Bye! For now!

Dear every one who has ever read this blog,

Once upon a time I was a practicing psychotherapist.

My clients were my instructors and they painted, for me, unique pictures of humankind.  They taught me many things.  From them I learned about strength and resiliency. They taught me how deeply affected people are by the individuals in their relational network. I learned, from my clients, about the enormity of individual emotional power. My deepest appreciation, however, goes for the “client lessons” I received about both the beauty and the practicality of love.

Love, that gorgeous emotion at the essence of our being, can strengthen resolve and encourage positive behaviors. I imagine a huge rope attached to love—this rope surrounds and encompasses everyone nearby.  Love offered to another heals and nurtures the self!  My clients taught me that when a person caught in a troublesome time draws on love for another she gains enough strength to surmount difficulties.

I loved my job but some time or other during the 90’s I began to wonder why talk therapy “worked” for some clients while for others talk did little or nothing to help them reach their goals.  I noticed that insight, considered valuable in the mental health community, did not always translate into a perceptual, feeling or behavioral change.  Seeing clearly did not mean that clients necessarily felt better.

Psychotherapy, in the 80’s and 90’s, was often touted to be an end all and be all.  Someone would have a problem and the question would be, “Have they gone to see a therapist?”  The implication was that seeing a therapist was the answer.  To myself, I began to mutter, “But therapy is only words—-surely more is needed than words.”

About the time that I was experiencing doubts about the helpfulness of therapy I began to hear about Ayurveda.

Of course you have all heard of an “Ah ha moment!”  An “Ah ha moment” is pretty much what I had.  Ayurveda made, to me, sense—-absolute and perfect sense.  Following are a few Ayurvedic concepts.  I hope they make sense to you too.

1. The mind-body-spirit is one seamless energetic system
2. The human being is an aspect of nature and the physiology is, therefore, an expression of the elements of nature.
3. If the elements underlying the mind-body are out of balance a symptom will be experienced.

Wow!  I learned that Ayurveda not only possessed the knowledge to identify imbalances but also offered an instruction manual for the amelioration of symptoms.  Ayurveda offered the novel idea that emotional health was tied to physical health.  Happiness, the sages told us, is our birthright and a by-product of perfect health!

There is still a doorplate in Birmingham, Michigan that has my name on it but I haven’t entered that office in years.  My name is on the door only because my partners and I had invested in an expensive brass plate and my name couldn’t be erased from it. The last time I glanced at the door was sometime in the last century!

I became interested in Ayurveda and studied this ancient science.  With Sandra Moss I wrote Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way:  creating happiness with meditation, yoga and Ayurveda.  Following the publication of that book I’ve written this blog.  The blog offers Ayurvedic tidbits and occasionally I do write about my former love—– psychology.

My interest in Ayurveda hasn’t wavered and truthfully I don’t think it ever will but it has become time for me to stop writing the blog.  At least for now—-This blog will be my last.  I wish to say good-bye for now!

So what is in the future of a dedicated former blogger?  Well, I’ve decided to do an audio version of Healing Depression.  2009 is technologically speaking “the olden times” and back in 2009, when the book was published there wasn’t such an avid interest in audio books.  It seems that now many people are listening to books on tape and I am excited to have them (hopefully) listen to a book about Ayurveda.  I also plan to do podcasts on mental health.  Of course these will promote mind-body health—–happiness achieved through physiological balance.

A friend of mine, Dr. Marjie Scott, and I have also started to write a book about being old.  That’s right—–being old.  Of course there is a twist.  The book will be about maintaining a vital life style after retirement.  It’s about vitality and creativity…living life with zest during the final years on this planet!

I hope that you picked up a helpful idea or two from the blog. I thank you all for reading it especially those who left comments or got back to me with their thoughts.  I wish you all well and of course I cannot end this final blog without a reminder.  That reminder is—-do pick up a copy of Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way!  If you already have a copy perhaps you know a friend or two who would appreciate one.

May God Bless you and I wish you perfect health and happiness always—-

Nancy

Let’s Have a Health Care System Instead of a Disease Care System!

