Try yoga for… Seasonal Affective Disorder

By Hilary Oliver

If you feel foggy, fatigued, and generally bummed even as winter morphs into spring, take heart: 10 percent to 20 percent of US adults experience mild seasonal affective disorder (SAD), which can cause anxiety, weight gain, oversleeping, and social withdrawal. Experts link SAD to lack of sunlight, but you can relieve symptoms without moving to the tropics.

Eric Leskowitz, MD, a psychiatrist at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, says yoga moves involving the crown chakra, or the top of the head, may stimulate the pineal gland, which produces the feel-good hormones serotonin and melatonin and helps regulate circadian and seasonal rhythms.

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1 Article comment

laura

8/31/2010 at 9:34 AM

where are the poses? a list of 3 poses would be helpful.

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