YOGA FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA
Abstract
Yoga comprises numerous mental, physical, and spiritual practices that are designed to control the body and mind and help us to achieve a state of inner harmony, allowing us to better understand and deal with the negative thoughts that we experience and release ourselves from emotional distress. In modern medicine, yoga’s benefits for various mental health disorders are becoming the focus of research, and current schizophrenia treatment plans are increasingly turning to yoga as a method of improving medication-based care. Using a combination of asana and pranayama systematic breathing practices, yoga can help us to achieve a state of focus and relaxation that makes it easier to shine a lens on the nature of our thoughts. Understanding this nature and how it affects and distorts our reality is a key part of treating schizophrenia and helping us to realize just how much it’s affecting ourlives and the relationships that we have with others. One study revealed the ability of yoga to improve social cognition in schizophrenic patients, allowing them to recognize emotional facial expressions better than those who did not practice yoga. As an illness that severely impacts social cognition and destroys interpersonal relationships in the process, yoga is an ideal tool to help individuals suffering from schizophrenia understand how their thoughts are negatively influencing their perception of the world and rebalance them.
