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You and Mental Health: Why Does Yoga Help Anxiety?

By Laura Zera 25 Comments

If you’re a person who deals with elevated levels of anxiety or anxiety disorder, you may have been advised to develop a yoga practice as a complementary or alternative therapy. In addition to building muscle strength and suppleness, yoga slows your breathing and keeps your mind focused on the present. Afterward, you feel like you’ve just been on an island in the South Pacific for two weeks. With a personal masseuse. Named Fritz. (Or maybe Frida.) Who spent an hour on each foot alone. But why, exactly? What kind of science can be applied to this state of bliss?

Studies show it’s GABA, or gamma-aminobutryic acid, the primary inhibitory neurotransmitter in our nervous system. Whereas dopamine ramps us up, GABA mellows us out.

Researchers know that people with depression and anxiety have been shown to have low amounts of GABA in their cerebrospinal fluid. But study after study has shown that after yoga, there’s a marked increase in a person’s GABA levels, whether they suffer from depression and anxiety or not. But if they do, then hurray!

If you’re having a hard time getting to yoga class, try some shorter meditations at home (I say shorter because most people don’t do a 30-minute meditation right off the bat. As my acupuncturist likes to remind me, it’s exercise for the brain, and you have to build up to it the same way you would with physical activity.)

As GABA falls into the category of amino acids, there are also a few foods with GABA. And, if you really like the supplement approach, yes, it does come in pill form, although just like many natural supplements, the jury is out with regard to its effectiveness. Plus, the pill form doesn’t include Fritz or Frida.

Do you derive a spa package-worth of benefits from yoga? What kind of yoga do you do? And did you know about GABA? (In all my years of reading about and dealing with anxiety issues, the name was completely new to me!)

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Comments

  1. Sunrise Guided Visualizations says

    July 17, 2013 at 8:23 pm

    Yes, I am familiar with GABA, but I didn’t know that yoga could have such a strong effect! We do yoga daily, and it is wonderful. What a nice article for you to have written! Thank you!

    Reply
    • Laura Zera says

      July 17, 2013 at 9:03 pm

      And thank you for reading! I, too, thought the data on the change in GABA levels was quite significant. Wishing you many more happy yoga days!

      Reply
  2. Lisa Shambrook says

    July 18, 2013 at 1:45 am

    Wasn’t familiar with this, but it’s worth looking into, anything to lower anxiety levels without pills is good! Thanks 🙂

    Reply
    • Laura Zera says

      July 18, 2013 at 8:16 am

      You’re most welcome, Lisa. Thanks for reading!

      Reply
  3. Chris James says

    July 18, 2013 at 6:25 am

    I haven’t made it as far as yoga yet, unless you count slowly raising to my lips a glass of ice-cold beer for 20 minutes every evening 🙂
    Love the new layout of the site, Laura. Previous one was good, but this is very neat 🙂

    Reply
    • Laura Zera says

      July 18, 2013 at 8:18 am

      I don’t believe the ‘slowly’ part at all, Chris. 😛

      Thanks for the site feedback; it’s a work in progress. I have a new theme picked out but will do that conversion over the weekend, probably.

      Reply
  4. Ken Kailing says

    July 18, 2013 at 8:50 am

    A nice reminder Laura; and do I ever need the help!

    Reply
    • Laura Zera says

      July 18, 2013 at 10:03 pm

      Thanks, Ken. And you continue to crack me up. 🙂

      Reply
  5. Debbie Young says

    July 18, 2013 at 9:34 am

    Gosh, never heard of GABA before but this sounds very interesting! I’ve done yoga off and on over the years (mostly off rather than on, I must confess) so your post comes as a useful prompt to get back to it again. And I’ll bear in mind the need to build up slowly – I’d never really considered that before other than in strenuous exercise such as running. (Also more off than on lately.) Thanks for the inspiration, Laura! 🙂

    Reply
    • Laura Zera says

      July 18, 2013 at 10:04 pm

      I share your confession. I always think that I can’t afford to sacrifice a cardio/weights session (and it’s hard enough to get to those), but I’m really thinking that it can keep a person fit in other ways.

