Yoga For Low Mood: How Your Posture Shapes How You Feel
By Chris Lalor, Certified Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher and Certified Yoga Therapist, and Dr Stuart McGill, Yoga Teacher, Flametree Yoga Darwin
Feelings and Emotions Are Strongly Related To Our Bodily States
Short answer: posture and mood are linked. Opening the chest, rolling the shoulders back and down, and putting your head lower than your heart (with support) can lift how you feel. Many students find regular yoga helps them notice a low patch early and look after themselves sooner. Last updated: 25 October 2026.
I never had to look for medication for my mood myself.
Note: this is an older personal post. Our full, research-based guide is Yoga For Depression: What The Research Says. In short, a 2024 review of 24 trials found yoga eased depression compared with no extra treatment, but it is not a replacement for medication or therapy. Please never stop or change your medication yourself. Feel free to check with your professional advisers if you wish, but also give yoga a try. If you need to talk to someone now, Lifeline is on 13 11 14.
Sometimes, however, I do get up in the morning with a sense of disorientation.
But when I sit down, straighten my back, and open my chest, an immediate change begins to take place.
The rest almost happens by itself. A sense of orientation and optimism slowly reigns over fatigue and disorientation.
At this point, a desire to practise yoga usually kicks in.
In turn, this fills me with energy that helps me start the day in a much better mood.
Yoga for depression and mood
Over the years, I’ve learned that starting each morning by practising yoga not only has a positive effect on that particular day, but also has a long-term effect.
It has also taught me a skill that allows me to deal better with episodes of something like slight depression or negative mood that come up from time to time.
Thus, when I’m feeling tired and crushed, I do a few poses. I usually do a headstand, followed by Viparita Karani (or Legs Up The Wall). Most of the time, this is sufficient to recover my energy and regain a positive attitude.
Legs Up The Wall (Viparita Karani) with a bolster, a restful pose for a tired day.
Since the psychophysical connection in this case seems fairly clear, explaining the long-term effects is also straightforward. That is, if we can improve our regular posture, so that the spine is kept straight, the shoulders rolled back, and the chest open, we breathe with more ease and tend to feel better.
A yoga practice along these lines above gives all of us a skill to help deal with such recurrent moods of fatigue and feeling down.
Many students also find it helps with the worry that comes with anxiety.
Working with your body affect your mental and emotional state
These issues are discussed in the recent book, ‘The Psycho-Physical Lab” co-authored by Eyal Shifroni. The book explains how yoga postures impact feelings, as well as mental and emotional states. It says:
“…Our feelings and emotional states are strongly related to our bodily states and behaviour.”
In other words, working with our body will affect our mental and emotional state.
This connection is very evident when we feel down or even slightly depressed.
Usually, such a state has clear physical (bodily) and behavioural manifestations. In particular, the shoulders drop and move forwards, the chest closes and constrains the breath, the back curves, and the gaze tends downwards.
How posture shapes how you feel: the low mood shape and the open shape.
You will have seen examples of this in others. Have you sometimes noticed it in yourself?
Everyday habits that shape your mood
Computers and driving are two activities which often also force us into these hunched shapes. But they’re not the only culprits.
The tendency to curve our spine and drop our shoulders is most evident in the long hours we spend sitting.
For many of us, we are of course working in front of our computers.
In practising yoga, one constantly works against such tendencies. We seek to straighten and elongate the spine. We also work to create space in the chest by rolling the shoulders back and down, and moving the shoulder blades forward (toward the back ribs).
As anyone who practised yoga knows, this can have a sharp and immediate effect on mood. The immediate effect is clearly felt. But there are also more subtle long-term effects that are perhaps less noticeable.
The emotional connection of your shapes
Given this immediate connection between our posture and emotional state, you can help to combat a tendency for slight depression by seeking to open the chest and roll the shoulders back.
Another good option is to use some type of roller, like a barrel.
Hanging your head and shoulders backwards over the seat of a chair will also quickly lift your mood and energy.
A supported backbend over a chair, one way to open the chest.
In another post, I’ve also talked about the huge impact that inverted poses can have on energy, mental state and more.
Inverted, or upside down poses, can start with very simple ways to have your head lower than your heart. For example, try downward dog pose, with your head supported.
Is it really this simple? To a degree, yes. And this can come as a revelation, since many of us suffer such moods.
Consider yoga as one part of looking after your mood
I certainly do not want to suggest that these method should be taken as a easy remedy for depression in general.
But it can certainly help, and possibly help a lot. There are many instances where it has.
I’ve also posted about studies that show the very positive contribution of yoga, including via the vagus nerve.
Of course, if one already suffers from more severe depression, one is unlikely to have the energy and desire to work consistently on posture.
However, many of my students find that regular yoga helps them notice a low patch early and look after themselves sooner.
Feel free to check with your professional advisers if you wish, but also give yoga a try, alongside any care you already have.
In this discussion, I am not thinking of severe or clinical depression here. I’m talking about the more transient negative moods that affect most of us from time to time.
I’m also talking about using yoga as one way of looking after your mood, alongside professional care, wherever you are on that spectrum at the moment.
Both myself, and my students, have found that persistent yoga practise can help with non-clinical mood issues, including feeling down or loss of energy.
Obviously, there are many other benefits as well, and I’ve discussed them elsewhere.
You don’t have to be flexible to start yoga
Many think that yoga requires flexibility. On the contrary, Flametree’s easy beginner yoga lets you get started with gentle yoga, backcare yoga, chair yoga, and many other low movement options.
You can start beginner level classes at any time. Classes are taught to allow you to join at any time. If you are new to Flametree, your first class is free. After that there is a half price beginner deal, 12 classes for $59.50, for the studio or online. For the studio, just come along. For online, click the class time you want and we email you the link to join. The beginner timetable shows the times.
Yoga for seniors, or the unfit, or those who are stiff, or who have special conditions, is all part of all these packages, plus much more.
In particular, I notice that many men find gentle yoga, or backcare yoga, to be an especially good way to start their yoga journey.
Flametree’s Easy Restorative class is another excellent option to include in your practise (Saturdays at 4pm, and Thursdays at 5.45pm for those with three months of yoga or the teacher’s OK). Almost anyone can do this type of easy yoga. It is a gentle way to rest and settle the mind.
You can do it as beginner yoga online, or in Flametree’s studios in Darwin (Woolner and Coolalinga), or both.
Some options to look at:
Half price beginner deal: 12 classes for $59.50 (studio or online)
Beginner yoga at home: one month online from $29
There are also ten pass deals for beginners, both online and in the studio.
All Flametree yoga packages, for both beginners and non-beginners are here.
Questions people ask
Can yoga help with low mood?
Many students find it does. Posture and mood are linked, and yoga works on posture, breathing and rest. It is not a replacement for medication or therapy.
What is the quickest thing to try?
Sit tall, roll your shoulders back and down, and open your chest. Or hang your head and shoulders back over the seat of a chair with support.
Do I need to be flexible?
No. Gentle, backcare and chair yoga are low movement options for people who are stiff.
Which class suits a tired day?
Restorative yoga is a gentle way to rest. Legs Up The Wall with a bolster is a restful pose many people enjoy.
How do I start?
If you are new to Flametree, your first class is free. After that there is a half price beginner deal, 12 classes for $59.50. For the studio, just come along. For online, click the class time you want and we email you the link to join.
