3 Ways Sudarshan Kriya Yoga May
Help Improve Your Mental Health
A Powerful Alternative to Traditional Yoga Practices - By Beth Rush
Reading time: 3 minutes
Sudarshan Kriya yoga could improve your mental health more than other forms of yoga.
Everyone has a unique mental health journey. Whether you battle daily anxiety, stress or depression, yoga can help you feel more at peace if you find the right practice. Once you learn about the benefits, you might feel motivated to see if it fortifies your mental well-being.
What Is Sudarshan Kriya Yoga?
Sudarshan Kriya yoga is a form of yoga that utilizes rhythmic, cyclical breathing to improve your meditation experiences and provide health benefits. In other forms of yoga, you might inhale slowly while doing specific moves and exhale while performing others.
Rhythmic, cyclical breathing is also known as cyclic sighing. When you use this technique, you breathe in through your nose, pause and do a shorter inhalation to expand your lungs fully. Exhale until all the air is out. The long exhales and shorter breaths improve your emotions better than standard mindfulness meditation breaths.
Positive Effects of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga
Turning a negative mood into a positive one isn’t the only benefit of Sudarshan Kriya yoga. It also provides some other benefits people enjoy when doing it each week, like:
- It brings communities together when people attend the same Sudarshan Kriya yoga classes.
- It empowers people to control their mental health with more confidence.
- It circulates immune cells while improving your respiratory function.
It’s easy to think that mental health treatments are only effective if they’re expensive. Research shows that 42% of U.S. adults don’t get the treatment they need due to the high costs. You can do yoga in an affordable class setting or for free at home. It’s an excellent tool to improve your mental health, especially if you’re on a budget.
Mental Health Benefits of Sudarshan Kriya Yoga Routines
Your mental health could become stronger if you practice Sudarshan Kriya yoga regularly. It provides numerous mental wellness benefits if it becomes a recurring part of your life.
1. It Lowers Your Stress
When study participants rated their stress before and after doing Sudarshan Kriya yoga with a 42-item scale, their post-yoga results had much lower stress levels because it eased their burnout. It’s an excellent resource for anyone with constantly high stress. Try it at home before or after dealing with the most stress-inducing parts of your day.
2. It Improves Your Sleep Quality
If you don’t sleep well every night, your brain doesn’t get the valuable time it needs to reset your mental well-being for the next day. Sudarshan Kriya yoga will ease your heart rate with regulated breathing patterns, slowing your body down as you get ready to sleep. Practicing it before bed could be the key to waking up mentally refreshed each day.
3. It Reduces Depression Symptom Severity
Depression can be a life-altering condition, but you don’t have to hope for better days ahead. Sudarshan Kriya yoga eased depression symptoms for people with major depressive disorder and reduced their remission rate. Talk with your doctor about trying this yoga practice to improve your mental health alongside any of their existing recommendations for your depression.
Improve Your Mental Health Today
When people experience the positive effects of Sudarshan Kriya yoga, they almost always notice their mental health improving. Try practicing it for a few minutes each day. Your mental well-being may become better if you constantly deal with high stress levels, depression or poor sleep quality.
