Yoga for Anorexia
By: Tiziana Berrondo
Introduction
Anorexia has been a very recurring theme in my life. Since secondary I have seen and heard of cases
going on around me. What always impressed me was the kind of treatment available for anorexia, they
always seemed useless because they aimed for a short term recovery. It never made much sense to me,
that is why I decided to come up with a more holistic treatment that can attack the main cause of
anorexia so that the there can be a long lasting recovery.
What is it?
Anorexia is an eating disorder where the person voluntarily decides to lower the food intake in order to
loose weight. This disease is more common in young women but it can happen at any age and also to
men. It normally happens in a progressive way where the person starts with diets of low caloric intake.
Then the food intake will become less and less with time making the persons weight under the
recommended. To this there is also other associated conducts that the person does to loose weight like
the intake of laxatives, enemas and vomiting after food intake. Becoming thin becomes an obsession
that never meets its goal. For them being fat is a problem because they think that will make people
reject you and your life will become miserable. In their mind there is one thought that dominates and
torments them: “I have to become thin”. With time this thought will posses them to such an extent that
they start to ignore their own body that is constantly hungry and asking for more food. This
disconnection with the body can also be seen in the distorted image they have where they feel fat even
though they are underweight and everyone else tells them their thin. Even when they look at a mirror all
they will see is a fat and unhappy person.
Symptoms
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Excessive fear of gaining weight
Obsession with image and food
Amenorrhea
Falling Hair
Depression
Anxiety
Low blood pressure
Anemia
Arritmias that could lead to heart attack
Teeth problems and bad breath
Underweight
Distorted image of their body
What causes it?
There are many factors that can lead to anorexia. It’s important to take all this factors into consideration
when we work with an anorexic, especially if the goal is to have a long term recovery.
Genetic Factor
There has been a lot of research done that leads to believe that certain genes can make a person more
susceptible to have anorexia.
Social Factors
This is a very important factor to take into account because anorexia becomes more present in cultures
where being thin is an ideal. This idea is present in many cultures around the world where people are
constantly bombarded with movies, magazines and propaganda that shows thin bodies. The problem is
that these bodies are completely unrealistic since they are photoshoped and edited so that they appear
perfect. The majority of the population is not even close to having these types of bodies, so they start
feeling guilt because their body is not “perfect”. Little boys and girls grow up seeing these images and
start to believe that they need to attain this “perfect” body.
Family Factors
Family plays and important role in the development of anorexia. In most anorexia cases the parents will
tend to be controlling and perfectionist. They will always expect the best conduct and results in their
children, even when they act according to their demands. This means that their ideals are almost
impossible to reach so that the child always feels like he is not “good enough”.
The parents will also give a lot of importance to the physical image. They will pay attention to the eating
habits of the children and will promote exercise to stay healthy. If the child is slightly overweight then
there can be a lot of rejection and criticism.
All this conducts send a message to the child that says: “To be loved, you have to be prefect”. This
message of conditional love can make a child do many things in order to feel loved.
Psychological Factors
Anorexic persons tend to have certain common psychological factors. They will normally have low self
esteem because they set high demanding goals for themselves that are impossible to achieve. They
don’t like to loose control because they value others opinion vey much and they want others to believe
that they are perfect. Their thought patterns will tend to be negative and this can lead them to
depression. This means that they will not be happy with themselves and with what they have. That is
why a normal believe in an anorexic is a “need to be perfect in order to be loved”.
Complications
Anorexia can bring many complications when it is not treated on time because the body is not getting
the nutrients it needs to function properly. By restricting the food intake the body slowly starts to die
from the inside. Some complications are:
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Problems with bones: A person can develop osteoporosis at a very young age because of
calcium deficiency.
Problems with muscles: The body will start eating the muscles because it is not getting any
protein.
Sexual Problems: infertility, amenorrhea (absence of menstruation),erectile dysfunctions and
loss of sex drive
Problems with the heart: a lot of cases of anorexia die from a heart attack.
Problems with the brain and nerves: seizures, anxiety and difficulty concentrating.
Other problems: kidney damage, liver damage, anemia, low blood sugar, etc.
Classic Treatment
Traditional treatment in anorexia focuses on one thing: getting the person to gain weight. To achieve
there are regular counseling sessions with a nutritional counseling that teaches them healthy eating
habits and explains the importance of a balanced diet. There is also a health professional that treats all
the medical conditions that may have been caused by anorexia, as well as checking the weight and once
the healthy weight has been achieved the person finishes the treatment. Sometimes this can be
accompanied by sessions with a psychologist or psychiatrist, who helps with the emotions that are
triggering the disease. In some cases antidepresives are prescribed to lower the anxiety levels in the
person. In extreme cases a hospital stay is necessary.