The National Institute of Health, the federal government’s top medical research agency, recently completed a study comparing the health of Americans with the health of individuals living in other affluent democracies. At the completion of the study, Dr. Stephen Woolf, the panel chairman, and a professor of family medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University, commented that he, and other panel members were struck by the gravity of the findings.

 

And what were those findings? According to The New York Times they were as follows:  American men ranked last in life expectancy among the 17 countries studied and American women ranked at or near the bottom in nine areas, including heart disease, chronic lung disease, obesity and diabetes.

 

The panel suggested a campaign to raise public awareness of the American health disadvantage and a study of what could alter this dismal picture.

 

I have a suggestion. How about a focus on prevention?

 

It has long been noted that the American medical system is focused on disease care.  Doctors attempt to fix sick people.

 

What Americans need is a health care system; a system that focuses on health and attempts to help people to create and maintain health.  This is called prevention and it is true health care—-not disease care.

 

Symptoms are the last stage of a disease process and by the time symptoms appear medical intervention is all too often too little too late.

 

On the other hand, Ayurveda, is a medical system that focuses on the elemental imbalances in the physiology.  Imbalances are readily assessed and identified by a well-trained Ayurvedic practitioner.  In the Ayurveda handbook are a plethora of interventions that can be utilized to restore balance.  It is unattended imbalances that eventually become symptoms.  Ayurveda nips these in the bud!

 

A few medical schools have incorporated Ayurveda into their curriculum.  Some western trained physicians have turned their attention toward Ayurveda.  In many cities there are Vaidyas (Ayurvedic practitioners) working to help people create and maintain health.  If you are interested in learning if there is a Vaidya in your zip code you can check out the NAMA (National Ayurvedic Medical Association) website.

 

It is time for Americans to become health conscious.  It is time for our medical system to stop being a disease care system and to become a health care system.  It is our hope that the current study by the National Institute of Health will push us in the right direction!

 

As always, Sandra and I wish you perfect health and happiness!

 

 

 

www.depressionproofyourlife.com

Staying Calm, WARM, and Collected During the Winter Months

 

Sandra and I live in Michigan.  We aren’t having blustery weather (at least not yet!) but there is no doubt that winter has arrived. As the song says, it’s time to “button up your overcoat.”

The effect of seasonal changes on the mind-body are beginning to be considered by modern medicine. However, teaching us how to transition from season to season has been an integral aspect of Ayurveda for thousands of years.

Even if you aren’t a student of Ayurveda you know that you instinctively and automatically make some seasonal changes. For instance, in winter you most likely enjoy heavier food than you do during the summer months. But do you make enough alterations in your lifestyle? 

Oftentimes we are not aware of the many interventions easily available (and easy to implement) that we can utilize for our benefit.   Ayurveda can help.  This ancient system of natural medicine provides an instructional manual helping us to more completely understand the importance of seasonal lifestyle changes.  

According to Ayurveda (and modern science) nature and the body exist on single continuum of intelligence.  Natural intelligence (sometimes referred to as “consciousness”) is exhibited differently at different times of the year.  Each of the five elements (air, space, water, fire and ground) has a time to be the “star.” 

During winter the combination of air and space is “starring” and it’s our task to adapt.  If we fail we run the danger of creating a fertile field for all types of physiological problems to occur.  These problems can erupt either now or in the springtime.

In Chapter 3 of Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way: creating happiness with meditation, yoga, and Ayurveda we discuss the mechanics of how natural intelligence is imparted into our physiology.  Gaining insight into these mechanics is immensely helpful in our quest to maintain balance during seasonal transitions. 

Winter

 

Do you notice an increase in appetite during the winter months?  Many people do.  The digestive fire burns at its brightest during the winter months.  Increased energy, vitality, and liveliness can also be side benefits during the winter months. 

Problems occur during the colder months if our elemental balance becomes disrupted.  Common problems are oversensitivity to cold, respiratory infections, insomnia, dry skin, indecisiveness, hyperactivity, and anxiety. 

Ayurveda identifies three distinct types of depression and a mixed type. Each type is based on particular imbalances.  Depression mixed with anxiety is the result of having the physiological balance of space and air out of whack.  This can easily occur during the winter months.

