Meditation and Yoga for Trauma and Mental Health Disorders
While the health benefits of meditation and yoga can apply to almost anyone, they can also be especially effective for those who have experienced trauma or emotional distress. The weight of fear, grief, anxiety or self-doubt can be challenging to manage without healthy ways to relieve the resulting stress and tension. For this reason, many survivors of trauma or other stressors turn to self-defeating behaviors in an attempt to mitigate the mental toll. Treating trauma-induced addiction, self-harm or compulsions requires replacing these self-defeating behaviors with healthier habits — meditation and yoga offer a method of release that comes with physical and mental health benefits rather than harms. You can learn to calm your mind and refocus your thoughts productively instead of simply ignoring or blocking them out.
Meditation and yoga are an essential part of a holistic approach to healing the disordered mind. Modern medicine increasingly shows that the mind and the body are closely linked — positivity, confidence and perceived happiness go hand-in-hand with energy levels, physical fitness and diet. Using meditation or yoga to achieve a more balanced state of mind can help you successfully manage a mental health disorder like depression or anxiety, and pairing it with physical activity like yoga can help boost your mood and outlook. Together, these practices can give you the self-assurance you need to take control of your mental well-being and begin your journey toward recovery with renewed strength.