Its Entirely Natural - Blog

Around 19 million American people live with depression every day. Major depression is a condition that is characterized by a severe and persistent lowering of mood. Depression often affects one’s family, life, work, eating, sleeping, overall health and capacity to enjoy life. Depressed people also run higher risk of death from suicide and other causes. The usual treatment for depression from a medical or psychiatric point of view is usually psychotherapy, antidepressants, or both. Is there an alternative to the “usual” Western medicine treatment for depression?

In one of my favorite places in the country, Sedona Arizona, is a comfortable scenic and peaceful retreat. The Tao Holistic Healing Program (http://www.taoholistichealing.com) has developed a profound healing alternative to conventional depression treatment. They offer a 10 day intensive retreat experience. They will guide people to take total responsibility for their health and lives. TTHP has been highly effective in facilitating recovery from depression.

Their belief that depression comes from the disconnection of our three bodies: spiritual (core information), energy (mind and emotions), and physical. By deeply feeling and strengthening the physical body, all three bodies can merge with a powerful self-healing you. You end up with a strong and flexible body, clear and creative mind, steady emotions, and a passionate life purpose.

THHP uses a step-by-step approach in their areas healing methods:

1. Watching oneself to increase awareness of one’s current body-mind state.
2. Engaging in rigorous exercise, energy training, introspective work, and deep relaxation.
3. Receiving private healing session that promotes one’s self-healing capacity.
4. Choosing to drop the ego’s problem-causing beliefs, instead following the “true self” that heals with love, joy and peace.
5. Committing to post-program exercises to continue the healing and prevent a recurrence of the symptoms.

If you live with depression and conventional methods of treatment don’t work for you, perhaps there are alternatives that will work. I’m sure this is just one of many alternatives, but who wouldn’t want to go and surround themselves in the scenic beauty of the Sedona Arizona for a few days.

prweb.com

The upcoming holidays are a time where people need to relax and enjoy themselves. This is a time for family and fun. So, why do so many people get so stressed-out on a holiday that comes around once a year?

Holidays can be a real strain on people that feel everything has to be perfect. What are people going to think? This often happens to people with low self-esteem problems. The holidays are a time to relax, get together with friends and family in a casual way. Don’t worry about appearances and enjoy the time with the people around you.

For a culture that is supposed to be celebrating the holiday season, it can be a nightmare for many people. A lot of people are faced with stress, depression, sleepless nights, poor nutrition, overeating and irritability. The holidays are a time to, what my son would say, “Chill Out.” Remember what the holidays were initially all about - religion and philosophy.

One way that our family enjoys the holidays by chilling is watching holiday movies. Now our favorite classic Christmas move is National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. It may not be your favorite, but it will make you laugh and reduces stress. If you don’t own it maybe give it to yourself as an early Christmas present.

chron.com

Well it’s that time of year again, and I’m not talking about Christmas. Students all across the country are preparing for finals. They are under a lot of stress and this can hinder their test taking performance. Not only does stress effect their testing, it can also cause anxiety, insomnia, irritability, memory loss and depression. So what should your student do?

You may not be surprised, but it is recommended that they take a break from studying and clear their minds with some activities such as a casual game or exercise. It will help them relax and be a little less stressed during their tests.

Here are some additional tips to help cope with stress during finals:

Laugh - Laughter has been proven to reduce stress and also release endorphins. So go out and take a mental break by watching a funny movie or video.

Breathe - When people are stressed they have a tendency to take shallow breaths. It is important to take deep breaths especially before taking a test. It will help bring more oxygen to feed your body as well as your brain.

Exercise - will make you feel better and is a great stress reliever. When you have a nice walk or a great workout, your body will produce endorphins to help reduce the stress hormones. So take a break and have a nice walk or do some yoga.

Eat Well - There is almost nothing better you can do for yourself than to to have proper nutrition. You can fight stress and depression by eating more foods rich in Omega 3 fatty acids. Try eating fish three times a week or take Omega 3 supplements to help your moods. To help produce serotonin for your brain eat foods rich in B-6 vitamins. Foods like Sweet potatoes, rice and tuna are a great source as well as supplements.

Students have enough stress in their lives and it doesn’t help when parents put high expectations on performance. Be sure to not add more pressure than they already have. Do however encourage them to do their best.

reuters.com

Most everybody I know is stressed about something. Stress seems to be a constant issue in life. Once you get over one stressful situation another one seems around the corner. A study by the American Medical Association reported that stress was a factor in 75% of all diseases. So what can we do? Have you ever thought about reflexology?

Studies have shown that stress, anger, and depression have been linked to weakening of the heart muscle. The more a person had any of these conditions the less their hearts were able to respond effectively. The constant emotional ups and downs showed that it would stretch the heart beyond its capacity and would have trouble bouncing back to normal.

Who doesn’t like a good foot massage? Reflexology can be a natural treatment to offset the effects of stress on the heart. It reduces stress and tension throughout the body. Reflexology treats your body, mind and spirit as a cohesive system. It is also believed to encourage the release of endorphins - you know that natural feel-good hormone. Try it you might like it.

about.com

In an earlier topic we discussed how anger can cause heart disease. Well there is another emotional condition that affects heart disease, and that is depression. Studies have shown that depression and heart disease walk hand-in-hand with each other. What’s worse is heart disease can lead to depression and depression can lead to heart disease. Researchers in Montreal found that patients who were depressed were four times as likely to die in the next 6 months as those who were not depressed.

Yet again many people get depressed because of everyday stresses to their body and mind. Enjoy life and what it brings. Think less about stressful situations and more about what makes life worth living.

NIMH