Overcoming seasonal depression with yoga
With the days shorter and the weather cold and dark, it’s no wonder we might feel less motivated and even a bit down during the winter. The winter blues is an experience many of us can relate to. If you find yourself feeling drained, withdrawn and depressed, you could even be one of the many people affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD).
But the battle against winter depression can be won. If you can make small changes to your routine and are willing to try new things, you can re-energise your body and balance your mind through a natural therapy for depression – yoga. Yoga can give you an immediate and longer-term mental refresh, as well as raise your energy levels by affecting you physically.
SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder
Yoga is not a cure SAD, which is a medical and chemical condition, but it can alleviate many of the physical and mental symptoms, making seasonal depression more manageable. Proper breathing (pranayama) followed by restorative postures may help people with SAD. Yoga helps you to be positive and motivated during winter. It increases your energy levels, releases endorphins and serotonin, and can decrease melatonin (which causes tiredness and mental sluggishness). Yoga eases sleeping problems, stress, anxiety and depression, as it incorporates the main drug-free treatments for these – exercise, deep breathing and relaxation techniques.
Yoga is good for both the mind and the body, being a holistic approach to SAD, anxiety or depression. It involves no drugs or medicines, and yogis can feel the physical and mental impact of yoga after just one class.
5 simple steps to beat the winter blues
1. Exercising to relieve tension
Through its sequence of postures, yoga both re-energises and relaxes you. As a physical activity it releases endorphins and helps alleviate low moods and depression. As a relaxation therapy, it also calms your mind and improves insomnia.
Heart-opening poses and cardiovascular stimulation will oxygenate the blood. This treats tiredness and mental sluggishness – which occur when the brain needs more oxygen.
Try practising sun salutation (surya namaskar). This series of postures is great for heating up your body and re-oxygenating the blood. It also stimulates the nervous system (which helps reduce anxiety) and the endocrine system (which helps regulate hormones and keep your body in balance).
Did you know?
You can also stimulate the pineal gland. This gland, which sits in the centre of your head, secretes melatonin during times when you’re exposed to less natural light (winter and night time). Melatonin makes you sleepy and can cause sluggishness. Stimulate the pineal gland with yoga and you can reduce the effect.
2. Practising deep breathing
Breathing not only oxygenates the body – re-energising you and keeping your brain alert – but it also makes up 75% of the body’s detoxification process. If you practise deep ‘belly breathing’ during yoga (where you take deep breaths which raise the abdomen, rather then shallow ones which raise the chest) then you will take in a lot more oxygen. This detoxifies the body and supplies the brain with a good amount of oxygen, preventing mental sluggishness, negativity and depression.
Through proper pranayama (breath awareness and breath work) you will actually sense your body’s energy store just below the navel, and you’ll be able to release it to circulate around the body. You will feel energetic and refreshed afterwards. Breathing exercises are also a main part of depression treatment, along with exercise.
In yogic philosophy, proper breathing increases our life force (prana) – it is an action that our body automatically does to keep us alive. Therefore if you consciously listen to and think about your breathing, by measuring your inhalations and exhalations and extending them, you are connecting with your own life force.
3. Getting enough rest
Get into the flow of your natural rhythms. Winter is a time when nature, of which we are an intrinsic part, retreats and hibernates. Your inner clock adjusts to the shorter days. This is a natural phenomenon which allows creatures to minimise their energy spend over winter. We should recognise this as our motivation changes with the season, and give ourselves the rest we are naturally supposed to have. Winter is a time to go within and become more internal. We can slow down, have a rest and take the opportunity for more self-reflection. Yoga and meditation give you some time to yourself to be able to do this. They also allow you to become at one with your body and tune into its rhythms as you focus on the postures and breathing.
4. Eating a balanced diet
Your body needs lots of vitamins and nutrients to support it through this season. So try to eat vitamin rich food and organic produce. This ensures you have enough energy, which can often take a hit during the cold winter months. Try not to turn to carbohydrates and sugars too often. Foods high in fat will drain your energy, but raw fruit and vegetables can help regulate your mood and give you more strength and energy to stay social.
Remember! Snacking on sugary treats gives you a short-term energy boost – nothing more. And the sugar level crash experienced afterwards can be difficult and may worsen depression.
In my yoga classes, you can cultivate a more well-balanced, calm mindset. One which allows you to embrace and enjoy the things that are good for you, and let go of the desire for short-term fixes, which have those all-too-familiar downsides – whether it’s weight gain, sugar crashes or feelings of guilt.
Your body is your temple - look after it and enjoy it. Practice yoga and learn to be more balanced in daily life – you’ll feel the benefits in both body and mind.
5. Staying positive
Yoga and meditation can increase your mental alertness, your focus, and your sense of being alive. The physical postures are effectively a platform for the mental aspects of yoga. They can raise your self-esteem and energy to keep you motivated throughout winter. Meditation actually changes the brain. It strengthens areas associated with happiness and relaxation, and weakens those involved in stress.
Meditation takes you away from everyday life and brings you towards your inner calm. Now you can clear your mind, acknowledging but then letting go of any worries that enter your consciousness. By meditating and practicing yoga, you can balance your body and mind, becoming calmer and feeling strong.
Postures to try:
Mountain Pose (Tadasana), the
Chair Pose (Utkatasana) or the
Tree Pose (Vriksasana) are powerful postures. They express stillness and strength, as well as stability and quietness. Try them to activate your core and feel strong this winter.
In my yoga classes, you can cultivate a more well-balanced, calm mindset. One which allows you to embrace and enjoy the things that are good for you, and let go of the desire for short-term fixes, which have those all-too-familiar downsides – whether it’s weight gain, sugar crashes or feelings of guilt.
Your body is your temple - look after it and enjoy it. Practice yoga and learn to be more balanced in daily life – you’ll feel the benefits in both body and mind.
In my classes I incorporate the whole yogic system – postures, pranayama, yogic philosophy and some meditation – which gives my students the proper yogic experience and allows them to feel the impact on their energy levels, their confidence and their emotional state.
Please have a look at my about me page and browse my courses, workshops, weekend and holiday retreats. I am a qualified yoga teacher, trained by The International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centres, a yoga organisation recognised worldwide.
More benefits
Apart from helping you to beat the winter blues, yoga also offers you:
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- Improvement of many medical conditions
- Relief from allergy and asthma symptoms
