Yoga and Depression - Part Two

The second way that yoga can help alleviate depression is through allowing the sufferer to replace negative thoughts with positive ones through visualization. After a state of peace and mental quiet has been acheived through exercise, and then through meditation, the practitioner can then begin to visualize positive images. The images can be very general, as in picturing a mountain scene or an ocean, or other natural setting that helps fill the practitioner with wonder and the beauty of the world we live in, or they can be very specific, such as imagining a positive goal the practitioner wants to acheive being reached. Once the negative thinking that so characterizes depression has been interrupted, these positive images can help instill a sense of hope into a person who might otherwise be overwhelmed with hopelessness.

Cathy, while following her doctor's prescribed treatment, continued to practice yoga, and increased the amount of time she spent meditating each day. Soon, she was able to recognize negative thoughts even while not meditating, and could replace them with the positive images she had learned through her yoga practice. Today, Cathy has successfully overcome her depression, and continues to practice yoga while she rebuilds a successful personal and professional life. She credits her yoga practice with shortening both the intensity and duration of her last depressive episode considerably.

*name has been changed.

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