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Over 10 million women & a million men are affected by different forms of eating disorders in the United States alone. Most of them are teens & the common illnesses are represented by anorexia & bulimia. The physical factors related to these illnesses have only been recently acknowledged as only mental factors were previously thought to be responsible for these conditions. Eating disorders are triggered by a complexity of factors including social, biological, psychological & behavioral items.

A calm & focused mind has a better chance of reducing the harmful effects of eating disorders. Yoga has been proven to reduce depression & recreate a state of balance & well being. Different yoga practices encourage heightened levels of self esteem & promote a positive view of your own body. This is a crucial factor in eating disorders & has been shown to significantly increase recuperation & healing. By eliminating self judgment, yoga establishes a strong connection between mind & body, allowing the two elements to work together in decreasing any negative effects. Anorexia affects your body’s energy levels & reduces the bone density, creating unwanted negative effects at a physical level. Regular yoga practice also increase the overall fitness level of the body, giving it a good chance of fighting against illnesses.

The yogic system identifies eating disorders as a problem related to the first chakra & different poses are used to balance it: crab, full wind, pigeon, locust, staff etc. Strengths & courage can be increased by using grounding postures such as mountain, goddess, standing squat & prayer squat. The postures reestablish the strong mind-body connections & help overcome most physical obstacles. Most back bending poses help reduce depression & forward bends usually calm the spirit & reduce the effects of anorexia.

As the mental component plays an important role in eating disorders, meditation can reduce harmful thoughts & feelings. An active, specifically targeted meditation practice will prove to be very effective. Less obvious results can also be obtain by using a general mediation technique. The yoga poses work best when the exterior elements are left aside & concentration focuses on inner aspects of yourself. Paying special attention to breathing & inner sensations will take you to a state of calmness & increased awareness. This new state will allow you to go further an explore new concepts that will enable you to achieve goals that proved problematic in the past.

Being aware of the problem & showing a constant & strong desire to change that is a great method to reduce the effects of bulimia & anorexia. An early adoption of yoga practices would make the patient more aware of the problem, thus contributing to an early cure. However, these yoga techniques are usually used in the recuperative stages of the illness. Most people suffering from anorexia or bulimia go through a strong denial stage, which aggravates their condition even more. As with all illnesses, yoga works best in the prevention stage of the problem, when the negative effects are still low & easier to eliminate.

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