Yoga for Mental Health: How Science Proves It Regulates the Nervous System

For years, yoga was dismissed as a wellness trend — useful for flexibility or relaxation, but not serious mental health support. Today, neuroscience and psychiatry tell a very different story.

Research now shows that yoga directly influences stress hormones, neurotransmitters, and nervous system regulation, making it a powerful adjunct therapy for anxiety, depression, trauma, and chronic stress.

Yoga didn’t change.Our ability to measure its effects did.

Then: “Yoga is just stretching.”

Now: It’s a clinically recognized nervous system intervention.

Yoga as Nervous System Regulation — Not Exercise

From a scientific perspective, yoga works because it targets the autonomic nervous system, which governs stress, safety, and emotional regulation.

Through intentional movement, breath control, and interoceptive awareness, yoga helps shift the body from:

• Sympathetic dominance (fight-or-flight)to

• Parasympathetic activation (rest, digest, repair)

This shift is not abstract — it’s measurable.

1. Yoga Lowers Cortisol (The Stress Hormone)

Cortisol is essential for survival, but chronically elevated cortisol is associated with:

• Anxiety

• Depression

• Sleep disruption

• Immune dysfunction

• Burnout

Multiple studies show that regular yoga practice significantly reduces cortisol levels, particularly in individuals experiencing chronic stress or mood disorders.

Lower cortisol allows the nervous system to:

• Recover more efficiently

• Improve emotional regulation

• Support long-term mental resilience

This is why yoga is increasingly recommended for stress-related conditions — not as relaxation, but as physiological recalibration.

2. Yoga Improves GABA Levels (Key for Anxiety Reduction)

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a neurotransmitter that inhibits excessive neural activity. Low GABA levels are strongly associated with:

• Anxiety disorders

• Depression

• PTSD

• Panic symptoms

Research published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry demonstrated that yoga practice increases GABA levels in the brain — an effect comparable to some pharmacological treatments.

This finding is critical.

Many anxiety medications work by targeting GABA pathways. Yoga influences those same pathways naturally, through breath, movement, and attention.

This doesn’t mean yoga replaces medication — but it explains why yoga is now recognized as a legitimate therapeutic adjunct.

3. Yoga Supports Depression Outcomes Comparable to Medication (In Some Cases)

Depression is not just a “chemical imbalance.” It involves:

• Nervous system dysregulation

• Inflammation

• Reduced neuroplasticity

• Disconnection from bodily awareness

Studies reviewed in Frontiers in Psychiatry show that yoga can significantly improve depressive symptoms, particularly when combined with standard care.

In some populations, yoga demonstrated outcomes comparable to antidepressant medication — especially for:

• Mild to moderate depression

• Treatment-resistant stress-related depression

• Individuals with high somatic symptoms

Yoga works here because it addresses both top-down (mind) and bottom-up (body) pathways, supporting neuroplastic change and emotional regulation simultaneously.

Yoga as Trauma-Informed Care

One of the most important shifts in recent years is the recognition of yoga as trauma-informed therapy support.

Trauma is not stored only in memory — it’s stored in the nervous system. Yoga provides:

• Predictable movement

• Choice-based engagement

• Interoceptive awareness

• Safe reconnection to the body

The National Institutes of Health now recognizes yoga as a complementary approach for conditions including PTSD, anxiety disorders, and stress-related illness.

This doesn’t mean yoga replaces therapy.It means yoga helps create the physiological safety that makes therapy more effective.

Once “Woo” — Now Evidence-Based

Yoga was never unscientific.It was simply ahead of measurement tools.

As neuroscience, psychophysiology, and trauma research evolved, yoga moved from the margins into clinical relevance — not because it changed, but because science finally caught up.

Today, yoga is understood as:

• Nervous system regulation

• Hormonal balance support

• Neurotransmitter modulation

• A bridge between body and mind

✨ Once woo → now trauma-informed therapy adjunct.

What This Means at Fig Leaf

At Fig Leaf, yoga is not taught as performance or aesthetics.

It’s taught as:

• Nervous system literacy

• Emotional regulation

• Long-term mental resilience

We honor yoga as both ancient wisdom and modern science — a practice that supports the brain, the body, and the lived experience of being human.

Because mental health isn’t just something you think through.It’s something you regulate, embody, and practice.

References & Scientific Citations

Yoga, Cortisol & Stress Regulation

1. Pascoe, M. C., Thompson, D. R., Jenkins, Z. M., & Ski, C. F. (2017).Yoga, mindfulness-based stress reduction and stress-related physiological measures: A meta-analysis.Psychoneuroendocrinology, 86, 152–168.

   Demonstrates that yoga significantly reduces cortisol and improves stress-related biomarkers.

Yoga & GABA (Anxiety Reduction)

2. Streeter, C. C., Jensen, J. E., Perlmutter, R. M., et al. (2007).Yoga Asana sessions increase brain GABA levels: A pilot study.Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 68(7), 1140–1145.

   Landmark study showing increased GABA levels following yoga practice, directly linking yoga to anxiety reduction.

3. Streeter, C. C., Gerbarg, P. L., Saper, R. B., Ciraulo, D. A., & Brown, R. P. (2012).Effects of yoga on the autonomic nervous system, gamma-aminobutyric-acid, and allostasis in epilepsy, depression, and PTSD.Medical Hypotheses, 78(5), 571–579.

   Explains the neurobiological mechanisms through which yoga affects mood and nervous system regulation.

Yoga & Depression Outcomes

4. Cramer, H., Lauche, R., Langhorst, J., & Dobos, G. (2013).Yoga for depression: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of Affective Disorders, 150(2), 170–180.

   Finds yoga significantly reduces depressive symptoms, particularly in mild to moderate depression.

5. Brinsley, J., Schuch, F., Lederman, O., et al. (2021).Effects of yoga on depressive symptoms in people with mental disorders: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in Psychiatry, 12, 713060.

   Confirms yoga’s effectiveness as an adjunct treatment alongside standard mental health care.

Yoga, Trauma & Nervous System Regulation

6. van der Kolk, B. A., Stone, L., West, J., et al. (2014).Yoga as an adjunctive treatment for PTSD: A randomized controlled trial.Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 75(6), e559–e565.

   Demonstrates yoga’s effectiveness in reducing PTSD symptoms by supporting autonomic regulation.

NIH & Federal Recognition

7. National Institutes of Health – National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH).Yoga: What You Need to Know.

   Official NIH resource recognizing yoga as a complementary therapy for stress, anxiety, depression, and PTSD.

Yoga is recognized as a complementary and adjunct therapy for mental health. It does not replace medical or psychological treatment but may enhance outcomes when integrated appropriately.