Positive Health Online

Anxiety. Depression. Burnout. These words have become so common in our culture that they almost feel like part of everyday vocabulary. Yet behind them lies a very real experience: the mind that won’t stop racing, the body that can’t seem to rest, the soul that feels empty and depleted.

For most people, the go-to remedies involve temporary fixes like medications, supplements, exercise, maybe a weekend retreat. These may help for a time, but they don’t usually touch the root of the problem. That’s because anxiety, depression, and burnout are not just physical or chemical imbalances. They’re signs that something deeper is out of alignment in body, mind, and spirit.

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Title: Is Living Your Purpose the Key to Health and Wellness?

This is where yoga comes in. And I don’t mean yoga as just a workout or stretching routine. Yoga is an ancient science designed to bring us back into balance at every level of who we are. It’s not just physical movement, it’s a holistic path to healing and wholeness.

The Eight Limbs of Yoga: A Complete System for Life

Yoga is traditionally described as having eight limbs, laid out by the sage Patanjali thousands of years ago in the Yoga Sutras. Each limb offers practices that address a different part of life:

1. Yamas – ethical guidelines, like non-violence, truthfulness, and moderation.
2. Niyamas – personal observances, such as self-discipline, contentment, and purification.
3. Asana – physical postures.
4. Pranayama – control of the breath.
5. Pratyahara – withdrawal of the senses, turning inward.
6. Dharana – concentration.
7. Dhyana – meditation.
8. Samadhi – the state of union, peace, or transcendence.

Most people in the West encounter yoga through asana (postures). And while asana has enormous benefits for health and mood, it’s only one piece of the larger puzzle. To more deeply address anxiety, depression, and burnout, we must bring in the other limbs, especially breathwork, meditation, and self-awareness practices. I’m not a huge fan of lingo or terminology: you don’t have to deep dive into the 8 limbs of yoga to understand that yoga goes far beyond physical exercise. You do, however, have to acknowledge and implement structures and practices for mental, emotional and spiritual health as well, if you want to be a healthy individual.

Why Exercise Alone Isn’t Enough

We know that exercise boosts mood by releasing endorphins. It helps blood flow, improves energy, and can lift depression temporarily. That’s why yoga classes that focus on physical postures are helpful, they get people moving and breathing in ways that feel good.

But mental health struggles are rarely solved by movement alone. Anxiety, depression, and burnout are deeply tied to the nervous system. The mind gets stuck in overdrive, the body loses its ability to rest and regenerate, and stress patterns become hardwired.

That’s why the other limbs of yoga, particularly pranayama (breath), Dharana (concentration), and dhyana (meditation), are essential. They don’t just treat symptoms. They retrain the nervous system, calm the mind, and reconnect us to a deeper sense of self.

Breathwork and Nervous System Reset

One of the most profound ways yoga heals is through pranayama, or conscious breathwork. The breath is the only part of the autonomic nervous system we can consciously control, which makes it the gateway to rebalancing the body and mind.

The autonomic nervous system has two main branches: the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. The sympathetic nervous system mobilizes us for action, it’s the fight-or-flight response that keeps us safe in emergencies. The parasympathetic nervous system does the opposite: it governs rest, repair, digestion, deep sleep, and regeneration.

Both systems are essential. The problem arises when we get stuck in sympathetic dominance, a chronic stress state where the body is constantly on high alert. This is what drives anxiety, burnout, and eventually depression. In this state, digestion slows down, immune function weakens, sleep becomes shallow, and the body never gets the chance to truly repair itself.

Healing requires bringing the parasympathetic system back online. This is where pranayama and yogic breathing come in. Slow, intentional breathing signals to the body that it is safe, which shifts the nervous system out of fight-or-flight and into rest-and-digest. Over time, this retrains the nervous system to stay balanced instead of defaulting to stress.

When the parasympathetic system is engaged and working properly:

• The body finally receives the signal to rest and regenerate;
• Sleep deepens, allowing the brain and body to heal;
• Digestion and nutrient absorption improve, restoring energy;
• Hormones rebalance, calming anxiety and lifting mood;
• Mental clarity returns, and emotions become steadier.

