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There are a variety of relaxation techniques that are recommended for those who suffer from depression. They may not be a cure, but they should help to relax a person, depending on the type of exercises.

Exercise can help to relax a person and so potentially lessen stress, which can then lessen the feeling of depression. Some people like to do meditative exercises because they appear to help some feel more in control of their lives. Meditation helps depressives feel more like they are not being left behind by the world.

Some of the best of these meditative practices are yoga exercises. Yoga teachers will tell you that meditation highly benefits a person’s nervous system, while at the same time benefiting your circulation and energizing the body and mind. It is this energy that gives the depressive the feeling that they are finally able to manage the demands in their lives, especially those things that they feel get the better of them all too often.

It is recommended that someone suffering depression spend up to twenty minutes twice a day meditating and at least the same amount of time doing the exercises. The extra energy generated may be the first feeling to get up and go the depressive has had in a long time.

The expectation is that meditation will help to calm and heal the depressive and so allow for the depressed mood to diminish or disappear. If a regular routine of exercise can improve the life of the depressive even to a small degree then perhaps hand in hand with some natural supplement this may be a route worth examining closer.

Like the ancient art of acupuncture and its history with the Chinese, yoga stems from Hindu beliefs that began over five thousand years ago. It is a philosophy that aims to bring the person together within themselves into peace and happiness both on a physical and emotional level.

These ancient forms of repairing yourself seem to be things that in recent years are getting a more serious appraisal from researchers and health care providers. The breathing exercises are said to be some of the best for those suffering from depression, as they are both calming and energizing. The feeling among those who use these techniques is that the breathing exercises cause the body to take in the oxygen better and to get rid of the carbon monoxide more completely. They believe that this improves the brain’s activities including the releasing of natural feel good chemicals. These include oxytocin and endorphins.

If you want to learn more about these techniques start by talking to your health care provider. Then visit some websites on the Internet that is about both depression and yoga. Go to the library and find some of the books that have been written on using yoga to combat depression. Finally visit the local yoga teacher and explain your interest in taking classes. If you are satisfied with the reaction you get then begin classes with hopes for an improved outlook and better overall mood.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Depression.

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Tags: acupuncture, Depression, exercise, meditation, relaxation techniques, stress, yoga

Relaxation therapy is another, though a bit controversial, method for curing or fighting depression. Even though it does not eliminate depression completely, it still has been noted to diminish some of the most difficult to deal with and confused feelings of a depression afflicted person. While some health care providers doubt the positive effect of implementing this method, others are willing to try any method which can bring their patients even a momentary relief. Relaxation therapy technique cannot replace antidepressant medication treatment. Nonetheless, it can be used for augmenting the feeling of strength and contentment, lifting up the veil of depression in a person’s mind. If done properly, relaxation therapy can be useful.

First of all, let us take a look at the process. People, ready to begin their first relaxation therapy session, have to find a quiet, semi dark place for it. For, they do not want to be distracted either by light or by noise. They also are recommended to put on some more comfortable and loose fitting clothes. The best suggested position for relaxation therapy is either sitting or lying down. When all the above mentioned preparations are done, you should close your eyes, put your hands on your chest and breathe slowly. While breathing softly, feel your chest gently moving up and down beneath your hands. After practicing these breathing techniques for a few minutes, you may move on to the next procedure. Keeping on breathing deeply, place your hands on your lap palms down.

Then start picturing a place. It can be any place, a beach, your favorite room, a site seen by you on a photo or some place from your childhood experience. The main thing is that you have to feel relaxed there. Once you select the place, picture yourself there. Think about how good you feel being in that place. Go on establishing that thought in your mind. Spend some time visiting this special place and enjoying it. Finally, think about returning from that place, though, with the prospect of coming back there anytime you want.

At this point the relaxation therapy session is over. It provides people with the special place to relax at and to feel renewed. All you need to do to return there is to find a quiet corner, where you can sit down, close your eyes and relax. The best thing about relaxation therapy is that you need no one’s help in telling you when or where to relax. You can do it whenever you want to.

Relaxation therapy does not help everyone. Some health care providers believe that those who suffer from sever depression will gain no benefits from it at all. If they discover they cannot actually get to their special place in the real life, they will become even more depressed. On the other hand, many people suffering from depression find relaxation technique useful for improving their mood. In this case, anything that brings improvements can be welcomed.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Depression.

