Stressful yoga

2 September 2014

Day at Psychiatry OPD. I learnt about various psychometric tests used in diagnostics, listened to a protocol study presentation about stressful life events and coping mechanisms in relation to the severity of alcohol dependence, spoke to a patient in the afternoon and gave my opinion on the diagnosis; this was interesting because when I spoke to him his mood seemed to change (more cheerful). 

Me: "how are you feeling"

Him: "very bad, depressed since 5 years" 

Rushed to yoga straight after hospital. I learnt that it's not a good idea to go in non-stretchable clothes. There were a total of 5 people (Sammy, Elsie, Bella, Steph and me) so it was quite intimate. Me and Steph had quite a laugh about all the weird poses we had to do. Some positions were hard since you had to keep your hands stretched over your head for about 5-10 minutes (seemed like a very long time and couldn't feel hand anymore at the end!). We finished with some relaxation laying down. I kept thinking "we're not doing anything, what are we supposed to be doing?". Well, at least I tried some yoga so "been there, done that". I found out that I prefer more active (not saying that yoga isn't active) activities. Who would've thought yoga could be so stressful?