Yoga effectively reduces stress and improves emotions

Dr. Sat Bir Singh Khalsa, a Harvard Medical School associate professor, spoke on the benefits of yoga for managing stress and emotions during a lecture in Chandigarh, India. He highlighted that yoga can help regulate these feelings quickly and that regular practice leads to long-term improvements. Dr. Khalsa explained that yoga enhances emotional stability and resilience, which are important for mental health. Stress and uncontrolled emotions often lead to various mental health issues, and yoga can help reduce these risks. Traditional yoga involves physical exercises, breathing techniques, deep relaxation, and meditation. Dr. Khalsa stressed that this holistic approach offers a way to improve both physical and psychological health, something modern medicine often lacks. He also discussed sleep health, noting that sleep is a biological necessity but can be difficult to regulate. Common issues include not getting enough sleep and insomnia. Dr. Khalsa emphasized behavioral treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) and suggested including yoga and meditation in these treatments. In his research on Kundalini Yoga, he found that yoga not only improves sleep duration but also enhances the quality of sleep. He recommended integrating yoga with CBT-I to help combat chronic insomnia effectively. Symptoms of insomnia include taking over 30 minutes to fall asleep or waking up during the night for more than 30 minutes, occurring three times a week or more, which can significantly impair daytime functioning.