Silverm00n
03-20-2006, 11:50 PM
by: Melanie Haiken
Mainstream therapists are catching on to what yogis have always known: Yoga is one of the best ways to ease the anxious mind.
THE ATTACK STARTED, as they almost always do, late at night. While my two daughters slept, I paced the darkened kitchen, mentally ticking off an unending list of things that felt like they needed to be done right that mininute. My breathing was rapid, my nerves jittery, my stomach queasy. Then I tried the trick a therapist taught me long ago and carefully jotted down my "worry list."
The next day, hoping to assuage my anxiety with action, I raced around trying to take care of everything on the list. But my thoughts swarmed in a vibrating hum and I couldn't concentrate on anything long enough to be effective. I returned an important phone call, and then couldn't remember what I'd meant to talk to the caller about. I went grocery shopping, but left a bag of groceries in the cart. The absurdity of the situation hit me when my 12-year-old daughter picked up the list and read out loud: "Pay overdue mortgage," certainly a legitimate concern, was followed by "change lightbulb in closet"-surely not worth losing sleep over.
Although I've sought countless therapeutic remedies for my anxiety, the eventual breakthrough I experienced didn't happen on a therapist's couch. It occurred in a single moment in a yoga class, when I finally managed to get into Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)-and stay in it for a full five minutes. Something happened: My back arched, my chest expanded, I breathed more deeply than I would have thought possible. And my mind cleared. All that constant, overwhelming clatter was just gone, blessedly gone.
As I discovered later, my yoga breakthrough wasn't unique. More and more anxiety experts are recommending yoga-along with meditation and other mondfulness techniques-as part of an effective strategy for bringing a worried mind under control.
"In the past few years, yoga has gained widespread acceptance among those working with anxiety disorders," says psychologist Christian Komor, an expert in obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD), who directs the OCD Recovery Centers of America, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "There's a real buzz about it-people are taking it seriously and we see research that validates its benefits."
This is good news, considering that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States. According to the Anxiety Disorders Assosiation of America, more than 13% of the adult population is affected. And that's counting only those with a diagnosed anxiety disorder; there are many more people, like me, who struggle with a chronic tendency to worry over anything and everything.
LEARN TO LET GO
None of this comes as a surprise to yoga experts. "Yoga has a sly, clever way of short circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety," says Baxter Bell, a physician.
Yoga's benefits come in two forms: Concentrating on poses clears the mind, while focusing on the breath helps the body shift out of fight-or-flight mode. "When you have a lot of anxiety, you're always on orange alert," Bell says. Because you never fully let go, it's almost as if your body has forgotten how. Yoga essentially reteaches you what a relaxed state feels like. Although I fist turned to yoga for back pain, I come back because it reminds me what it feels like not to be tense.
DON'T TRY TOO HARD
Of course, for us worrywarts, yoga has a paradoxical downside: We can even get anxious about doing it properly. I've spent way too many classes feeling my tension ratchet up rather than down as I strain to copy my teacher's elegant Halasana (Plow Pose) without falling over.
The solution is to keep it simple. "I tell my students that when they're anxious, that's the time to go back to basics," Bell says. Limiting your practice to 15 minutes of three poses might be plenty when you're feeling overwhelmed. And feel free to pick and choose, skipping anything that starts the wheels spinning again.
That's what I'm trying to do. I'm applying the same approach to yoga that I'm trying to use in other parts of my life: Show up, do your best, and let go fo the consequences. If it's a good day and I can manage a one-legged Vrksasana (Tree Pose) without toppling, I'm happy. If not, I just stretch, breath, and cultivate awareness: "Oh, worrying mind in yoga class."
ASANAS FOR ANXIETY
So many poses, so little time: It's easy to get overwhelmed just trying to figure out which asanas might calm you down. Here's help:
BREATHE EASY: If you suffer from anxiety, try a gentle restorative class with plenty of focus on breathing, suggests San Francisco Bay Area yoga teacher and physician Baxter Bell. Viniyoga, in which poses are synchronized with the breath, is a good option; even better would be to find a teacher who stresses pranayama, the science of yogic breathing. One breath pattern Bell recommends calls for adding one second to each exhalation, so your exhalations grow increasingly longer than your inhalations. "This is a quieting, calming breath pattern that combats stress," Bell says.
OPEN UP: My favorite poses are backbends and chest openers such as Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose), Matsyasana (Fish Pose), and Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose), simply because they make me feel free and open. And these are amoung the poses yoga teachers most often recommend.
GO UPSIDE DOWN: Other favorites are supported inversions because they give you the relaxation benefits of going upside down without the hard work-and stress-of a challenging pose such as Handstand. "When the blood rushes to your head, your body interprets it as a rise in blood pressure and reacts to calm you down," Bell says. YOur heart rate and breathing slow and your blood vessels dilate. However, if inversions scare you, they may trigger the fight-or-flight response, which in turn boosts anxiety. If that's the case, you should practice Salamba Sarvangasana (Supported Shoulderstand) or Viparita Karani (Legs-up-the-Wall-Pose) as the perfect compromise. Lastly, Bell recommends sitting and standing twists to release emotional tension.
