Go to Yoga in Practice: Ten Solutions for Depressed Yoga Students, Part 2. Click Here

Put Ideas into Action: Procrastination in, and of itself, can cause many poor outcomes. Setting goals, and writing them down, was discussed earlier, but those steps are worthless without putting your plans into action.

The “dreamer” who comes up with a great idea, and watches someone else put a similar idea into action, is truly depressed. Sometimes, great ideas are being worked on at the opposite side of the Earth, and it’s just a matter of who puts the idea into action first.

There are also co-workers and supervisors who will gladly take the credit for your ideas. Therefore, do not waste time or procrastinate in any way. If you make a mistake, use it to your advantage and learn from it, but don’t “sit on an idea.”

One last point to cover on this subject is how often we judge ourselves harshly. In my Yoga classes, I often mention “non-judgment” of others, but we are our own worst critics in this life. No one else will ever be as harsh as we can be to ourselves. So, stop criticizing your own ideas, before they get started, and put them into action.

Pranayama: Simple breath awareness alone can help relieve anxiety and depression. When you combine this with meditation, Pranayama can be a powerful tool. As a Yoga practitioner, you know many Yogic breathing techniques, but students should have a few “go to” Pranayama techniques for daily stress and some for severe stress.

Ujjayi Pranayama would be the first selection; translated to English this means, “victory or victorious breath.” Therefore, it is no accident that this particular Pranayama will purge depression and inner fears. As a matter of fact, Ujjayi Pranayama will instill confidence.

If Yoga students practice Ujjayi Pranayama, with an Asana sequence such as Sun Salutations or a Vinyasa series, they will conquer mild depression and develop new found confidence in themselves.

There are many more Yogic solutions for anyone to get rid of depression and gain confidence in his or her self, but these ten methods are familiar to Yoga teachers and most Yoga students. Yoga practice needs to be taken home, just like homework. If a Yoga student truly wants to see results, the practice of Yoga has to be maintained on a regular basis.

Within Yoga are many facets, but all of them lead to good health. A Yoga student who practices “once in a while,” is better off than never having practiced at all, but should not expect to see significant results. This is why Yoga teachers have to tell their students the truth about expectations.

Do not “sugar coat” a Yoga student’s responsibility to practice Yoga on an almost daily basis. This is also how a medical prescription works. Can you imagine what would happen if patients took their prescribed medicine once in a while?

Continuity is the key to good health and a steady Yoga practice will yield good mental, physical, and spiritual health. This is also true for everything worth attaining in life.

© Copyright 2006 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications