yogaforhackers.txt

Yoga For Hackers
================

Introduction
------------

Depression is one of the greatest problems facing the hacker community. We
have already lost too many lives to it. Ilya Zhitomirsky, Len Sassaman,
Jonathan James, Gene Kan and Aaron Swartz are five well-known examples
[1]. It is not known how many not so well-known examples there may be,
but it is reasonable to suppose that there are many. Additionally, while
depression only leads or contributes to actual suicide in a minority of
cases, it always leads - by definition - to decreased productivity and
decreased quality of life in every individual case.

There is no cure for depression. However, there are numerous methods by
which which depression can be mitigated and dealt with, some of which
can lead to a complete or partial alleviation of symptoms, restoring
productivity and quality of life for the suffering individual. These
methods can be divided into two main categories - talking methods and
medication. Both methods are deeply problematic and fail to work in
many cases. Additionally, the resources required to access such methods
are not necessarily available to invididuals in their time of most need.

This paper proposes a third category of method and a specific example
within that category. The category is exercise and the specific example
is Hatha Yoga. There is no guarantee that it will be any more useful
to a given individual than any other type of method for dealing with
depression - though it has always worked for this author to at least
some extent - but it has clear advantages over the other methods,
as follows:

1 - Does not require interaction with anyone else
2 - Does not require access to a pharmacy or drug-vendor
3 - Can be implemented at any time
4 - Needs no resources - method is entirely knowledge-based

Standard Methods
----------------

'Talking' methods of attacking depression include therapy, counselling
and group activities [2]. They can be efficacious in some cases but are
not reliable. There are many different kinds of talking methods not
all of which are suited to every case, and some of which may actually
exacerbate the problem. An individual suffering from depression is not
best-placed to work out which of the twenty competing talking methods
may work for them. Access to talking methods is limited.

In the specific case of the hacker community, there are two additional
problems which may render all talking methods useless. An extremely shy
hacker is going to find it difficult to enter into any kind of talking
method; by definition it will involve sharing intimate details of their
inner life with a complete stranger. An extremely articulate hacker may
find that they are capable of arguing their way out of anything thrown
at them by their therapist or group. This can render the whole exercise
pointless.

Drug-based methods include prescription anti-depressants and
self-medication. Self-medication is self-evidently a poor idea. While
alcohol, marijuana or other recreational drugs can be used as a short-term
fix to successfully combat depression, they do not work in the long
term and can often make the situation worse. Self-medication is widely
considered one of the major routes into addiction [3]. If you
self-medicate in order to combat depression, now you have two problems.

Prescription anti-depressants work for some cases but can also backfire,
especially in the initial stage when the depressed individual has to
work their way through a series of different drugs over a period of time
in order to see which ones happen to interact with their specific brain
chemistry in a useful way. They may have unpleasant side-effects,
they may not necessarily be widely available, and until an efficacious
anti-depressant is found in an individual case, they may actually make
depression and suicidal ideation worse, not better.

This is not to say that someone suffering from depression should not
look at the possibility of either talking cures or medication as part
of a solution. Actually, they should. However, they should do so without
any wild expectation of success and consider any such method as part of
an overall set of methods for tackling the problem.

Exercise
--------

The relationship between physical exercise and brain chemistry is
relatively well-known [4]. Any kind of physical exercise conducted
sensibly and safely is likely to have a positive impact on physical
health, and this will include the physical health of the brain. If
depression is viewed as an imbalance in brain chemistry, it should
be clear that any kind of physical exercise is likely to function in
practice as an anti-depressant, albeit a mild one.

By definition, a lack of exercise is endemic among some members of
the hacker community. If the majority of your waking life is spent
coding, researching, interacting with other hackers, reading, perhaps
playing the occasional game for relaxation and only reluctantly taking
breaks to eat and sleep, it may be difficult to justify or even find
the will to take time out for exercise. However, it should be self-evident
that human beings are not designed for an entirely sedentary lifestyle. As
such, it is reasonable to conclude that living an entirely sedentary
lifestyle may well be either the root cause or at least a cause of any
one of a number of physical or mental health issues.

An entirely sedentary lifestyle is going to impact negatively on your
concentration skills and your quality of work. It may seem perverse,
but taking some form of regular physical exercise will improve your code,
and never mind your mental health. If it improves your mental health as
a side-effect, that's a bonus. If your concentration skills and quality
of work are at a high level without taking any exercise that's great -
they will be even better if you do exercise.