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Tags: breathing techniques, Depression, relaxation therapy

In the continuing search for alternates to antidepressants those who suffer from depression are looking to acupuncture as one option. Acupuncture has its origins in Chinese medicines: it is the process by which a qualified therapist inserts thin needles into the skin at particular points with the intention of treating illnesses. This ancient art has been used for over three thousand years in China and many hundreds of years in other nearby Asian countries. It was carried to Europe by early physicians and by missionaries in the sixteen hundreds. But it was not until the 1970s before it had begun to be used and later accepted here.

One of the reasons that it is hard for Westerners to accept that acupuncture works is that the there is as much philosophy behind it as medical proof. The Chinese believe that the way to heal the body is to help it find a balance. They believe that if the body and the mind are not in balance that this is when illness can succeed. They include illnesses of the body and emotional illness like depression.

Studies have shown that acupuncture seems to work for dispelling depression or at least diminishing it. Some physicians will recommend it for their patients who suffer only mild to moderate depression, while others think that acupuncture works well for those who can trace their depressive episodes directly to stress. Still other health care providers will cautiously suggest its use but only if the patient continues on whatever medications they have been using.

So many people wonder how the acupuncturist knows where to put the tiny needles. The acupuncturist targets twelve main nerve pathways, called meridians. There are also eight lesser important pathways. Along these major and minor pathways are some two thousand of these pressure points that can be used depending on where the patient has pain or depression. All of these points are believed to channel energy, (called “chi” or ”qi”) between different parts of the body.

Some people in the medical community have a difficult time believing that sticking a bunch of needles into someone at places that seem unrelated to the medical issue could possibly do the patient any good. Ongoing studies are show that acupuncture does help. A recent study involving a small test group of around forty adult women individualized the acupuncture for each woman and continued for a period of two months. It began with the patient attending two times a week for the first month and then once a week for the second month. When the trial period was over, seventy percent of the patients had a minimum of fifty percent improvement in their symptoms of depression. This is considered at least as good, if not better, then the average results with therapy or perception pills.

There seems to still be much for Westerners to learn about the art of acupuncture but this should not discount its healing elements, especially with something as devastating as living with depression.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Depression.

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Tags: acupuncture, chinese medicine, Depression, stress

Man has been dependent on traditional medicine for a long time. However, as time passes by, researchers and even medical experts see that even the most efficient of drugs can bring unsatisfactory results. Even with months or years of continuous use of drugs, a patient may still not show the desired improvements or worse, may even develop the tendency to become immune to the drugs. This is when people tend to look for other methods of alternative treatment. This is true in cases of depression. For instance, where thirty percent of sufferers seem to become resistant to standard treatments, they have an alternative that may be helpful and effective. One of the newest, “non traditional” methods of treatment for people undergoing depression is magnetic therapy whose leading mode is called “transcranial magnetic stimulation.”

Transcranial magnetic simulation (TMS) is one of the methods that have produced fairly positive results. When a patient undergoes TMS, a device is run over his or her head. This device sends electrical currents into certain parts of the brain. It is a powerful device that the magnetic pulses can even penetrate right through the skin and bone of the skull and can reach the brain’s nerve cells. The pulses have to be magnetic since mere electrical ones cannot do the same penetration. According to research findings, these magnetic pulses can specifically target certain areas in the brain where the centers of depression can be found. These centers are accordingly the same centers that traditional drugs target.

Research shows that treating someone daily with TMS for a period of two weeks can result in significant improvements. For one, the patient’s symptoms will be reduced by thirty percent. This is already a substantial change, especially for someone who is suffering severe depression.

Historically, magnetic therapy can be traced back to the times of the Tibetan monks. The monks are said to be huge followers and practitioners of this type of therapy.

Initially, studies on the use of magnets did not have favorable results. In order to contradict this, believers conducted small trial studies. The results showed that men felt reduced depression, however for women did not.

TMS may be a relatively “new kid on the block” and may still be classified as experimental, but there are already quite a number of clinics and medical experts that suggest this type of treatment especially for patients who have developed an immunity with regard to traditional drugs. Nowadays, researchers are even confident in saying that within ten years time, TMS may even become one of the common methods of treatment for depression.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Depression.

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Tags: alternative treatment, Depression, magnetic therapy

It’s important to understand the causes of depression before understanding how it makes a person feel.

Despite a good deal of research over the past few decades, researchers have not yet been successful in identifying the specific causes of depression. These researchers are continuing in their work, but the answers are coming slowly. What is known about depression is that those who suffer from it may have some experiences in common with which they have to deal. Depression can be caused by what they eat, how they were brought up, and how they relate to certain things that go on around them.

