7 passos simples para ajudar com a ansiedade | Centro Jefferson
Os exercícios de ancoragem são uma técnica comum usada para reconectar a mente ao corpo e acalmar pensamentos ansiosos. Baur recomenda a realização de alguns ...
ioga e meditação
Quando você está sobrecarregado de estresse, é comum sentir que está perdendo o controle. Consciência e atenção são ótimas ferramentas para ajudá-lo a recuperar um pouco desse controle e administrar suas emoções. Atividades como <anchor>ioga e meditação</anchor> foram comprovados para fornecer alívio natural da ansiedade, concentrando-se em auto-calmante. Se você não estiver em um espaço onde possa meditar ou mover seu corpo, Baur recomenda verificar e reconectar contando seus cinco sentidos. Você pode ter que repetir esse processo algumas vezes antes de se sentir relaxado.
Yoga for better mental health - Harvard Health
Search

Search

Close

Open mobile menu

Menu

Shop

Close menu

Close

## Main Content

## Helpful Links

## Recent Blog Articles

/

# Yoga for better mental health

April 29, 2024

Senior Group Meditating in the Park

With its emphasis on breathing practices and meditation — both of which help calm and center the mind — it's hardly surprising that yoga also brings mental benefits, such as reduced anxiety and depression. What may be more surprising is that it actually makes your brain work better.

## A sharper brain

When you lift weights, your muscles get stronger and bigger. When you do yoga, your brain cells develop new connections, and changes occur in brain structure as well as function, resulting in improved cognitive skills such as learning and memory. Yoga strengthens parts of the brain that play a key role in memory, attention, awareness, thought, and language. Think of it as weightlifting for the brain.

Studies using MRI scans and other brain imaging technology have shown that people who regularly did yoga had a thicker cerebral cortex (the area of the brain responsible for information processing) and hippocampus (the area of the brain involved in learning and memory) compared with nonpractitioners. These areas of the brain typically shrink as you age, but the older yoga practitioners showed less shrinkage than those who did no yoga. This suggests that yoga may counteract age-related declines in memory and other cognitive skills.

Research also shows that yoga and meditation may improve executive functions, such as reasoning, decision-making, memory, learning, reaction time, and accuracy on tests of mental acuity.

## Improved mood

All exercise can boost your mood by lowering levels of stress hormones, increasing the production of feel-good chemicals known as endorphins, and bringing more oxygenated blood to your brain. But yoga may have additional benefits. It can affect mood by elevating levels of a brain chemical called gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), which is associated with better mood and decreased anxiety.

Meditation also reduces activity in the limbic system — the part of the brain dedicated to emotions. As your emotional reactivity diminishes, you have a more tempered response when faced with stressful situations.

Drugs and talk therapy have traditionally been the go-to remedies for depression and anxiety. But complementary approaches such as yoga also help, and yoga stacks up well when compared with other complementary therapies.

A review of 15 studies, published in the journal Aging and Mental Health, looked at the effect of a variety of relaxation techniques on depression and anxiety in older adults. In addition to yoga, interventions included massage therapy, progressive muscle relaxation, stress management, and listening to music. While all the techniques provided some benefit, yoga and music were the most effective for both depression and anxiety. And yoga appeared to provide the longest-lasting effect.

A number of small studies have found that yoga can help with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It is not used by itself, but as an add-on treatment to help reduce intrusive memories and emotional arousal and to produce calmer, steadier breathing. Deep, slow breathing is associated with calmer states because it helps activate the parasympathetic nervous system.

Image: FatCamera/Getty Image

Share This Page Share this page to Facebook [Share this page to Twitter](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.health.harvard.edu%2Fstaying-healthy%2Fyoga-for-better-mental-health&text=Yoga for better mental health - Harvard Health&tw_p=tweetbutton&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.health.harvard.edu%2Fstaying-healthy%2Fyoga-for-better-mental-health) [Share this page via Email](mailto:?subject=Great health news for you from the experts at Harvard&body=Check out this link from Harvard Health: Yoga for better mental health - https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/yoga-for-better-mental-health)

Print This PageClick to Print

## Disclaimer:

As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content. Please note the date of last review or update on all articles.

No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician.

## Recent Blog Articles

/

You might also be interested in…



## Introduction to Yoga

Yoga is more than just a workout—it’s actually a combination of four components: postures (like tree pose), breathing practices, deep relaxation, and meditation that can transform your health on many different levels. To show you how easy yoga can be and how you can reap the many health benefits, Harvard Medical School experts created An Introduction to Yoga.

## Free Healthbeat Signup

Get the latest in health news delivered to your inbox!

## Footer

### My Account

### Order Now

### More

CloseHarvard Health Publishing Logo

Thanks for visiting. Don't miss your FREE gift.

The Best Diets for Cognitive Fitness, is yours absolutely FREE when you sign up to receive Health Alerts from Harvard Medical School

Sign up to get tips for living a healthy lifestyle, with ways to fight inflammation and improve cognitive health, plus the latest advances in preventative medicine, diet and exercise, pain relief, blood pressure and cholesterol management, and more.

I want to get healthier

CloseHarvard Health Publishing Logo

Health Alerts from Harvard Medical School

Get helpful tips and guidance for everything from fighting inflammation to finding the best diets for weight loss...from exercises to build a stronger core to advice on treating cataracts. PLUS, the latest news on medical advances and breakthroughs from Harvard Medical School experts.

BONUS! Sign up now and

get a FREE copy of the

Best Diets for Cognitive Fitness



I want to get healthier

Close

Harvard Health Publishing Logo

Stay on top of latest health news from Harvard Medical School.

Plus, get a FREE copy of the Best Diets for Cognitive Fitness.

Sign me up

Close

Harvard Health Publishing Logo

Stay on top of latest health news from Harvard Medical School.

Plus, get a FREE copy of the Best Diets for Cognitive Fitness.

Sign me up