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Yoga Meets Depression

Be ground.
Be crumbled.
So wildflowers will come up where you are.
You’ve been stony for too many years.
Try something different. Surrender.
–Rumi, from “A Necessary Autumn Inside Each”

Depression
Disclosing its Commonality — Lessening its Power

Part One
Everyone experiences situations in their lives that cause sadness, lowered self-esteem, and anxiety. Losses, a disagreement with a friend, or a perplexing job related issue, are but a few of the possibilities that may point us towards an occasional state of feeling downcast or agitated. It is normal for those people to feel despondent and when a situation arises where they feel little control over the circumstances. Usually, though, as an individual has time to process the situation that initially provoked their distress, they gain back the stamina that is needed to once again ill content about themselves and their lives. Their negative mood shifts to positive. Wisdom in a needed life lesson are adopted in the sadness that angst damage that plagued them for a few hours or days.

For many individuals though, a new day simply represents another 24 hours of struggling within an all too familiar mood that reflects feelings of sadness and fear. Emotionally overloaded, the feelings of hopelessness and despair can make one feel like they are stuck in a revolving door that just will not let them escape. The worst part of being in the revolving door is that there is no room for another person-like depression, the focus of this yoga research paper, an individual who suffers from it usually creates a life of isolation for themselves that seems to go nowhere. Daily living tasks, reasoning abilities, sleeping and eating patterns represent just a few aspects of the depressed person’s life that take one a spiraling pattern of continued self-destruction. As they become more immersed with the experience of the blues, they begin to see themselves as alone and separate from others around them. This type of melancholy process creates blockages that harm the mind-body spirit connection. Maladies such as hypertension, heart disease, cancer, Parkinson’s, epilepsy, stroke, and autoimmune type illnesses can be created or exasperated by the way we feel. The experience of chronic depression shows without a doubt that mind and body are not separate at all; they are inter-connected through cells, or modal glands, connective tissue, and organs. When an individual is in a sad day there also seems to be an inability to foster spiritual practice with a higher power or infinite wisdom.

The latter is all too in court because it represents a universal connection that can be the source of strength which is all nurturing, non-judgmental, and crucial to the alleviation of feelings of isolation. According to Time magazine, January 20, 2003, each year an estimated 30,000 people commit suicide, with the vast majority of cases attributable to depression. These statistics however do not even begin to estimate the impact on depressed people’s relationships and productivity (which costs the US economy some $50 billion a year).

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 15th, 2009 at 9:35 AM and is filed under Depression meets Yoga. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.