For Tamasic Depression: Moving with Your Breath

by Nina

Light in the Mist by Michele McCartney-Filgate

Last week in my post Tamasic and Rajasic Depression, I mentioned how moving with your breath can be very helpful for people with tamasic depression (or for all of us on those days when we're just feeling blue). We don’t have scientific evidence to prove this, however, many long-time yogis have experienced the enlivening and uplifting sensations of vinyasas and mini vinyasas. And I'm here to testify to that! Some possible reasons why this works are:

• Moving with you breath engages your mind, providing you with temporary respite from depressing thoughts. Coordinating movements with your breath doesn’t give you time to brood or let your mind wander.
• Consciously breathing as you move improves your breathing in general, which can reduce lethargy and fatigue.
• Exercising in general can actually change your mood, possibly by changing your body chemistry.

You can use a vinyasa or mini vinyasa as a way to start a longer practice or as a mini practice on its own. If you’re too depressed to contemplate a challenging practice, try some simple movements. Just starting to move, however modestly, can sometimes get your energy flowing and may even motivate you to move onto a longer practice.

Practicing a vinyasa with a backbending movement may be the most helpful for depression. For most people, backbends are energizing and uplifting. Patricia Walden, who teaches yoga for depression, says that backbends “let in the light.” In Gary Kraftsow’s sequence for chronic depression in Yoga for Wellness, he includes a mini vinyasa with Bridge pose, a sequence that includes Warrior 1, and second mini vinyasa with Upward-Facing Dog pose, probably for the same reasons.

Today I’m just going to offer up a few ideas for poses you can use to start a practice or to do on their own as mini practices (and, hmmm, now that I look at the list, I realize you could actually do them all, in the order below, as a short sequence). Some of these ideas come from Patricia Walden, some from Gary Kraftsow, and some are my own.

Cat Pose: If you can’t even bring yourself to stand up on your yoga mat, whether because you’re depressed, discouraged, or just tired, try starting on hands and knees. Move into your backbend on an inhalation (what some people call Cow pose and what I like to call Purring Cat) and arching your back into Cat pose on an exhalation. Repeat any number of times. Who knows, maybe you’ll feel like going into Doward-Facing Dog pose next or perhaps even standing in Mountain pose on your mat. By the way, you can even do this pose in a chair, as we described in our post Chair Cat Pose, anywhere and in any attire.

Mountain Pose: The easiest standing mini vinyasa is to move in Mountain Pose. Start in Mountain pose, with your arms by your sides. On an inhalation, bring your arms overhead as you bend slightly into a backbend in your upper back. On an exhalation, release back to your starting position, bringing your arms back by your sides. Repeat six times.

Warrior 1: Moving from Warrior 1 stance to full Warrior 1 pose as we illustrated in our post Warrior 1 and Warrior 2 Mini Vinyasas is a more challenging vinyasa. But the fact that it takes more concentration and effort may bring you more powerful results. Repeat six times.

Bridge Pose: This is the deepest backbend of the group, which provides the benefits of a good chest opening along with the benefits of moving with your breath. Start by lying on your back with your knees bend, your feet about hips-width apart and your arms by your sides. On an inhalation, press down with your feet as you lift your pelvis off the ground, open your chest, and raise your arms overhead and down toward the floor behind your head. On an exhalation, return to the starting position, dropping your pelvis straight down to the floor as you bring your arms back by your sides. Repeat six times.

I hope that some of you out there will give these a try and let me know how it goes!

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Tamasic and Rajasic Depression

by Nina

I can’t seem to face up to the facts

I’m tense and nervous and I can’t relax

I can’t sleep ‘cause my bed’s on fire

Don’t touch me I’m a real live wire
—from Psycho Killer by the Talking Heads

At one point in my life, I felt those lyrics from Psycho Killer described me perfectly. If you are suffering from depression or just feeling “depressed,” how exactly would you describe your feelings? Because the type of depression you have—whether it is tamasic or rajasic—will determine how you can use yoga to relieve your depression. The same thing is true if you want to help a student who has depression or is just feeling depressed. You’ll need to question your student about his or her symptoms and feelings, and use your powers of observation, to determine the right approach you should take to help them.

The term “tamasic depression” comes from the Sanskrit term “tamas.” Tamas, one of the gunas, which are the three primordial qualities of matter that make up all of creation, is responsible for inertia. So tamasic depression describes the type of depression where lethargy, fatigue, and hopelessness predominate. People with tamasic depression may have slumped shoulders, collapsed chests, and sunken eyes, and may look as if they are barely breathing. That tamasic feeling of not being able to get out of bed is evoked for me by the Blind Melon song “No Rain.” 

And I don't understand why sleep all day

And I start to complain that there's no rain.

And all I can do is read a book to stay awake,

And it rips my life away but it's a great escape.
Escape, escape, escape.

Because of the lethargic aspect, people with tamasic depression need energizing as well as uplifting. Active poses, such as standing poses, backbends, and sequences where you move with your breath are all helpful for tamasic depression. However, people with tamasic depression also suffer from stress, so they may need to include relaxation in their practice. (Yesterday’s post Warrior 1 and Warrior 2 Mini Vinyasas mentioned that the two Warrior mini vinyasas can be helpful for depression, and in that case we were thinking mostly of tamasic depression, where moving in and out of the standing poses with the breath is energizing as well as uplifting.)

The term “rajasic depression” comes from the Sanskrit term “rajas.” Rajas, also one of the three primordial qualities of matter that make up all of creation, is responsible for activity. So rajasic depression describes the type of depression where agitation and anxiety predominate. People with rajasic depression may have stiff bodies and racing minds, with a hardness around their eyes, and may suffer from relentless insomnia. Even in Corpse pose or restorative poses, their eyes may dart and their fingers won't stay still. Some of these people report difficulty in exhaling fully, a symptom often linked to anxiety. That rajasic feeling of not being able to rest is evoked for me by the Talking Heads song “Psycho Killer.”

Because of the agitated aspect, people with rajasic depression need calming and soothing, rather than energizing. So inverted poses, forward bends, passive backbends and restorative poses are helpful for rajasic depression. However, people with rajasic depression may need to release the physical tension in their bodies first before they are ready to relax, so they may need to include some active poses in their practice.

The third guna is satva, which is the primordial quality of matter that is responsible for “being” or “existence,” and which has also been translated to mean balance, order, or purity. This is the quality we’re aiming for in our yoga practice, moving away from being too tamasic or rajasic toward a more satvic state. A person who is primarily “satvic” would be someone who is neither too tamasic or rajasic and is therefore in a more healthy mental state. 

But the truth is that even those of us who are mentally healthy feel out of balance some of the time, and we can experience mildly tamasic or rajasic days, even if we don’t have a full-blown tamasic or rajasic depression. So all the techniques I’ll describe in future posts for helping with tamasic or rajasic depression can be beneficial for anyone who is simply, like that kid, Alexander, having a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.

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