To Be Good It Helps to Feel Good!

 

 

My husband, Bud, and I attended a funeral this morning.  Bud gave one of the eulogies.

 

The funeral was for a man named Patrick, a former colleague of Buds’.

 

Don’t funerals help you to place things in perspective?  Attending funerals, or celebrations of life, as they are so often referred to today, always remind me of the importance of character and values.  Isn’t it our character and values that help us to navigate life’s difficulties?  Integrity is a quality that keeps us thinking straight even when the going is rough and tough.

 

On one hand, it seemed as if Patrick had had a relatively easy life.  He had a lovely wife, a successful career, and two grown sons, who made him very proud.  But was it all easy?  Patrick’s Mother died when he was four years old.

 

He had had to drop out of college because of a lack of funds.  Eventually he did go back to school.  He battled cancer as a younger man and after 28 healthy years he had to resume this battle.  This time he lost.

 

Each speaker today mentioned Patrick’s integrity, his fine character. He was described, over and over, as a “good, good” person.  I think his character dominated his life experience and were evident to all who came in contact with him.  I am certain that it was character and values that guided him through the rough patches, he, like all of us experienced.

 

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I discuss the importance of keeping the mind-body in harmony with nature.  The necessary tools for this endeavor are awareness and intentionality. We are constantly affected by the environment; by what happens to us and what goes on around us.  In spite of challenges it is possible to maintain our natural internal balance.

 

Physiological balance allows us to think more clearly and to have happy feelings even in times of stress.  Physiological balance helps us to maintain our character.  No one behaves well if they feel dreadful emotionally, physically, or mentally.  Balance is key for character, values and integrity.

 

The mind, body and spirit is one seamless energetic system and no matter where we intervene we affect the totality.  Are you behaving the way you believe you ought to behave?  Are you following your values and living according to your belief system?  I hope you are but if you are letting yourself down how about checking into Ayurveda?  This ancient system of medicine can help you to find internal balance, to feel better, and to, therefore, be who you want to be!  The thing about Ayurveda that we treasure is simply this:  it works!  It helps us to achieve perfect health and this assists us in becoming the person we wish to be.

 

As always, Sandra and I send you our best wishes for perfect health and happiness!

 

 

Rolling with the Punches Life Hands Out

Even without a punch or two, living life can be a stressful experience.  Of course, every day brings blessings but every day also brings challenges. Over time meeting these challenges exerts wear and tear on our physiology.

 

The physiology, or the mind-body-spirit, is one seamless energetic system and whatever affects one aspect of this system affects the totality.  Sometimes we forget this principle.  We tend to separate our physical health from our mental and emotional health and to lose awareness of the underlying wholeness sustaining our system.  We forget that a physical illness can be the result of an emotional event or that mental disturbances can be indicative of a lifestyle that has damaged our physical body.  We forget that our physiology is an ecological system.

 

We wish to maintain our overall health and well being while rolling with the punches life hands out.  This is a challenge but it is a challenge that Ayurveda can help us to meet.

 

In Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I explain the principles of Ayurveda in depth.  We explain how this ancient science works, why it works, and we offer questionnaires enabling you to know your constitutional type.  Once you understand your type you will be able, through the information in Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way, to find specific ways to help keep your physiology balanced.  According to Ayurveda, balance is equated with health and its by-product—-happiness.

 

Ayurveda is often referred to as an instruction manual telling us how to live our life.  But it is more than that.  Ayurveda is all about awakening the incredible “physician within” to actualize our potential to heal. More specifically, the physician within can be conceptualized as the natural intelligence inherent in all of us.  This natural intelligence can heal a cut on our finger, bring balance to our brain chemistry, and even heal a broken heart.  When we know how to activate our innate natural intelligence we are able to maintain strength and get through life’s challenges with our health intact.

 

Oftentimes we struggle to maintain a positive belief system in the face of obstacles and challenges.  This is understandable and denotes good character, but if our physiology has become imbalanced due to stressful experiences then these mental efforts only create additional stress.  It is as if we are attempting to put a pretty face over a cesspool.  We will yield a higher benefit if we focus on using the tenets of Ayurveda to balance the physiology.  Once balanced, positive thoughts are natural and we do not have to struggle to maintain them.

 

Ayurveda is ancient yet ultramodern.  It is ancient when measured by chronological time, because the gems of wisdom it offers are timeless.  It is ultramodern, ahead of its time, because its fundamental concepts are currently being explored and expounded upon by those at the cutting edge of modern science and technology, quantum physicists and molecular biologists, among others.  We expect that in the future, as modern wisdom catches up with this ancient science, Ayurveda will become a household word.  We urge you to read about Ayurveda now.  We think that as you read our book you will often realize that we are telling you what you already know, can validate through your experience, and intuitively sense to be correct.  The beauty of this system of health, this thing called Ayurveda, is this:  it works!

 

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

 

 

 

 

Sleep and Panic Attacks

Are you wondering how sleep and panic attacks go together?

 

They are connected in my mind because each of these phenomena has been in the media in the past week.  And, they are intrinsically connected because sleep and panic attacks fit together like a hand and a glove

 

In the Sunday, March 25^th edition of The New York Times Gayle Greene, a professor of English at Scripps College, and author of the book Insomniac wrote about her distress that sleeping pills are no longer recommended by the medical community. This morning, March 26^th, I heard Tina Johnson, Editor-in-Chief of Women’s Health speaking about panic attacks on the Today Show.

 

Neither The Times nor the Today Show connected sleep and panic attacks.  They weren’t mentioned in the same sentence.  Putting these two together is the task of this blog!

