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Yoga and Meditation for Depression?

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Posted 4/21/2008 2:32 PM (GMT 0)
[img]/community/emoticons/confused.gif[/img] I have been looking for ways to deal with my depression and eventhough i do pilates now. I hear meditation and yoga are great for depression. Does ANYONE know if this ACTUALLY helps? If so can you please reccommend a dvd that i could try. I love to workout, so this would be a great option for me. Thanks for listening.

Post Edited By Moderator (djdaz_1985) : 4/21/2008 10:50:44 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 4/21/2008 2:50 PM (GMT 0)
Hi there,

I dont know about Yoga but I do know about meditation. Meditation works for a lot of people because it is a form of extreme relaxation. Some people dont use DVD's or music for meditation... personally I use CD's with natural sounds on. (Jungle atmosphere, waves crashing etc...) As for yoga, I can imagine it does work since it releases endorphines in the same way exercise does + you get the relaxation side of it.

Darren
Posted 4/21/2008 8:40 PM (GMT 0)
Hi Want to be,

I do meditation but not yoga. I prefer to have quiet when I meditate, though soft music is nice at times. I don't have any knowledge of any dvd's on either, but you could look on internet. I used books to learn how to meditate. And it is very relaxing.

I have heard that yoga is good for depression, as Darren said it releases endorphens. I believe that concentrating on your breathing and what you are doing keeps you in the now, which is what most depressed people have trouble doing. Also the mind and body connection.

Good luck on finding what you are looking for. Hopefully somebody will come along with some more knowledge.

Hugs Karen
Posted 4/23/2008 8:02 PM (GMT 0)
i used to be able to meditate with relative ease before i got depressed but now i find even concentrating on my breathing extremley difficult, as my mind just races. does anyone else have this problem?
im trying to practice tho, especially because i cant sleep well at the moment.
love
xxx*
Posted 4/23/2008 8:30 PM (GMT 0)
If I am meditating to go to sleep, I will lay down and do it. I mostly just keep going over relaxing my muscles until I finally fall asleep. I start at the top of my head and relax all muscles all the way to the toes. It usually works.

One thing that you need to realize is that even if you don't feel you are succeeding, you are still meditating and it is helping you. It is hard though to clear your mind when you are depressed. I have had that problem of obsessive thinking lately. I wonder if it is the season because I have talked to other people with the same problem lately. I guess I have to try harder.

Hugs, Karen
Posted 4/23/2008 10:53 PM (GMT 0)
Hey pixie, I too cant concentrate long enough to meditate.  I have tried many times.  I have an iPod with various meditation music on it that I often use if I feel like an anxiety attack is coming on.  As for exercise, I get up daily at 4am and go to the local healthplex which offers lots of classes on yoga, pilate's and different stretching type things.  Having tried these I still couldn't get past the mind block enough to figure out what the benefit would be to me if I couldn't concentrate and focus on my body/core as they teach.  So, at least for now I am happy burning up the treadmill and elliptical while listening to the top 40's on my iPod... tongue
Posted 4/24/2008 10:53 AM (GMT 0)
There are a lot of people out there who cannot concentrate for long enough to meditate. Practice can help but if you find you really cannot do it then it might be worth finding a different technique of relaxing. There is no point in getting frustrated because you cannot relax... it defeats the point really! lol

Posted 4/24/2008 11:50 AM (GMT 0)
I think that anything that helps you calm your mind and body has to be a good thing!
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