3 Tips for Managing the Blues with Yoga

by Beth

Winter Trees by Melina Meza

You wake up one morning and feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. Or, at some point during the day your body�s energy and your mental state plummet. You feel heavy, sluggish, and �stuck in the mud� of inaction. Every item on your to do list seems insurmountable. You feel like Sisyphus, that legendary king of Corinth, condemned eternally in Hades to repeatedly roll a heavy rock up a hill only to have it roll down again as it nears the top. So why bother doing anything? It seems so fruitless. Clearly, there is an energetic imbalance happening. 

The blues. We all get them from time to time. Because we are spiritual beings having a human experience, this happens. And because we are all different in so many ways, my blues, will not look or feel like your blues. If the energy state is temporary and does not linger�I draw the line at 3 days�we can choose to use our knowledge of yoga to shift our energy into a state where we feel more stable, embodied, grounded, safe, and connected to the physical world, our families, friends, and support communities. We can work toward a balance that lifts the perceived weight from our physical bodies (anamayakosha), restores our lagging energy (pranamayakosha), and calms the mind (manomayakosha), which may be stuck at any point between a deep well of dense, leaden earth and a fast moving cloud of anxious restlessness.

1. Self Study and Discipline

When I find myself in this sate of imbalance and want to shift myself to a more balanced state, I turn to the niyamas. The first step is self-awareness (svadhyaya) and the question: why is this imbalance manifesting at this time? Sometimes I�ll find an answer and sometimes I won�t, but the important part of the process is to ask the question. The next step is discipline (tapas) and the question: which yoga techniques can help shift the imbalance?

I lead an active life with a full schedule of teaching, writing, mentoring, volunteering, and keeping up with family and social groups from my book club to my �neighbors without a hood� Friday night dinner friends. When the blues manifest, it�s usually one of two reasons. Either I have overextended myself, and my body takes over to slow me down for rest and relaxation. Or, there is some creative impulse or life lesson that needs to come up to come out, and my body takes over to slow me down and let the gestation process move forward. At this stage of my life, I�ve learned to first be with and watch the process instead of rushing to shift the imbalance. Then, with or without an answer, I can choose my yoga approach to shift the energy. 

2. Creating Heat

Doing yoga poses in a way that creates heat, encourages a feeling of stimulation, and intention is helpful. I focus on the feeling of moving purposefully at a comfortable rate of speed and determination. A flow that I love and use frequently is Downward-Facing Dog to Plank pose. When dealing with the blues, I add in longer holds with a conscious mental focus of, �stimulate, strengthen, and energize.� 

Downward-Facing Dog to Plank Pose. In this mini vinyasa, I hold each asana for several breaths, usually 20 � 30 seconds, while keeping the focus on strengthening my arms and lengthening my spine. I keep my knees slightly bent for comfort. I repeat this flow several times using normal breathing with a bit more emphasis on the inhalation, and rest for a few breaths in Child pose between repetitions if needed.

This is my usual go-to flow when both body and mind sink into that deep well of dense leaden earth. But sometimes the body wants something else. For example, the last time it happened, I just �knew� that I needed a serious inversion to stimulate myself and move the energy upward in order to �get the lead out.� I went to my yoga swing and hung upside down like a bat for 3 minutes. Relief!

3. Calming Your Mind

On the rare occasion when my body feels heavy and immobile but my mind is stuck in that aforementioned fast-moving cloud of anxious restlessness, I first work to calm and quiet my mind before dealing with the bodily sensations of heaviness. I will do a short practice of either a mini vinyasa of Downward-Facing Dog pose to Child�s pose or 10 minutes in a supported inverted pose, and finish with a short session of seated meditation.

Downward-Facing Dog to Child Pose. I hold Downward-Facing Dog for about 5-10 seconds and Child�s pose for 30 seconds or longer, depending on how I�m feeling. I repeat the flow several times using slow even breathing or a calming breath practice (see Calming Breath Practices We Recommend), along with a mental focus of calming, grounding and warming. To complete the flow, I rest in Child Pose for a few minutes.

Supported Inverted Poses. If I just want one posture, my asana of choice is Legs Up the Wall pose or Easy Inverted pose for 10 minutes, with normal even breathing and a mental focus on all the parts of me that are connected to the floor or chair. 

Seated Meditation. To complete my practice, I do a moment or two of seated meditation with Hakini mudra for integration and balance.

These are a few of the ways I manage my blues. Hope you find the tips helpful as you explore ways to manage yours.

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email � Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook � Join this site with Google Friend Connect

Read More

Using Stress Management Techniques for Medical Conditions

by Baxter and Nina

Dandelion by Melina Meza

If you're suffering from a stress-related disease, such as heart disease, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and digestive disorders, reducing chronic stress can be very beneficial. Stress management can also help with emotional disorders�including anxiety and depression�that are caused by or worsened by stress.

