The Calvert Memorial Hospital Wellness Program is sponsoring a new YOGA class focused on helping individuals suffering from depression and anxiety.  The class will begin the week of January 3rd 2012 and it will be held on Thursdays from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.  The class is taught by Ms. Simpson.  Registration for classes that will begin in mid March.

Call more information or to register call the Wellness Program at:  410-535-8233

For more information call Ms. Simpson at: 240-531-1519

Like most people dealing with depression, Weintraub took the suggested route of antidepressants only discover that medication, while the most common way of dealing with depression, isn’t always the most successful.  In her book, Weintraub presents her struggle with depression and antidepressant medication and the path that eventudally led her to stumble over an alternative method for combating depression.  Yoga, Weintraub found, offered a simple and healthy solution to depression. Once she began practicing yoga as therapy for depression, Weintraub was able to slowly go off medication. For more than 15 years now, she has stayed free of depression and off antidepressants.

Weintraub chronicles her struggles in her book, Yoga for Depression: A Compassionate Guide to Relieve Suffering Through Yoga. She highlights how yoga combats depression by treating the whole problem, and not simply the symptoms of depression. “[A] daily practice of yoga will bring your physical body and your emotional body into balance, restoring a sense of well-being and energy.” In making her case, Weintraub shares her own story, those of her students, and even presents scientific evidence.

Yoga for Depression doesn’t condemn psychiatric medication, instead, Weintraub advocates for a more holistic approach. As one reader says, “  As an integrative, spiritually oriented psychiatrist who is committed to building bridges between traditional psychiatric medicine and spiritual practices which can augment healing, I applaud Amy Weintraub’s contribution to the field.”

Yoga for Depression includes various descriptions and pictures of poses and exercises, however, the author suggests the reader also considers joining a class led by an experienced yoga instructor. Weintraub has dubbed her unique collection of yoga exercises for depression LifeForce Yoga and has trained a number of yoga instructors in this particular approach to yoga.

Is Weintraub’s experience using yoga to fight depression unique or does yoga for depression indeed have the potential to offer help with depression? It’s long been acknowledged that exercises in general is one of the most effective ways to combat depression, and early results from a pilot study on yoga for depression confirm that Weintraub may be on to something. In a study of 54 people practicing yoga for depression, participants showed 64% decrease in mood disturbance and a 53% reduction in depression.

Just judging from reader comments, Weintraub is on to something, and her book is succeeding in what every author hopes for: helping people—in this case to fight depression. As one reader notes, “Reading this book has led me to a fuller, richer practice, and a fuller richer life. I threw away the anti-depressant medications and blended my new yoga practice with psychotherapy, I have regained my power and have taken charge of my emotions.”

While not a substitute for medical advice, Yoga for Depression has the potential to help many people fighting depression. Amy Weintraub writes with clarity, compassion, and wisdom. Her book is not for the few but for the many; the author speaks to each and every person fighting with depression.

Our mood is one of the first things that get affected when we don’t get enough sleep, whether it’s because of insomnia or simply because we go to bed too late. Sleep researchers consistently find that people who don’t get a full night’s sleep are more irritable, less vital, less even-tempered, and overall less happy. Lack of sleep also tends to result in a more negative outlook on life and makes one feel more easily overwhelmed and overburdened.

Studies also show that mood is not only the first thing that gets affected, it is affected more adversely than anything else. Worse, you don’t need to lose very much sleep before your mood starts to suffer. In one study, researchers compared women who got at least eight hours of sleep with women who got seven hours or less. The women who slept less than eight hours experienced seven times as much fatigue, five times as much tension, and twelve times as much nervous apprehension.[i]

In short, chronic inability to sleep may cause our mental and emotional health to suffer. Indeed, surveys suggest that people who suffer from chronic insomnia are more likely to develop psychological problems.[ii]

You don’t need a sleep researcher to tell you that lack of sleep makes you more vulnerable to stress, worry, and anxiety. When we don’t get enough sleep, even simple problems appear overpowering. Without enough sleep, we quickly lose our ability to maintain perspective, increasing the sense of being under pressure and decreasing our ability to relax.

Recurring insomnia, of course, can also be a symptom of depression, so it’s a circular issue: depression is linked to insomnia, and insomnia further aggravates depression. If you can find ways to sleep better during the night, it will also likely help combat depression over time. (Of course, if you have problems sleeping over a long period of time, always consult with a doctor, particularly if you feel depressed as well.)

Many people who suffer from insomnia are hesitant to turn to the sleep medications of Western medicine, because they are concerned about the potential for addiction and side effects. Fortunately, if you have a fairly mild case of insomnia, there are many natural insomnia remedies, which can be quite effective. Herbs like valerian, chamomile, passion flower, and kava kava (in small amounts) have a deeply setting effect on mind and body. A restorative yoga practice before bed time can offer great natural relief for insomnia. In addition, a vigorous yoga practice like hot yoga or a Vinayasa practice (during the day, not close to bedtime) can help relieve insomnia by cleaning blocked energy and cope better with stress—both of which will also often bring relief for depression, if that is the underlying issue.

In addition, it’s worth learning more about the Ayurvedic understanding of insomnia, because this can help you gain deeper insight into the root causes of your insomnia problem, which ultimately tends to be the most effective remedy of all.

Conducted by researchers Chris C. Streeter, MD and associates at Boston University School of Medicine, the study analyzed the mood, anxiety, and brain GABA levels  (which directly correlate to emotional health) of 34 participants over the course of 12 weeks.

The participants were divided into two groups: a yoga for depression group and a metabolically matched walking group. Each group practiced their prescribed form of exercise for 60 minutes, three times a week. Researchers measured mood and anxiety scales for all participants at the start of the study and at weeks 4, 8, and 12.  Participants also received magnetic resonance spectroscopy scans to measure their GABA
(γ-Aminobutyric acid) levels.

At the end of the 12 weeks, researchers found that not only had the yoga practitioners’ GABA levels gone up, but that those in the yoga for depression had also experienced greater improvements in both anxiety and depression than those in the metabolically-matched walking group.

Scientists have long known of the connection between GABA levels and mood; drugs that can increase GABA activity are often prescribed for patients with depression or anxiety disorders. Researchers have also been aware of the relationship between yoga practice and the natural increase of brain GABA levels. However, this is the first study to reveal that yoga in particular can offer a greater help for depression and anxiety than simple exercise can.

Nonetheless, small studies have been conducted, and time and time again this miracle cure has proven not only its efficacy, but its lack of negative side effects—and plethora of positive side benefits—as well.

What is this miracle drug? It’s not a drug at all: its exercise.

Studies conducted at Duke University in the late ‘90s and early 2000s revealed that after just four weeks, patients of major depression who exercised daily instead of taking medication experienced 95-100% of the improvement prescription drugs produced in their non-exercising counterparts.

Furthermore, a 10 month follow-up showed that the exercise-only group maintained the highest remission and stay-well rate.

So what is it about exercise that can so drastically improve our mood? Researchers suspect it comes down to the way our brains are wired. Like most species, we evolved as active organisms. Scientists suggest that our brains are simply not designed to handle life without physical activity.

In support of this argument, research reveals that exercise not only helps with depression, but also anxiety and even substance-dependence. Scientists have noted that in addition to balancing serotonin and endorphin levels, exercise produces natural chemical compounds that support brain cell growth and maintenance

Neuroscience researchers have also found that exercise can switch on genes to increase galanin, a neurochemical that tones down the brain/body stress response. In other words, exercise can help the stressed as well as the depressed.

But order to get the most benefit from exercise, whether we’re suffering from depression, stress, anxiety, or all of the above, we can’t rely on cardio alone.

While aerobic activity plays a key role in physical and psychological health, stretching, strength training, and developing our body’s core muscles are all vital components to maintaining optimum well-being.

One study revealed that even stretching for 15-20 minutes alone could decrease depression by nearly 30%. Combining stretching with other types of physical activity offers even greater benefits.

By integrating stretching, strengthening, and balancing exercises, yoga for depression offers one of the best methods for elevating one’s mood.

Studies have illustrated yoga’s ability to combat depression through balancing brain chemistry and stress hormone levels. Through a regular yoga routine, we can pull ourselves out of the pit of depression and rise once more to enjoy vitality and inspiration in our day-to-day lives

According to a growing number of trials, exercise can provide up to over 95% of the mood-improvement that prescription drugs afford. This, of course, includes yoga. According to one recent study, yoga may be even more effective than other forms of exercise in helping people combat depression and anxiety. Think of it as  the new-and-improved Prozac!

From early studies done in the 1970s and 1980s, we already knew that those who exercised regularly were not only less likely to be depressed, they were also less likely to ever become depressed than their inactive counterparts.

However, recent years have brought even more dramatic testimony to the foreground. For example, a 4-week study conducted in 1999 found that, among clinically depressed adults age 50+, exercise provided the exact same level of benefits that standard antidepressant treatment did.

A 2007 follow-up study examined over 200 patients of major depression across all adult age groups and found similar results. Patients who participated in a supervised exercise program displayed a 45% improved by the end of the 4-week study, just two percentage points away from the antidepressant group’s 47% improvement.

With such an amazing cure at our fingertips, it’s a wonder we’re not all leaping for the treadmill—or even just leaping for leaping’s sake. Of course, it’s not always easy to get started with or even maintain a regular exercise program. And that’s where the benefit of regular exercise classes, such as a yoga class, comes into play.

People who sign up for yoga classes are more likely to continue with their exercise program due to sense of commitment, financial investment, and the moral support provided by the class setting. In addition, yoga relieves depression by providing mood-elevating benefits above and beyond what basic exercise offers. By committing to a weekly or bi-weekly yoga class, we are making a commitment to taking care of ourselves—not just physically, but emotionally and even spiritually as well.

Basically, yoga therapy uses the ancient science of yoga to enhance health and wellness at all levels of the person: physical, emotional, and spiritual. Yoga therapy focuses on the path of yoga as a healing journey that brings balance to all aspects of life through an experiential awakening of our essential nature. Yoga therapy is useful both for people who seek relief for specific health challenges, as well as for people who want to enjoy good health, prevent disease, and slow the progression of aging.

Yoga therapy is based on a view of the individual as a wholeness. For true health to occur, all aspects of a person must be addressed as a whole. Many forms of yoga therapy, such as Integrative Yoga Therapy, use the ancient Vedic model of the Five Koshas as a framework for creating holistic healing and transformation.

In yoga therapy, the tools and techniques of yoga serve to reconnect each client to him or herself at all levels—from the physical body to the breath, the energetic body, mind and emotions, the higher wisdom faculty, and to the spirit. Some of the main ways in which yoga therapy differs from yoga are:

• Yoga therapy works with your goals. Each session is tailored to your needs, whether you want to gain relief from chronic pain, facilitate injury recovery, improve flexibility, reduce stress, improve well-being, get help with depression, or simply retain your youthful appearance and energy.

• Yoga therapy targets the practice to specific disease condition. Most disease conditions benefit from some yoga asanas or yoga breathing techniques and not others. A yoga therapy program for back pain, for example, would be very different from a yoga therapy practice targeting depression. Some yoga therapists specialize mainly in one disease condition, while others have a more broad focus.

• Yoga therapy adjusts the poses to your body’s needs. A yoga therapist shows you how to modify and adjust poses to your body’s specific needs, using props, modifications, and alignment assists.  This ensures that you get the full benefits from each pose.

• Yoga therapy uses adjunct techniques to speed your progress. When called for, some yoga therapists may use deep tissue massage and fascia release work while you are in the pose to release tight muscle groups and facilitate a deeper core awakening.

• Yoga therapy deepens body awareness. Yoga therapy is offered in individual sessions or small classes, enabling the therapist to guide you in the fine subtleties of muscle relaxation, stretching, and strengthening. This increases body awareness and helps you make more rapid progress in reshaping your body.

CLASS DESCRIPTIONS

Gentle Yoga

This traditional Hatha Yoga class goes beyond the typical western gym studio yoga class. This class provides the expected exercise and stress reduction that most gym and studio classes offer, however, the richer part of yoga practice typically eliminated by Western yoga classes is returned so that the powerful techniques of breathe (pranayama), concentration (dharana), and meditation (dhyana) enhances physical health and mental acuity to promote emotional balance and spiritual awareness.  This class is designed for students who are seeking a powerful method of self-transformation.  The postures (asanas) in this class are adapted for individuals who have physical injuries or disabilities as well as students  who possess average flexibility and strength.

Yoga for Depression and Anxiety

Emotions are physical, not psychological and act to bridge our bodies and minds. Psychosomatic means that our bodies, mind, and emotions are intimately intertwined. As we alter the awareness of our emotions, we typically alter our physical state. Managing our emotions is now considered a form of disease prevention. If we heal our emotions, we heal our bodies. Yoga is an ancient, practical system for assessing, healing, and integrating the body and mind. Yoga is much more a state of mind than having to touch your toes. Through practices of movement, breathing, and meditation, the student learns to transform negative qualities of the mind into higher states of order and clarity, which promote overall physical and emotional well-being. This class is guided by Pat Simpson, M.S., LCPC RYT500, is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor with twenty five years of professional practice, and more than five hundred (500) hours of yoga training and is a Yoga Alliance certified yoga teacher.  Ms. Simpson can consult and collaborate with a student’s mental health care provider to provide a structured therapeutic environment that goes beyond medication and traditional forms of psychotherapy. Individual sessions are available. This class is scheduled through the The Calvert Memorial Hospital’s Keep Well Center. Please review the class schedule and Register Information at http://www.calverthospital.com.  Select Looking for a Class, Wellness.

Yoga for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD)

What is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder ?

PSTD results from deep emotional wounds from being exposed to a traumatic event that includes:

1. Man-made, deliberate, malicious actions such as:
• War
• Abuse
• Rape
• Riots
• Kidnapping
• Torture
• And more…

2. Accidents, Technological disasters
3. Acts of Nature (natural disasters)

Symptoms of PTSD may include:

• Anger
• Anxiety
• Chronic pain
• Compulsions
• Confusion
• Crisis
• Delusions
• Denial
• Dependence
• Depression
• Grief
• Guilt
• Loneliness
• Negative self-concept
• Obesity
• Obsessions
• Passive Aggressive behavior
• Phobias
• Rape Trauma Syndrome
• Sleep disorders
• Substance Abuse
• Suicidal Behavior or Ideation
• Suspiciousness/Paranoia
• Withdrawn Behavior

Why Yoga for Veterans and People Suffering with PTSD?

Practicing yoga can greatly benefit us both physically and mentally. Yoga can help to condition and heal our bodies, and also promote a sense of calm and peace. Because of this, yoga can prove very beneficial for veterans and victims. Not only can the practice heal the body, it can also help us to deal with the traumas and memories associated with combat and war.

PTSD, is a condition that many veterans experience. It is an anxiety disorder that can develop following exposure to a terrifying or traumatic event during combat that caused or threatened serious physical harm.

For some sufferers of PTSD, yoga can help. Hatha yoga emphasizes stillness and peace, and the practice of asanas, or postures, can help to bring a sense of balance and calm. By practicing asanas, we are encouraged to find peace with our experiences and to release our fears and frustrations. Yoga can be a healing a process that helps us to let go of traumas and the anger we may feel as a result.

While yoga cannot cure PTSD, it can show us how to deal with the symptoms and may even minimize them to some degree. This class is designed to specifically  help to relieve anxiety, increase relaxation and promote better sleep.

Day

Time

Tuesday

6:00 – 7:30 p.m.

Saturday

10:00 – 12:00 a.m.

Beautiful, peaceful private studio in the Breezy Point area of Calvert County

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