Yoga and Eating Disorders

Yoga can help the mind calm down and relieve stress and worries that affect everyday life.

The benefits of yoga are according to the specific dose-dependent, that is, the more you follow, the greater the improvement you will see.

Most suggest at least 15 minutes of practice at least 3-5 times a week.

We all want to have a thin, strong and healthy body. This gives us confidence and helps us to have better relationships with ourselves and with others.

Often, however, our desire to have a beautiful external appearance becomes obsessive and ends up in our attachment to the body, overlooking the other, equally important, manifestations of our existence. This persistence is manifested in the form of eating disorders, such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia, compulsive overeating, orthorexia, or even combining them, so we are talking about mixed eating disorders.

Yoga can help patients with eating disorders change their attitude towards their body.

In a pilot study, the researchers found that those who participated in a yoga class designed to target the symptoms of their eating disorder had less negative attitudes than meals compared to the non-yoga group. Those who did yoga also reported that they felt calm and in harmony with their inner world.

Yoga is one of the holistic approaches that affects many fronts simultaneously.

a) Reduction of stress.

Regularly practising the attitudes and breaths of yoga, he discharges himself from the tensions of everyday life and thus he can cope harmoniously with all the situations of his life.

b) Relaxation, tranquillity, positivity of the mind.

Through yoga, one can realize how simple, beautiful and unpretentious is life in its essence and in its small everyday moments.

c) The variety of postures (asanas) of yoga.

Equally important is the variety of postures in yoga, which offers multiple advantages and can be tailored to the individual needs of each sufferer. For example, bulimia sufferers need postures that emphasize body closure (Pawanmuktasana, Darnikasana, Paschimottanasana, Yoganidrasana, etc.). On the contrary, sufferers of anorexia benefit more from postures that focus on the "opening" of the body (Bhujangasana, Dhanurasana, Natarajasana and others). Good postures like Tadasana, Virabhadrasana I, II, enhance strength and courage, helping to build a strong personality.

d) Side Effects of Eating Disorders.

Yoga can greatly cope with, or at least alleviate, the problems that have been caused, as this is because the exercises it involves are mild and increasing in difficulty to adapt to the physical needs of each organism.

Yoga can help us overcome many problems physically and mentally, as long as we hear our body, our needs and be calm and calm to face the difficulties.

Yoga helps people see their bodies as something they work together with and not against it.

By Konstantinos Bochtis, Yoga Teacher RYT-500