This document defines emotions and discusses how yoga and breathing techniques can help regulate emotions. It provides the following key points: 1) Emotions are complex psychological phenomena that occur as people experience life events, and are intense feelings directed at someone or something. 2) Yoga decreases activity in the sympathetic nervous system associated with stress responses, and increases activity in the parasympathetic nervous system associated with relaxation. Research shows yoga can reduce stress, anxiety, depression and improve well-being. 3) Regulated breathing through yoga techniques like pranayama can calm the mind by stimulating the vagus nerve and parasympathetic nervous system, lowering heart rate and blood pressure. This opposes the fight or flight stress

1. Made by: Dr. Akansha Tyagi

2. DEFINITION OF EMOTION
• Emotion is a complex psychological phenomenon
which occurs as animals or people live their lives.
• It is Intense feeling that are directed at someone or
something

3. Facial Expressions Convey Emotions

4. Basic emotions
Basic emotions
Disgust Fear Joy Sadness Anger

5. VARIETY OF EMOTIONS
• POSITIVE EMOTION
• NEGATIVE EMOTION

6. Positive emotion
• Positive emotions that lead one to feel good about
one’s self will lead to an emotionally happy and
satisfied result.

7. POSITIVE HUMAN EMOTION
SOME OF THE POSITIVE EMOTIONS ARE:
• HOPEFUL
• CONFIDENT
• PEACEFUL

8. Negative emotion
• Negative emotions sap your energy and undermine
your effectiveness. In the negative emotional state, you
find the lack of desire to do anything.

9. NEGATIVE EMOTIONS
SOME OF THE NEGATIVE EMOTIONS ARE:
• EXHAUSTED
• PANIC

10. FACTORS
AFFECTING
EMOTIONS

11. PERSONALITY

12. CULTURE

13. WEATHER

14. STRESS

15. AGE

16. ENVIROMENTAL

17. GENDER

18. Gender and Emotions
• Women
– Can show greater emotional expression
– Experience emotions more intensely
– Display emotions more frequently
– Are more comfortable in expressing emotions
– Are better at reading others’ emotions
• Men
– Showing emotions is inconsistent with the male image
– Are less able to read and to identify with
others’ emotions
– Have less need to seek social approval by
showing positive emotions

19. Positive Moods
are Highest
At the End of the Week
In the Middle Part of the
Day (lunch)
Negative Moods are
Highest
At the Beginning of the
Week
And show little variation
throughout the day

20. Emotional intelligence
• Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to identify, assess, and control
the emotions of oneself, of others, and of groups.

21. Mind Balance Yoga ~ Sara Morrow, PhD, LLC
How Does Yoga Work?
• Decreases Sympathetic Nervous System arousal
– “Stress Response”
– “Fight/Flight/Freeze”
• Fight – Anger
• Flight – Anxiety
• Freeze – Depression
– Most mental health problems relate to an over-stimulated SNS, which also
affects physical health
• Increases Parasympathetic Nervous System function
– “Relaxation Response”
– “Rest & Digest”

22. Mind Balance Yoga ~ Sara Morrow, PhD, LLC
Research Evidence
• 2011 meta-analysis of peer reviewed, published research from 1990-2009
found yoga to:
– enhance muscular strength, body flexibility
– improve respiratory and cardiovascular function
– promote recovery from addiction
– reduce stress, anxiety, depression
– reduce chronic pain
– improve sleep patterns
– enhance overall well-being and quality of life
• Yoga produces a physiological state opposite to that of the fight-or-flight stress
response and with that interruption in the stress response, a sense of balance
and union between the mind and body can be achieved.

23. Vagus Nerve
• It is the longest nerve of the autonomic nervous system in the human
body.
• parasympathetic control of the heart, lungs, and digestive tract.
• This means that the vagus nerve is responsible for such varied tasks
as heart rate, sweating, and quite a few muscle movements in the mouth,
including speech

24. Mind Balance Yoga ~ Sara Morrow, PhD, LLC
Vagus Nerve
• Yoga (and deep breathing) mechanically stimulates the vagus
nerve:
– Controls motor and sensory functioning
• MOTOR: Efferent nerve
• SENSORY: Afferent nerve
– Regulates heart rhythms
– Stimulates Parasympathetic NS, calms Sympathetic NS

25. Mind Balance Yoga ~ Sara Morrow, PhD, LLC
Breathing ~ Pranayama
• Shallow, irregular breathing
– Increase heart rate
– Raise blood pressure
– Speed up the mind
– Cause nervous system to be out of balance
– Increase anxiety and depression
• Regulated breathing
– Lower heart rate
– Decrease blood pressure
– Calm an anxious mind, give energy to a depressed mind
– Bring nervous system back into balance
– Support emotional balance
• Allow yourself to receive the gift of oxygen 

26. Mind Balance Yoga ~ Sara Morrow, PhD, LLC
Breathing for Emotional Balance
• Mouth breathing
– Is our “emergency” response
– Draws air to upper lobes of lungs
• Stress receptors stimulate Sympathetic NS
– Increases heart rate, respiration
– Body has to work harder to get enough oxygen - wastes energy
– Unfiltered, cold, dry air irritates throat - increases chance of infection
• Nasal breathing is most effective
– Draws air to lower lobes of lungs where:
• 60-80% blood cells are located - receive oxygen, exchange gas
• Parasympathetic NS receptors concentrated
– Quiets, calms, steadies the mind
– Relaxes - stress response/emotions/body/nervous system
– Lowers heart rate, blood pressure
– Filters, warms, moisturizes air into lungs - immune support

27. Mind Balance Yoga ~ Sara Morrow, PhD, LLC
Breath and Mood
• Breath patterns vary according to emotion
– Anger = short and quick
– Fear/Anxiety = retain breath, irregular
– Sadness/Upset = long and deep
– Happiness = slow, relaxed, regulated
• Having people breathe in certain patterns induces emotion

28. Pranayama
Simpkins & Simpkins (2011) conclude that:
• Yoga breathing methods provide powerful interventions for deliberately
rebalancing an out-of-balance
• Autonomic nervous system affected by mental or physical problems.
– Ujayi pranayama
– Kumbakha
– Bhastrika

29. Mind Balance Yoga ~ Sara Morrow, PhD, LLC
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