 

Ms. Greene is afraid that doctors will stop prescribing sleeping medications because of the danger these pills carry.  Recently a new study in a medical journal reported that people who regularly took sleeping pills were nearly five times more likely to die over a two and a half year period than those who didn’t take them.  I agree with Ms. Greene. This is scary stuff.

 

Ms. Greene’s well-written article discusses the importance of sleep and reports on research telling us that sleep, even more than smoking, exercise or high blood pressure is indicative of how long we will each live. Ayurveda would take this one step further.  Sleep, according to Ayurveda, is more important than even nutrition for our health and wellbeing.

 

Ms. Greene wants to continue to take sleeping pills to alleviate her insomnia and is more afraid of the dangers of sleep deprivation than she is of the medications.  If she is aware that there are many natural ways to encourage sleep she doesn’t mention it.

 

In Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I discuss sleep and insomnia at length and offer many time-tested ways to encourage sleep. No one need suffer from insomnia and no one needs to feel as if the only solution for insomnia is to take a dangerous medication.  As a matter of fact during a chemically induced sleep our body does not efficiently go through the myriad tasks it performs when eyes are closed naturally.

 

Sleep debt breaks the brain and sleeplessness goes against the dictates of Mother Nature.  Ayurveda tips can absolutely prevent and cure insomnia and help any one suffering from this disorder to get their zzz’s by simply closing their eyes. Dangerous medications are not necessary to solve the problem of insomnia.

 

Tina Johnson told her listeners that an initial panic attack comes with no warning but subsequent attacks are triggered by worry about re-occurrence..  She spoke about bio-chemical imbalances and genetics causing panic attacks.

 

There is a correlation between bio-chemical imbalances and panic attacks but a correlation is not a cause.  It simply implies a connection.  It’s that chicken and egg story.  Which came first the chemical imbalance or the panic attack?  And, there are natural ways to balance brain chemistry. Sandra and I discuss these in Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way.

 

Genetics?  Science now tells us that very little is genetically programmed. We have tendencies or leanings toward specific problems but if our physiology is in balance the problem need not come to us.  In other words, just cause Mom had panic attacks you need not experience them!

 

Panic attacks are often triggered, Ms. Johnson, said by an upsetting life experience.  Ayurveda would not disagree with her.  We digest, ingest and assimilate all experiences at a cellular level.  However, Ms. Johnson would have us try not to think about our upsetting experience while Ayurveda would have us focus on rebalancing the physiology.  With balance comes the ability to not dwell on upsets.

 

Sleep enhances our balancing act.  Panic attacks are most often, according to Ayurveda, triggered by an exhausted physiology.  Upsetting experiences and exhaustion go together.  Often when we are upset our routine becomes disrupted and we don’t follow a regular schedule. By not paying enough attention to how much sleep we are getting we begin to set the building blocks for a panic attack in place.

 

Sleep does affect mood. Like the low fuel light on the instrument panel of a car, the symptoms that accompany sleep deprivation are warning signals that you need to stop and refuel or suffer the consequences of running out of gas.  A panic attack is one of these symptoms.

 

If you are experiencing either insomnia or panic attacks Ayurveda can help you.  Breathing techniques, meditation, tips for enhancing and insuring a good night’s rest, nutritional tips, restorative yoga and the right exercise routine are all part of the Ayurveda repetoire.  These natural remedies will help you to snooze and to avoid the terrible discomfort of panic.

 

Sandra and I send you a big wish that you will experience the contentment and good spirits that come with deep rest and blissful sleep!

 

Surviving the Holidays—Emotionally, Physically and Mentally!

The majority of people look forward to the holidays.  They feel excited and hopeful that they will be surrounded by love and good will.  Oftentimes this dream comes true!  But, sometimes people become stirred up by being with the family.  Buttons get pushed and family members become reactive to each other.  Holiday time can be stressful if we allow ourselves to be triggered and reactive to our family members.

Give yourself a talking to while you are preparing the food you will take to your family dinner!  This “conversation” should remind you to focus on your own behavior, your own interactions, and not on the interactions and behaviors of others.  You will digest the emotional experience of being with the family more easily if you keep your attention on yourself.  Be who you want to be within the family and don’t react to triggers from others!  This is how you will protect your emotions and be able to leave the gathering enveloped with that desired feeling of warmth and good will.

There is a lot of food to digest at holiday dinners but remember we also digest experience.  In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I write about digesting experiences.  We recommend the regular practice of Transcendental Meditation to help us with this task.  The TM technique has been shown to remove stresses from the physiology and regular meditators are less reactive to others.  They also recover from all types of stressors more quickly than non-meditators.  Read Chapter 9 in our book to learn more about the amazing benefits of the TM technique.

The mind, body and spirit is one seamless energetic system and no matter where we intervene we affect the totality.  We also suggest you not overeat this holiday season.  If you eat too much you’ll end up feeling sluggish and tired.  After all, your body doesn’t know about holidays—it only knows that suddenly it is expected to process an unusual amount of food. Of course it is going to have trouble with this task and leave you feeling fatigued.

According to Ayurveda (and modern medicine) if we overtax our system and don’t fully digest our food we build up residue.  Is it any wonder that January is the time that depression often announces its presence? Yes, depression happens for a wide variety of reasons, but overeating and overdrinking during the holidays can be one of the variables for the onset of depression.

This holiday season strive to interact with all family members from a grounded state of being.  In the end, the only thing that can deeply bother you is your own behavior—so react from a calm place.  And pace yourself with eating and drinking!  If you follow these prescriptions you’ll have a blessed and joyful holiday!  We wish you the best!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image from http://ticklesandtimeouts.blogspot.com/2010/12/5-ways-to-keep-it-simple-admist-holiday.html