Yoga: it works!

Yoga has been an integral part of healing my body/mind/spirit after the assault upon all of them by the long-term use of psych drugs and the subsequent withdrawal.  Yoga helped me regain my strength after 2 years of having been bed-ridden …yeah, it got me back in physical shape. Just as important it strengthens my general sense of well-being and confidence in my capacity to heal.

Yoga can be foundational to well-being, in a general and broad sense, and that is why it has so many applications.

From Comfort Zone, Center for whole self health:

Research: why does yoga work?

Yoga as a tool for the treatment mood disorders and stress is becoming a widely recognized modality.  But why?  How does it work?

In this article, still in press, five well-published researchers from different institutions, who independently study the effects of yoga on depression and stress as well as other medical conditions like epilepsy, collaborated on an important paper that theorizes why yoga works to restore optimal balance in the central nervous system. Citing their previous studies, the authors hypothesize that yoga works in several ways. First, yoga corrects under activity of the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS), the aspect of the autonomic nervous system that slows the heart beat and increases digestion, resulting in a calming effect to the body mind. Secondly, yoga elevates gamma amino-butyric acid (GABA), which is an inhibitory neurotransmitter with a calming, anti-stress effect that is often low in people with depression, anxiety and PTSD. The heightened PNS response and the elevation of GABA induced by yoga is in part through the stimulation of the vagus nerve, which is the main pathway of the PNS. “According to the proposed theory,” the researchers state, “the decreased PNS and GABAergic activity that underlies stress-related disorders can be corrected by yoga practices resulting in amelioration of disease symptoms. This has far-reaching implications for the integration of yoga-based practices in the treatment of a broad array of disorders exacerbated by stress.” (read more)

Streeter CC, Gerbarg PL, Saper RB, Ciraulo DA, Brown RP., “Effects of yoga on the autonomic nervous system, gamma-aminobutyric-acid, and allostasis in epilepsy, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.” Medical Hypothesis, 2012, in press.
Abstract: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22365651

See this reporting of studies too: Yoga on our minds: a systematic review of yoga for neuropsychiatric disorders

For more info on yoga on Beyond Meds see here:

● Yoga: changing the brains stressful habits

● Want Better Health? Practice Yoga at Home

● Health benefits of yoga: infographic and info

● Yoga is being researched and supported at the National Institute of Health

●  Belly breathing and a bit of yoga

●  Yoga for Trauma Survivors (and info on trauma and the body)

●  Yoga postures, breathing and waking-up

●  Yoga at home

●  Your yoga for today (a wonderful gentle 45 minute yoga session)