First, heredity plays a big role in who will have to deal with depression. If one or both of a person’s parents suffer from depression, then their children have a higher likelihood of suffering from the same problem. It is believed that between forty and seventy percent of those who suffer from depression have it because to runs in the family. If you find a depressive person in a family, it is not unlikely that one or more of their siblings will have problem as well.

Others suffering depression can have the disease because of an imbalance of the chemicals in the brain. In these cases, antidepressants can work to help right the imbalances and replace some of chemicals that should be there. These drugs include serotonin and norepinephrine. Physicians and researchers are not clear on why these imbalances occur, but they do agree that correcting the imbalance of chemicals can go a long way to dealing with eliminating the symptoms.

Studies recently have pointed to a suggestive pattern in the hippocampus. This part of the brain deals specifically with memory and mood. Research has linked this area as a possible source of depression since when the chemical serotonin is low it certainly affects mood, but when it is increased with medications both mood and memory improve greatly. Therefore proving the researchers claim.

Some people suffer depression due to what has been called seasonal affective disorder, also known as SAD. SAD has only been recognized as an ailment in the recent past. This syndrome is caused by the reduced hours of sunlight once winter approaches and the days grow shorter, the cause may be that when there is less sun, the body manufactures more melatonin and that this is the cause of the problem. There is actually a therapy that has been developed to help counter this problem called bright light therapy or phototherapy. Many people respond to this therapy with generally good results.

In the ongoing look for answers to the question of what causes depression diet has come up as a possible contributing factor. Researchers have claimed omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish and in heavily processed foods, can be a trigger for depression. Studies were conducted to prove this point at schools and prisons. A study with laboratory rats showed excessive omega acids appeared to cause depression in the rats.

Whatever the cause of a person’s depression, learning to deal with it, by therapy or medication can alleviate the symptoms.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Depression.

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Tags: Depression, melatonin, serotonin

Amongst the many different causes of depression, one that greatly affects the mood and creates depression is called Seasonal Affective Disorder (also known as SAD). SAD can and should be treated. SAD treatment can have a dramatic effect on a person, lifting the physical causes of depression. Therapy for SAD is actually fairly straightforward. Researchers claim that ten percent of depressives’ condition is primarily caused by Seasonal Affective Disorder. This article deals with the causes and treatment for SAD.

What causes Seasonal Affective Disorder? It is a depression that is directly related to the seasons and how much sunlight the person is exposed to. As the days get shorter these people suffer from the lack of light and changes in their body clock. The worst months for those suffering from SAD differ by latitude, but can start as early as September in the Northern countries, and can end as late as April as the days are growing longer and there is more sunlight available.

The symptoms of SAD are similar to most other mood disorders. The person will have no motivation to do anything. They can feel tired all the time but generally don’t sleep very well. They will have an increase in the amount of sweets that they want to eat, frequently eating so sugar that they begin to put on weight. There will be a decrease in their interest in sex. The person will be irritable, sad, feel worthless, sufferer from low self-esteem and may withdraw from friends and family. This feeling of depression will last all through the shorter daylight time unless something is done.

The exact reason that this occurs is not clear and research continues to try to better understand this phenomenon. SAD is believed to be related to the levels of serotonin and melatonin in the body that are imbalanced by the diminished hours of sunlight. There are a few ways to improve this imbalance. The best ways are natural. For example a person should try to spend more time outside during the day. Exercising outside is a great way to help reduce SAD-caused depression. Exercise releases endorphins, which naturally make the depressive feel better. If one combines exercise and exposure to more sunlight, one is on his way to an improvement in mood.

Phototherapy is another option. A mere two hours of daily exposure to phototherapy treatments can make a huge difference to a person’s mood. Most phototherapy is done at night, but for those who suffer more serious bouts of SAD, there are also dawn simulators; these will actually simulate a day’s worth of sunlight during the morning hours.

Antidepressants are another method of helping those dealing with Seasonal Affective Disorder along with the phototherapy sessions. Most people with this depressive disorder find that one treatment or a combination will help them get through this problem until the days are once again longer, and the amount of natural sunlight increases.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Depression.

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Tags: Depression, exercise, melatonin, serotonin, sleep

Are you suffering from depression?

A good deal of work has been done on how to fight your depression without the need for medications or supplements of any kind. These remedies sound simplistic to some, but sometimes small things will make a big difference. Some of the methods discussed in this article will help more than expected. We will explore one such plan, developed by a physician, which lays out a few easy steps to combating depression and lifting your mood.