This is why deep, conscious breathing is not just relaxation, it’s foundational to long-term healing. Without the parasympathetic system functioning properly, no amount of sleep, supplements, or even medication can fully resolve burnout or depression. Breathwork gives the body the “permission slip” it needs to heal at the deepest level.

Alignment with Your Unique Purpose

Living in alignment with your core values is central to yoga and to long-term well-being. The first two limbs of yoga, the Yamas (ethical principles) and Niyamas (personal observances), are really about values: how we choose to live, act, and orient ourselves in the world. But values alone aren’t the end of the story; they are the foundation that points you toward something even more profound: your unique purpose in life.

This is where my Elemental Types framework becomes essential. The elements are foundational principles that have long been used both as a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda, but even without diving deep into those disciplines, you can use the elemental framework as a deep dive into what makes you uniquely you. Each of us is born with a unique elemental composition that shapes not only our personality and physical tendencies, but also our natural strengths, gifts, and calling. The five elements are earth, water, fire, air, and space, and each element corresponds to one of the five senses. Earth to smell, water to taste, fire to sight, air to touch and space to hearing. There’s underlying correspondences with this to you unique talents and gifts, and to what you resonate with and what you don’t.

When you understand your elemental type, you gain clarity on what fuels you, what drains you, and what kind of work, relationships, and practices truly align with who you are. Anxiety, depression, and burnout often arise when we’re living out of sync with this, forcing ourselves into roles, environments, or expectations that contradict our elemental nature. But, when you align your values with your elemental type, and start to fully embrace your innate talents and purpose in life, something shifts: energy flows freely, stress diminishes, and resilience becomes second nature. Instead of constantly pushing against yourself, you’re carried by the current of who you were designed to be, and that is the deepest source of vitality, clarity, and inner prosperity.

Regardless of what framework or system you use to better understand yourself, your innate nature and your core values, do something to align your lifestyle with who you really are and the things that matter most to you. This builds inner prosperity, a fuel that helps nourish all aspects of life. Just like faith, hope and love are driving forces, inner prosperity is the driving force and fuel that comes from alignment with who and what you truly are.

Focus on Creating Inner Prosperity

It’s tempting to reach for short-term relief — a pill, a glass of wine, or even a vacation. While these may bring temporary comfort, they rarely change the underlying patterns that create suffering. If the nervous system stays stuck in overdrive, relief fades and the same cycles repeat. Giving the body what it needs to really recover requires a practice that addresses both the symptoms and the root imbalance. This is why yoga, as a complete system, offers something different than short-term fixes.

Some of the best things you can do for yourself are to create consistent daily practices that nourish your soul. Small things like micro habits: the things we actually stick with doing are the things that will change us and get us out of chronic overwhelm and back to a place of sustainable wellbeing… And these should be things you really enjoy doing, not things you feel obligated to do. When you feel obligated to something, it drains your energy instead of restoring it, even if it’s a healthy practice. The key is to find small things you love and do them regularly. Like starting your day with a cup of tea, taking 15 minutes to read (if reading is your thing), or engaging in your favorite hobby.

These joyful things will automatically help the parasympathetic nervous system to kick back in. And when you find yourself more happy and relaxed, you can take this a step further by focusing on breathing more slowly and deeply. Conscious breathwork is a very quick way to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, and what better way to do that than when you’re already feeling relaxed and joyful? People like to say that if you just sit and practice something you’ll be successful at it, but that is not true – you have to be in the right mindset to begin with. So by establishing some daily moments of joy, you’re able to actually be successful when you try and make small and meaningful changes that take a bit more effort, like slowing down your breathing.

Conclusion

Anxiety, depression, and burnout are signals that change is necessary, a reminder that something in life has fallen out of balance. Quick fixes may offer temporary relief, but lasting healing requires a deeper shift in how we live, breathe, and care for ourselves. Yoga provides more than exercise; it offers a complete system for restoring harmony in body, mind, and spirit. Through movement, breathwork, meditation, and alignment with our values and purpose, we retrain the nervous system, replenish energy, and reconnect with the core of who we are. Healing doesn’t happen all at once. It begins with small, consistent practices that build resilience and clarity over time. When we commit to living in alignment with our true nature, we open the door to vitality, steadiness, and inner peace.