Ayurveda offers many practical interventions to help us maintain our elemental balance.  If we follow these suggestions we can avoid physical and emotional ups and downs.  Healing Depression the Mind-Body Wayhighlights these suggestions. Today I’ll offer one significant intervention that is exceedingly helpful for the maintenance of physiological balance during the winter months.

The Abhyanga (Sanskrit for “Massage”)

 

Abhyanga is an oil massage with sesame oil.

The abhyanga has, according to Ayurveda, profound health benefits. Ayurvedic tradition maintains that frequent oil massage promotes softness and luster of the skin, lubricates the muscles, tissues, and joints, and increases their flexibility.  Moreover, by stimulating the tissues in the body, oil massage is said to help keep impurities from accumulating in the system.  Daily abhyanga is recommended but if you cannot do the abhyanga on a daily basis even two or three times a week will offer you significant benefits.

Different oils work for different constitutional types.  But, in the cold of winter sesame oil works best for most people because sesame oil has particular properties that nourish and warm the body. 

Although oil massage is considered, in Ayurveda, to be important all year long it is particularly important in winter.  The soothing influence of warmth and touch on the skins’ many nerve endings has a calming effect on the elements which are predominantly expressed during this time of the year.

Abhyanga will benefit everyone at all times of the year, but it is particularly important in the winter.  Apart from the benefits mentioned above abhyanga will keep the skin from becoming dry and cracked, a frequent problem when physiological balance is aggravated in winter.

The oil must be organic and cured.  To buy high quality sesame oil go to Mapi.com or call Mapi at 1-800-345-8332.

If you maintain balance during the winter months you will transition into spring without encountering an excess of the mucus that triggers allergies and springtime colds and flus. Abhyanga is a helpful intervention for the maintenance of balance and the prevention of these springtime problems.  

Albeit with different language, modern quantum physicists echo Ayurvedic knowledge. Modern science and ancient wisdom agree on the nature of the universe.  But, only the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda gives us the practical advice necessary to roll with the seasons and keep our mind-body in balance.  Pick up a copy of Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way.  The information tucked inside its cover will help you to create and maintain perfect health and its by-product—-happiness!

Tips for Not Tipping the Scale During Holiday Time

Most of us eat more in the winter than during summertime.  Couple that fact with the available mounds of food offered during holiday time, and you have a recipe for an expanded waistline.

 

People can and do disagree on pretty much everything but if you want to get a clear consensus of opinion on a subject ask a group of individuals if they want to gain weight during the holidays.  I’ll bet you (and I think I will win) that every person will answer that of course they don’t wish to gain weight.  But, alas and alack, many of us do put on a few pounds during holiday time.

 

The holidays are a dangerous time for weight gain.  But, if we follow general Ayurvedic guidelines we can maintain our weight.   

 

Following are some Ayurvedic tips for maintaining ideal weight.

 

1.  Ayurveda tells us that no one size fits all!  The next time you read about that perfect diet in a magazine remember that it will work for some people, but not for everyone.  We each have a unique constitution and the weight loss plan that works best for you depends on your particular constitution.  To learn more about your constitutional type pick up a copy of Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way. Sandra and I have included questionnaires that will help you zero in on this.  If you are a person who can follow a diet, the information in our book will assist you in deciding what type of diet will give you the best results.  If you are following a diet right now and it isn’t working for you, toss it out.  After you learn about your constitutional type you will be better able to find an eating style that fits your needs.

 

2.  Ayurveda suggests that dieting should not be about calorie counting.  A focus on calorie counting causes restriction and restriction puts stress on the mind-body. Stress only brings about more physiological imbalances, mentally, physically, and certainly emotionally.  Ayurveda tells us that lasting change is achieved step by step and should be done in an easy way.  Make one small change in your lifestyle and when that change becomes a habit and feels good to you, then add something else. Eventually your lifestyle will support your ideal weight.

 

3.  In order to lose weight Ayurveda tells us to focus on ama reduction and optimizing metabolism.  Ama is the Sanskrit word for toxins. Ama takes many forms (the plaque on our teeth is ama) but is frequently large molecules of undigested food that clog the digestive tract, i.e. “gunk”.  Ama gets in the way of optimal metabolic power and can contribute to cravings.  When we diminish ama the nutrients from the food we eat can be distributed throughout the body, and communication among the physical systems is unimpeded.  The eventual result is that we feel satisfied after eating and can maintain a healthy glow, a vibrant spirit and an ideal weight. 

