Yoga and Your Mental Health

Yoga is a great addition to recovery treatment. It teaches meditation, calmness and inner strength and it’s also been linked to improved sleep, stronger immune systems and increased energy. Mounting research is also showing the healing power of yoga when it comes to your mental health. 

In fact, Newsweek recently ran an article discussing the growing body of evidence that suggests how this ancient practice can play a role in anxiety and depression, eating disorders and PTSD – all mental health conditions that impact many women suffering from substance use disorder. 

Here’s a summary of some of the findings highlighted in the article: 

• Eating disorders: Yoga can help show you how your body can work for (rather against) you. One study found that those who participated in a yoga class designed to target eating disorder symptoms experienced “a significantly lower negative effect before meals compared to the group that did not practice yoga,” noted Newsweek. The participants also felt calmer and in more control of their bodies. 
• Anxiety and depression: A 2016 University of Pennsylvania study found a decrease in depression and anxiety among those with major depressive disorder who practiced Sudarshan Kriya yoga (a cyclical controlled breathing practice). "It teaches clients that they have control of their stress reaction, gives them a coping skill for when they are overwhelmed, gives them experience in practicing calming down which is helpful for times of distress," Erin Wiley, a clinical psychotherapist in Ohio, told Newsweek.
• PTSD: A study in the Journal of Traumatic Stress found a 12-week session of yoga improved the lives of women with PTSD, helping them to calm themselves down when distressed. "This leads to lower incidence of drug and alcohol abuse, or other self-medicating behaviors," Wiley told Newsweek.

Yoga in Addiction Recovery 

The majority of the women who come to us have a diagnosis of depression and/or anxiety, in addition to their addiction diagnosis. Our yoga program can help manage these or other co-occurring mental health conditions. To learn more about our programs, call today: 866-746-1558.