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partial relaxation, a supportive group or teacher, and improved awareness of one's own body and mind.
At a later stage some simple mantra meditation and questions of lifestyle and values may be introduced. I had positive experience with this approach in people with back pain without sufficient somatic cause. I believe that such an approach can also help psychosomatic patients to be more open and sensitive to their emotions. It can enhance psychotherapy and increase the control of their problems.
It is said that those who benefit most from relaxation training are slightly compulsive with above average but not too high anxiety levels. These people are rewarded for their regular practices with a reduction in anxiety and will continue to practise as a result. There is a similar experience with yoga in these persons.
Another group for which yoga can be recommended is people lacking meaningfulness in their lives, e.g. women over forty whose children have left home and whose husbands are busy with their careers often benefit from yoga. Many of them are able to find new aims and self-confidence and establish supportive relationships among fellow trainees. On the other hand, one can hardly expect that a person with hysterical neurosis or an attention-seeking personality will practise yoga regularly and quietly at home. This factor may limit the use of yoga for them.
Now I would like to mention the role of yoga in depression. The Czech psychiatrist, Dr. Drozinovar, reported good effects with yoga in patients with depressive psychoses in remission, in preventing further relapse. Only a minority of patients with acute, more severe depression are willing to practise any physical exercise which could be beneficial. Light and moderate depression do not respond too well to psychotropic medication. Physically more demanding yoga practices, according to a patient's fitness and relaxation, work well in them. One very good Indian study reported positive effects of yogic physical exercises in mood disorders.
Lack of suitable physical activity and stimulation are common problems in elderly patients. Gentle exercises for joints like pawanmuktasana part one and relaxation are usually well accepted and helpful. According to the Indian tradition, old age is the part of life when one is expected to transcend the
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