Will Natural Treatments for Depression Also Work as Effective Treatments for Anxiety?

For several years newspapers, magazines, and TV talk shows were chock full of “depression-talk.”

The rates of depression were, and still are, rising propitiously and conversation about the phenomenon of depression and possible cures for this malady were discussed endlessly.

 

I haven’t  noticed as much “depression-discussion” in recent weeks.  The conversation has shifted to discussion of anxiety.  Now it seems as if newspapers, magazines, and TV talk shows are chock full of “anxiety-talk.”

 

I wonder why this shift occurred. One reason could be that  research has shown the anti-depressant medications to work, in most cases, no better than placebos. Discussion of a problem, when it is believed that no strategy for solution can be offered might, perhaps, block the discussion.

 

It is my hope that discussion about depression will be renewed and will focus on the good news that solutions do exist! Natural medicine and natural solutions definitely work as effective treatments and cures. For the majority of people drugs have been shown to be ineffectual and, therefore, not needed.   We do not need to collectively grieve over this news. Instead we can turn our attention in a different direction and find viable natural  treatments which empower and enhance overall health.

 

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I describe how depression is created and we offer seven anti-depressant strategies, coming from Ayurveda, the oldest form of natural medicine.

 

And here is some exciting news—–the same strategies that effectively treat depression work also for the treatment and cure of anxiety!  You see, neither anxiety nor depression are isolated conditions.  These maladies are tied to the overall health of the entire seamless energetic system that is YOU and understanding how to process matter and digest life is curative. Ayurveda offers an instruction manual on how to accomplish this; how to attain physiological balance and to deter the problems of both anxiety and depression.

 

We’ve written a lot about depression.  Today I want to focus on anxiety and offer one specific strategy to alleviate this disorder.

 

Anxiety is truly our enemy.  It gets in the way of nurturing relationships.  We can become detached or revved up because of anxiety.  Either way makes true connection impossible. Anxiety makes focus on our work difficult and sleep impossible.  Because we each possess a unique nervous system, anxiety is displayed differently by different people.  Some people shut down while others fly about, eating on the run, moving from thing to thing like a jack rabbit on steroids.  When anxiety overwhelms, panic attacks or phobias can occur.  All of us suffer occasionally from a degree of generalized anxiety.  Those who experience phobias, such as hypochondria or agoraphobia have severe anxiety.

 

What is the basis of anxiety?   It is, in most cases, triggered by a depleted nervous system.  Our physiology is in an ongoing energetic exchange with both its immediate environment and with the universe at large. In other words—we are affected by our expectations of ourselves and others and by everything and everyone around us.  Staying in balance is necessary if we are to keep our equilibrium.  Life is often filled with obstacles and challenges which profoundly effect our mind-body. We need strategies helping us to maintain physiological balance and relieve stress.

 

We need to effectively treat anxiety because this disorder can make our life miserable.  Nothing that happens to us is as bad as the anxiety which can  accompany the event.  Anxiety is so uncomfortable that oftentimes individuals become fearful of its presence.  This fear creates a tension which insures the occurrence of a subsequent attack. Whether you suffer from generalized anxiety, anxiety about the occurrence of anxiety, panic attacks or phobias, simple, breathing techniques can be helpful.  Breathing techniques are powerful medicine but guess what—-the breath is free medicine. No expense occurs!  And there are no troublesome side effects.

 

Breathing techniques are potent.  Integrating the performance of our respiratory tract with that of our nervous system has an impact on our digestive, immune, circulatory, and endocrine functioning.  When used properly and on a regular basis breathing techniques help us to exert voluntary control over our mental and emotional states.  The oxygen that meets your nose is a medicine that can effectively treat anxiety disorders.  No kidding!

 

Our breath mirrors our moods.  When we become anxious shortness of breath ensues.  Choppy, irregular breathing causes an inadequate exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide, which in turn causes the heart to pump faster to oxygenate the blood.  Such an increase in heart rate enhances the experience of anxiety.  When your hear pumps wildly, your thoughts race, your emotions are bound to be out of control and vitality will evaporate.

 

Begin to train your nervous system to function in a calm and healing mode by focusing on nose breathing.  Mouth breathing has the same effect as gasping for air:  it sends a message to the brain that the physiology is in a state of stress; the physiology then responds by going into overdrive.

 

When air enters through the nose, it affects the part of the brain that sends a message of relaxation to the nervous system.  A deep full breath through the nose also ensures that oxygen is being delivered to the lower lobes of the lungs.  As the lower lobes expand to accept the gush of air, stretch receptors are activated. These receptors trigger the release of biochemicals that ground one’s mental torrents yet invigorate the physiology.  Putting the breath under your voluntary control is a great antidote for a physiology that is overcome with anxiety and exhaustion.That’s why so many people advise, “Take a deep breath” when the going gets rough or when things get tense—–because it works!

 

Breathing techniques are but one of the solutions Ayurveda offers for the treatment of anxiety.

If you are suffering from an anxiety disorder we hope you will utilize your breath as a free and effective treatment and that you will come to Ayurveda to learn about other interventions!  There are many and the good news is this—they work!

 

As always, Sandra and I wish you health, happiness, and—– an anxiety free day.

 

Western Yoga!

Yesterday morning I went to a yoga class.  I left wondering if yoga has been westernized everywhere or just in the class I had wandered into.

 

No pain no gain was the mantra of the young woman who taught my Sunday morning class.  She encouraged us to concentrate and to hold poses significantly beyond the comfort level.  Her theory was that holding poses for a long time could prepare one to handle the challenges of life.

 

She spoke about living life by going with the flow.  It was her belief that we could take life more easily if we concentrated and struggled during our hour of yoga.

 

We were told that taking a drink of water during class or fidgeting was a symptom of the desire to flee from difficulties.

 

Yikes!  I left the class wondering how the western no pain no gain exercise philosophy had became intertwined with yoga.

 

The purpose and goal of this ancient form of exercise is to assist us in achieving a state in which the physical body, the senses, the mind, and the spirit are fully integrated, functioning in unison. The practice of yoga poses should never put stress on the mind-body.  Its purpose is to remove stress.  When we remove stress we free the mind and body to do what my teacher suggested—-to go with the flow of life.  She had the correct destination but was directing her students to travel on an incorrect road!

 

Within the solid mass of flesh and bones we call our body is a network of channels that transports energy and natural intelligence.  The life force—the energy extracted from our digestion of thoughts, emotions, and food—moves through these channels.  The musculoskeletal system holds together this bundle of channels, but it is our posture and our breath that direct the flow of energy throughout the network.  A yoga practice is meant to put a plug on the energy drain caused by our overactive mind and body in response to the stresses of life.  In essence, it should revitalize us.  It should fill us with life energy!

 

The goal of yoga is met when we perform our poses with gentle awareness on the body.  This attention is like water to a plant.  It provides nourishment and liveliness to the physiology and refreshes as it rejuvenates.

 

Do you do yoga?  In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I promote the use of yoga poses to heal depression. Yoga is considered the ideal Ayurvedic exercise because it rejuvenates the mind, improves digestion, and removes the stress incurred in the process of daily living.  If performed correctly yoga addresses the three key Ayurvedic principles for health maintenance:  restoration of energy, enhancement of digestion, and purification of the physiology.

 

If you haven’t tried yoga yet may we suggest you do so.

Remember that yoga poses are indeed, as my teacher suggested, an exercise system, but they are so much more than that.  Research has shown that they are a form of medicine, dissolving many problems and helping good health to flourish. You can practice yoga in a studio, at home, or go back and forth between the two.  Should you wander into a class where you are told to focus and struggle our counsel is to not listen to this advice but to turn your attention gently inward and allow your awareness to develop and your body to heal.

 

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

 

 

 

Toxins are the Enemy!

Think of it this way:  in order to function properly, we are not unlike our cars; we need to clean out the dirt and grime in our systems.

 

Over time and because of life style mistakes, we accumulate impurities and toxins into our system.  When these accumulate at the cellular level, they impede the flow of natural intelligence throughout.  These impediments eventually cause the cells to forget how to function.  Removing toxins is often the first step toward physical, mental and emotional health.

 

Western medicine has traditionally been focused on putting things into the body, not on purification.  Ayurveda, on the other hand, has always fostered taking things, aka toxins, out of the body.  Purification is necessary if we are to have good health.  In recent times many Western experts have become interested in purification of the physiology. Recently the cleanse has generated a great deal of interest.  This is good!  A cleanse, done correctly, can go a long way toward the restoration of vitality.

