Yoga and OCD
Trigger Warning
My journey with OCD started, well, as early as I can remember, but it wasn’t until 26 that I actually learned what was going on in my, very active, brain.
Turns out there’s a little thing called an amygdala. Many believe, in the OCD brain, the amygdala gets turned on like a light bulb when it anticipates danger. It’s meant to keep us alive. The only challenge is that the OCD brain has a difficult time turning it off.
In fact, the more it tries to turn it off, the more it lights up.
And so the cycle of fearful thoughts and comforting behaviors begins. The obsessions are fearful thoughts, intruding the mind with their ideas. Anticipating danger used to keep us alive, but now it just keeps us worried. Worried that something awful may happen or that we may, in fact, do something awful. Compulsions are the comforting behaviors, behaviors we use to try to alleviate the fears, the obsessions.
The challenge is that the compulsion does help to alleviate the obsession in the beginning. It works so well that anytime the obsession arises, the mind knows exactly what to do to comfort itself and protect itself from the fearful thought coming true.
The challenge is that the compulsion encourages the obsession. Each time the compulsion is done, it increases the intensity of the obsession. You may see how one could get stuck at the sink for hours at a time rewashing their hands. This example is shown often in movies.
For me, I spent hours praying away negative thoughts. This was one of my main compulsions. It would keep me in bed for hours, trying to pray enough to feel some relief from the intrusive thoughts. The behaviors aren’t always external actions. In my situation, often times, they were internal rituals. This may be one reason no one picked up on it before 26.
I found yoga after discovering my brain’s unique ability to work on overdrive. The anxiety from OCD had caused pretty intense stomach pain. While googling “natural remedies for stomach pain,” I stumbled upon free yoga classes online.
I remember the first few times I practiced. I was living in Malaysia at the time and had a narrow space at the end of my bed to lay my mat. I would wake up eager to try a new video and I would search things like “yoga for depression” and “yoga for ocd.” At this point, I didn’t know why yoga worked, I just knew that every time I finished a 30 minute stretch on my mat I was happier, my stomach didn’t hurt anymore, and I wanted to live another day.
I now understand what was happening, what continues to happen each time I arrive back on my mat. My nervous system is regulating. I’m finding my calm through mindful movement and meditation, by connecting with my breath, I am literally reconnecting mind, body, and soul.
The fears were leading me to feel separate from myself, but yoga was helping me reconnect all my pieces. To trust myself.
When you move through poses and sequences you’ve never done before, your mind has to stay present. It can’t anticipate the next move, so it has to stay aware of this current moment. Which means there is less room to fear what isn’t tangible. Less room to worry about the past or the future.
Now anything can become a compulsion, so even as we practice yoga, we practice un-attachment to the outcome. And where there is compulsion, we acknowledge, allow, and accept. In yoga, just like the journey with OCD, we never force or coerce ourselves, but rather we notice and we sit with the discomfort.
The first professional I heard speak about acceptance and un-attachment was Robert Bray from https://www.instagram.com/ocdrecoveryuk/ His work was like a lighthouse to me in my darkest moments. You see, I had started to come to understand these principles on my own and when I stumbled upon his work, it became that much clearer. I had never heard anyone speak about it this way, and with so much authority.
Maybe you have tried medicine and talk therapy, but you are still suffering. I want to help! My private yoga classes are built to provide a safe opportunity to sit with discomfort in mind and body and to allow what is. To be there, present. I help individuals with OCD practice mindful movement and meditation to calm the nervous system and to find greater rest. I will help you restore inner peace, find greater purpose, and experience abundant joy. (Do not change your psychological or psychiatric treatment without consulting your doctor, this is not a prescription.)
You don’t need to wait until you are stuck in a loop or afraid to leave the house. You can start now.
Email me at marinabayyoga@gmail.com to schedule a consultation call.
You will receive a 30 minute complimentary yoga session. All you have to do is show up and I will take it from there. No yoga experience needed.
- Kasidy Kersey, yoga teacher
Kasidy Kersey is a yoga teacher. Please consult your doctors before adding or changing all treatment plans. Marina Bay Yoga, LLC, and the writer, Kasidy Kersey recommends that you consult your physician, psychiatrist, and psychologist regarding the applicability of any recommendations and follow all safety instructions before beginning any exercise programs. When participating in any exercise or exercise programs, there is the possibility of injury. If you engage in this exercise or exercise program, you agree that you do so at your own risk, are voluntarily participating in these activities, and assume all risk of injury to yourself.