However, if you have been feeling down for an extended period of time, with a persistent feeling of sadness and a loss of interest in daily living, you might be suffering from depression. Depression need to not be linked to an event and may include suicidal tendencies. A study suggested that if we eliminate depression, suicide rates would go down by as much as 80 per cent. In some cases, the mental health condition may be caused by one or more reasons.

If you are feeling depressed or suicidal, my first advice is to talk to someone who is kind, compassionate and empathetic and is willing to listen without judging you. Talking to a friend or a well-wisher often puts things in the appropriate perspective. If possible, see a trained counsellor. Seeking treatments for your condition may help alleviate it and prevent it from getting worse.

Next, I would suggest you kickstart your yoga practice right away. Participating in various activities may help you manage your condition better. Don’t underestimate the efficacy of yoga in managing mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. Indeed, my own journey is a testimony to its powerful benefits on one’s mental health, for had it not been for yoga [and my friends], I too may have been part of the terrible statistics.

Yoga and mental health

Various researches including the one by Journal of Affective Disorders have concluded that yoga-based interventions are “an attractive option for treatment of depression”. According to Harvard Medical School, a new research on yoga has yielded promising evidence that yoga could complement traditional treatment for depression. It was seen that a regular practice of yoga helped modulate stress response which, in turn, was beneficial for those with depression and anxiety.

My own journey into wellbeing started when I was on medication for depression and anxiety. Interestingly, one of the side-effects of the medication was suicidal feelings. [Yes, your anti-depressant could make you suicidal.]

For me, a few rounds of Surya Namaskar (sun-salutations), headstand and kapalbhati played a big role in dissolving the suicidal thoughts. While Ayurveda believes this has to do with yoga’s ability to balance and energise chakras in a therapeutic manner, we are yet to understand the intricacies from a modern research perspective. This is not due to lack of evidence but rather because we do not have methodologies to study the shift in suicidal tendencies.

4 ways yoga benefits your mental health

1. Regulates good and bad hormones

At the most basic level, any physical activity helps improve muscle tone and circulation and causes a surge in endorphins—the feel-good hormones. Yoga goes a few steps further. A well-designed yoga session not just works at a physical level but also helps increase the energy field by removing mental and emotional blocks and not just muscle knots. Ideally, after finishing a traditional yoga session, you would feel like you received an Abhyangam. Yoga helps reduce the levels of the stress hormone cortisol while increasing happy hormones like GABA, serotonin and dopamine, all critical neurotransmitters related to mood.

If you want to include a workout session into your daily routine to help your mood, it may be an excellent idea to consider enrolling in yoga classes.

2. Encourages slow, deep breathing

Gymnasts perform many postures that look similar to yoga asanas, but they do not get all the benefits of an asana. This is because yoga practice involves slow, deep diaphragmatic breathing which, in turn, helps the body and mind to relax. The yogic style of breathing is known to stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system and the vagal tone, both extremely important to help us move away from stress and towards relaxation. Learning proper breathing may help you outside your yoga sessions. For instance, you may try to calm your thoughts whenever you feel low by breathing slowly and practicing mindfulness.

3. Promotes mindfulness

Depression often leads us to replay our past whereas anxiety is related to the thoughts of the future. In yoga, you are encouraged to keep your attention on the breath and not let your mind wander. Some forms of yoga utilise the benefits of mindfulness to help improve a person’s overall well-being and health. An authentic yoga teacher reminds her students to keep bringing their attention back to the now. With regular practice, being centered and mindful comes easily.

4. Builds resilience

Yoga helps us face failure and build resilience by bringing us face to face with our vulnerabilities and strengths. On the mat we learn that we can’t always do a pose that looks easy for another person. We learn also that after months of practice, we are nowhere closer to touching our toes. But the principles of Abhyasa and Vairagya—practice incessantly, practice without expectation of results—keep us grounded and committed. Your improvements may also boost your mood and, therefore, may help alleviate your mental condition. We show up and try again, until we begin to surprise ourselves. When we are in a difficult pose on the mat, the teacher encourages us to observe, to breathe, embrace our limits and to know within that “this too shall pass”—an excellent learning for a difficult phase off the mat. This is how yoga builds our adversity quotient while teaching us to be kind to ourselves.

