Benefits of Yoga From Sara Gottfried, MD
This blog is courtesy of Sara Gottfried, MD🙏
*from her Instagram @saragottfriedmd
Yoga may be better than standard medical care, aerobic exercise, and other forms of relaxation for depression.
Yes, you read that correctly. Yoga is often better than standard care. Makes sense to me, because standard care can fail people with depression. Heard of the STAR*D trial?
Yoga and meditation have been shown to correct imbalances in the autonomic nervous system, lower cortisol and inflammation, and raise serotonin, sometimes in as little as 10 days. In men, yoga raises not only serotonin, but also dopamine and BDNF.
Yoga raises other healthy brain/ body chemicals like nitric oxide and antioxidants like glutathione (the most important one), bolster immunity, reduce adrenaline and lipid peroxides, which are the unhealthy metabolites of fat breakdown that can damage cells.
So try yoga. I highly recommend it for people with mild to moderate depression. If you are already on an antidepressant, yoga can help too. Infusing your body with fresh air with pranayama and, when warm, performing backbends and inversions, are thought to be great remedies for depression.
-Practice yoga 3x per week for 90 mins, ideally with a seasoned yoga teacher
-Include at least 20 mins of breath work using a 6 second inhale and a 6 second exhale
-On the other 4 days of the week, practice your favorite postures at home for 30 mins, with 15 mins of slow, deep breathing (5 breaths/minute) after asana (physical postures)
The Westernized version of yoga often places emphasis on physical exercise only. The other type, and the kind that I prefer and prescribe, is more integrated and traditional form of yoga, with physical exercise combined with breathing.
Thank you Sara Gottfried MD for sharing all the many benefits of yoga. If you haven’t read Dr. Sara Gottfried book on hormones, please do!
No wonder I have been teaching for over 30 years and feel terrific most of the time. If you haven’t subscribed to my youtube channel which has 76 yoga TV shows with every kind of yoga including chair, core, floor and more, please take advantage of this free resource! There is meditation, pranayama, and yin yoga included on my channel. Please subscribe💕 Enjoy! Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChOP38fWwUdWWzIH06bdPTA?app=desktop
Thank you for reading and sharing