“Traditional eating-disorder treatment programs have a low success rate—dropout rates at inpatient
programs for anorexia are as high as 46 percent, according to a 2008 study, and among patients who do
stick it out, about half relapse” (Roff, C., 2014). Classical treatment for anorexia is missing one important
point which is: body awareness. On this area Yoga taught in a therapeutic way can make a big difference
in the treatment of eating disorders.
Yoga Therapy Treatment
The type of treatment always varies from person to person. It will depend on the gravity of the disease,
the stage the person is going through at the moment and the triggering factors of the disease. That is
why before applying any treatment there should be a diagnosis to understand what is happening to the
person and what type of treatment he needs. Remember that persons that have Anorexia try to pretend
that things are going okay so they will hide a lot of data from you. That is why it is important to observe
what the person is not saying.
Here I am going to describe a general treatment that could be applied to a person that has Anorexia:
Step 1: Diagnosis
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Seat down and talk to the person. Understand his personality, his likes and dislikes, virtues and
faults. Ask about his family especially about the relationship with mother and father. Get to
know his lifestyle, what does he do in a normal day and what does he eat. To finish ask about
his relationship with his own body.
When making the diagnosis it is important to observe what the person is saying as well as what
he is not saying. Observe the reactions to the questions and the general behavior during the
interview. Interpret beyond the information that is given.
Step 2: Body Awareness
The most important point when treating an anorexic is to generate body awareness. This will be the key
that will allow the treatment to have long term effects. Here are some exercises that will help in this:
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Observation of food intake:
Mindfully Walking: In this exercise you ask the person to walk around the room in complete
silence, putting all their attention in every step they take. The steps should be very slowly
starting with the heel of the foot and ending with the toes. This exercise is better if done bare
foot because that allows for more sensations and grounding.
Yoga Nidra: In this exercise the person lies on their back and enters a deep relaxation. The
teacher guides the person so that he can relax every part of their body.
Pranayama: Any exercise of pranayama can be done except for kapalbhati and vastrika. This are
the ones I recommend:
o Full Yogic Breathing
o Nadi Sodhi
Yoga Asanas to connect breath and movement. When performing this asanas the focus should
be on moving with the inhalation and exhalation:
o Joint Movements
o Vagra Swasa (Tiger breathing)
o Ankle stretching
o Hands in and out breathing
o Hands stretching breathing
o Front and back bending
o Sides stretching
o Bhujangasana breathing
Step 3: Grounding
To be grounded means that you are connected to the earth element, that is related to Mulhadara
chakra. When a person is grounded they are in contact with their need to stay alive and be healthy. This
means the person is present in the here and now which implies being in contact with the body. When
we loose our grounding we feel powerless, insecure and appear to “not be here”. All this are present in
persons with anorexia. (Judith, A. 2004)
In anorexia there is a lack of grounding in the person that is generated by their disconnection to the
body. They are not listening to what their body is needing and asking, that is what allows them to lower
their food intake.
By grounding we bring the consciousness into the body. This is what will give a good foundation for a
long term recovery from anorexia, because being in contact with the body implies listening to its needs.
The moment we listen to our body needs a feeling of security arouses and we can start to find a place in
this world. The greatest challenge in anorexia is helping the person to understand and heal the body.
This is because when you get in contact with the body you start to feel all those things that you have
been running from. All this things come up because they need to heal and it is necessary to work with
them. This is the only way we can learn to accept, feel, validate and love ourselves. We are our bodies
and by understanding this we become something more. For this to happen we have to be its pain, its
pleasures, its fear and its joy. (Judith, A. 2004)
To help generate grounding I have proposed some yoga asanas. All asanas are to be done in a mindful
way, always in contact with the breath. The breath is what links the mind and body, that is why its so
important. Also you always have to take into account any physical limitations that the person may have.
These are the asanas:
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For the first month:
o Pavana muktasana kriya
o Setubhandasana breathing
o Salabhasana breathing
o Janu sirsasana
o Paschimottanasana
o Tadasana and parvatasana using the wall
After the first month you can slowly introduce the following series:
o Suryanamaskar
o Vrksasana series
o Trikonasana series
o Pascimotanasana series
o Ardha matsyendrasana series
Foundation series: This can be introduced once the person has generated a good body
awareness and changed their negative thought patterns towards food.
Conclusion
Anorexia is a very complicated disease to treat because its cause is psychological but it also generates
many medical problems. This means that the treatment has to take into consideration many things so
that it can work. Only solving the medical problems will not lead to a long lasting recovery. That is why
the classic treatment has such a low success rate. By introducing yoga as a treatment for the disease I
think the main cause of the disease can be eliminated. When a person gets in contact with their body,
awareness for its needs is generated. With this awareness one can change the negative thought
patterns towards food and self image, that will lead to experience self security and happiness.
Bibliography
Judith, A. (2004). Chakras wheels of life. Jaico: Fort, Mumbai.
Roff, C. (2014). The Truth about Yoga and Eating Disorders.
{http://www.yogajournal.com/article/eating-disorders/truth-yoga-eating-disorders/}