Alternative therapies may be sought out due to cost considerations, limited insurance coverage or simply seeking peer support.
There are numerous accessible, cost-effective, and even free methods of healing available to us today. In this article we’ll look at various practices which act as alternatives to therapy that help regulate nervous systems and strengthen internal resilience.
Yoga
Yoga is an holistic practice that incorporates physical postures and breathwork with meditation and relaxation, offering people an effective means of becoming more flexible and relaxed while increasing concentration, focus, and managing stress more effectively. Yoga has proven itself effective as an exercise regimen alongside psychotherapy or other treatment approaches.
Yoga has increasingly become an accepted therapy option among clinicians as an alternative to talk therapy. Where traditional psychotherapy focuses on finding problem-solving strategies and understanding what’s happening to us, yoga promotes physical and spiritual wellbeing of its practitioners – an effective technique which can benefit individuals as well as groups alike.
Yoga offers numerous health advantages, such as reduced levels of depression, anxiety and stress; increased flexibility and strength training; improved sleep; and an overall greater sense of well-being. Yoga may even reduce symptoms associated with chronic diseases, helping manage pain more effectively while helping users lose weight and improve overall health.
Many physicians advise yoga for their patients, as research shows it to help reduce cancer recurrence risks, ease arthritis pain and back ache, increase balance and range of motion, reduce fatigue from chemotherapy treatments and other medical therapies and manage side effects from medications used for mental disorders.
Studies have demonstrated the ability of yoga practice to significantly boost mood, relieve anxiety and stress levels, lower blood pressure and heart rate, as well as reduce both. Unfortunately, due to low quality trials and heterogeneity of studies used, results are inconclusive; thus more research needs to be completed to establish its precise mechanisms of action.
Integrative yoga provides us with the strength and determination needed to tackle life’s obstacles head on with resilience. It also educates us on our mental health, so that we may stay healthy even during difficult times. Mental wellbeing encompasses physical, social, emotional, and spiritual well-being and its components influence how individuals react in different situations.
Meditation
Meditation has long been used to reduce stress and build inner awareness. Meditation has been integrated into various treatment modalities, including mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR). Studies show that meditation can significantly decrease anxiety, depression and pain while increasing happiness levels; plus it’s been linked with better sleep quality and lower blood pressure.
Meditation can be practiced in any peaceful place with no distractions nearby, with the goal being to focus on breathing deeply and exhaling deeply, allowing thoughts and feelings to come and go without trying to suppress them. While some find this difficult at first, with practice it becomes easier. People with physical limitations should note that certain forms of meditation may require movement; those needing assistance should consult their health care provider prior to engaging in any meditative activities.
Meditation can often be misunderstood as daydreaming about wealth, fame, healthy relationships and spiritual enlightenment; rather it’s actually a scientifically proven process which alters brain structure. People who meditate regularly have more connected neurons in certain parts of their brain that use electrical and chemical signals to communicate with one another and greater density of neurons overall.
Meditation alone may not be sufficient when treating serious mental illness; professional help from trained specialists should always be sought in cases of trauma, severe anxiety and depression. Therefore Taking Care emphasizes the need for therapy for mental health recovery as part of its program of addiction treatment services.
Taking Care is a heartfelt, funny and uplifting documentary film directed and produced by James Keach that chronicles Seth Rogen and Lauren Miller Rogen as they navigate the challenges associated with caring for Lauren’s mother with Alzheimer’s. Through humor and heart, the film emphasizes the power of love and kindness to overcome even the toughest of obstacles. Starring Seth Rogen himself alongside Tom Hollander, Matt Dillon, Adam Scott and Robin Williams; an incredible cast is featured throughout.
Breathwork
Breathwork is a form of conscious breathing used as a form of mental healthcare therapy. It can help manage stress, anxiety and depression by entering an altered state of consciousness – as well as healing past traumas. Breathwork sessions usually occur in group workshops or retreats under professional guidance but it can also be completed at home using an app.
Yilmaz Balban et al conducted a random-effects meta-analysis of 12 RCTs examining the impact of breathwork on self-reported/subjective stress, finding significant small-to-medium mean post-intervention between-group effects sizes (ESs), such as g = -0.35 [95% CI: -0.55 – 0.14], which suggests breathwork is associated with lower stress levels compared to control conditions. Heterogeneity was moderate; with kh211 = 19 (p = 0.06 and I2 = 42%); subgroup analyses for secondary outcomes such as self-reported/subjective anxiety and depressive symptoms also yielded significant significant ESs.
At a breathwork session, breathing into different parts of your body and brain to trigger specific responses is called breathwork. Breathing slowly and deeply to help relax can release any energy that has built up in your body; in addition to relieving tension it may even improve overall mood and reduce heart rate.
Breathwork’s benefits stem from its ability to activate your parasympathetic nervous system, commonly referred to as the “rest and digest” system. The parasympathetic nervous system provides relaxation, digestion aids and helps conserve energy for conserving purposes – while simultaneously releasing hormones which lower heart rates and blood pressure levels.
Breathwork’s results have been encouraging, yet more research needs to be conducted in order to demonstrate its effectiveness for stress reduction and other psychological outcomes. Current studies are limited in terms of sample size, control conditions and duration. They have not examined dose-response correlations or potential effects across populations.
Peer Support
Peers provide nonjudgmental, mutual support by sharing experiences and offering nonjudgmental advice, helping each other through difficult times and building confidence. Peer support is becoming an integral part of many systems of care; for instance, in the US there are over 100,000 certified peer specialists working across various settings, from criminal justice services to homelessness services.
There is now an array of peer support groups and initiatives across the UK. From those that provide completely informal assistance based on mutual understanding to those commissioned by organizations and public services that require trained peer supporters for services such as cancer support groups. Furthermore, specific support can also be offered for specific populations – for instance those from deprived areas or minority ethnic communities living with long-term conditions like cancer. One such initiative was founded by women from ethnic minority communities to provide their assistance – one example being Sistas Against Cancer initiative.
Peer support works best when driven by those with lived experience of the condition or issue being supported; those defining its purpose, values, roles and outcomes collaborate in producing it with others with lived experience to coproduce and coproduce it together with them to ensure accessibility and inclusivity for all participants while taking into account individual’s strengths, values and needs. Peer support may be provided directly by organizations, social enterprises, voluntary sector agencies or even individuals themselves.
Remember, though peer support may be useful, it should never replace professional medical input from your GP or therapist. Prior to engaging in peer support activities it is advisable to discuss plans with them first and set up an emergency plan – this way any possible setbacks are lessened and emergency plans in place are also prepared accordingly.
