Four Dynamic Poses for Depression

by Nina

by Melina Meza

Hehe, it was all part of my evil plan. When Baxter asked me for suggestions for his new series on dynamic poses and mini vinyasas, I included the four dynamic poses that I recommend for tamasic depression. (Tamasic depression—aka clinical depression—is the form of depression where you feel lethargic as well as depressed. See Tamasic and Rajasic Depression.) You see, I thought if he made those videos, I could improve on my post For Tamasic Depression: Moving with Your Breath by having a post that included them, rather than just describing about them.

Because moving with your breath can help energize and uplift you when you’re feeling depressed, teachers who specialize in depression, including Patricia Walden and Gary Kraftsow, recommend simple dynamic poses as a way to change your mood. In particular, Patricia recommends dynamic Arms Overhead pose as a very simple way to uplift yourself. Patricia also recommends backbends in general because they can have similar effects, however, in the Iyengar tradition, they typically don’t practice dynamic backbends. But viniyoga teacher Gary Kraftsow recommends some simple dynamic backbends in his depression sequence in Yoga for Wellness, including dynamic Warrior 1 and Bridge pose). So I’ve cleverly combined Patricia and Gary’s recommendations into a simple little sequence that you could try on its own or that you could use as the foundation for creating a longer backbend-focused sequence. Of course, you could also just do any the poses on their own as a mini mini-practice.

In my original post, I suggested that if you feel you can’t even stand up to practice, you could begin with Cat-Cow pose. Moving with your breath in this very simple back bending pose can energize you enough to make the idea of standing up to practice feel more accessible. This didn’t come from Patricia or Gary, but from my own experience. And, yes, I asked Baxter to make this video, too. By the way, you can even do this pose in a chair, as we described in our post Featured Pose: Cat-Cow pose, anywhere and in any attire, as well as in a reclined position.

Four Dynamic Poses for Depression

1. Cat-Cow Pose

2. Dynamic Arms Overhead Pose

3. Dynamic Warrior 1 Pose

4. Dynamic Bridge Pose

If you try this sequence or any of these poses on a day when you’re feeling down (or more seriously depression), please let me how it goes for you.

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