Yoga for Anxiety and Depression
About this Practice
This course has been created by Martine based on her years of experience in working with chronic anxiety and depressive symptoms. Students have reflected that this course has been life changing for them.
The fundamental aim of this class is to support participants to tame the stress response. By reducing perceived stress and anxiety, yoga modulates stress response systems. This, in turn, decreases physiological arousal by reducing the heart rate, lowering blood pressure, and easing respiration. There is also evidence that yoga practices help increase heart rate variability, an indicator of the body's ability to respond to stress more flexibly.
This class aims to work on activating the para sympathetic nervous system which provides our bodies with cues to ‘rest and digest’. This is achieved by using a carefully considered set of postures to support the nervous system to relax and to soothe the bodies alarm system and offers opportunities to calm the body down and self regulate.
This class will offer practical anxiety management strategies and opportunities to decrease feelings of agitation, distress and disconnection due to the constant effort needed to keep calm.
When it comes to the broader practice of yoga, many experts agree that a combination of asana (movement), pranayama (breathing), and mindfulness (or some form of meditation) is likely to be most effective at quelling apprehension. On a basic level, meditative practices can help calm an overactive brain. “Anxiety is essentially worrying about the future, about bad things that haven’t happened yet and probably won’t,” says Jenny Taitz, PsyD, a clinical psychologist at The American Institute for Cognitive Therapy in New York. Anxiety tends to be future focused, therefore anything that keeps you in the moment is helpful.” And that’s exactly what yoga and meditation do. By paying attention to the way your body feels in postures or holding your mind on the feeling of the breath moving in and out of your nostrils, you keep yourself firmly anchored in the present moment.
By practicing regularly you lower your baseline level of emotional arousal so when something bad happens or you have a worried thought, you meet it with presence, curiosity, and patience rather than fearful reactivity.
This class offers a safe space to explore these techniques. The class will be limited to 10 participants. This is a 6 week course and must be pre booked. Classes are 60 minutes.
Individual sessions are available upon request.
Contact Us
Please submit any questions in the form below.
Key Components
Understand the adaptive nature of stress responses and how to normalise anxiety and depression and develop a new perspective of what they communicate to you.
Understand how your genetic loading, personality, environment and life situation impact your ability to manage stress.
Understand how our nervous system works and responds to stress and learn to modulate it more effectively.
Understand the role of our thoughts and body sensations and how they affect our response to stress.
Understand the impact of the left and right hemispheres of the brain, learn your predominance and how to balance brain hemispheres.
Learn to importance of mindfulness through action and paying attention differently, thereby developing trait mindfulness.
Learn other skills in supporting your body to allow deep rest and recovery.
Learn how to proactively change your arousal rather than being reactive to your external world and thoughts based on fear for the future.
Improves mental health and wellness by regulating sleep disorders, mood and balancing energy.
Supports the management of Anxiety and Stress.
Pre Recorded Course Package
For the single price of $240.00 AUD you can gain access to the pre recorded 6 hour 6 session Yoga for Anxiety and Depression course. This grants you unlimited access to the recording, allows you work at your own pace and at a time that suits you. Please click on the button below to create an account.
Livestream 4 week Course
Join Martine in the next Yoga for Anxiety and Depression Livestream Course starting on Saturday 11th May 2024 at 9.30am (AWST). The course will be held on May 11th, 18th 2024 and June 1st, 8th 2024. Please note there's no session on May 25th.
All this for only A$120.00
This class will be recorded if you can’t attend live, you will receive the recording.
This class is an opportunity to:
Practice present moment awareness and choice making.
Helping your brain modulate your body reaction and stay in the optimal arousal zone
Having the opportunity to practice movement in your body, on your own terms.
Practice in the safety and comfort of your own environment.
Practice as a community group virtually, enhancing neuroplasticity.
Wear comfortable clothes, you will need a yoga mat, bolster and yoga block. You are welcome to substitute the bolster for a cushion or rolled up bath towel and the block for a book.
Upon booking a zoom link will be sent to you for the class.
Please use the button below to book.
Individual Sessions
Individual sessions are also available. Each session is 45 minutes. Sessions can be booked by clicking on the button below.
Returning clients please use the book now button to schedule appointments.
New clients please fill out the Contact Us form and a Thera Foundation member will contact you.
Online Yoga Classes
