Yoga for Depression: A Compassionate Guide to Relieve Suffering Through Yoga
March 7th, 2010
Compassionate, Depression, guide, Relieve, Suffering, Through, Yoga Posted in Yoga | 5 Comments 
- A godsend: beautifully written, medically accurate, and very practical.-Christiane Northrup, M.D.
- Paperback book with 285 useful pages by Amy Weintraub.
Product Description
Take the natural path to mental wellness
More than 25 million Americans are treated with antidepressants each year, at a cost in excess of $50 billion. But the side effects of popular prescription drugs may seem nearly as depressing as the symptoms they’re meant to treat. Veteran yoga instructor Amy Weintraub offers a better solution—one that taps the scientifically proven link between yoga and emotional well-being as well as the beauty of ancient approaches to inner peace.
Addressing a range of diagnoses, including dysthymia, anxiety-based depression, and bipolar disorder, Yoga for Depression reveals why specific postures, breathing practices, and meditation techniques can ease suffering and release life’s traumas and losses. Weintraub also reflects on her own experience with severe depression, from which she recovered through immersing herself in a daily yoga routine.
Yoga for Depression is the first yoga book devoted exclusively to the treatment of these debilitating conditions. Amy Weintraub will help readers see their suffering and themselves in a vibrant new light.
Yoga for Depression: A Compassionate Guide to Relieve Suffering Through Yoga
March 7th, 2010 at 7:40 pm
As a psychotherapist who also practices yoga, I was immediately drawn to this book in my continuing search for ways to integrate yoga into therapy. Although I enjoyed reading the book, I’m not too sure that I came away with anything practical that I would add to my professional work other than to say that it appears that yoga can help some people recover from depression and bipolar disorder some of the time.
The author begins by telling the story of her own depression and treatment with medication which was ineffective until she began taking classes at a Kripalu Center in 1989. The yoga helped resolve her problems and she subsequently became a teacher in Tucson, AZ. Later in the book, she writes about how she used meditation and yoga to deal with her own breast cancer crisis which required some courageous self-disclosure on her part. I admire the fact that she “walks it like she talks it.”
It’s important to note that this book focuses more on yoga philosophy and is not a practice book. At the end of each chapter, the author demonstrates several experiential exercises, but these are mostly kriyas and pranayamas. There is not attempt to outline a particular sequence of postures that one should practice. She lists other resources that the student can access and highly recommends an experienced teacher.
I was disappointed of her summary of scientific evidence relating to yoga and depression, most of which appeared to be derived from second hand sources rather than the primary journal articles themselves. I am quite interested in this topic, and I will try to track down some of her sources later on. Much of the research has appeared in Indian journals and might not be accessible to a Western reader. However, as “scholar-in-residence” at the Kripalu Center during the writing of the book, she might have been able to get some help with this. Mostly she told anecdotal stories which, while they might be interesting and demonstrative, are not compelling in the scientific sense.
Most interesting to me was her differentiating styles or schools of yoga according to three categories. She cites the “basic instruction” found in Chapter Two of Patangali’s Yoga Sutras as “Union in Action,” which, to my way of thinking, is a state of mindfulness or being in the flow. This Union in Action rests on a tripod of willful practice (tapas), self-observation (svadhyaya) and surrender (Ishvrara-parnidhana). One might question her translation of these terms. She notes that different systems of yoga present different “doorways” through which one can enter, each of which takes one to the same destination, “total union.”
As an example of the tapas doorway, she gives Iyengar Yoga with it’s emphasis on correct alignment and “purity of practice” which bridge the gap between the physical and mental spheres and bring relief from “soothing and calming the emotions through physical practice.” Sounds good, but again the support is anecdotal.
As an example of the svadhyaya doorway, she cites Viniyoga with it’s emphasis on studying one’s self to discover imbalances and then using yoga techniques to bring oneself back into balance. For example, someone with anxiety based depression (rajasic) would practice langhana techniques to calm and purify while a person suffering from Dysthymia (tamasic) would practice brahmana techniques to nourish, build and energize. This approach has an inherent logic that appeals to my way of thinking. Also, my present teacher is from a tradition similar to this where balance is the primary object of practice.
As an example of Ishvara-pranidhana, she uses her own practice of Kripalu and it’s emphasis on spontaneous movements and surrender to the flow of energy in the body through long holding of postures. I plan to take some classes from a teacher in this tradition soon, so I will find out more about this approach in the near future. The idea of surrender and acceptance resonate nicely with my more Buddhist way of approaching the world.
