Yoga-A Boon for Mental Health

Yoga-A Boon for Mental Health

Amar Jyoti, Research Scholar, Shri JJT University, Jhunjhunu(Rajasthan)

"Yoga is not an ancient myth buried in oblivion. It is the most valuable inheritance of the present. It is the essential need of today and the culture of tomorrow."  -Swami Satyananda Saraswati

I would like to discuss here the “yog”, usually we term it as yoga but actually it is “Yog”. It is a science which let us know how to live our life in a correct way , how to keep a balance between our physical body, our mental status, our thinking  and our feelings.

At initial level it is beneficial to our physical body, where usually all of us get connected to yoga. Then , there is second stage, it helps us at the level of mental status and our feelings.

In present scenario , we observe that now a days, there are various issues in our society which causes us a great stress on our physical as well as mental health, which ultimately cause losses in various ways.

Asana is an essential  part of yoga, Now we will discuss what the “asana” is.
Asana means a state of being in which one can remain physically and mentally steady, calm, quiet and comfortable.

So, we can see that yogasanas in this context are practised to develop the practitioner's ability to sit comfortably in one position for an extended length of time, as is necessary during meditation. In raja yoga, asana refers to the sitting position, but in hatha yoga it means something more. Asanas are specific body positions which open the energy channels and psychic centers. They are tools to higher awareness and provide the stable foundation for our exploration of the body, breath, mind and beyond. The hatha yogis also found that by developing control of the body through asana, the mind is also controlled.

There are some meta analyses which indicates beneficial effects of yoga internventions, and there are several clinical trials indicating relatively high quality beneficial effects of yoga for pain associated with mental health.

The  World  Health  Organization  predicts  that  depression will  be  the  second  largest  contributor  to  the  global  disease  burden, after  heart  diseases  .  Anxiety  is  also  being  diagnosed  at  a greater rate than it was in the past.

Despite these increases in diagnosis, treatment  regimens  typically  include  pharmaceutical  therapies  that  are not  sufficient  to  prevent  further  illness  or  promote  mental  well-being. Effectively  addressing  mental  health  concerns  entails  a  comprehensive approach that addresses the root of the problems. In  this  paper,  we  provide  evidence  for  yoga  as  a  form  of  health promotion,  illness  prevention  and  treatment  for  depression  and  other mental  health  imbalances.  Like  other  therapies,  yoga  is  not  a  complete solution  to  mental  health  concerns. 

In  conjunction  with  other approaches,  yoga  has  great  potential  to  lead  people  towards  greater mental well-being. i What is Yoga? T he  eight  limbed  path  of  yoga  includes:  Yama  (moral  codes), niyama  (self-discipline),  asana  (postures),  pranyama  (breath  practices promoting  life  force),  pratyahara  (sensory  transcendence),  dharana (concentration),  dhyana  (meditation),  samadhi  (state  of  bliss).    Yoga  is  an  individual activity  that  has  social  implications.  Those  who  regularly  participate  in yoga  typically  interact  with  the  world  in  calmer  and  more  reasonable y ways.  More  positive  social  interactions  and  relationships  are  one  of  the ripple  effects  of  individual  yoga  practice.  Accessible  or  complementary yoga  classes  offer  low  income  people  the  opportunity  to  experience  the benefits  of  inner  peace  and  healthier  body.  When  practices  such  as yoga are accessible to all, larger  effects  are possible. Without overstating the  impacts,  potential  consequences  of  large  scale  population  mental well-being  initiatives  such  as  this  are  less  violence  in  society,  less addiction, greater ability to be authentic with one and others. Literature Review of Mental Health and Yoga Methods.

There are various   studies in  the  area  of  yoga  and  mental  health  in  the  peer-reviewed  medical literature.  Because  this  is  a  relatively  new  area  of  research,  it  is  difficult to  compare  one  study  to  the  next  partly  because  of  sample  size variation,  differences  in  trial  length,  and  variances  in  the  kind  of  yoga. Some  studies  tested  Iyengar  (primarily  asanas)  while  others  tested Sudarshan  kriya  (patterned  pranayam  exercises,  moving  from  slow  and calming  to  rapid  and  stimulating,  followed  by  emotional  selfe.

