October 10th is World Mental Health Day. Every year, this day is meant to raise awareness about mental health, combat stigma and encourage ways for people to receive support. Mental health affects millions of people in America alone, and it's time we start having an open and honest discussion about it.

For those who are familiar with my story, you already know what prompted me to start yoga in the first place. For those who may not be aware, during my teens and early twenties, I struggled with anxiety and depression. It was something that I unconsciously hid and felt ashamed about for a long time. It wasn’t until I discovered yoga and sought professional help, that I was able to heal and recover.

Yoga continues to teach me how to become more aware of my thought patterns, how to observe them without judgement and how to gracefully let them go. I have learned how to be mindful of the way I speak to myself, to separate myself from my thoughts and to live with much more presence and ease. For this, I am extremely grateful.

Yoga is truly life-changing. I know not only from personal experience, but from the findings of many scientists and researchers who have investigated how yoga affects individuals with mental health conditions. The results are promising, suggesting that yoga helps improve mental health issues, including anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and many others.

Along with these findings are ground-breaking studies (which you’ll find referenced throughout this blog) which suggest that yoga has the ability to change the structure and function of the brain. These ‘neuroplastic’ changes also prove why and how yoga can benefit people who are struggling with their emotional health.

In this article I’m going to share with you 5 ways that yoga can drastically improve your overall health and welling.

1. Increases Relaxation

Yoga can increase relaxation by altering the stress response system, helping to ‘tame’ and quiet down the nervous system. In this way, the mental benefits of yoga happen with the reduction of stress by decreasing cortisol (stress hormone) levels in our body. A common theme in yoga is the process of ‘letting go’ — releasing deep holding patterns in the body and finding a state of balance to support healing. Longer-held postures such as those in Yin or Restorative yoga, encourages slowing the breath down, which allows us to shift away from the sympathetic nervous system’s fight-or-flight response, the place we react from when feeling overwhelmed and unable to cope with the many demands of our lives. Then, a space is created to move into the place of rest-and-digest, or the parasympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for activating the relaxation response. This decreases anxiety and produces a calm feeling in the body and mind. One study involved 24 women who characterized themselves as emotionally distressed. The results revealed the impressive effects of yoga for stress relief. Along with decreases in anxiety, depression and fatigue, the women also showed much lower cortisol levels, all after just 3 months of consistent yoga.

2. Promotes Mindfulness

Mindfulness means being present in the current moment, and it can be a surprisingly difficult state to achieve. The concept of focusing on the ‘now’ is central to yoga. Mindfulness can be developed and enhanced through various yogic techniques, such as meditation, awareness of the breath, our thoughts, feelings, bodily sensations and surrounding environment. It’s important to explore mindfulness and observe the thought patterns of your mind through a gentle, nurturing lens and a place of non-attachment and non-judgement. A mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) study found that students who practiced mindfulness reduced their anxiety, excessive worry and negative thought patterns. Mindfulness training also improved their emotional well-being, professional development and resiliency to stress. 

3. Builds Self-Confidence

All yoga styles, practices and philosophies bring your scattered awareness from the external world to inside you. In this way, yoga makes you more aware of your existence and teaches you that you’re completely in yourself. This sense of internalization boosts the self-confidence of students, which may prevent many mental health issues. In a study to assess attention and self-esteem in girls using an integrated yoga module, low-income high school students reported improvement in attention and self-esteem. Practicing yoga enhanced their mental health and led to academic improvement. Empowering yoga poses such as Plank Pose, Tree Pose, Bridge Pose and Warrior Pose not only strengthen us physically, but mentally as well, building self-confidence and improving self-esteem.

4. Improves Concentration, Focus & Memory

Yoga is all about linking breath with motion and becoming fully present in mind and body. The practice itself is centered on concentration – focus on the breath, the alignment and the movement. Research shows that even a very short period of yoga practice can have immediate effects on the brain, as far as improving attention, memory and judgement. In a study published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health, 20 young female students participated in 20 minutes of yoga followed by meditation and deep breathing, and then followed that with 20 minutes of aerobic exercise. The researchers carried out cognitive testing on the participants after each session to test their cerebral capabilities. The results showed that the cognitive scores were higher in the women that had participated in yoga, than those who did not. The tests highlighted that after just one 20 minute yoga session, participants were able to focus better, process information quickly, more accurately and also learn, hold and update pieces of information more effectively.

5. Enhances Mood & Emotional Wellbeing

Because yoga increases your ability to be present, you can recognize your emotions more clearly. You can sit with your emotions in a state of more openness and curiosity, which in turn increases emotional intelligence. In addition, a consistent yoga practice improves circulation in the endocrine glands, which enhances the functions of hormones that play a primary role in the physiology of depression. This results in a reduction in depression and improved overall mood. In one particular study, Scandinavian researchers measured brain waves before and after a 2 hour yoga class and found that alpha waves (relaxation) and theta waves (unconscious memory, dreams, emotions) increased significantly. These results indicate that the brain is deeply relaxed after yoga and that participants have better awareness of their subconscious and emotions.

The impact of yoga on mental health is diverse and expanding. Yoga is a unique mind-body practice that can be used to deepen your relationship with yourself and improve your mental health and overall wellbeing. Personally, I believe that mental health day should be every day. There shouldn’t be a single day that goes by where we aren’t checking in with ourselves and our mental state. Getting in the daily habit of tuning in to how you feel, can help you become more aware and mindful of your mental state. Yoga creates this space for you to be able to question, be curious, process the emotions you are experiencing and understand yourself a little better.

With one in four people affected by mental health disorders at some point in their lives, many people are viewing yoga practices and wellness retreats as effective strategies that can help protect and restore the mental health of individuals throughout the world. As yoga becomes more accepted and practiced to support mental health disorders, there’s a big possibility that more research will be published to guide those towards living more healthy and mindful lives. This is just the beginning.

*Editor’s Note: The information in this article is intended for your educational use only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition and before undertaking any diet, supplement, fitness or other health programs.