Yoga Can Help With Stress, Depression & Schizophrenia

Yoga while seemingly very easy to do is actually a very challenging exercise that can tone your muscles and improve your flexibility. Not only that, Yoga can also help improve our mental health state!

 

Yoga is closely related to Hinduism in India. The philosophy in Hinduism, which focuses on meditation, is the root of what now becomes Yoga. We are expected to focus our mind to control our whole body and senses. A lot of yogis has started to sprout everywhere in Jakarta, this can be seen how Yoga places are now mushrooming the city.

 

Yoga emphasizes the activity of meditation and meditation has been proven by scientist to have a positive effect on our mental health. So, it’s nothing unusual that more and more people are starting to take up Yoga on their spare time.

 

“I just started taking up yoga with one of the renowned yoga masters in Indonesia. It wasn’t even a month of class yet, and I’ve already felt a significant improvement in me. I feel calmer and have better control of my emotions whenever faced with conflicts. Before I took up yoga, I had anger issues and was prone to outburst. Seeing how good the impact is on my life, I make sure to get yoga into my daily routine because I think our mental health state is the key to our success in life,” said Okta, 24, freelancer.

 

A study from Harvard University in 2009, Yoga for Anxiety and Depression showed that yoga could lessen the negative impact from stress, reduce anxiety level as well as depression. All activities done while doing yoga, like meditation, relaxation, and even socializing with other yogis, have a positive impact and can reduce stress.

 

Other study has also shown that yoga is one of the promising alternatives to helping and even treating mental health problems. Research done by Dr. P. Murali Doraiswamy, a psychiatric professor in Duke University Medical Center, which was published in Frontiers in Psychiatry, has shown that yoga is a promising treatment for people suffering from depression, schizophrenia, ADHD, and insomnia. The research also has shown that yoga reduce the symptoms of stress that if not prevented might grow into something even more serious like various kind of mental disturbances.

 

 

For beginners, you can start by joining yoga class in various fitness and health centers near you. Yoga class is one of the most on demand classes in gyms and fitness centers. You can also go to small yoga studios that have sprouted in several locations in Jakarta. Need something more advanced outside the confinement of the city? Don’t miss one of the biggest annual yoga events, Bali Spirit Festival!

 

If you ever feel stressed out, out of control, or even depressed, you should give yoga a go! Not only will you tone your muscles and get leaner, you will also improve your mental health state. Interested?


Originally published on Fimela.com. Translated and edited by Gold's Gym Indonesia.