 

In Chapter 14 of Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way we offer many tips for ama reduction and the creation of a healthy metabolism. 

 

4.  If you do gain a few pounds over the holidays we suggest you begin a routine of consuming only liquids one day a week.  You can eat anything as long as it is in liquid (pureed) form.  Liquids are easy to digest and help an overworked digestive system to recuperate. 

5.  Of course on holidays you won’t be following a regular schedule but before and after those special days you can create a routine that will help you to maintain your weight. Ayurveda always suggests making lunch the biggest meal of the day and eating a small dinner.  This is a good idea for your overall health and will be helpful if you wish to lose weight.  Digestive power is strongest around noontime. Soup is an excellent choice for dinner. 

6.  Eating before 7:30 p.m. is suggested because digestive power is weakest at night when the body is shutting down and preparing for rest.  Make sure your food is warm. Cold foods cause a build-up of ama (toxins.)

Sandra and I hope that if you are at your ideal weight Ayurvedic tips can help you to stay there. If you wish to lose weight don’t stress or strain. Most diets do not work because they encourage restriction and restriction is stressful, therefore, in the end these calorie-counting diets are bound to fail.  Put your focus on reducing ama and encouraging a healthy metabolism.

 

We send our best wishes to you for perfect health, happiness and we wish you happy holidays and joy with your waist line!

The Popularity of Spirituality

For many years, perhaps for centuries, the majority of Westerners believed the quest for spirituality should be left mostly to people of the East.  Spirituality was believed to conflict with materiality, with work, with living a worldly life.  A widely held belief was that in order to live a spiritual life it was necessary to close oneself off from the world; to live in a cave, a monastery, or other form of seclusion.

 

This has changed.  Spirituality is openly spoken about and millions of Westerners are on a spiritual path.

 

 

What is spirituality? 

 

Spirituality refers to having access to the abstract aspects of life. To be spiritual is to blend the two realms of our being; body and soul.  It is to create greater self-awareness and spirituality is a compelling force that motivates us to higher heights. Spirituality is equated with happiness, intelligence, power and creativity.  When we are truly spiritual beings we are connected to universal intelligence and goodness.

 

We don’t need to live a cloistered lifestyle in order to engage both body and soul. A spiritual life can be had while living an active life, engaged in the world.  These different aspects of our existence actually enhance each other.

 

These days there are many spiritual paths offered to us.  Finding advice on how to put spirituality into your life is not difficult.

 

But, did you know that there are very practical ways to enhance spirituality.  Today I offer you three practical ways to enhance the spiritual in your life.

 

1. Sleep gives a lift to your spirit.  Sleep provides the mental clarity you need to develop self-awareness.  It adds depth to your thinking, allowing a greater appreciation of the richness of the abstract aspects of our lives—that which we can see only with our mind’s eye.  Spirituality is enhanced by a well-rested physiology.  Our physiology is programed to sleep during the hours of 10 or 11 p.m. until 6 or 7 a.m.  Too much sleep makes us lethargic and too little sleep or sleep at the wrong time of the day will not be beneficial to our wellbeing.
2. Yoga postures keep our nerve pathways clear and active so that the electrical impulses can travel efficiently. Energizing the nerves that activate all parts of the body improves mental capacity, attention, mental power, and gives access to our spiritual nature.  Look for a yoga practice that is right for you!
3. Meditation.  Sandra and I recommend Transcendental Meditation because this technique gives deep rest to the physiology; rest that is healing and restorative.  Meditation is like brushing your teeth:  you must do it daily if you want to have its benefits for life.  You wouldn’t think of going about your day without brushing your teeth, yet we think nothing of neglecting to “polish” our consciousness through the process of meditation.

 

Spirituality has become popular!  In the past this subject was, in many circles, a hushed topic.  It was more acceptable to talk about making big pots of money than to talk about a desire for the spiritual.  No more is this so.  The blend of body and soul is understood as a beneficial way to live life.  Taking care of your body is a good place to begin your spiritual quest.  And, the better you take care of yourself the more you have to give to others!

