Imagine finally carving out time for a calming yoga class to help your depression – only to find yourself feeling more irritable, overwhelmed, and restless than before.
You’re not alone.
For many young women living with depression, mindful yoga can be both a lifeline and a lightning rod, surfacing emotions they didn’t expect to confront.
Key Points
- Most young women with depression who tried mindful yoga experienced both positive and negative effects.
- Positive effects included feeling calmer, more self-aware, and physically relaxed.
- Common negative effects were emotional agitation, physical discomfort, and increased awareness of distressing thoughts.
- Those who had only negative or no effects were more likely to drop out of the yoga intervention.
- Counselling during early stages of yoga training may help participants navigate difficult emotional experiences.
The Study That Listened Differently
Rather than crunching numbers in search of symptom reduction, this Dutch study took a different approach: they listened.
Researchers added qualitative interviews to a randomized controlled trial to explore how young women (ages 18–34) with major depressive disorder (MDD) actually felt about their 9-week mindful yoga experience—good, bad, and everything in between.
The result?
A rich and nuanced portrait of what it’s really like to use mindful yoga as part of treatment for depression.
Yoga Helped – But Not in the Ways You Might Think
Despite the clinical trial showing no measurable improvements in depression symptoms, the interviews told another story.
Many women (81%) described benefits that don’t always show up in standard depression questionnaires:
- A sense of peace and calm during and after sessions.
- Meta-cognition – a fancy term for becoming more aware of one’s thoughts and patterns, which helped some participants separate themselves from negative self-talk.
- Physical relaxation and breath awareness – key elements in managing stress and anxiety.
- A new ability to listen to their bodies, respect physical and emotional limits, and practice self-acceptance.
One woman said, “I’ve learned that it’s okay to feel certain things… that you don’t have to change everything right away.”
But for Others, Stillness Was Too Loud
That same heightened awareness brought discomfort for many participants (66%).
Negative effects included:
- Agitation and restlessness: The quiet space of yoga sometimes made emotions feel louder, not softer.
- Self-consciousness: Some felt awkward or ashamed performing certain movements in a group, especially without verbal interaction.
- Physical pain or limitations: Inflexibility or soreness after classes left a few feeling frustrated or inadequate.
- Increased distress: For some, becoming more mindful meant becoming more aware of how bad they actually felt—emotionally or physically.
One woman explained, “I couldn’t handle the peace… I became more restless from the quiet atmosphere.”
Why Would Something Designed to Help Feel So Hard?
This paradox – feeling worse before feeling better – isn’t new in mindfulness research.
Yoga, like meditation, increases present-moment awareness.
But unless participants have the skills to accept what they notice, that awareness can backfire.
This concept, known as the Monitor and Acceptance Theory, suggests that being more aware of discomfort without tools to cope may actually amplify distress.
And here’s the catch: acceptance skills typically develop after awareness skills.
In other words, early in a yoga journey, you might suddenly notice how bad you feel – without yet knowing what to do about it.
Why It Matters: Beyond the Mat
For clinicians, this study is a wake-up call: even gentle, well-intentioned interventions like yoga aren’t universally safe or soothing.
For people struggling with depression, it offers validation: If mindful yoga made you feel worse at first, you’re not broken or “bad” at it. You’re human.
And for program designers? It highlights the need for integrated support.
The researchers suggest that early-stage counselling – even brief check-ins or group discussions – could help participants stick with the program long enough to benefit from its long-term effects.
Real Healing Isn’t Always Linear
The study didn’t show dramatic shifts in clinical outcomes.
But it did reveal something arguably more important: the deeply human experience of trying to heal.
Some women found strength. Others found struggle. Most found both.
Yoga, like therapy, can be a mirror. Sometimes it reflects peace. Other times, pain.
But either way, what matters most is what happens next: whether we’re supported, whether we’re seen, and whether we’re offered the tools to carry on.
Reference
Vollbehr, N. K., Ostafin, B. D., Bartels-Velthuis, A. A., & Hoenders, H. J. R. (2025). Exploring young women’s experiences of a mindful yoga intervention for depression in the Netherlands: Qualitative analysis of positive and negative effects. British Journal of Clinical Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1111/bjc.70013
