga, including about the relationship between chronic stress and depression

Tamasic and Rajasic Depression by Nina Zolotow describes the two basic forms of depression and explains why you should use yoga very differently depending on which type you have.

Depression and Yoga: Interview with Dr. Lynn Somerstein is an interview by Nina with a yoga therapist and psychoanalyst about depression and how yoga can help.

Friday Q&A: Depression, Medication, and Meditation by Dr. Lynn Somerstein answers a reader’s question about the interactions between psychotropic medications and meditation.

Serendipity: Discovering Yoga for Depression by Yoriko Matsumoto is the personal story of someone whose life was changed when she discovered how beneficial yoga was for her depression and includes her personal approach to practice.

Two New Evidence-Based Studies on Yoga for Depression by Ram Rao contains information about studies that demonstrated the value of practicing yoga for alleviating depression.

Depression May Be Caused by Inflammation by Nina Zolotow provides scientific information about the relationship between depression and inflammation and discusses how yoga can help reduce inflammation.

Depression Accelerates Unhealthy Aging by Ram Rao discusses a study that suggests that severe depression may trigger rapid and unhealthy aging and offers some yoga suggestions.

Yoga Effective as An Adjunct to Western Medicine for Treating Depression by Nina Zolotow discusses a study showing that yoga is effective as an adjunct for improving depression in individuals who are taking anti-depressants because often the drugs alone are not effective.

Yoga Techniques for Alleviating Depression

Listening to Depression by Nina Zolotow discusses the value of paying attention to signals that your feelings of depression may be sending you and then taking actions that may shift your feelings.

Practicing Yoga for Depression: An Overview by Nina Zolotow contains a set of steps Nina suggests for practicing yoga for depression.

Yoga Interventions to Shift Depression by Amy Weintraub shares simple practices for depression recommended by the author of the book Yoga for Depression.

Yoga for Depression: Taking a Small Step by Nina Zolotow discusses the value of just doing one or two simple poses or practices, with some specific suggestions for poses to do.

Four Dynamic Poses for Depression by Nina Zolotow describes how to practice uplifting dynamic poses for depression.

For Tamasic Depression: Moving with Your Breath by Nina Zolotow offers suggestions for simple practices to energize and uplift you.

Stress Management for When You’re Stressed  by Nina Zolotow. Because there is a link between chronic stress and depression, it’s always a good idea to practice yoga for stress management as well as yoga for depression and this article provides a good overview of different stress management techniques you can choose from.

 

• Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook and follow Nina on Instagram• Order Yoga for Times of Change here  and purchase the companion videos here • Order Yoga for Healthy Aging: A Guide to Lifelong Well-Being here.