The Benefits of Yoga for Depression, Anxiety and Stress

Written by Bonnie Rose Aherin, L6 BTEC, ACMT from www.knotsology.com

People around the world enjoy practicing yoga and the positive effects it can have on their daily lives. Knotsology focuses on the experience you can benefit from yoga on depression, anxiety and stress in your life.

Yoga was an integral part of my life throughout my years of training as a Level 6 BTEC Advanced Clinical & Sports Massage Therapist with the Jing Advanced Massage Institute in Brighton, England. My teachers inspired me to continue my yoga journey with The House of OM. I have been able to reflect on my personal experience with yoga and how its benefits can further the research I began with my dissertation from the Clinical Massage Research Conference of 2023 on the effects of guided self therapy for adults with depression, anxiety and stress.

As time passes, Yoga remains constant in its ability to create and improve 'a greater sense of well-being, increase feelings of relaxation, improve self-confidence...and encourage an optimistic outlook on life' (Woodyard, 2011). In a literature study by Kamraju (2023), he suggested that the effects yoga has on the nervous system and its ability to 'promote mindfulness and reduce stress' is the connecting factor between yoga and mental health in various research studies.

This article will highlight on the benefits of yoga as a complementary therapy for depression, anxiety and stress and how you can implement it his year in your day-to-day life. Further links for where to reach out for more specific mental health needs or in times of crisis will be shown at the end of this article.

#1 - Increased feelings of relaxation

Yoga can give you both immediate feelings of relaxation and help you experience long term benefits to aid living with depression, anxiety and stress.

One of the immediate benefits from engaging in yoga is an increased feeling of relaxation. Three asanas (poses) in yoga that are good for relaxation: