Yoga Reduces Stress and Improves Mental Health
Yoga protects the immune system from harmful symptoms of stress. U.S. adults deal with compounded stress at alarming rates that often results in greater rates of mental health issues and concerns. Let’s not forget the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has negatively impacted the mental health of Americans and continues to do so. Prolonged stress unfortunately causes negative effects on the body’s immune system over time and can play a role in developing symptoms of depression and anxiety (1). Serious mental illness (SMI) is defined as a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder that results in serious functional impairment and substantially interferes with major life activities (2). Mental health disorders and illnesses are so common in the U.S., that nearly one in five (20%) adults report living with a mental illness or disorder (3). The popularity of yoga is largely due to its ability to impart psycho-physiological changes that reduce the body’s stress response. This leads to heightened mood, improved self-regulation, positive well-being, and an overall better quality of life.
When given a closer look, evidence indicates that mental health rates differ by race and ethnicity whereas Black people have reported experiencing higher levels of psychological distress than White people4. Moreover, people of color (adults who identify as a race or ethnicity other than white) have reported that discrimination is a significant source of stress in their life. Environmental life stressors like racism and discrimination are so commonplace that Black people suffer some of the highest rates of stress, depression, and suicide when compared to other racial and ethnic groups (2,4,5,6). For instance, I have co-authored a report which demonstrates that Black men’s previous criminal involvement is related to higher depression scores (7).
Knowing how stress affects our mental health can help us better respond and manage stress. Maybe it starts on your yoga mat? Practicing components of yoga can produce a physiological state opposite to the flight-or-fight stress response and improves regulation of the sympathetic nervous system by slowing the heart rate, lowering cortisol levels, and restoring physiological homeostasis (8). Yoga creates balance both internally and externally, and has even helped me pull through some of my toughest days. By linking meditative breath with movement, yoga can calm the mind, decrease reactivity to challenging situations, and improve overall stress management. Find your breath on the mat to let things go and find more calm in your everyday life. Your body and mind will thank you.
References:
1. Dougall, A. L., & Baum, A. (2011). Stress, Health, and Illness. In Handbook of Health Psychology. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203804100.ch3
2. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2020). 2019 National Survey on Drug Use and Health: African Americans. Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/sites/default/files/reports/rpt31099/2019NSDUH-AA/AfricanAmerican%202019%20NSDUH.pdf
3. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2021). Key substance use and mental health indicators in the United States: Results from the 2020 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. Rockville, MD: Center for Behavioral Health Statistics and Quality Retrieved from https://www.samhsa.gov/data/
4. Barnes, D. M., & Bates, L. M. (2017). Do racial patterns in psychological distress shed light on the Black–White depression paradox? A systematic review. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 52, 913-928.https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-017-1394-9
5. American Psychological Association. (2020). Stress in America™ 2020: A national mental health crisis. https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress/2020/sia-mental-health-crisis.pdf
6. Brody, D. J., Pratt, L. A., & Hughes, J. P. (2018). Prevalence of depression among adults aged 20 and over: United States, 2013-2016. NCHS Data Brief, no 303. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2018.https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db303.htm
7. Bowleg, L., Maria del Río-González, A., Mbaba, M., Boone, C. A., & Holt, S. L. (2020). Negative police encounters and police avoidance as pathways to depressive symptoms among US Black men, 2015–2016. American Journal of Public Health, 110(S1), S160-S166. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2019.305460
8. Pascoe, M. C., Thompson, D. R., Jenkins, Z. M., & Ski, C. F. (2017). Mindfulness mediates the physiological markers of stress: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 95, 156-178. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2017.08.004
