Sadness is like the flow of water. Our tears can cleanse us, emptying out old, held-in pain. On the other hand, when sadness continues too long, that watery flow of cleansing emotion can harden like ice into depression. The recent loss of a loved one is the most frequently reported catalyst for acute depression. However, all losses, including traumatic events--personal losses like divorce, national losses like the effects of terrorism and war, or even natural events like earthquakes--can cause severe immediate or delayed depression, particularly among people who may have a genetic or biological predisposition. When grief becomes depression, our biochemistry changes: biochemical madness descends upon the neurotransmitters of the brain. There is a reduction in the chemicals serotonin and norepinephrine and an increase in the stress hormone, cortisol. Research indicates that the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for our ability to remember, may actually shrink.

It is vitally important to feel our sadness and grief. If you are distracting yourself from your true feelings of sadness by working, eating or drinking too much, or even practicing yoga in some driven, goal-oriented way, you are only damming the flow. If you are lucky, the dam will eventually burst in a nurturing and safe environment. However, if you are really good at distracting yourself, you may be able freeze the emotion. The result—a depression, perhaps characterized by numbness.

Here is a simple set of affirmations that may help. You may practice this while sitting on a meditation cushion or in a chair, or at your desk in the middle of a hectic day. Close your eyes. As you inhale through your nostrils, say to yourself, “I am not my depressed mood.” Hold your breath for four counts. Exhale slowly and repeat to yourself, “I am,” six times. Repeat this sequence at least three times. You may change the first phrase to reflect what you are feeling in the moment, for example: “I am not this anxious mood,” or “I am not these confused thoughts,” or “I am not the chaos I am feeling.” Always end with the repetition of “I am.”

Excerpted from Yoga for Depression: A Compassionate Guide to Relieve Suffering through Yoga. (Broadway Books, 2004) Reprinted with permission of Broadway Books.

Amy Weintraub, MFA, E-RYT 500, author of Yoga for Depression and founder and director of the LifeForce Yoga Healing Institute, is a senior Kripalu teacher and Mentor, and a consultant to the Program in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona. She leads workshops and professional trainings throughout North America and writes frequently for national magazines.

To order Yoga for Depression, visit http://www.yogafordepression.com/Yoga_For_Depression.htm

Listen to her audio practice CD, Breathe to Beat the Blues, at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/aweintraub

Find information on retreats, workshops & trainings at http://www.yogafordepression.com/retreats.htm