Because stress management helps reduce inflammation, reducing chronic stress can also help with inflammation-related problems, including most forms of arthritis, as well as certain gastrointestinal conditions, such as celiac disease and leaky gut syndrome. 

In general, yoga stress management techniques can be preventive medicine, as lowering overall stress levels may reduce your chances of even developing stress-related illnesses. They could also be curative because spending significant amounts of time in Rest and Digest keeps your immune system and repair systems functioning optimally. Finally, you can use stress management as a palliative technique to help you cope with the stress of living with a chronic illness, improving the quality of your life.

This provides some basic tips for practicing stress management when you have a medical condition. We'll address physical disorders first and then discuss emotional disorders. See The Relaxation Response and Yoga for general information about using stress management when you're healthy. 

Cautions: Generally stress management techniques are very safe. However, meditation is generally not recommended for depression or anxiety, because sitting alone with your thoughts can cause you to spiral downward. So avoid meditation unless you have a teacher experienced at working with your condition who can guide you. People who have uncontrolled high blood pressure should not practice full or partial inverted poses. 

For Physical Disorders

For digestive disorders, for periods without active symptoms, practice a well-rounded stress reducing sequence, combining active poses, both dynamic and static, and restorative poses, as well as meditation and breath work. For periods with active symptoms, stay with gentle poses, including easy dynamic poses and restorative poses, that do not create pressure on your abdomen (for example, no Cobra or Locust pose), and avoid twists. But you can practice any stress management techniques that work well for you, including focused relaxation, quieting breath practices, and meditation. For most digestive issues, you can include supported inversions. However, for hiatal hernias and gastro-esophageal reflux (GERD), symptoms will often worsen with inverted poses, so you should avoid them. 

For inflammation-related conditions, for the non-asana part of your practice, you can practice whatever stress management techniques work best for you. For arthritis of the lower back on down to the feet, supported inverted poses can be particularly helpful. 

For cardiovascular disorders, all of the stress management tools can be helpful, particularly meditation, calming breath practices, restorative poses, and focused relaxation. Just be aware that for certain conditions, such as congestive heart failure, lying flat in Savasana may bring on symptoms. In such cases, elevating your head and chest may relieve the symptoms. the head and chest may permit you to do Savasana safely. 

For cardiovascular diseases for which your doctor has warned you about situations that may increase your blood pressure, such as coronary artery disease and risk of stroke, practice supported inversion only if they do not cause an increase in your blood pressure. (Check your blood pressure with a home monitor immediately before trying a short hold of supported inversion and check again immediately afterwards to see if your numbers go high. Discuss with your doctor if you are uncertain how to proceed.)

One of the significant issues for people with just about any chronic is that the illness itself if a significant daily stressor. Examples are cardiovascular disease, diabetes and related conditions (metabolic syndrome), autoimmune diseases such as and rheumatoid arthritis, to name just a few. For all these conditions, you can use whichever stress management techniques make you feel better and do not aggravate your symptoms. Obviously, if you are seriously ill, practices that are physically undemanding, such as meditation, breath work, and focused relaxation (which you can do lying down as well as sitting) will be more accessible to you.

For Emotional Disorders

Because emotional disorders, including depression and anxiety, are either caused by or worsened by stress, practicing stress management for these medical conditions is extremely beneficial and may make you feel better, either immediately or with consistent practice over time. 

However, many stress management practices, such as restorative yoga, focused relaxation, and mediation are typically practiced with closed eyes. If this causes you to become more depressed or anxious, try practicing with your eyes open instead, keeping them softly focused. If trying to concentrate on your breath or physical sensations causes your symptoms to worsen, try using a mantra, a formal meditation practice, or a recorded relaxation practice that employs vivid imagery.

Anxiety. Because people with anxiety often have a hard time staying still, we recommend that you begin with a strong asana sequence to tire yourself out a bit before trying stress management techniques. Supported Inverted poses are particularly beneficial for anxiety, as the physical orientation of the poses triggers the Relaxation Response and concentration isn�t as essential. But if you find other techniques effective, use whichever ones you prefer. 

Lying on your back with your front body exposed can increase anxiety in some people, so for you prone restorative poses, such as Child�s pose, may be better than supine poses, such as Reclined Cobbler�s pose. If Savasana on your back creates anxiety, try lying on your belly or on your side instead, or skip the pose entirely and do Legs Up the Wall pose instead. 

Depression. For clinical depression, which has symptoms of lethargy and despair, if lying or sitting still causes symptoms to worsen, try a mindful asana practice with either short holds in static poses or slow dynamic poses. For restorative poses, choose backbend shapes, such as Reclined Cobbler�s pose, which can be uplifting, rather than forward bend shapes. In Savasana, try a supported version, with your torso lifted and your chest open, rather than lying flat.

For agitated depression, follow our suggestions for anxiety, adding in restorative backbends if those work for you.

Subscribe to Yoga for Healthy Aging by Email � Follow Yoga for Healthy Aging on Facebook � Join this site with Google Friend Connect

Read More