[la doctora]

I have found that Yoga is essential to handle my anxiety level. Some days it helps so much more than any medication I have ever taken. However, when I am manic it is all I can do to sit still and go through the motions. I can't get relaxed and can't slow or deepen my breathing. I still do it though bc I feel like I would be even more of a tense mess if I didn't.

For those who have tried yoga, how much does it seem to help you relative to your other meds? And what do you do when hypomanic/manic to fool your body long enough to have a good relaxed yoga session?

Doc

yoga rocks. I used to do that when I ran

i've never done it

hard when you're stuck in a wheelchair

[Anika.]

I do yoga a lot. I started over a year ago. When I started I was on 6 meds and quite the zombie. About 6months in I was no longer on any meds. I have stayed off medications and have not had any episodes either. I have had a few hard times but mostly pertaing to stress or physical health problem, which seems like a normal response.

I do hot yoga, my aim is usually for 5 days a week, 90 minutes a day. I was going daily and never felt better than I did at that time. Now I have been having a hard time going as much because of health problems, and my mood is slipping. Soo that tells me I really need to get back to practicing more again. Before yoga I was a pretty big mess most of the time. Bad mania that would lasts for monthes with psychosis, pretty dysphoric, anxiety, depression, low self esteem and self worth. Yoga has helped change my entire life, that is for sure!!

It is such a wonderful thing. I am glad you like it and are also receiving benefits. I have not been manic so I am not sure how that would play out. I have felt a bit hypo at times. I think going to the studio tho helped me maintain my focus, soak up the calming energy from others there and keeps me even.

Are you doing yoga at home, or at a studio? If at home maybe a studio would be an option especially when you are hypo/manic?

[Inedible]

The Sun Salutations series makes a good warmup, especially if you jump instead of moving the legs into place one at a time like in Ashtanga / Power Yoga. Or maybe you could see how long you can hold the headstand or shoulder stand - those inverted postures are great for anxiety. I was just reading a book about how to train the brain to be more calm and it was saying that an inversion table was very helpful. There was a case study of a woman with migraines and insomnia who was looking at having to have surgery on her neck.

[manicminer]

I dont do yoga, but I've gotten similar results through the simple stretching I do for my back. I've also learned breathing excercises from a sports club I was in during highschool. The point then was to calm to pre-race jitters and focus on the race, but it works just as well for bringing me down out of an agitated/ high anxiety state. They even tried to teach us the breathing and heart rate reduction techniques used by Russian commandos and military snipers. Very useful when your breathing, heart rate, and thoughts are racing out of control during onset of mania.

[la doctora]

Originally Posted by landskaperdan

yoga rocks. I used to do that when I ran

I agree! It has helped me so much. Although, I do it instead of running. For some reason I really really hate to run and just can NOT forct myself to do it consistently. My three best girlfriends are all runners and sometimes I wish I shared that with them, but then again, I really hate running lol. Yoga has saved my life.

Doc

[la doctora]

Originally Posted by shattered sanity

i've never done it

hard when you're stuck in a wheelchair

I'm sorry to hear that

Are you still able to use your upper body? If you are interested, I wonder if there are any upper body stretches from which you might benefit?... I highly recommend it as it has helped my anxiety loads more than any meds I have ever taken. Just a thought...

Doc

[la doctora]

Originally Posted by Anika.

I do yoga a lot. I started over a year ago. When I started I was on 6 meds and quite the zombie. About 6months in I was no longer on any meds. I have stayed off medications and have not had any episodes either. I have had a few hard times but mostly pertaing to stress or physical health problem, which seems like a normal response.

I do hot yoga, my aim is usually for 5 days a week, 90 minutes a day. I was going daily and never felt better than I did at that time. Now I have been having a hard time going as much because of health problems, and my mood is slipping. Soo that tells me I really need to get back to practicing more again. Before yoga I was a pretty big mess most of the time. Bad mania that would lasts for monthes with psychosis, pretty dysphoric, anxiety, depression, low self esteem and self worth. Yoga has helped change my entire life, that is for sure!!

It is such a wonderful thing. I am glad you like it and are also receiving benefits. I have not been manic so I am not sure how that would play out. I have felt a bit hypo at times. I think going to the studio tho helped me maintain my focus, soak up the calming energy from others there and keeps me even.

Are you doing yoga at home, or at a studio? If at home maybe a studio would be an option especially when you are hypo/manic?

I do it at home. I have never been to a class, although I would LOVE to. I live in a small town type of place and there aren't any that are locally available to me. If there were I would go for sure.

I use a DVD and have have several books. I read and taught myself the poses which was very difficult at first because I really needed a live instructor to make sure I was doing things correctly. The DVD helpd that some bc I could mimic what I saw. Then it started coming together with practice. I could feel the difference between doing the poses correctly and incorrectly.
I know that I can still use guidance. And I am not very advanced at all.