A hacker who wishes to ensure that their hacking time - considered over
the period of a human lifetime - is both extended as long as possible and
is as useful as possible - needs to find some form of physical exercise
that works for them.

There are many forms of physical exercise, not all of which are suited
to everyone: gyms or swimming pools can be intimidating places and are
not necessarily available; cycling and running require special costly
equipment; dancing or martial arts require a certain base level of
fitness, access to suitable clubs or classes, and interaction with
other people.

Yoga can be practised alone, at any time, for free. It can be researched
via books or online, and once you have learned a few yoga exercises,
needs no resources at all other than time and a place to do it. The
experience of this author has been that even five minutes of yoga every
day functions as a mild anti-depressant even at the worst of times. It
doesn't cure anything and it doesn't make anything go away but it always
alleviates the problem to at least some extent.

Yoga - Origins
--------------

Yoga originated within Hindu culture in India [5]. The word 'yoga'
is Sanskrit and comes from the same root as 'yoke', with a meaning of
'joining' or 'union'. Many of the varieties of yoga within its original
cultural context have nothing to do with physical exercise; this paper
is not concerned with those. Rather, I am talking about yoga in the
popular Western sense of the term, which refers to a particular set of
physical exercises derived from the branch of yoga known as Hatha Yoga
which emerged in the Middle Ages [6].

Owing to its origins, there is a spiritual component to many varieties
of Hatha Yoga as currently practised. This may be off-putting to some. It
should not be.

In the first place, there are numerous collections of yoga resources,
postures and breathing exercises compiled by strict rationalists who make
no mention of spiritual concepts such as prana or chakras [7][8]. In
the second place, a posture is a posture and a breathing exercise is a
breathing exercise. A yoga resource which refers to chakras can still be
used by someone who is certain that there is no such thing as a chakra
by simply ignoring those parts of it and focussing on the useful parts,
such as how to perform the posture and how to breathe.

Finally, the spiritual aspects of yoga need not be interpreted as
something which has any basis in objective reality but as useful metaphor
within the context. It is not necessary to believe that chakras actually
exist in order to use the concept - considered as an arbitrary black box
- within the duration of a specific exercise. In any case, only some of
the more meditative yoga exercises absolutely require any use of such
concepts, and these may be safely omitted if they are problematic to you.

Starting Yoga
-------------

Yoga classes are widely available. Learning yoga through classes has the
same advantages and disadvantages as any other kind of physical exercise
class. It is quite possible, however, to learn and practise yoga to a
level where it has a positive impact on your physical and mental health
by yourself.

Here's how I did it:

I found a book that contained simple, clear instructions and which I felt
I would be able to work through without either feeling patronised or that
I was learning a set of exercises ripped willy-nilly from their original
cultural context in such a way that key aspects of them were omitted [9].

I borrowed a yoga mat. This is just a simple piece of rubbery plastic
measuring about 180cm x 60cm which can be rolled up for storage and laid
out for practice as necessary. You don't need a yoga mat to practice yoga,
but it is useful, especially if you are trying to work out whether or not
a given space is too small to practice in. If you can roll the mat out,
you've probably got just about enough space to do most exercises.

I started working through the book, slowly and carefully, trying to set
aside at least half-an-hour every day for it. I don't manage this every
day but I do manage most days. There is a particular exercise, called the
'Salute To The Sun' which takes two minutes to perform. On days when I
don't have time for a full yoga session, I perform this instead. There
is always two minutes.

That's it.

After nearly twenty years I can report the following:

1 - Yoga works for me as a mild anti-depressant. I have suffered from
depression for over thirty years and the condition ebbs and flows in its
seriousness. No matter how bad I am feeling, I always without exception
feel less bad after a yoga session. I don't necessarily feel good,
but it does seem to invariably take the edge off things.

2 - There are some exercises that I will never be able to do. There is
something wrong with my right hip that means that my leg will not bend
outwards. I can not perform the lotus position and there are several
other postures that are completely impossible for me. Omitting them
makes no difference overall and there are plenty of postures that I can
perform. I have stopped worrying about it.

3 - I have never injured myself performing yoga. I take it extremely
slowly and gently and the instant that something hurts I stop. I never
attempt to force myself into a posture that is difficult to perform. I
follow the instructions in the book very carefully and I heed the warnings
that it gives about certain postures.

4 - The book that works for me, works for me. It may not work for you,
especially if you prefer a spirituality-free approach (I don't, and my
book does have a certain amount of chakra-related material, with which
I have absolutely no problem). But there are thousands of yoga books,
all taking different approaches and written in different ways. There
are also numerous online resources. It is likely that there is a book
or resource somewhere which will be appropriate for you.

