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Yoga for Depression

How a Local Boise Woman Plans to Use Yoga to Help Depression Sufferers- for No Cost at All

By Celina Van HyningPublished 5 years ago 3 min read
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According to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America (AADA), 21,000,000 Americans suffer from some form of depression. For these people, no coping mechanism is out of the ordinary. From medications and treatments to dietary changes and supplements, proposed cures for depression have continued to evolve as the illness continues to affect more individuals, including students on Boise State’s campus.

Depression sufferers know that treatments can become extremely expensive over time. While most health insurance will cover the cost of medicine, patients are sometimes responsible for paying the co-pay, which can range anywhere from $10-$200.

Natural treatments are gaining popularity around the nation. In the Boise area, yoga enthusiast Naomi Jones is hopeful that she can encourage depression sufferers to attempt yoga practices to treat their symptoms.

Jones is the founder and owner of Idaho Health and Yoga Awareness. She also teaches yoga classes at Muse Yoga Studio. Beginning on Sept. 24, Jones and Muse Yoga will be conducting a free Yoga for Depression class every Monday night from 7:00 to 8:15 p.m.

Jones began taking yoga classes in 2008 following the birth of her second child. She explained that she began taking classes for her own physical health, but learned quickly that yoga was doing something more than she originally anticipated.

“I had depression,” Jones said. “And my depression was caused by the birth of my first child in 2004. I wasn’t doing things that felt comfortable. I started yoga practice and that’s when (everything) began to change for me.”

It was not until Jones took her first hot yoga class that she realized that she was capable of getting out of her way of thinking for an extended period of time. She says that she was inspired to teach a yoga for depression class after the death of her childhood icon.

“I was in Mexico with my husband when I heard about Robin Williams committing suicide. He was someone that I loved growing up, yet he was suffering and nobody knew,” Jones said. “I told my husband that as soon as we got back home, I was going to start a yoga for depression class.”

Jones was apprehensive of the turnout for the classes, but said that she couldn’t believe that so many people showed up.

“It was amazing to see how many people wanted to challenge themselves and find others who were feeling the same way they were,” Jones said.

The class was not always free. Jones used to charge for her classes until Jimmy Stewart, the managing director of JVAT, a forward-facing risk and assurance consultancy firm in Richmond, Victoria, Australia heard of what Jones was doing. He was so moved by her cause that he offered to fund her classes.

“I was more than happy to pay for such a good cause,” Stuart said. “Her cause is incredible and I hope that people continue to use this as a treatment for depression.”

Stuart is only one of the people that have made the free yoga for depression classes into a reality. Jones has also worked very closely with Debra Murphy, a yoga teacher in the Boise area, to make the classes possible. Murphy has been teaching yoga retreats internationally for almost 40 years. Murphy believes that yoga is not a practice, but a way of controlling feelings.

“Quit doing yoga, and instead feel it,” Murphy said. “Tap into what you’re actually feeling while you’re moving, breathing or meditating.”

Murphy and Jones believe that learning to do this can help people understand their dark thoughts and feelings.

“Our classes begin with the comparison of western and eastern roots of what causes depression, so for the first fifteen minutes of class we are learning what depression really is,” Jones said. “This is so important because not everyone understands what depression really is.”

When asked what her one main goal is for the yoga for depression class, her response was the most hopeful of any yoga for depression teachers.

“That people know that they’re not alone,” Jones said. “Depression can make people feel so lonely and hopeless, but I want to show them that the human body is designed to heal itself, and that with the right practice, they can learn to control their thoughts and change their life. Teaching yoga for depression has been the most rewarding experience of my career.”

coping
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About the Creator

Celina Van Hyning

boise, id | Media Arts & Spanish major| 19

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