As we speak, melancholy is a widespread downside. There are a number of sub-types of melancholy, one in every of which is seasonal affective dysfunction (SAD). It’s characterised by signs that seem throughout a selected season and linger for 4 to 5 months every year. The causes might embody disturbing conditions, unhealthy life, hormonal imbalances, stress and an incapability to deal with traumatic occasions.

Depressive signs would possibly change relying on the particular person and their stage of severity. These embody a dismal temper, lack of curiosity in hobbies, a way of guilt or worthlessness, suicidal ideas, bother concentrating or making choices, weariness, a jittery or sluggish feeling, adjustments in physique weight, and adjustments in sleep patterns. Top-of-the-line methods to deal with SAD is yoga.

Methods to take care of seasonal affective dysfunction. Picture courtesy: Freepik

Yoga for seasonal affective dysfunction

Yoga is a well-liked sort of complementary drugs that integrates mind-body strategies. It helps improve bodily and psychological wellness, and it brings the physique and thoughts collectively by means of the spirit. When the body-mind advanced lacks inadequate prana, often known as life power power, melancholy is alleged to ensue. Enthusiasm, pleasure, and peace are qualities of prana. Common yoga and meditation apply assist to lift prana ranges, which eliminates the signs of melancholy.

When yoga is used as a remedy for SAD, it may be used to deal with by means of 5 totally different sheaths of being that result in optimistic adjustments.

Annamaya Kosha (the bodily physique)

Practising yoga asanas corresponding to Shirsasana, Halasana, Adhomukha swanasana, Shashankasana, Setu bandhasana, Balasana, Pavanamuktasana, Vakrasana, Gomukhasana, Bhujangasana, Ardhakati chakrasana, Trikonasana, Ardhachakrasana, Tadasana, Shavasana and Surya Namaskara are important for combating melancholy and its signs.

These asanas help in reducing stress, nervousness, exhaustion, complications, and insomnia whereas additionally calming the neurological system. It makes it attainable to chill out deeply and meditate whereas letting rigidity, a significant component in unhappiness, go. It additionally improves blood movement to the mind, which helps to revitalise, renew, and refresh the physique and thoughts. It additionally decreases thyroid points, which herald temper swings and despair, and opens up the lungs.

Pranamaya Kosha (the sheath of significant power)

The Pranayama practices are significantly efficient strategies to assist overcome melancholy. Brahmari, Nadishodhana, Kapalabhati, Bhastrika, Suryabhedana, Suryanulomaviloma Pranayama – all these assist calm the agitated thoughts and construct confidence, deliver the thoughts to the current, discarding undesirable ideas of the previous and future, purifies the Nadis (power channels), making certain clean movement of prana, releases gathered stress, and take away melancholy.

yoga for seasonal affective disorder
Yoga will help you take care of seasonal affective dysfunction. Picture Courtesy: Shutterstock

Manomaya Kosha (the psychological sheath)

It primarily focuses on taming the thoughts in the direction of the trail of desired outcomes. Some practices embody MSRT (Thoughts sound resonance approach) and Omkara Chantings, which assist to extend power and calm the thoughts. Mindfulness is a really efficient apply to affect Manomaya kosha.

Vijnanamaya Kosha (the sheath of mind)

Counselling the person is the fundamental and most required yogic approach of igniting the mind of an individual that provides him readability and brings a way of acceptance in the direction of life.

Aanandamaya Kosha (the bliss sheath)

All of the suppressed feelings are transcended right into a state of yogic bliss within the path of Bhakti yoga. Karma Yoga teaches one to work with out anticipating fruits out of it, thus decreasing expectations which might result in sorrow when not fulfilled. Happiness evaluation is one other approach to analyse and overcome melancholy.

mental health
Right here’s easy methods to take care of SAD. Picture Courtesy: Shutterstock

Be conscious of what you eat

The meals you eat are additionally essential to revive an individual’s psychological well being. Wholesome, high-prana meals are simpler on the physique and thoughts. Making Satvik meals selections and consuming mindfully will help you recover from SAD. It’s essential to eat a wholesome quantity of meals that particularly enhance the physique’s manufacturing of serotonin, the glad hormone. It’s attainable to eat contemporary vegatables and fruits like carrots, darkish leafy greens like spinach, lettuce, cucumber, apples, bananas, grapefruit, different citrus fruits, contemporary berries, and kiwifruit.

Some leisure strategies corresponding to Yoga Nidra, cyclic meditation, and deep leisure strategies assist scale back and overcome stress-induced melancholy.