Mainstream therapists are catching on to what yogis have always known: Yoga is one of the best ways to ease the anxious mind.
THE ATTACK STARTED, as they almost always do, late at night. While my two daughters slept, I paced the darkened kitchen, mentally ticking off an unending list of things that felt like they needed to be done right that mininute. My breathing was rapid, my nerves jittery, my stomach queasy. Then I tried the trick a therapist taught me long ago and carefully jotted down my "worry list."
The next day, hoping to assuage my anxiety with action, I raced around trying to take care of everything on the list. But my thoughts swarmed in a vibrating hum and I couldn't concentrate on anything long enough to be effective. I returned an important phone call, and then couldn't remember what I'd meant to talk to the caller about. I went grocery shopping, but left a bag of groceries in the cart. The absurdity of the situation hit me when my 12-year-old daughter picked up the list and read out loud: "Pay overdue mortgage," certainly a legitimate concern, was followed by "change lightbulb in closet"-surely not worth losing sleep over.
Although I've sought countless therapeutic remedies for my anxiety, the eventual breakthrough I experienced didn't happen on a therapist's couch. It occurred in a single moment in a yoga class, when I finally managed to get into Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose)-and stay in it for a full five minutes. Something happened: My back arched, my chest expanded, I breathed more deeply than I would have thought possible. And my mind cleared. All that constant, overwhelming clatter was just gone, blessedly gone.
As I discovered later, my yoga breakthrough wasn't unique. More and more anxiety experts are recommending yoga-along with meditation and other mondfulness techniques-as part of an effective strategy for bringing a worried mind under control.
"In the past few years, yoga has gained widespread acceptance among those working with anxiety disorders," says psychologist Christian Komor, an expert in obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD), who directs the OCD Recovery Centers of America, based in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "There's a real buzz about it-people are taking it seriously and we see research that validates its benefits."
This is good news, considering that anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States. According to the Anxiety Disorders Assosiation of America, more than 13% of the adult population is affected. And that's counting only those with a diagnosed anxiety disorder; there are many more people, like me, who struggle with a chronic tendency to worry over anything and everything.
LEARN TO LET GO
None of this comes as a surprise to yoga experts. "Yoga has a sly, clever way of short circuiting the mental patterns that cause anxiety," says Baxter Bell, a physician.
Yoga's benefits come in two forms: Concentrating on poses clears the mind, while focusing on the breath helps the body shift out of fight-or-flight mode. "When you have a lot of anxiety, you're always on orange alert," Bell says. Because you never fully let go, it's almost as if your body has forgotten how. Yoga essentially reteaches you what a relaxed state feels like. Although I fist turned to yoga for back pain, I come back because it reminds me what it feels like not to be tense.
DON'T TRY TOO HARD
Of course, for us worrywarts, yoga has a paradoxical downside: We can even get anxious about doing it properly. I've spent way too many classes feeling my tension ratchet up rather than down as I strain to copy my teacher's elegant Halasana (Plow Pose) without falling over.
The solution is to keep it simple. "I tell my students that when they're anxious, that's the time to go back to basics," Bell says. Limiting your practice to 15 minutes of three poses might be plenty when you're feeling overwhelmed. And feel free to pick and choose, skipping anything that starts the wheels spinning again.
That's what I'm trying to do. I'm applying the same approach to yoga that I'm trying to use in other parts of my life: Show up, do your best, and let go fo the consequences. If it's a good day and I can manage a one-legged Vrksasana (Tree Pose) without toppling, I'm happy. If not, I just stretch, breath, and cultivate awareness: "Oh, worrying mind in yoga class."
ASANAS FOR ANXIETY
So many poses, so little time: It's easy to get overwhelmed just trying to figure out which asanas might calm you down. Here's help:
BREATHE EASY: If you suffer from anxiety, try a gentle restorative class with plenty of focus on breathing, suggests San Francisco Bay Area yoga teacher and physician Baxter Bell. Viniyoga, in which poses are synchronized with the breath, is a good option; even better would be to find a teacher who stresses pranayama, the science of yogic breathing. One breath pattern Bell recommends calls for adding one second to each exhalation, so your exhalations grow increasingly longer than your inhalations. "This is a quieting, calming breath pattern that combats stress," Bell says.
OPEN UP: My favorite poses are backbends and chest openers such as Bhujangasana (Cobra Pose), Matsyasana (Fish Pose), and Setu Bandha Sarvangasana (Bridge Pose), simply because they make me feel free and open. And these are amoung the poses yoga teachers most often recommend.
GO UPSIDE DOWN: Other favorites are supported inversions because they give you the relaxation benefits of going upside down without the hard work-and stress-of a challenging pose such as Handstand. "When the blood rushes to your head, your body interprets it as a rise in blood pressure and reacts to calm you down," Bell says. YOur heart rate and breathing slow and your blood vessels dilate. However, if inversions scare you, they may trigger the fight-or-flight response, which in turn boosts anxiety. If that's the case, you should practice Salamba Sarvangasana (Supported Shoulderstand) or Viparita Karani (Legs-up-the-Wall-Pose) as the perfect compromise. Lastly, Bell recommends sitting and standing twists to release emotional tension.