Hot yoga sounds fun. I would really enjoy the feeling of warmth and heat and a more challenging routine.
Mostly I do yoga that is targeted to anxiety which tends to be less strenuous than other types. I get a good workout that tones me, but I would like to work up to a more advanced routine.

I try for 45 min to an hour every day, but I allow myself to miss a day here and there if I just can't fit it in. I don't like to miss it though. It helps me so much. Much more than any medications I have taken before. I really notice when I miss. I can feel my muscles becoming tense and I notice myself clenching my jaw and forgetting to breathe. If I had the time to do it twice a day I think I would love to immerse myself in it even more than I do now.

I'm glad it helps you too. I hope that you get back into a good routine so that you can get your good mood back. I find that if I slack off for more than a few days I will get into a "lazy rut" and it will be EXTREMLY hard for me to get the discipline and motivation back to return to my consistent schedule. Maybe this post will give you the extra little mental boost you need to get back with it.
Good luck!

Doc

[la doctora]

Originally Posted by Inedible

The Sun Salutations series makes a good warmup, especially if you jump instead of moving the legs into place one at a time like in Ashtanga / Power Yoga. Or maybe you could see how long you can hold the headstand or shoulder stand - those inverted postures are great for anxiety. I was just reading a book about how to train the brain to be more calm and it was saying that an inversion table was very helpful. There was a case study of a woman with migraines and insomnia who was looking at having to have surgery on her neck.

That is extremely interesting. thanks for that suggestion! I love inversion poses and I will try to incorporate more of them into my routine to see how this will help. Particularly maybe I can warm up with some of them to help my breathing to slow.
I am not familiar with the Astanga/Power yoga specifically. I am still a relative beginner and have stuck with the same simple routines for awhile now. I will look this up and see what I can learn. The Sun Salutations sounds familiar. Seems like it may be one of the routines that is in one of my books I haven't used much yet. I will check and see if I already have that routine at home. Thank you!

Doc

[la doctora]

Originally Posted by manicminer

I dont do yoga, but I've gotten similar results through the simple stretching I do for my back. I've also learned breathing excercises from a sports club I was in during highschool. The point then was to calm to pre-race jitters and focus on the race, but it works just as well for bringing me down out of an agitated/ high anxiety state. They even tried to teach us the breathing and heart rate reduction techniques used by Russian commandos and military snipers. Very useful when your breathing, heart rate, and thoughts are racing out of control during onset of mania.

I would LOVE to learn to try breathing and heart rate reduction techniques! Since it is a military technique, is this something that I can learn how to do from the internet, for example??
I have panic attack moments where my heart rate suddenly spikes out of control and would love to learn to control that more effectively.
I agree that you can get the similar results from stretching and breathing. That's basically all yoga is to me, a fancy way to breathe and stretch. I'm glad it works for you.
I want a little bit of a workout too, since I hate running so much, so it makes sense for me to use it as an anxiety tool as well as a form of excercise.

Doc

[polar_bear1]

I´m a beginner in Yoga.
Do you know of any online free yoga classes, not only the ones on youtube??
Or even yoga instructions with pictures?

would be grateful if you could share some links.
Thanks.

[la doctora]

Originally Posted by polar_bear1

I´m a beginner in Yoga.
Do you know of any online free yoga classes, not only the ones on youtube??
Or even yoga instructions with pictures?

would be grateful if you could share some links.
Thanks.

Here's a site I found today when looking for the Sun Salutation. It is really good for beginners bc it has a few simple routines that will get you started on the beginner level.

http://yogasite.com/postures.html

I have a droid and have found several free yoga apps that will describe different poses and some even have video routines you can watch on the phone and follow along. The apps I have on my phone are named, "Pure Healing Yoga", "Daily Yoga (hips)", "Daily Yoga (abs)", "Yoga", "Yoga Excercises".
Not sure what type of phone you have but searching your store for apps should render some results. And I only use the free ones. You may find some really good ones that you can buy.

http://www.amazon.com/s?ie=UTF8&page...ATara%20Fraser
Here is a link to Tara Fraser's Yoga books on Amazon. She is my favorite author to buy yoga books from. It is great for beginners. The two I have are the first listed "total yoga" which is a great book to get all the basics and learn about yoga and the lifestyle in general. The fourth listed book, "Yoga Bliss" is the one I use most frequently because it is specifically for anxiety and relaxation.

When I go home tonight I will look up the name of the DVD I have been using so I can give you the link to that as well.

Doc

[polar_bear1]

Thanks a lot for the links, will be sure to try them out, and check those books.
thanks again.
mamabear