 

As always, Sandra and I wish you perfect health and the deep happiness that accompanies spirituality.

 

Not Feeling Well? Is Digestion the Culprit?

I have wondered how frequently inefficient digestion can be implicated in physical, emotional and mental problems.  I know that, according to Ayurveda, digestion problems are the underlying culprit in many issues.

 

This weekend I visited with a young woman named Ashley and she had an interesting tale to tell.  Ashley said she felt terrible the last few weeks of her final term at college.  After coming home her symptoms worsened.

 

Ashley’s symptoms were all over the place.  She had a constant headache.  The pain in her head was, she said, “Like a narrow tense bar that extended over my eyes.”  The headache would become more intense after she ate.

 

Ashley was tired.  Sleep did not rest her body and she felt more tired after eating. She had inertia and wanted to do nothing but lie on the sofa and watch reruns of Gilmore Girls!  Parents aren’t happy when their teenage kids don’t want to rise off the sofa and so her family relationships began to suffer.  Her parents wanted her to see a therapist because she seemed depressed.  Ashley did not deny feeling down in the dumps but she adamantly insisted that something else was wrong.

 

Last Thursday Ashley had a meeting with an Ayurvedic practitioner and she learned that the underlying issue for the depression, the headache, the lethargy and inertia were—-you guessed it—digestive problems.  Her digestive system is a mess because of the poor eating habits she picked up at school.  During finals week her eating habits worsened and this was, so to speak, the icing on the cake.  She came home with the headache, low-grade depression and lethargy.

 

Today is Monday and Ashley began a cleanse on Thursday. She said she already feels significantly better.  She is giving her system a rest by staying away from gluten, heavy dairy products and meat.  Twice a day she drinks an 8 oz glass of water with 1 tablespoon of cider vinegar in it.  (She winced and made a “bad” face when she spoke of this concoction but acknowledged that it seems to be helpful.)  She is staying away from things that are difficult to digest such as cheese and salads.  Basically, in addition to cleansing her system, she is giving it a rest.

 

The Vaidya, Ayurvedic practitioner, who Ashley saw told her that her digestive system was full of toxins.  Since the digestive system was not working properly her immune system was low. She was fortunate that she hadn’t picked up a bad cold or the flu.  When the immune system is as low as Ashley’s it is also possible to develop allergies.

 

In Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way we discuss nutrition at length.  We discuss optimizing digestion and we give the Ayurvedic guidelines for eating.  We advise our readers that if these guidelines are followed, physical, mental and emotional health will be enhanced.

 

I asked Ashley to tell me what she had been eating at school.  “Oh,” she said, “You know, pizza and cheeseburgers and lots of diet coke and well, it wasn’t just what I was eating but when I was eating, mostly I ate late at night and now I understand that my food wasn’t being digested.  It was turning into toxins.” (undigested food).  “I became” Ashley noted, “a tank of ama.”  (Ama is the Ayurvedic word for toxins.)

 

She also told me that she was constantly hungry, never feeling satiated by her meals and that she had developed cravings.  Constant hunger and cravings are symptoms of toxic buildup in the physiology.

 

While at college, Ashley is gaining knowledge that will help her to build a career.  Now that she is home she is learning how to take care of herself.  After all, without health she wouldn’t have the vitality necessary to put her education to use!

 

Her story is an interesting one especially because we all tend to focus on symptoms when we feel poorly and we often don’t look for the underlying causes. The next time your health feels challenged, take a look at digestion as a possible culprit.  It just might be the source of the problem and might be easily fixed.  Remember, the physiology is not a hunk of material but a pattern of vibrations so the state of our being can change very quickly in either direction—toward health or away from it.  It did take several months of poor eating habits for Ashley’s problems to surface but they are dissipating very rapidly.  She is amazed at how quickly her new eating regimen is helping her to feel better and me—well, I’m just always amazed at the wisdom inherent in the human body when we know how to trigger the physician within!

 

As always, Sandra and I wish you perfect health and happiness.  Today we also wish you perfect digestion!

 

 

 

Rainy Days and the Start of a New Week: Do They Always Get You Down?

Good Morning!  Is it raining where you are?

