I’ve been there done both… It’s an easy answer that I would choose
yoga
over anti-depressants. Sure the meds have their powerful moments that
make life seem so glamorous, but as soon as the high is over life is no
longer what it appeared to be. It never felt like reality and for a gal
who is more than less realistic, that wasn’t cutting it for me anymore. I
was put on anti-depressant
medication
in 2005; being a psychology major working on her master’s in Mental
Health I thought I knew all I needed to know about medication, therapy,
etc. The moment I began feeling worse than I did prior to being
medicated, I knew I had to stop this stuff, stop what it was doing to
the rest of what was left in my mind and so I quit my meds just like
that. I quit my anti-depressants and I quit seeing my psychologist. I
was going to get better on my own. It wasn’t until 2006 that I actually
felt like I had a chance at recovery. I moved to Hawaii and began
practicing yoga every opportunity I could. I began to feel something I
had never felt before. I felt for the first time I could breathe, I
could feel my heart beating in my chest and in my entire being. I was
able to recognize moods that were taking place in my body and how yoga
seemed to help those moods level out. Not disappear, but balance. I was
beginning to balance my thoughts, my mind, my body, and my breath all in
one practice. It felt amazing and the amazing still to this very day
has not disappeared. Yes I have moments of over-thinking, creating
stress not necessary, and worrying about my weight of course; however, I
have learned from my yoga practice and my teaching yoga experiences
that there is more than medication, there is meditation. Meditation to
me is my time to sit quietly, to just breathe, to be still in my very
moment. Meditation is lying on my back with my legs up the wall.
Meditation is my body moving through a beautiful flow with my breath.
Meditation is so much more than medication ever was to me.
To “each is own” right. For some individuals medication may be the
answer, but for me it will never be my answer again. I will always
recommend yoga, meditation, breath-awareness, body intuition, balance of
the body, mind, and breath. It has been eight years teaching yoga,
practicing yoga, and breathing yoga in all its forms that work with my
body, mind, and breath. I can honestly say in the truest of true I am
the happiest I have been because of walking through those doors finding
my place on and off my mat. Just Breathe