 

When vitality is weak and our metabolic fire is burning low, it is easy to accumulate toxins in our mind-body.  According to Ayurveda, toxins are the things that disease is made of because they block the free flow of our innate intelligence at different levels of our being.  There are three types of toxins:  physical, mental, and emotional.  Physical toxins obstruct our biological processes and are formed when the food we eat is not digested properly.  Emotional toxins are residues carried from one experience to another, obstructing the full enjoyment of the here and now.  Mental toxins block access to our inner knowledge, our intuition.

 

Toxins cement depression, causing some of its main symptoms:  low energy and fatigue, cloudy or slowed thinking, poor memory, appetite disturbances, increased sensitivity to pain, headaches, backaches, sore muscles, constipation, and low immunity to disease.  The first thing that people feel when they begin to succumb to depression is often a sense of malaise. It is not uncommon to hear people say, “I just don’t feel quite right.”  We can understand this in terms of what an accumulation of toxins is doing to the physiology.  Perhaps this is why the appearance of a seemingly unexplainable illness is often the harbinger of depression.

 

In our book Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way Sandra and I thoroughly explain the concept of toxins and we give many ideas for how to clear the mind-body.

And last week on this blog we offered two recipes for cleansing smoothies.  Creating health through smoothies does seem a bit silly, doesn’t it?  But remember everything we come in contact with and certainly everything we consume has an affect on us.  If a drink can help to remove toxins from the physiology then yes, that drink, even if it is called a smoothie, can be helpful for overall health!

 

We want to remind you that an accumulation of toxins is often at the source of problems.  If you wish to lose weight and are dieting but not losing the chances are that the problem is toxic blockages.  If you haven’t been able to feel like your old self after a stressful time, the chances are that the problem is mental and/or emotional toxic accumulation.

 

Transcendental Meditation is extraordinarily helpful in the process of purification.   Exercise, sleep, yoga and nutrition are also helpful for physiological renewal.  I would be remiss if I did not mention these interventions.  Meditation is the cornerstone of our anti-depressant strategies.

 

However, today I want to share an intervention that tastes good and can boost purification. This is a recipe for lemonade!  Yes, lemonade can help to clean your liver, therefore removing toxins from your system.  In the summer time lemonade is especially helpful because it is cooling and on hot days we need cooling substances to help us stay in physiological balance.

 

Following is the recipe.  Enjoy and when you drink it know that you are doing your physiology a favor.  The body appreciates acts of kindness and removing toxins is an act of kindness.

 

                 Green Lemonade

 

Five leaves of kale—chopped, no stems

1 apple or ripe pear—chopped

1 tsp grated ginger

Juice of 1 lemon

Sweeten with raw honey, raw agave, raw coconut nectar, or stevia

 

If you have a juicer, then no need to cop kale or apple, or grate ginger.

 

If using a blender, blend chopped kale and chopped apple along with 10 oz. of water.

Strain.  Add grated giner and the lemon jice.  Sweeten to taste.

 

This lemonade will cut down on an accumulation of heat in the body.  It will clean the liver and the ginger is pungent and will activate and optimize your digestive fire.  When digestive fire is optimized you will find losing weight easier and you will feel more energetic.

 

May I suggest that you raise your glass of lemonade on high and propose a toast to VITALITY, wonderful vitality that is experienced through a toxic free physiology!

 

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

 

 

 

 

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!

 

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!

 

 

 

 

The Making of Depression: Brain Chemicals and Their Elemental Counterparts

It’s not just low serotonin that’s making you blue. Depression comes about through a nexus of factors, and its tentacles affect youe entire being. Once it’s seeded in your physiology, it impacts your neuro transmitters. Different types of derangement in these biochemicals lead to different symptoms. In fact, the chemical derangements mirror the categories of elemental imbalances set forth by Ayurveda.

Archetype     Elemental Imbalance    Chemical Derangement

Airy                     Vata imbalance                         Low serotonin

Burning              Pitta imbalance                         High norepinephrine and/or
dopamine

Earthy                Kapha imbalance                     Low norepinephrine and/or
dopamine

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