It’s Tuesday and it’s pouring in Detroit. This weather and the day of the week remind me of the Carpenters’ song Rainy Days and Mondays always get me down.

Do you remember that song?

 

Rainy days are kapha days and on these days the following words of the song, “hanging around, nothing to do but frown” can ring true.

 

We might not feel energetic on a rainy day but do you know why this is so?  Do you know why weather affects the physiology?

 

According to Ayurveda, nature and the body are part of a single continuum of intelligence.  As the ancient Vedic sages told us: “As it is in the macrocosm, so it is in the microcosm.”  The microcosm (our physiology) is affected by the macrocosm (the weather!)

 

Actually our physiology is affected by everything in our environment. Certainly a phenomena as powerful as the weather possesses the power to affect us in myriad ways.

Rainy days can make us feel heavy or they can trigger a feeling of inertia.

 

Kapha dosha, the combination of water and earth, is expressed on rainy days.  In many parts of the United States rainy days are frequent occurances during springtime so Kapha dosha gets expressed often.

 

Maintaining doshic balance is the primary Ayurvedic tool for health and Ayurveda has helpful tips for maintaining physiological balance at this or any other time of the year.

 

What I got they used to call the blues…Nothing really to do…What I feel has come and gone before.

 

Do you feel more down at one time of the year than another?  Many people do and spring is a noted time for depression to rear its ugly head. When the heat and sun of summer arrive most people begin to feel more energetic and lively,  but you do not have to wait for the weather to change in order to feel better.  It’s possible to stay in balance despite climatic change.

 

If you only feel a little bit down on a rainy day and you know that this feeling will pass you’re probably doing just fine.  On the other hand, if you experience depression on these dreary days then I suggest you pick up a copy of Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way and begin your read by focusing on the sections about balancing kapha dosha.  The book will give you an understanding about how your physiology is affected by the environment and you’ll pick up tips for maintaining balance.

 

Feelin’ like I don’t belong…Walkin’ around, some kind of lonely clown…

 

This is no way to feel.  Depression is created and depression can be undone.  Ayurveda provides an instruction manual for maintaining balance and experiencing good health and happiness.  The rainy days of spring do not have to bring unhappiness, loneliness, or down days to your doorstep.  Ayurveda can give you help in maintaining balance no matter the weather!  Accompanying balance is the gift of vitality and a rainy day can’t dampen a vital and energetic spirit!

 

Sandra and I wish you the best and we hope that you feel energetic no matter what the weather is in your zip code!

 

Developing Awareness and Improving Relationships: with yourself and others!

Most people occasionally worry, or at least wonder, how they affect other people.  We all want to be liked. Degree of concern about effect on other people can vary from severe worry to occasional concern or wonderment.  At the same time, we all need the ability to effectively stand up for ourselves. Doing this while not damaging relationships can be a challenge.

Human beings have a wide range of emotional responses and our interactional behavior is triggered by these responses. Of course the inverse is also true.  The manner in which we interact does affect our emotional life.

Scientific research tells us that healthy and happy relationships are pivotal for overall health.  Interactions are the foundation of relationships.  Developing awareness of how you interact with others can be helpful for your overall health!

Do you focus on other people’s responses to you in order to figure out how you are perceived?  Do you worry about how others interpret your words?  Do you try to “figure” out other people in order to “know” how to interact with them?

If you do any of the above I suggest you make life easier for yourself and focus only on yourself.  Wow!  Am I suggesting that we all become narcissists?  No, but I am suggesting that each of us become an expert on our own feelings and be more concerned with how we interact than with how others interact with us.

I learned TM in 1983 and one of the first benefits I became aware of was more positivity in my relationships and a better ability to make my points without rancor.  I was able to stand up for myself in a strong and clear way without conveying negativity.  In addition, I became less confused about others’ responses.  Each response tells us how our words were received by the person we are speaking with.  Having awareness of what emotions I was conveying in my interactions helped me to create a positive flow in conversations.  Awareness is empowerment!

Interactions do rise up from emotions and at any given time each of us has a plethora of emotions that we can access.  Did you just respond to someone in a fairly nasty way because you were jealous of her?  Did you respond sweetly because you felt sorry for the person you were speaking with?  Did you feel mean when you spoke just now?  Did your words rise up from a mean feeling that perhaps had nothing to do with the person to whom you were speaking?

