There are loads of ways in which it’s suggested that we can help to improve and/or support our mental health.  Hundreds of research studies have been carried out over the years and lots of statistics have been published on this subject.  It is heart-warming to see that steps are being taken to increase society’s awareness of mental health and how much of a real problem this can be to people.

 To be completely honest, life over the last year or so has been pretty rubbish hasn’t it?  I wonder how many people have found that they’re more fed up on a regular basis now, and that they have zero motivation to do anything?  Probably more than we want to believe.

And now we are witnessing the most awful atrocities in Ukraine and the senseless loss of life and destruction.  It’s hard to know how to process everything that we are seeing and hearing.  

Being stuck in the Pandemic as we all were (and still are at some level) and being faced with the realities of the War between Russia and Ukraine have presented us with many challenges.  Maybe you had challenges in your life before the most recent global one, and you may not have given yourself time to realise this or perhaps you have found a way to deal with and work through them. 

If you read articles on the best ways to help your mental health, you’ll come across various articles which say that exercise is as a great way to support your mental health, and I completely agree with this.  Exercising kickstarts a waterfall of events which results in the release of the feel-good hormone ‘endorphin’, which can immediately make you feel happy!

As we are living in some uncertain times at present maybe we are starting to feel more withdrawn and this can have a negative effect on your feelings.  Therefore, read on to discover why and how Yoga can support you and your mental health, make you feel energised and help to regain your motivation. 

Where does Yoga fit into to our daily exercise routine?

Walking outdoors, running, swimming and so on are often top of the list of exercise options and they are all great choices and help to boost your self-esteem and improve your mood.  Outside activity is a great way to absorb Vitamin D which is a natural mood boost and a great way to help with your immune system.

Outdoor exercise allows you to be around nature which is undoubtedly brilliant for making you feel better, and your mind will have something extra to focus on rather than your own thoughts alone.  

However, I would like to hear a big round of applause for the power of Yoga and how this wonderful practice can help you in so many more ways than you may imagine.

The Health Benefits of Yoga

I personally think that there are so many health benefits to Yoga that to list them all here would be quite a long read. Usually, the first ones that spring to mind are how Yoga can help improve your flexibility and mobility.  It’s a myth that you must be bendy to do Yoga – not at all.  In fact, being too bendy, or hypermobile, can lead to ligament problems and body pains further down the line.  If you are hypermobile then you can still practice yoga, but you will need to modify some of the poses and be very careful about binding and moving too deeply into asanas.  

Yoga helps with your strength and to tone your body, especially if you practice styles such as Ashtanga and Power Yoga.  Hatha and Iyenga are less dynamic styles but are wonderful for increasing your body endurance and to improve your overall resilience (as can all styles of Yoga).

How can we boost our wellness and improve our mental health through Yoga?

 Celebrate your breath

Take a moment to breathe, to remember that each breath is free, and that ultimately, we control our breath. Reminding yourself that each breath you take is an opportunity to experience a new moment.  Use your breath to start to take your focus to a place of positivity and to not listen to any inner negative voices which are trying to take over.

 Your breath is your power; it helps to calm your nervous system and can take you from a state of ‘fight or flight’ to a place of rest and calm.  Your breath will help to ground you and for you to feel light and free within your body.

Permission to give yourself time

Each day can be busy in its own way and to allow yourself time to rest and reflect can be a great form of medicine for your mind.

 Stepping onto your mat for 5, 10, or 30 minutes a day is showing you that you have the intention to look after yourself, that you are aware that you need to slow down and take stock of things.  However, remember that if you are not in the mood to practice yoga then don’t force it on yourself.  

Remind yourself that there are times when stepping back is better than making yourself do something that you don’t feel prepared for.  Also remember that if we choose not to do something that we had previously set as our goal, then we should ensure we don’t give ourselves a hard time about this.

Yoga can help you sleep better which improves your mood

 As Yoga is a form of meditative movement which helps you focus on your breathing, practising Yoga can hugely help with sleep disorders.

When using Yoga as a tool to improve your sleep, consideration should be given to creating a regular schedule where you practice more than once a week.  Attending regular classes is a great way of doing this.  

