There are many natural therapies that you can utilize to help ease or alleviate your depression; in addition to your conventional talk therapy and medications, if you choose too. Please consult with your doctor and pharmacist if you decide to take any herbs along with you medications. There can be negative interactions; especially with St. Johns Wort.
You would be surprised how simple things like walking everyday for twenty minutes in sunlight can improve your mood and help you sleep better. Supplements can also help your depression as can eating healthy. Yoga is excellent for you mentally and physically. Meditation can reduce blood pressure, relieve stress, and open your mind and consciousness to light and a Higher Power. Journaling can put you in touch with your feelings. Visualizing and affirming your dreams and goals are positive steps toward a healthier and productive life. Having a grateful heart puts a positive perspective on things.
There are natural therapies I will discuss in the next posts.
•EXERCISE
YOGA
AFFIRMATIONS AND VISUALIZATIONS
•MEDITATION
•JOURNALING
•A HIGHER POWER
•EATING HEALTHY
•BE GOOD TO YOURSELF
•A CIRCLE OF SUPPORT
•AN ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
•EXPRESS YOURSELF
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YO
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DISCLAIMER
The Blog, Black and Blue is not a substitution for direct, personal, professional mental medical care and diagnosis. None of the advice, or natural therapies and supplements mentioned should be used without clearance from your physician or mental health care provider. The information contained within this blog is not intended to provide specific physical or mental health advice, or any other advice whatsoever, for any individual or company and should not be relied upon in that regard. I am not a licensed mental health therapist and nothing on this website should be misconstrued to mean otherwise.
This post is about Yoga and how it can benefit those suffering from depression. I am not against a person seeking the traditional therapies such as psychotherapy and medication, but there are natural alternative therapies that can compliment talk therapy and medications. I did therapy and medication when my depression was severe, and it saved my life.
Now, that my depression has lessened, I feel it can be managed with prayer, yoga, meditation, and holistic medicines. Yoga and meditation can also be combined with traditional therapies until you have your depression under control. Also, possibly through yoga and meditation one can cut back on the medications.
Everyone feels "blue" from time to time, but when depression deepens or persists for a long time, it can suppress your energy for living and make you more vulnerable to disease by dampening the immune system. Depression is sometimes a warning that may help you to protect your mental and physical health. It can be viewed as a signpost, signaling "It’s time for a change.”
Yoga, or "Yog" as it is traditionally called, means "Union with the Divine." It is a science of Self which dates back more than 5,000 years, orginating in India. There is no Eastern spiritual or religious practice that has not been directly or indirectly influenced by this path. The first thing a depressed person stops doing is moving. Regular exercise becomes intolerable.
But Yoga exercise, starting with as few as three poses a day in just a few minutes’ time, coupled with correct breath patterns, can become so pleasant to you that soon you will want to do more and more. The heavy, unmoving feeling of depression will be gone. Yoga exercises put pressure on glands and organs, helping them to produce the soothing, healing chemical balance that is needed to feel well and be well.
Yoga exercises improve circulation, sending invigorating oxygen to your brain and all your muscles. The stretching and strengthening movements flush toxins from the body as well.
Often depression sneaks in slowly, as breathing patterns change from too much sitting at a desk, stress, age, or illness. The deep, invigorating breath techniques of Yoga bring large amounts of fresh oxygen to the brain and other parts of the body. Like a spring wind, it blows through the system bringing new light and strength to the unused parts of the body and mind where depression hides.
Complete relaxation and meditation practice show you how to access the strength and power of your inner self for a support system that keeps you going through all the ups and downs of your life. Meditation and yoga poses can help you attack the root cause of depression - the feeling that you can't handle the demands of your life. It tones the nervous system, stimulates circulation, promotes concentration, and energizes your mind and body.
Practice a daily yoga routine that includes 30 minutes of meditation and at least 20 minutes of poses. Yoga stretching exercises help improve blood circulation making it easier to break through the lethargy that often accompanies depression.
Amy Weintraub, author of the bestseller, “Yoga for Depression” also suffered from depression for years. “Yogis have always believed that depression is that separation from our source. Yoga, including postures, breathing exercises and meditation is the science of positive mental health. Practice Yoga regularly and it will strip away the obstacles that separate you from your source. You will begin to recognize your wholeness. Practice Yoga every day and it will change your life. It changed my life and the lives of many of my students.”
Ms. Weintraub, makes it clear she doesn't recommend yoga as a substitute for conventional medical treatment for depression." Yoga is not instead of psychotherapy or medication," she said. "It's in addition."
Sources:
ABC of Yoga.com
Alternative DepressantTherapy.com
Holisticonline.com
AmericanYogaAssociation.org
Yoga.ygoy.com
Yogafordepression.com
Yogajournal.com
I inadvertently went off anti-depressants a couple of years ago. I was in between health insurances – waiting for the new one to kick in– when I started tapering my meds to make them last. Soon I realized that I wasn't having the usual effects I experience when I don’t take the meds as prescribed – the electric zaps one can feel in their head. Even though I had an appointment to see my shrink and get a new prescription, I didn't keep it. I decided that I was going off of the Zoloft and Wellbutrin I was on.
I had been off and on meds since the late 1980’s. First Prozac - which was popular in the late 80’s – then Celexa, Effexor, Zoloft and Wellbutrin - each at different times. Finding the right medication is akin to finding the right therapist. It takes time, patience, and tenacity. It was the beginning of a new year and a new job for me - so it seemed appropriate.
I also decided to clean out the toxins from the meds by drinking Aloe Vera juice; which I believe, also assisted in helping me lose weight. I started eating healthier; stopped drinking soda, ate more veggies and fruits, cut my juices with mineral water, and cut way back on sugar and starches.
I put on my Walkman and walked for an hour every night. The bloat and weight from the years of medication and overeating started to melt away. My cholesterol numbers dropped down to normal and so did my blood pressure. I started looking like the old Carmen again.
But, I also started feeling emotions that had been buried deep underneath the medications that kept me aloft, stable, and emotionless. I experienced joy and sadness. I could cry over any little thing; which was welcome since the meds seemed to dry up my emotions and tears.
But, about six months into my newness, I started feeling anxious. I woke up with my stomach in knots and nausea. Doom and gloom plagued my thoughts of the present and future. What the hell was this? It was anxiety! The depression had dissipated, but now I was dealing with anxiety, I had forgotten that I was also taking medication for. But, I was determined to do it naturally.
I have always been a proponent of using herbal remedies, having read the Bible of herbology “Back to Eden” some forty years ago. Twenty years ago, I wasn't so sure that herbal remedies would have helped me, when I started on Prozac. There are tinctures, teas, tablets, and capsules filled with singular or combinations of herbs to help depression and anxiety. Certain vitamins can lesson stress and anxiety.
Exercise, yoga, meditation also can alleviate the stressors that contribute to depression, and can boost that much needed serotonin –the feel good hormone that contributes to emotional well being. Two years later, I’m still Prozac free. And I’m doing it naturally. I will discuss what I’m doing in the next few blogs.
