5 Yoga Poses for Depression
to improve your mental health, you should test your yoga posture. They work quite well in depression
Yoga makes you feel good in your body.
And when you’re depressed,
well…..
you feel bad. Worse than bad.
Stop your thinking now and start practicing yoga today. Don’t wait, act
I didn’t love it at first though…..
I had tried before but in the past I felt I couldn’t really relax and make the most of all the positive benefits that yoga brings.
If this sounds like you, try doing it daily and see if it grows on you!
Once I started doing it daily was when I started to feel the benefits.
Taking the time for myself every day to fit Yoga into my daily self care routine has had a huge impact on my mental health.
People who feel anxious about depression and anxiety will feel the benefits of using yoga. This will increase awareness and harmony in life by gently turning off the mind
That is why I recommend trying these Yoga poses as they bring a sense of calm to my day and a bit of relief from negative and depressive thoughts.
If you also suffer with anxiety and feeling overwhelmed, try these 5 best yoga poses for anxiety and stress to help you feel calm.
Benefits of Yoga
PHYSICAL BENEFITS
- Improves Flexibility
- Builds core strength
- Can contribute to weight loss
- Helps improve posture
- Prevents from injury
MENTAL BENEFITS
- Decreases stress
- Reduces feelings of anxiety
- Helps connect with inner self
- Increases awareness
Yoga Equipment
One of the things I love most about Yoga is that I can do it whenever and whenever I feel like it without any equipment at all!
(best not to start in the middle of the office though….)
But if you are going to take Yoga seriously, there are a few things that might make your practice a little more fun.
- Nice yoga outfit
- Quality yoga mat
- Yoga block (or blocks…)
- A Yoga belt (great for increasing flexibility!)
- A calm environment
- A Yoga towel (for extra grip)
5 Yoga poses for depression
There are so many different types of Yoga poses for you to try and with daily practice I’m sure you will soon be a zen master!!
These are my top 5 poses for depression because they make me feel calm and at peace when feelings of hopelessness arise.
When you are depressed, it can be hard to motivate yourself to do anything.
I love these 5 gentle poses because of the sense of achievement I get after practising them.
I tend to do them in the morning as they help boost my mood and set me up for a positive day ahead!
1. DOWNWARD DOG
If you’ve tried Yoga before you will definitely be familiar with this pose!
I love it as it gives you a whole body stretch which will make you feel invigorated for the rest of the day.
It is a calming pose and helps depression.
Don’t worry if your heels can’t touch the floor – make this into a mini goal for yourself and see how you progress that little bit further every day.
2. PIGEON POSE
This one is great for opening up your hips.
Hip flexibility is essential as if you have inflexible hips, this can often lead to injury in another part of your body from overcompensation for the lack of hip mobility.
A lot of Yoga instructors say emotions are help in the hips, and this pose releases all of your emotional tension.
Worth a try at least right?!
3. WARRIOR 2
This pose strengthens your legs and helps improve your balance.
I love it as it makes me feel powerful.
Being depressed has probably made you lose a lot of the power and confidence you once had.
So reclaim that power back and feel great again with this strong pose!
4. COBRA
Cobra stretched your abdominals and increases flexibility in the spine.
It also helps alleviate stress.
I love it because you start off lying down….
5. CAT COW
Cat cow is called this….. because you are moving gently between the shapes that look like a cat and a cow.
It looks easy to do but actually requires some focus to ensure you are doing it correctly.
It helps you to focus on your breathing and to be present in the current moment.
So those are my top 5 Yoga poses for depression, I hope you enjoyed them and love them as much as I do!
If you want to try more, here is another great video from Adriene.