Where to begin? Physical exercise plays a more important role in recovery than you think. It is advised that when the first waves of depression begin to wash over you that you go for a walk. This doesn’t mean a short stroll around the neighborhood, but a walk that increases your heart rate and makes you breathe faster.

Or if you prefer, you can pursue other athletic activities. Try lifting weights. Use a rowing machine. Go for a long bicycle ride. There are many other exercises you can choose. Whichever exercises you start, push yourself just a little bit more than is comfortable—it will pay off in fighting depression.

If music makes the exercise more enjoyable for you, then put on your favorite tunes. By adding music, you help to diminish the negative energy, that ‘black cloud’ that can surround you when you’re in the depths of depression.

Look for other things you can do to reduce the build-up of negative energy. This may sound funny, but wandering around without a plan is one way to improve your mood. Walk until you have tired yourself completely. This ‘aimless’ exercise can help in dispelling the negative aspects of your day. For example, go to a market; wander downtown, window-shop in all those stores you normally don’t have time for. Go to a restaurant and try things you wouldn’t otherwise order. Whatever you choose to do, don’t stop until you are tired enough that you know you’ll sleep soundly.

Sometimes what you need is to get the bad thoughts out of your head. The more these thoughts remain, the easier it is to let them build and fester, and combats those things that make you feel depressed. Instead of wallowing in your depressive funk, sit and talk to someone you are close to, to whom you feel comfortable telling your secrets. Everyone has a dear friend who can serve as a confidant, who will listen without judging, and who knows how to lend a shoulder without letting you wallow in what’s bothering you.

If there is no such person in your life, the next best thing is to write in a journal of some kind. This journal can be a book you keep close for just this purpose or a document that you continuously add to on your computer. Either way the important thing about this exercise is to put down what is truly on your mind, don’t leave anything out. Often clearing your mind of those things that are sitting heavily in it will help to lift your spirits.

Don’t scoff at these simple steps to bring yourself out of a depressive episode. Try them first. Perhaps the results will surprise you.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Depression.

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Tags: Depression, exercise, sleep

Are you one of those people who impatiently wait for spring to arrive? Does the gloom of winter months and cloudy days depress you and sap your energy? Many Americans suffer from a condition aptly named Seasonal Affective Disorder. There are many ways of fighting SAD and they all can be effective in treating depression and stress at any time of the year. Here are a few tips to make your day a little brighter, happier, and healthier.

1. Spend 15 minutes longer in the shower and use an expensive soap or body wash. Or, take a relaxing, soothing bubble bath with mood lighting and a soothing scent in your bath. Vanilla and lavender scents are excellent for easing tension and relieving depression.
2. Sing! Yes sing, with the radio, your iPod, or your favorite record, tape or CD. Sing at the top of your lungs with gusto and enjoyment! Sing for at least five minutes and don’t worry about the neighbors. If you sound great, you will entertain them and make them smile, if you are terrible or just think you are, you could give them a good laugh, which can help ease their stress and depression.
3. If you are a grandparent, take one of your grandchildren for a walk. Let them spend the night, or just let them sit on your lap and listen to them talk. Warm hugs, happy chatter, and the warmth of a child in your lap will cheer up nearly everyone. If they are small, look into their eyes and feel the miracle of life. If they are older, let them help you make cookies or bake a cake.
4. Sleep in! If you are not working, sleep in instead of setting the alarm. If you are still working, choose one of the weekend days and turn the alarm clock off and enjoy a little extra time in bed. It sometimes feels good to ignore habits and allow yourself an indulgence.
5. Speaking of indulgence, eat a little dark chocolate. New research has proven dark chocolate is actually good for us. Break off a piece and allow it to dissolve slowly in your mouth. Enjoy the flavor, experience the feel and taste of it on your tongue. Allow yourself to be in the moment! Remind yourself that a small amount of dark chocolate is now considered good for you!
6. Watch a comedy, or play your favorite movie. Be sure to choose a happy one, a movie that will make you smile or laugh out loud will do wonders for stress and depression. Watch reruns of I Love Lucy, Full House, or Three’s Company, they will take you back to a happier time and lift depression.
7. Make yourself a cup of tea with lots of lemon. Sit in your favorite chair and enjoy the warmth of a sunny spot in your home. Smell the wonderful aroma of the lemon and tea, tasted it, sip it slowly and savor the taste of it on your tongue.
8. Send flowers to a special friend or to yourself! The flowers will remind you of spring, new growth and remind you winter and depression will both pass with time.

