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Yoga Improve Mental Wellness

Yoga Improve Mental Wellness.

Written by Jayne Hembruff.

Did you know 1 out of every 3 Canadians will be affected by anxiety and/or mood disorders. Child and adolescent incidents are on the rise.

$51 Billion/year spent on Mental Health in Canada (2011 Conference Board of Canada)

Yoga techniques such a pranyama(breath), asana (poses) and meditation assists people to concentrate and quiet the ?chatter? in the mind.

It has also been proven to positively assist people living with moods disorders and anxiety.

?Western and Eastern medicine complement one another [and] yoga is known to improve stress-related nervous system imbalances,? said Chris Streeter, MD, an associate professor of psychiatry at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center who worked on ?a recent study which provides a theory, based on neurophysiology and neuroanatomy, to understand how?yoga helps patients feel better by relieving symptoms in many common disorders.?

Another study published recently in The Journal of Behavioral Health Services and Research looked at secondary school students and reported that yoga appeared to help them control and prevent feelings or anger and fatigue. Researchers in this study commented that yoga has ?the potential of playing a protective or preventive role in maintaining mental health.?

2009 Harvard Mental Health Reports Yoga Helps:

Bipolar disorder, major depression, and schizophrenia ? after 1 yoga participants reported average levels of tension, anxiety, depression, anger, hostility, and fatigue dropped significantly. ?Patients who chose to participate in additional classes experienced similar short-term positive effects (2005 Descriptive Study conducted at New Hampshire Psychiatric Hospital; sited in 2009 Harvard Mental Health)

Depression ? after30 minutes of breathing, done 6 days a week, 75% participants reported decrease of depression symptoms and decrease in stress hormones (cortisol and corticotrophin). (Research at Mental health center in Bangalore, India ?Treated depression in alcoholic men)

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder after 5 day course (breathing, asana, stress management reduction techniques, guided meditation), participants reported lower CAPS (Clinical Administered PTSD Scale) scores 6 weeks later. Experts treating this population suggest that yoga can be a useful addition to the treatment program (Disabled Australian Vietnam veterans).

Dr. Kristie Gore, a psychologist and Researchers at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., are offering a yogic method of deep relaxation to veterans returning from combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The military hopes that yoga-based treatments will be more acceptable to the soldiers and less stigmatizing than traditional psychotherapy.

In Canada, Researchers found, yoga helps:

Schizophrenia, anxiety, and other serious mood disorders ? after 1 hour of yoga (breathing and asana) for 10 weeks, participants reported consistently after every class a decrease in symptoms related to their mood disorder and anxiety, less pain, less fatigue and sleepiness. (In association with Diabetes Prevention Program in Schizophrenia and research by Dr. Voruganti, MD, Mc Master University. Due to the great results, this program has been adopted by Waterloo Regional Homes for Mental Health as their Wellness Program).Reference: http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00182494