Final Thoughts

Practicing yoga can provide various benefits to your overall health. For one, it’s an effective workout to keep your body fit and healthy. It can also help improve your flexibility and mobility. In some cases, yoga may also help your mental well-being. Some people who suffer from mental health problems can take advantage of yoga to improve their mental state. So, if you’re looking for an activity to help your health condition, don’t hesitate to try yoga.

— This article was last updated on 7^th December 2021

The post How yoga can help strengthen your mental health appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.

She visited her family doctor who suggested some tests and thereafter nonchalantly announced the diagnosis: polycystic ovarian disease or PCOD.

Like Priya, PCOD creates havoc for one in every five women and this statistic has been rising at a frightening pace since the past two decades.

Conventionally, PCOD is treated symptomatically, which means every symptom is treated separately. There are different medicines, each given for the acne, irregular periods, weight loss, insulin resistance, hair fall and so on. While these treatments do help to control the symptoms, they don’t treat the underlying cause. For that, you need to approach this condition holistically.

Here are a few things you can do that will not only address the symptoms but even help in reversing PCOD altogether.

Manage insulin resistance

A woman with PCOD is surprised when she discovers that her doctor has prescribed to her medicine that is generally given to diabetics even though her sugar levels are normal. This is because PCOD and insulin resistance go hand in hand. Lack of exercise and unhealthy food habits makes your body resistant to using the available insulin. To compensate, your cells start producing more insulin. It is insulin resistance that makes it difficult for women with PCOD to lose weight. This extra insulin may also cause your ovaries to produce more male hormones such as testosterone, which explains facial hair in some. To make your body sensitive to insulin requires some big changes in your diet and lifestyle, as advised in the next point.

Say no to processed foods

As much as possible, eat foods that are in, or close to, their original form. Avoid processed foods. E.g., have fruits instead of drinking packaged juices or eating jams. Eat vegetables as a salad, soup or sabji; avoid ready-to-cook packet or soup packet. Avoid ketchups, sauces, bakery items, biscuits, refined flour, cakes, pastries, vanaspati and sugar. You can eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, dates and raisins. Desserts can be home-made, prepared with organic jaggery or dates.

Move more

If you want to bid farewell to PCOD forever, you have to fall in love with moving more. That could be walking, running, swimming, cycling, yoga, weight training, zumba, dancing, climbing stairs, doing more house chores or anything that requires your body to move. If you have a sitting job, get up and walk around after every 60 – 90 minutes. Most importantly, always include some form of strength training in your workout regime. If you can spare only 20 – 30 minutes a day to exercise, spend that time doing some form of resistance training rather than walking/running.

Get enough sleep

Regular sleep is important to maintain hormone health. Aim for at least eight hours of sleep daily and keep a regular sleep schedule. Ideally, go to bed by 10pm and avoid seeing any screens at least an hour before bedtime. Sleeping and waking up at a regular time helps to regulate your body clock, which in turn harmonises your hormones. If you can, also take a 30 minute power nap at mid-day. Sleep will also speed up your weight loss efforts.

Keep away from hormone disruptors

Certain foods, such as dairy, can disturb the hormone balance in your body and hence, should be completely avoided. The milk available these days is produced using a lot of hormones and chemicals that are entering our body through the milk. Avoid using plastic containers for storing or heating food and water. Plastic contains certain chemicals that are released in the food and water when it is heated. Instead, use glass or steel containers and bottles. Avoid using the microwave for cooking or reheating food.

The post Want freedom from PCOD? Make these five changes appeared first on Complete Wellbeing.