As Holiday Anxiety Peaks, Two Students Find Steadier Sleep Through Traditional Yoga in Taytay

TAYTAY, RIZAL — Over the last holiday season, the Department of Health's mental health hotline at the National Center for Mental Health (NCMH) took 961 calls between December 21 and January 2. Anxiety and depressive symptoms were among the main reasons people called. Psychologists describe the season as one that amplifies emotional load: financial pressure, family expectations, grief, and disrupted sleep and routine.

At Indian Yoga School PH, pranayama (yogic breathing) and meditation are not add-ons. They are part of every Hatha Vinyasa class, alongside the physical practice. Classes are open to all levels, including complete beginners, and no flexibility is required.

Better sleep on class nights

Anna (not her real name), 38, was prescribed medication for sleep as part of her mental health treatment. After a few yoga sessions at the school, she noticed she slept better on the nights she had class.

"I used to take my sleep medication every night," Anna said. "After a few yoga sessions, I noticed I slept better after each class. Yoga is the only thing I added to my routine, and now I look forward to every class, whether it's gentle yoga with Teacher Anj or a more challenging class with Teacher Kirti."

The school stresses that any change to sleep or anxiety medication should be made with a doctor.

From 15 years of night shift to sleeping through the night

Chi, 33, completed the school's 100-hour Hatha Yoga Teacher Training in July. She has struggled with sleep since childhood and worked the night shift from 2011 until early 2026. She has never taken sleep medication.

"I've struggled with sleep since I was a child," Chi said. "Night shift felt like the obvious choice, because sleeping when you're dead tired sounds easier. But I'd wake up after two or three hours and couldn't fall back asleep. Even after I switched to days, I couldn't find my rhythm."

Her sleep tracker shows the change. In July, she went without sleep on about half of her nights. One stretch of three sleepless nights left her with a fever from exhaustion. In August, she slept nearly every night, usually from around 1 AM to 8 AM.

She signed up for teacher training because she enjoys teaching and fitness, not to fix her sleep. "I didn't realize the breathwork, the meditation and the calm were what my body needed," she said.

Why breath comes first

Lead teacher Yogi Kirti Anand Ji taught for more than 10 years at yoga schools in Rishikesh, India, and is certified under India's Ministry of AYUSH.

"When the mind is anxious, the breath is the first thing that changes, and the first thing we can learn to change back. In the tradition we teach, pranayama and meditation are not extras. They are the practice."

A 2018 systematic review of randomized controlled trials found that yoga may help people experiencing elevated anxiety, though evidence for diagnosed anxiety disorders is still inconclusive.

"Yoga is not a replacement for a doctor, a therapist or medication," said founder Anj Volante. "What it can give people is a daily practice that is theirs, a way to steady themselves during a season that asks a lot of them."

Hatha Vinyasa classes run at Indian Yoga School PH, Taytay, Rizal. Book a first class at indianyogaschoolph.com/booking-page.

Anyone in crisis can reach the NCMH Crisis Hotline 24/7 at 1553 (toll-free nationwide landline), 0919-057-1553 or 0917-899-8727.