Women often find it harder to sleep than men, therefore practicing an hour or so before bed will benefit you the most.  Improved sleep also leads to reduced anxiety and depression.

Practicing Mindfulness which is a practice of non-judgment and being present in the moment can contribute to a peaceful sleep.  Mindfulness can increase melatonin levels and reduce night-time sleep disturbances.

Which types of Yoga can help me sleep?

Hatha yoga which involves gentle body postures and wonderful breathing techniques is a good example of a sleep helping Yoga.  Moving through more gentle asanas rather than dynamic ones can help to keep our nervous system calm.

Yoga Nidra is a practice which is done purely lying down and focuses on breathing and draws more attention to certain parts of your body.  Again, this is a calming nervous system practice and ideal for a restful night’s sleep.

 There are some perfect asanas that can be practiced before bed to help improve your chances of a better sleep:

•  Standing forward bend (uttanasana). From a standing position, slowly start to roll your body forward aiming your hands to either your shins or the ground. Bringing your chest close to your thighs and have softness in your knees.

• Reclined butterfly (supta baddha konasana). Lie on your back. Press the soles of your feet together and let your knees fall to the side. Rest your arms by your side and relax your shoulders.

• Legs up the wall (viparita karani). Lie on your back with your legs against a wall so that your body makes an “L.” Relax your arms at your sides.

• Corpse pose (savasana). This is often the closing pose of yoga practices. Lie on the floor with your arms at your sides, palms up, and your legs straight.

Yoga Mantras and Asanas to support mental health

 Yoga can help to lift our spirits when we are feeling low.  Yoga allows you to be you through your practice and asks that you acknowledge if you are not feeling your best and accept this feeling.  We should honour our views and beliefs and hold them true to our hearts.  

 When we are feeling low, mantras are a wonderful way to improve our mood and help us to take the transformative feelings that we have on the mat into our everyday life.  Mantras such as:

 ‘I welcome my emotions – it is ok to feel how I feel.’

 An accompanying pose for this would be camel (Ustrasana) or bridge pose (Setu Bandha Sarvangasana); opening up your heart to the sky.

 ‘My thoughts are my guiding beacon and will help show me the right direction.’

 Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II) gives your body the power and strength to follow your heart and mind.

When you’re feeling low, stepping onto your mat gives your mind another focus and restores your emotional energy.

Yoga as a low-impact exercise has been shown to decrease stress hormones in our body and at the same time increase the feel-good hormones in our brain such as endorphins.  These hormones in turn help to decrease anxiety and boost our mood.  Yoga also can help protect us cognitively and reduce the effects of ageing on both our brain and our body.

Yoga brings you back to your sense of self and awakens your mind

Yoga can help you get to know yourself, build your self-trust and start to work deeper on being in the present moment using mindfulness.

By beginning to think that you are worth more and to allow yourself more me time, you will start to feel more confident, grounded and rooted in yourself.  You will start to develop a healthy, balanced mind and begin to recognise qualities within yourself that you may not have been aware of before.

The combining (yoking) of light and dark in our practice opens your mind to places in our body where we hold tension, tightness and have a lack of energy; areas where we hold our physical and emotional energy.  These areas can become blocked and need to be cleared to help our mind to reawaken.

Certain asanas can help to bring the feeling of a sense of self back to you and working on how you feel on the outside can help with how you feel on the inside.  Backbends are a great heart opener and can free up emotions and release stiffness in your shoulder blades.  You may not always be conscious of your emotional release, but it will most definitely be there to some extent.

Having read all of the above and perhaps started to have a deeper understanding of the power of Yoga and the way it benefits our mental health, have you been tempted to try a class?  Once you have taken the first step to experience Yoga there is a strong chance that you will become hooked and will wonder why you had not tried it before.

As a Yoga teacher, registered Nurse with an interest in Women’s Health, Massage therapist and Pilates teacher, I have many years of experience looking in detail at our body and how wonderful and strong it is.  But we should be taking as much care with our mind too, as when we experience negative or dark thoughts, it become irrelevant how strong our body is; if our mind says no to an idea, then that is often the driving force of our decision.

Are you now ready to step onto your mat?  I hope so, I promise you won’t regret it.