Mental Health — Can Yoga Improve It?

Beside the benefits we know yoga has on the physical aspect of our body, there has been some significant proof that yoga can also improve our mental health.

Many yoga practitioners report significant benefits on what we call “mental health.”

One way of understanding this is, whether is exercising in general or yoga in particular, if we put our bodies to work, this will have a positive impact to our physical and mental health.

Simply put, you will experience a calmer, clearer and stress-free mind — and that is because the mind and the body are not separate.

If we do something to the body, it will affect the way the mind works. Consequently, if we do something that benefits the body, the mind will experience the benefits as well.

But it’s important to say that there are limits to that.

Yoga for the body, benefit your mind (physical health = mental health)

Yoga does not only benefit the mind, whilst you work with the body — it is a multi dimensional approach. 

Firstly, while you work on the body and experience all the physical benefits of yoga, your mental health improves as a consequence and, as your mental health improves, your body will experience the benefits as well. 

Working directly on the mind with yoga is largely done through meditation techniques. And the breathing technique is the link between the two.

Many different types of yoga can have mental benefits. If you are curious to know what type of yoga is going to be the most beneficial for mental health, then we will have to look at something that has a comprehensive approach.

It has to include techniques that work on the body (yoga postures), as well as techniques that work on the breathing and on the mind (different types of meditation techniques).

As a result, at the end of a yoga session, the participants are left with an amazing feeling of peace and well-being, and that is precisely why they keep going back for more.

Does yoga bring about the change you are looking for in your life?

Mental health is not necessarily a diagnosis for a mental disorder, but a sharp mind that functions at its full capacity.

Depression and anxiety are very real and a growing concern in the modern world. Yoga is a methodology and a system that not only brings benefits in terms of physical health, but also mental health.

Hence, those suffering from depression or anxiety should consider yoga and meditation, before staring on the path of pharmaceuticals.

Happiness is another word that we can use to describe mental health.

The Power of a Personal Yoga practice

The way that yoga really works best, is when we develop a personal practice, one that fits our style in that particular period of our lives.

This way, we will basically take advantage from both the general and the particular yoga benefits. The particular one is going to have a more potent effect on us.

So, a personal practice addresses an individual need. To have a suitable personal practice, a far more powerful way would be having a teacher. A teacher who will help you develop a suitable, personal practice just for you.