      Reply
  6. Jagoda says

    July 18, 2013 at 4:45 pm

    I’ve never heard of GABA before either but it does explain the physiological change that happens when I’m doing regular meditation practice.

    I like the new look of your site too–clever how you weave in healthy mind with travel. I’ll be curious to see your new theme.

    Reply
    • Laura Zera says

      July 18, 2013 at 10:06 pm

      Thanks, Jagoda. It’s fun to play with new designs, and also frustrating sometimes (I’m a Photoshop amateur), but mostly fun!

      Reply
  7. Jeri says

    July 19, 2013 at 9:44 am

    I tried Yoga long ago, but don’t think the DVD I bought was very good. I did do Pilates for over two years, and I really enjoyed that. Now I just need to get back into the habit. It’s amazing how paying attention to your body also helps mellow out one’s mind.

    Reply
    • Laura Zera says

      July 19, 2013 at 10:31 am

      Hey Jeri! It’s amazing how we can ignore our bodies, too. I always thought I was pretty in tune to it, until I realized I wasn’t!!

      Reply
  8. Beverly Diehl says

    July 22, 2013 at 1:26 pm

    Love my yoga, and it always makes me feel better about life. Even though I don’t (as of right this morning) deal with an anxiety disorder, maybe that’s part of the picture!

    Reply
    • Laura Zera says

      July 22, 2013 at 1:38 pm

      Hey, wouldn’t that be “preventive yoga,” then?!! Thanks for stopping by, Beverly.

      Reply
  9. Jodi from Heal Now and Forever says

    July 23, 2013 at 7:40 am

    Love the new blog template! You are getting fancy! great article. Thanks for the link to GABA foods. I am going out for some oolong for the office. I should have cherry tomatoes on my desk, too! Maybe in my new office, I can have cherry tomato plants year round and my clients can just pick and eat while they are waiting for me. xo

    Reply
    • Laura Zera says

      July 23, 2013 at 8:24 am

      Ooohhh, you’re moving to a new office?! That’s exciting. Thanks for the feedback. I’m still playing with it but it’s too hard to ‘test’ in WordPress without just actually going live so I did, and will change as I go. 🙂

      Reply
  10. Ashleigh says

    August 22, 2013 at 8:39 am

    The only yoga that I’ve done involved Wii Fit.. but now I think I’ll be looking at it properly. I hadn’t heard of GABA so here’s to learning something new. Bring on the mellow! 🙂

    Reply
    • Laura Zera says

      August 23, 2013 at 3:32 pm

      I think I’m going to adopt “bring on the mellow” as my daily mantra! Thanks for stopping by, Ashleigh.

      Reply
  11. 300 Hour Yoga Instructor Course NJ says

    December 25, 2013 at 10:24 pm

    Yoga practice helps develop the body and mind bringing a lot of health benefits yet is not a substitute for medicine. It is important to learn and practice yoga techniques under the supervision of a trainer.

    Reply
    • Laura Zera says

      January 1, 2014 at 8:49 pm

      I concur on both points! Thank you.

      Reply
  12. Kern Windwraith says

    January 4, 2015 at 7:32 pm

    Well, isn’t that interesting? My daughter has been nudging me toward yoga for a couple of years now, and I keep finding reasons to do something else instead. (And, no, by “something else” I’m not referring to parking my bum on the couch and staring at a screen, although I do too much of that for sure.) Clearly she knows what she’s talking about!

    Reply
    • Laura Zera says

      January 4, 2015 at 7:47 pm

      I was initially drawn to yoga when I started to feel like all my soft tissue was contracting in amounts to match each year I aged, and I think I get as much of a mental health benefit out of it as I do physical. Finding a good teacher is also crucial because they set the tone for the type of energetic that’s in the room. So give it a try, Kern! You’ve got nothing to lose. Every teacher I’ve ever encountered has always been very accommodating of all different skill and knowledge levels in the class, too, so no need to fear being the newbie.

      Reply

Trackbacks

  1. How do I get off my anti-depressants? - Jodi Aman says:
    April 9, 2015 at 11:01 am

    […] brings awareness into the body and gives our mind a rest (Read what Laura Zera says about GABA and yoga.) Yoga can change your life by improving your mental state and easing extreme emotions. Backbends […]

    Reply

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