The author devotes an entire chapter to the Art of Living program and the practice of Sudharshan Kriya, a breathing technique. She cites research results from this group proving it’s effectiveness against depression, but, again, she does not include enough information to allow the reader to evaluate these claims. She says, “Time after time, controlled studies . . . ” have shown a 73% recovery rate in hospitalized depressed patients.” However, she provides no reference to where the reader might find the articles describing how these results were derived nor does she include details about how the research was conducted. She does not give instructions on Sudharshan Kriya as it seems to be owned by the Art of Living group.
Overall, I would recommend this book for it’s explication of the way various yoga methods can be applied to depression, trauma and anxiety. I also liked the attempt to categorize the various schools of yoga, and I learned more about each of them. As far as any practical application, I wish the author had proposed a more structured approach to different syndromes and explicated what to do about them. I am still awaiting the book, outside of any particular school, that says, “If you have this symptom, do this. If you have that symptom, do that.” Even better would be a complete workout designed to address anxiety and depression in the context of a full routine. Perhaps as the Westernization of yoga continues, such a manual will emerge.
Rating: 4 / 5
March 7th, 2010 at 8:04 pm
I am not a doctor, nor a therapist and I am certainly not a Yoga expert. I read the book because a friend suggest it because I sometimes suffer from depression and I have never found my therapy and my med-therapy completely fulfilling. I was capartured by the authors words within the 1st few pages and it never let me go. It felt like a good mystery that you never want to put down because it continually reveals new twists and turns that are both baffling and intriguing.
I am hooked on what the author has said and have begun some beginner programs that are already feeling like they balance my talk therapy with a wholistic body therapy through yoga. Anyone who is a skeptic about yoga will get the most out of this book.
Her views on the need for the body to recover as much as the mind from depression struck me as simple yet astounding because we always think that talking & meds are a balance to depression or a vehicle out of depression; while missing the point of how we are centered through our bodies. All of this plus being backed up by research hit home in a significant way.
Rating: 5 / 5
March 7th, 2010 at 9:29 pm
Dr. Christiane Northrup has called YOGA FOR DEPRESSION a “godsend” for good reason. Amy Weintraub’s new book has given me insight in how to BE with myself in yoga class, so that I am doing the postures and breathing in new and more beneficial ways. “Going inside” now has a deeper meaning for me. I have been able to reach those parts of my psyche that have long been repressed. By getting to those areas, I have had openings in my life which I didn’t even realize were possible. Reading this book has led me to a fuller, richer practice, and a fuller richer life. I threw away the anti-depressant medications & blended my new yoga practice with psychotherapy, I have regained my power & have taken charge of my emotions. I have ended a long term relationship, which I have tried for years & cleared the emotional & physical clutter in my life.
YOGA FOR DEPRESSION defines the different types of yoga practices with clear understanding about what practices are most likely to work for an individual. The book is both educational & inspiring and is appropriate for both mental health professionals and those experiencing depression. I would highly recommend this book to yoga practitioners, yoga teachers, mental health professionals and those who are holistically conscious.
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Rating: 5 / 5
March 7th, 2010 at 10:00 pm
Yoga and Depression is supportive, insightful, and user-friendly. Amy Weintraub discusses a difficult topic from her heart in a nonthreatening manner. She connects genuinely with the reader. She transmits soundly the message of self-acceptance and empowerment to every person who experiences depression and for every therapist who works with them. This is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to know more about depression and to acquire a shift in perspective about the treatment of this human condition.
Rating: 5 / 5
March 7th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
As a long-time sufferer of depression and anxiety who has spent years on medication as well as counseling, this book provides a great deal of information on the healing nature of yoga and meditation. Ms. Weintraub certainly seems to understand the dark days firsthand and she offers positive advice on how a yoga practice can help quiet the mind as well as energize the body.
I did buy the book expecting it to have a full yoga program in it. But that is not the purpose of the book. It does have many yoga practices and they have been helpful but her intent is to explain the connection between our bodies and emotions and how yoga can help. She recommends taking a yoga class or using a book to truly learn yoga properly. She provides a fantastic list of resources at the end of the book for yoga websites, retreats, books, and cds.
I highly recommend this book and I am enjoying my new yoga adventure.
Rating: 5 / 5