Constant Anxiety. Can yoga really help?

Tagged: anxiety, hot yoga, panic attacks

Viewing 4 posts - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

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passionteayogi
Participant

August 25, 2015 at 8:32 pm

Post count: 1
#20378
For the past ~9 months I have been dealing with some major anxiety. I know what has caused it, and those things aren’t really part of my life anymore, but I can’t seem to put an end to the anxiety/panic attacks I have been dealing with. The major issue I get is nausea. I can be doing fine and then out of nowhere, I feel super nauseous and anxious.

I have been practicing hot yoga approx 3 times per week for the past 3-4 months and I really enjoy classes and I have never regretted going to a class. However, the anxiety is still there. It’s almost like a pit in my stomach that won’t go away. I usually take some form of power yoga, or baptiste.

Any suggestions of a class I should try or maybe some calming yoga at home I could do? I can’t keep living like this.
- This topic was modified 8 years, 7 months ago by passionteayogi.
kfi2000
Participant

August 26, 2015 at 12:26 pm

Post count: 108

#20403

I’m sorry you are dealing with such persistent anxiety! Exercise is good for anxiety, yoga in particular, and in my experience, the Bikram series hot yoga. I’ll explain why in a minute.

But first, you mention mostly physical symptoms of anxiety (nausea), but I don’t hear any reference to other symptoms, such as racing thoughts, believing something bad is going to happen, etc. Can you clarify if your anxiety experience is all about the nausea?

A couple of things the hot yoga class does for you is burn off some of that excess physical activity, teaches controlled breathing, and emphasizes calm focus. How is your breathing? Does it change when you start to feel more anxious? Do you ever find yourself breathing through the mouth? What is going on with your eyes? Are they darting around the room? Or are they fixed on one spot? What is going on in the mind? Clear and focused on yoga? Or something outside of the room? These are challenging things to accomplish but are all important.

Now, what I have found about the Bikram class is that the spine strengthening series is highly similar to a technique psychologists use to treat anxiety…..the combination of temporarily tensing almost every muscle in the body for about 15 seconds followed by complete relaxation of those muscles. 100% effort followed by 100% relaxation. During the savasana, focus on that relaxed feeling….breathe….clear the mind. The principle is, total relaxation is incompatible with anxiety…you can’t have both at the same time. The intense physical part helps you accomplish the relaxation part through muscle fatigue.

One last thing…since you have focused almost exclusively on nausea, it might be worthwhile to rule out any physical/medical cause for that symptom. Just a thought.

Namaste,

-Kristin

Gabrielle (The Hot Yoga Doctor)
Forum Owner

September 4, 2015 at 2:08 am

Post count: 3048

#20452

Hello passionteayoga 🙂

Thank you so much for your post. I too am very interested to know some more about your experience. Kristin has asked some great questions and I would love to know if you’d be willing to answer them.

You are practising yoga and that is definitely a big ol’ positive. There is something about the static poses in the Bikram and hot yoga series that does seem to help those with anxiety.

I have a question or 2 to ask about your practice. I will kick it off with this one (one reason to limit my questions is that I have to restart my computer!): Have you ever practised Bikram or hot yoga, the oft-referred to 26+2 poses? Would you please tell me what level of experience you have if you have done hot yoga?

Namaste
Gabrielle 🙂

mzsocialworker1
Participant

November 1, 2015 at 11:26 pm

Post count: 103

#20828

Yoga is a great coping tool, but often is not the cure all IME for major forms of anxiety.

I recommend speaking with your primary doctor. Also most will prescribe anti-anxiety meds that you only need to take as needed if you have to.

I’ve been in this situation myself.

Sometimes just getting to class causes me anxiety too….
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