A Typical Yoga Session
----------------------

My typical yoga session is divided into five sections.

1 - Preparation

I lay out my yoga mat and strip off. Many yoga teachers and books suggest
wearing comfortable loose-fitting clothing, which also works. Since
yoga, for me, was partly about getting back in touch with the fact that
I actually have a body, I prefer to do it naked. Either way is fine,
though if you do choose the naked route it is important to make sure
you are in a place where you will not be disturbed. You need to be in
a place where you will not be disturbed anyway. A quiet, well-ventilated
room is ideal if you have access to one. Use what you have.

2 - Warm-up exercises

I start with an initial simple meditation. I stand quietly for a
few moments, breathing slowly and deeply, trying not to think about
anything. Thoughts inevitably arise, and I try to ignore them. I don't
worry about it if I fail. The main thing is to stand quietly.

Then I perform a set of physical warm-ups as directed by my book.

3 - Postures

The book that I use is divided into twelve weeks' worth of exercise
sets. Here I perform the postures laid out in whatever is the current
week. There are some postures that I am not physically capable of
performing - I omit these or substitute a simpler posture from an
earlier week. I make sure to take everything very slowly, very gently
and very carefully. I never try to force myself into anything that
seems difficult and if anything ever hurts I stop performing that
posture immediately.

4 - Breathing

My book contains various breathing exercises. Some of the earlier
weeks do not. Now that I have worked through the book many times over,
I often add a very simple breathing exercise into a week that does not
contain one. One of the simplest is an exercise called 'Ten Deep Breaths
Taken Very Slowly'. To perform this exercise, you take ten deep breaths
very slowly. It really is as simple as that. This, incidentally, is a
very useful exercise to memorise, as it can be performed almost anywhere
at almost any time. Try it and see for yourself what the results are.

5 - Meditation

My book contains several meditation exercises - I perform one of these
after the breathing exercises. Meditation can be considered as a method
of debugging your own head; analogous to attempting to debug code in a
language you don't understand using a debugger that you don't understand
either. I can't rationalise why it seems to be useful but in my case it
is, and I'm far more interested in results than I am in understanding
the process.

That's it.

The meditation stage can be safely omitted if you really can't cope with
it and there are many yoga resources that don't contain any meditative
aspect at all. That's fine.

Yoga And Safety
---------------

It bears repeating that it is possible to injure yourself performing
some yoga exercises, although I have not personally done so. This is the
main reason why many yoga resources suggest that it is safest to learn
via a class. However, it is also possible to injure yourself going up
and down the stairs, or performing simple activities in a kitchen. It
is also possible to injure yourself performing yoga in a class. Your
teacher will not be able to magically stop this from happening.

I do not believe that injury while performing self-taught yoga is
any more likely than at any other time so long as you make sure to do
everything extremely slowly and carefully, heeding any instructions or
warning given by the resource you are using and making sure that you
stop straight away at the first hint of discomfort or pain.

It's not supposed to hurt - if it does, stop.

It's not supposed to cause discomfort - if it does, stop.

Use common sense. I am somewhat underweight, physically, so certain
exercises involving bodyweight are less dangerous for me than if I were
overweight. When in doubt, omit the exercise.

Conclusion
----------

Yoga works for me as a mild anti-depressant. It is simply performed,
simple to research and learn, costs nothing and may also work for you
as a mild anti-depressant.

Dealing with depression requires a set of tools which may include talking
therapies, medication and exercise. Exercise can be performed alone at
any time and at no cost. Yoga is a particularly gentle form of exercise.

If you are a hacker suffering from depression, you will be happier and
write better code if you deal with it. Yoga may help you deal with it.

If it doesn't, please keep trying other things, and please don't fall
into the trap of believing that you are totally on your own. You are
not totally on your own [10]. Help is out there if you choose to seek it.

Reference
----------

1 - http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/14/4618718/hacker-depression-def-con 
2 - http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/help-information/mental-health-a-z/T/talking-therapies/
3 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-medication
4 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorphins
5 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga
6 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoga#Hatha_Yoga
7 - http://fitness.stackexchange.com/questions/5416/yoga-without-the-spiritualism
8 - http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/fitness/Pages/yoga.aspx
9 - http://www.amazon.com/Balanced-Yoga-Twelve-Programme-workbooks/dp/1852303255
10 - http://bluehackers.org/

Author
------

Wayne Myers, wgmyers at gmail.com

First draft 2013-08-15