People pick up on tone of voice and general affect much faster than they do content (words.)  Being aware of your internal emotional life gives you the ability to interact in your own best interests and in an overall positive manner. Even conflicts are more readily resolved if the tone remains positive.

Research has shown that practitioners of Transcendental Meditation report more positive relationships after learning the technique. I believe there are many reasons why this is so.  TM affects the central nervous system thereby affecting the mind-body in an overall positive manner. At the same time, TM gives a wide-angle lens to perceive our thoughts and emotions. This awareness is a helpful tool when we wish to initiate conversation or respond to someone.  Meditation helps us to be aware of where our interactions are coming from. This is incredibly empowering!

What’s the point of worrying about how we affect other people?   We have no control over this dynamic.  However, if we build awareness of our emotions and how interactions spring from these emotions we gain power and control of the only entity we can ever possibly control——ourselves.

Transcendental Meditation has many benefits.  Following are a few:

• Dissolving Deep-Seated Stress
• Providing Deep Rest
• Alleviating Anxiety
• Expanding Awareness
• Enhancing Locus of Control
• Physiological Adaptability
• Psychological Adaptability
• Purification of Mind and Body
• Integration and Personal Growth

Put all these benefits together and you have the recipe for success in all areas of life.  Relational success is one of these.  As awareness of your internal processes expands you become better equipped to interact in a manner that builds positivity in your relationships.

A recent study showed that compared to a group of non-meditators, most subjects who practiced the TM technique for an average of six weeks showed a significant increase in self-actualization (i.e., an open, receptive, and caring attitude, cheerfulness and good humor, positive thinking, spontaneity, self-sufficiency, and an acceptance of self, nature and others).  The level of self-actualization was highest for long-term (average 43 months) meditators, indicating that the benefits of the TM technique are cumulative.

There is ample research showing that meditators engage in more positive relationships.  These studies show an increase in self-reliance as well.  This makes sense because self-reliance gives a greater ability to have positive relationships.  Relationships that enhance wellbeing are built one interaction at a time.

As always, Sandra and I wish you happiness, perfect health—-and joyful relationships!

 

Happiness is Your Birthright!

I was a student in Catholic schools during the 1950’s.

 

All organizations are influenced by culture and at that time the culture inherent in my school was that we must suffer to attain the bliss that the after life offers.  Life was a valley of tears and only heaven offered happiness.

 

The belief systems given to children form the foundation for their perceptions about life.  Perceptions become a part of us and we take them for granted.

 

I did not realize how deeply I had ingrained the belief that there is glory in suffering until I began to study Ayurveda.  When I first heard through Ayurveda that happiness was equated with perfect health and was the birthright of all human beings, I experienced an internal release that fascinated me.  This was the experience of a major shift in perceptual awareness.  I became more open to the experience of happiness!  I am certain that being more open to happiness enhanced my overall health as well as my overall happiness.

 

If we are healthy and our doshas are in balance, positive thinking will come naturally to us.  At the same time, positive thinking can move our physiology in a healthier direction.  The mind, body and spirit are connected at a deep level and whatever affects one aspect of our being affects the totality.

 

Ayurveda (and modern science) teaches that it takes very little to change our physiology in a healthier direction.  We can do this by using our mind and our attitude.  Think of it this way:  if you tug on one leg of a table the entire table moves.  If you make a mental shift you can reset your entire physiology.  For instance, modern science and Ayurveda teach us that the experience of love and of being a loving person is healing to the mind-body.  Making a decision to “be more loving” can create a change in your cellular structure, bringing you closer to ideal health.

 

One of the most exciting fields in modern medical research is Psychoneuroimmunology. PNI studies the links between the mind and the body.  This science has demonstrated that our emotional body conducts many of our physiological responses.  Consider the following:

 

• The feeling of joy, defined as “mental resilience and vigor” by researchers, was the second strongest predictor of survival time among women with recurrent breast cancer, following “length of disease-free intervals.”

 

• The two highest risk factors for a first heart attack in men under fifty are not the ones taught in medical school—overweight, smoking, diabetes, family history, or high cholesterol—but a lack of job satisfaction and a low level of general happiness.

