Yoga for Depression in Practice

Zoloft, Prozac, and many other infamous antidepressants have had thousands, if not millions of dollars funding research on their benefits. At the same time, what may be the world’s best depression treatment remains consistently under-tested and under-advertized, namely because there’s no company that stands make enough money off of it to support its promotion.

"The yoga mat is a good place to turn when talk therapy and antidepressants aren't enough." -Amy Weintraub, author of Yoga for Depression

Veterans of U.S. wars in Afghanistan and Iraq may take heart in the results of several studies showing that regular yoga practice helps ease depression and other symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.

Yogic breathing exercises are easy to learn and perform, and their health effects are profound—they deeply relax body and mind, relieve feelings for depression, and minimize stress and anxiety

Probably the most powerful aspect of yoga for depression comes from deepening breath. Breathing typically becomes distorted in people who are depressed, and this exacerbates the condition. Yoga postures and breathing exercises help open up the breath and encourage deeper and more natural breathing.