Downward Dog Fights Eating Disorders

The article concludes that the reason yoga might help these girls is that they are "distracted" from their disorder for a couple of hours a week. ?? That could be said of anything - TV, reading, other forms of exercise. I think they are totally missing the power of yoga.

When you practice yoga, so much happens.

On the physical level, you are moving your body through a series of breaths, poses and alignments that maximize energy-flow. They increase strength and flexibility, stimulate your organs and your circulation, and effectively tone every area of your body.

On a mental/emotional level, I find that after yoga practice my life changes. I become more disciplined in areas of my life, more balanced, more emotionally level, more spiritually fulfilled, more full of love. My heart is open.

On the spiritual level, the "moving meditation" you are doing is like a prayer, a calling, and connects you with the spirit/God/spiritual energy/whatever you choose to call it. It is akin to kneeling in a pew and praying. For me, the physical and spiritual work together and the spiritual energy literally comes into me and moves through me. I feel it - it is not subtle but very apparent.

The transformative powers of yoga - spiritually, mentally, physically, emotionally - are strong enough to put us on the path to manifesting our deepest desires for our lives. They are strong enough to heal so many of our wounds and illnesses. Thousands of years of wisdom boil down to a path of simplicity and balance.

I have to agree with kittybateman. I suffered from anorexia while I was in college. I went through therapy, and it was a huge help, but when I left college and went out into the real world, I no longer had access to a therapist (she was provided by my alma mater and I spent a while afterward un-insured.) I went for a year trying to live on the knowledge gained through my short stint in therapy. It worked to an extent but after a while, I found that I was drifting back to my disordered eating. That was when I found yoga and it absolutely changed my life.

It was absolutely not about being "distracted" from my ED. Instead it was about re-connecting to my body. Eating disorders represent a HUGE disconnect between mind and body and yoga repairs that. It took me only a week of doing yoga regularly to start feeling a difference. My disordered eating and negative thought patterns began healing once more and I single handedly credit yoga as what has help me sustain my recovery from my eating disorder. It's absolutely a spiritual, mental exercise more than it is a physical exercise or a distraction. What I've learned is to listen to my body, feel my feelings, accept them and work with them, as opposed to running from all of these things and trying to fight what is happening and what I'm experiencing.

I'm glad for this article, at least, for bringing this option forward. I'm now a yoga instructor and it is my goal to focus my energy on helping people like me, with pasts or presents riddled with disordered eating, find yoga and find peace.

[...] TIME [...]

[...] Health found that teens with eating disorders benefited from establishing a yoga practice, reports Time magazine. In the study, teens (mostly girls ages 11-16) with eating disorders showed longer-lasting [...]

[...] Yoga hilft Jugendlichen bei Essstörungen 9. November 2009 – 12:48 Medical Study: Yoga helps young people with eating disorders, bulimia and anorexia. The researchers said: “Food [...]

[...] of statistics it was good news last week when Time magazine brought to our attention, with this article, scientific proof from the Journal of Adolescent Health that yoga helps those struggling with [...]

We previously interviewed Heather Whittington, a certified Phoenix Rising yoga therapy practitioner and meditation instructor about the connection between eating disorders and yoga for our blog. She stated that the people she works with in Yoga therapy express a change in relationship with their body. Yoga allows them to connect with the little things that feel good, often discovering that something as simple as their breath invites an element of self-acceptance and release. She also said that yoga teaches the art of accepting this moment and ourselves just as we are, which can positively affect one's self esteem.

If interested, you can view the rest of the interview at http://eatingdisorder.org/blog/2008/02/25/national-eating-disorders-awareness-week-qa-with-yoga-practitioner-heather-whittington/

[...] Quelle: wellness.blogs.time.com [...]

I agree yoga has far more benefits then just distraction. This show alternatives in health care has good results. The mind body connect is often lost by health care.