Have fun, indulge yourself, and laugh. All of these suggestions will help you age healthier and keep your body young.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Depression.

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Tags: dark chocolate, Depression, sleep, stress

Have you ever noticed that when you’re going through an episode of depression that you dream more? When we’re depressed, we dream three times more than a non-depressed person dreams.

This additional dreaming can have detrimental effects. Research has shown that pent-up feelings of frustration and emotions with no outlet are very hard to deal with, and can cause depressive episodes. But at the same time these feelings go deeper and become the fodder for dreams.

To make it clear, think about what happens when something upsets you. Most people can absorb an upsetting moment, and deal with the consequences. When you get upset you feel angry and you back away from it. If you are depressed, often you don’t do anything to reduce the upset.

The problem is that those who have emotional issues often do nothing about it. The upset feelings just sit there, making them feel more and more anxiety, as they’re unable to deal with it. The feelings remain, and difficulties appear. Since these unfinished emotions are still there, the brain must deal with them when the person is sleeping. So the dreams start.

The dream allows the completion of the unfinished emotional business and so frees the brain to rest. In the dream the emotional experience is played out in some way so the person resolves what’s upset them that they were unable to deal with otherwise. In cases where the person can tidy this up in a dream it can be emotionally helpful, but in the case of a person who is in a depressive episode this is more difficult. They take so much emotional baggage to bed with them.

This lack of problem resolution causes more problems because the mind has so many emotional entanglements to deal with. The person must work hard to dream them away. People who are depressed experience a greater portion of their sleep in REM mode, (Rapid Eye Movement) instead of Slow Wave Sleep.

Slow Wave Sleep allows the body to renew itself during the night and so is very important to one’s health. It also affects a person’s ability to be motivated. Without refocusing off the bad and preparing for the next day’s activities in a positive way, depressives suffer each day with no improvement over the last. Those who have continuing problems with something that they’re unable to clear up may notice a recurring dream as the mind tries to rid itself of the problem.

The act of dreaming is actually not restful; it brings a person to an active state. The body treats the dream as real and puts out stress hormones and adrenaline to deal with the events of the dream. The body may try to diminish the number of hours they are in the dream state and the depressive may find they are waking up early because of this.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Depression.

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Tags: anxiety, Depression, sleep, stress

There are some people who feel that the main cause of depression is a disruption of the body’s circadian rhythms. Some believe that our body clocks no longer run our bodies. We wake because our clock radios or cell phone alarms tell us to, not because the sun has come up. We sleep because we have accomplished what we want for the day, not because the sun has set. We work indoors instead of spending our time outside where we, as humans, began. Due to this arrhythmia, our bodies are not aligned right– this unbalances the levels of hormones, neurotransmitters and other chemicals that form our moods. When these hormones are out of balance a person will suffer from Circadian Rhythm Disorder (CRD).

Researchers have studied CRD for a while. They generally agree that those who suffer from some types of depression can be made to feel better by making some lifestyle changes that will enhance their mood and lift their spirits. A well-balanced lifestyle that includes sunlight, sufficient sleep and good food will give a person a lot of energy and put them in a good mood. The ability to correct this disorder gives the sufferer the potential outlook of a healthy, happy person.

Circadian rhythms are what the body uses to manage appetite, vigor, rest, sexual arousal, and mood. So, when the body’s rhythm is out of kilter, a person suffers mood disorders and depression. The good thing is that this is a known issue: continued research has shown how to put the body back in balance. Studies have proven that realigning the circadian rhythms of the body can reduce away depression.

The study of the body’s circadian rhythms has been around since the nineteenth century. As more evidence of the importance of the body’s natural clock became apparent in the 1960’s, study intensified. The science that studies circadian rhythms this is called chronobiology.

Studies show that when the body is out of balance it can cause depression, and disorders of mood, sleep, and eating. By the 1980’s, continuing research demonstrated that without a balance of light and dark, the hormones and natural body chemicals were not released properly and so were confusing the body’s signals.

The outcome of this research is light therapy, which has proven to have good results. People need more exposure to natural sunlight. We had this exposure in the past, before we built houses that blocked out natural light. Humans require more than can be given in the minutes between leaving the house and getting into the car.

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Scott Meyers is a staff writer for It’s Entirely Natural, a resource for helping you achieve a naturally healthy body, mind, and spirit. You may contact our writers through the web site. Follow this link for more information on Depression.

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Tags: circadian rhythms, Depression, natural clock