Yoga Eating Disorder:
Yoga for an Eating Disorder
Over 10 million women and one million men are affected by different forms of eating disorders in the United States alone. With most of them being teens teens, the common illnesses are represented by anorexia and bulimia. The physical factors related to these disorders have only been recently acknowledged as mental factors were previously thought to be responsible for these conditions. Eating disorders are triggered by a complexity of factors including social, biological, psychological and behavioral items.
A calm and focused mind has a better chance of reducing the harmful effects of an eating disorder. Yoga is proven to reduce depression and recreate a state of balance and well being. Different yoga practices encourage heightened levels of self esteem and promote a positive view of one's body. This is a critical factor in eating disorders and has been shown to significantly increase recuperation and healing.
By eliminating self-judgment, yoga establishes a strong connection between mind and body, allowing the two elements to work together in minimizing any negative effects. Anorexia affects one's body's energy level and reduces the bone density, creating unwanted negative effects at a physical level. Regular yoga also increases the overall fitness level of the body, giving it a good chance of fighting illness.
The yogic system identifies eating disorders as a problem related to the first chakra. Different poses are used to balance it: crab, full wind, pigeon, locust, staff, and many more. Strengths and courage can be increased by using grounding postures such as mountain, goddess, standing squat, and prayer squat. The postures reestablish the strong mind-body connections and help overcome many physical obstacles. Most back bending poses help reduce depression and forward bends usually calm the spirit and minimize the effects of anorexia.
As the mental component plays an important role in eating disorders, meditation can reduce negative thoughts and feelings. An active, specifically targeted meditation practice will prove to be highly effective. Less obvious results can also be obtained by using general mediation.
The yoga poses work best when the exterior elements are left aside and concentration focuses on inner aspects of oneself. Paying special attention to breathing and inner sensations will take you to a state of calmness and elevated awareness. This new state will allow you to go further and explore new concepts that will enable you to achieve goals that proved problematic in the past.
Being aware of the problem and showing a constant and strong desire to change is a great method to reduce the effects of bulimia and anorexia. An early adoption of yoga would make the patient more aware of the problem, thus contributing to an early cure.
However, the yoga techniques outlined above are usually used in the recuperative stages of the illness. Most people suffering from anorexia or bulimia go through a strong denial stage, which aggravates their condition even more. As with all illness, yoga works best in the prevention stage, when the negative effects are still low and easier to eliminate.
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