 

• Herpes infections recur more frequently in people who are depressed.

 

• Bereavement causes a drop in the number of T-cells, an indication of the diminished capacity of the immune system to respond, which subsequently normalizes as the grief lessens over time.

 

• Some terminally ill people, especially women, are able to “postpone” imminent death until after an event they cherish and long to see, such as a family wedding or the birth of a grandchild, or even until a meaningful holiday has passed.

 

• In one study, flu was found to be most common amount the employees whose morale was lowest.

 

(A Woman’s Best Medicine, Lonsdorf, Butler and Brown)

 

The convergence of ancient medicine and modern science is exciting.  Both are telling us that happiness on earth is not only possible, and, indeed, our right as human beings, but that this emotion can be stabilized and it will enhance our health.

 

Yes, suffering is a part of everyone’s life.  But an attitude that embraces suffering is not in our best interest.  On the contrary, the experience of love and happiness enhances our spirituality and our overall health. Happiness is ours for the taking and yes it is our birthright!

 

As always, Sandra and I wish you happiness and perfect health!

Women, Violence and Meditation

On March 31^st The David Lynch Foundation hosted a sold-out conference at New York City’s Air and Space Museum.  CNN anchor Soledad O’Brian was conference chair and the title of the conference was “Women, Violence and Meditation.”

 

The main focus of the conference was the scientific research on the helpfulness of one form of meditation, Transcendental Meditation, for victims of trauma.  The use of the TM technique to heal anxiety, depression, and suicidal tendencies in persons who have experienced trauma was explored.

 

Dr. Fred Travis, a neuroscientist from the Center for Brain, Consciousness and Cognition explained to the group that traumatic stress creates a veil of fear through which a person experiences the world.  “You are hyper-vigilant, vulnerable, you think people don’t understand you,” said Dr. Travis.  “Because this is what your brain is telling you.”

 

According to neuroscience traumatic experience turns on the amygdala, the non-verbal area of the brain and the seat of the fight or flight response.  To recover Dr. Travis said, “We need an experience that is the opposite of trauma—an experience that is holistic and not fragmented, an experience that is silent and not chaotic.  When a person transcends, moves beyond thought and emotion, during meditation the fear signals from the brain get turned off.”

 

“Why did this happen to me?” is often the biggest question and main source of confusion and pain that a victim of trauma, rape or abuse must live with.  We can’t always explain the reasons for acts of violence, yet through the regular experience of peacefulness gained through meditation we can overcome its effects.

 

Deep within us—beyond the subconscious—is the silent transcendental field of our awareness, which remains untouched by life’s negative impressions. Meditation moves us from the surface busyness of the mind to this field.  It does this in an effortless, natural and easy way.  From the regular practice of this experience arises a power of reassurance that can pervade every fiber of our being, so that we become whole—healed and at peace.

 

Does it Really Work?

 

A handful of controlled studies support the effectiveness of the TM technique in alleviating PTSD.  There has been research ranging from Vietnam War Veterans to soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

 

According to a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed piece by W. Scott Gould, Deputy Secretary of the Veteran’s Administration, “Transcendental Meditation has received substantial attention at the Department of Veteran Affairs, the Department of Defense and the National Institutes of Health.”  He says the VA has embarked on a series of clinical investigations into the effectiveness of all forms of meditation.

 

Tara Wise Jones, executive director of the National Women’s Veteran’s Association of America said that Transcendental Meditation saved her life.  “It calmed my mind, helped to restore my nurturing nature, restored my femininity and has helped me to become a better thinker.  Once I learned, I didn’t have to depend on anyone else, it makes me feel good inside mentally and physically.”

 

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I suggest practice of the TM technique for healing depression.  We give a review of significant research and explain the process of learning. This technique must be learned through a trained teacher.  The fact that such a subtle yet powerful mental technique can be taught at all is amazing, but of course it cannot be learned from a book.

 

TM does work.  It does heal anxiety and depression and we hope that you will look into its benefits.  You can learn more about the TM technique through Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way or online by clicking on tm.org.

 

As always, Sandra and I wish happiness and good health for you!