Mindful yoga for mental wellbeing
People come to yoga for a variety of reasons and participation in Australia has doubled in the last 10 years. Some come for the proven physical benefits and others for the internal benefits, and many come for both!
More and more studies are showing that yoga and mindfulness are great supporters to mental wellbeing, helping to manage anxiety, depression and for stress reduction as well as helping to alleviate muscular aches and pains. Self-compassion has also been shown to increase which is valuable as it influences how we approach life’s challenges, ourselves and others during stressful times. Bartels et al., (2019) found that a weekly yoga program in an ACT prison resulted in participants reporting improvements in mental wellbeing, sleep, stress levels, impulse control and coping mechanisms. These incarcerated people also felt better about themselves which influenced their personal goals and general outlook on life. The study supported the idea that yoga and mindfulness interventions have the potential to benefit those in prisons and in all of society.
A good yoga class includes asana (what you do with your body), pranayama (breathwork) and mindfulness meditation (being in the here and now without judgement). This helps to improve the body mind connection and bring you into the present moment. Over time this helps to improve stress management and increases self-compassion which better equips you for life’s inevitable ups and downs.
Gentle mindful yoga ticks lots of boxes at the one time. It is an amazing low-cost way to take care of your body and your mind and share space with other like-minded people. You can even practice yoga in a chair or laying down! Either way, the more often you practice, the greater the benefits. Mindful yoga is a great adjunct to talk therapy and medication and an increasing number of health practitioners promote mindfulness and yoga as part of a holistic mental health plan.
If you are looking for yoga on the northside of Brisbane, come try us out with your first class for free. Click on the link at the top right hand of this page to book.
**Please note, this article is not stating that yoga and mindfulness is a substitute to your talk therapy or medication. Please follow your health professional’s advice. **
References
Bartels, L., Oxman, L., & Hopkins, A. (2019). “I Would Just Feel Really Relaxed and at Peace”: Findings From a Pilot Prison Yoga Program in Australia. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 15-16. doi:https://doi-org.libraryproxy.griffith.edu.au/10.1177/0306624X19854869
Capon, H., O'Shea, M., & McIver, S. (2019). Yoga and mental health: A synthesis of qualitative findings. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 122-132. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2019.101063
Ciezar-Andersen, S., Alix Hayden, K., & King-Shier, K. (2021). A systematic review of yoga interventions for helping health professionals and students. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 58. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0965229921000455