An anxiety reducer....

[screen_name]

I started yoga last week simply for the stretching benefits (I work out several times a week and while stretching is necessary, I find it incredibly boring). However, I'm noticing a number of other benefits, including being more relaxed, sleeping better, etc.

As a result, I'm finding myself able to begin weaning myself off the Celexa I've been on for a year. I didn't realize how much it was affecting my sleep (so much so that I got a prescription for Ambien recently). Even with the Ambien, I was grinding my teeth to the point where I popped a crown loose last month.

Since Friday, however, I've slept progressively better every night.

The yoga, combined with switching from coffee to green tea, has made a world of difference in a very short period of time. If I can finally quit chewing tobacco, I'll be a whole new man.

I'm doing Wai Lana Yoga, which I record off the local PBS station daily (there are classes, but why pay when public television provides something for free?). The programs are only 25 minutes long and I do them before going to bed, so I'm nice and relaxed when I want to go to sleep.

If you suffer from anxiety and haven't tried yoga, I recommend giving it a go. As with all such things, your mileage may vary, but it certainly can't hurt and, from my experience, even a small degree of anxiety relief is welcome.

[Adore]

Yoga works. how often do people recommend doing it? i do it like once a week but it seems not enough...

[screen_name]

Originally Posted by Adore

Yoga works. how often do people recommend doing it? i do it like once a week but it seems not enough...

The thing I like about yoga is that there are degrees. You can start real easy; the program I follow is about 20 minutes, with 5 minutes at the end of breathing, relaxation, etc. I do this every day.

Most of the actual classes I've seen are a bit more intense, an hour in length, so they go three times a week, though the really serious people do it more frequently and the sessions are longer.

With, say, weight training, it can take awhile before you see any results. You have to be more patient. With yoga, even if you're just beginning, you can see immediate benefits in terms of being more relaxed, which is, obviously, good for the anxious.

While my experience with yoga is admittedly brief, I have more overall experience in weight training and other forms of physical fitness. What I can say from that is that a person is more likely to stick with it if they ease into a thing and don't overdo it.

I would recommend recording a show off the PBS or renting a video and starting with 20 minutes. If you're not used to exercising, maybe only do it three times a week. If you're already in decent shape, doing that 20 minutes every day will probably feel about right to start out.

After two weeks, I added an additional 20 minutes or so of stretches that I particularly like, so I'm up to about 45 minutes a day (but these are very gentle yoga poses, just easy stretching; nothing too strenuous).

Good luck; I'm sure you will enjoy it.

[lilac]

I love yoga.

I took my first class back in the fall after I left my alcoholic husband, and could tell a big difference.