There are various  articles  (2002-2014)  on  yoga  as  a treatment  for  various  mental  health  disorders,  including  Major Depressive Disorder (MDD),  Anxiety  Disorders,  Obsessive Compulsive  Disorder  (OCD),  Schizophrenia  and  others.  The  most significant  results  were  for  yoga  as  treatment  for  depression.  More research  is  required  for  conclusive  evidence-based  recommendations; so  far,  peer-reviewed  literature  appears  promising  for  yoga  as  mental health promotion and treatment particularly for de

Studies of yoga’s  effects  on quality of life and depression Yoga  has  been  shown  to  enhance  quality  of  life  in  people  who  are healthy  and  ill.  A  review  study  found  that  yoga  is  as  effective  or  better than  exercise  at  improving  a  variety  of  mental  and  physical  health measures  such  as  stress,  quality  of  life,  mood  states,  heart  rate variability,  pulmonary  function  and  so  on.  A  meta-analysis concluded  that  because  weight  gain  and  toxicity  are  side  effects  of various  pharmacotherapies,  yoga  may  be  an  effective  and  less  toxic auxiliary  treatment  for  severe  mental  illness.  In  one  study  yoga improved  subjective  wellbeing,  mental  health  and  executive functioning  within  prison  populations .  Yoga  improved  the  quality of  life  of  pregnant  women  in  various  studies  and  enhanced  their interpersonal  relationships .  Studies  over  the  past  15  years  have shown  that  yoga  can  improve  psychological  health  during  breast cancer  treatment  ,  as  well  as  health-related  quality  of  life  in antipsychotic-stabilized patients. In  the  treatment  of  mild  to  moderate  MDD,  promising  results indicate  that  yoga  may  be  applied  as  a  monotherapy .  Level  Two evidence  supports  the  use  of  yoga  as  an  adjunctive  therapy  .  Yoga  is  equally  as  effective  as  TCAs  (tricyclic  antidepressants)  in  severe diseases.  Yoga  in  combination  with  anti-depressants  is  better  than anti-depressants alone for depressive symptom

Conclusion
The practice  of  yoga  shows  promise  for  promoting  better  population mental  health.  It  is  acceptable,  accessible,  cost-effective  and  encourages self-reliance.  Yoga  is  an  individual  health  promoting  practice  that  can be  done  in  groups  and  supported  by  communities.  Like  other  holistic practices  such  as  tai  chi,  qigong,  meditation  and  so  forth,  it  includes  a community  component.  Practicing  yoga  together,  in  workplaces, schools  and  other  group  settings  have  shown  to  promote  population mental  health  [24].  While  yoga  does  not  address  the  social determinants  of  mental  illness  it  does  promote  a  greater  sense  of  inner peace for those who partake.

It  appears  that  deep  slow  breathing  in  combination  with  movement and  other  aspects  of  yoga  are  at  the  heart  of  yoga’s  ability  to  bring people  a  greater  sense  of  tranquility.  It  meets  the  triple  aim  of improving  health,  improving  care  and  reducing  cost.  A  recent  article questions  whether  sufficient  evidence  exists  for  family  physicians  to recommend  yoga  to  their  patients.  The  evidence-based  answer:  “Yes, yoga  can  reduce  symptoms  of  anxiety  and  depression  (strength  of recommendation  [SOR]:  B,  systematic  reviews  of  randomized controlled  trials  [RCTs]  with  significant  heterogeneity).

Across multiple  RCTs  using  varied  yoga  interventions  and  diverse  study populations,  yoga  typically  improves  overall  symptom  scores  for anxiety  and  depression  by  about  40%,  both  by  itself  and  as  an adjunctive  treatment.  It  produces  no  reported  harmful  side  effects.”  In some  cases  yoga  is  taught  for  free  such  as  yoga  clubs  in  India  and  other countries.  While  it  may  not  be  for  everyone,  through  a  disciplined approach  most  people  with  or  without  mental  health  imbalances  may feel more mental ease and relaxation through the practice of yoga.

By...Amar Jyoti Mangat, State Awardee, Lecturer in English Govt Sr Sec School Rukna Begu Distt Ferozepur   987673762