Who Doesn’t Suffer in Some Way These Days?
These are epidemic in the world. Most of the people who seek my services come looking for how they can “feel calmer, better, less stressed, more hopeful”.
Depression and anxiety are key words that describe both psychiatric diagnoses and related symptoms. They are also a core part of unhealed trauma and grief, experiencing unrelieved/unsolvable stress, especially longstanding and compounded, and running away from our greater selves.
They Get in the Way of . . . Everything
When we are compromised in not only how we can fully function in our lives but how free, at ease, centered and empowered we are, depression and anxiety exist. Addictions bring depression and anxiety as part of what needs to be addressed and isn’t.
Depression and anxiety are not the same as fear, but fear is part of feeling depressed and anxious. When we are depressed and anxious we “can’t get it together”, which drives us to act out – and always makes matters worse.
Can We Find Our Way to Heal and Transcend?
Confidence, clarity, insight, and trust disappear, as well as true wherewithal to well and rightly care for ourselves. This extends and adversely affects our ability to care for others and all that we care about and connect to in our lives and communities.
What can we do to promote self-healing, empowerment and transcendence to treat as a Centering Tool these deadly and world-perpetuating states of dis-ease? Here are the ways I consistently and successfully offer in my practice, and practice in my life:
Five Simple and Central Ways to Carry Through
1. Face what is really going on as your freed inner observer. This means telling the truth specifically and without judgment and stopping there – meaning if you don’t know, don’t jump to conclusions – and remember, all depression and anxiety comes from causes that require direct addressing to determine and effect real resolution . . . and real resolution is multidimensional and occurs through the organic progression of healing and completion that reveals and transforms.
2. Give up control – it doesn’t exist. Instead focus your energy and full attention on realistically assessing how empowered, free, and aware you are in the moment – and then consider what you have real personal power to do to increase those capabilities.
3. Seek support – not someone or something to “fix” you, your perceived problem, someone else, etc. Support can come from anywhere – others, medication and other treatments including complementary medicine, authentic spiritual connections, nature, interests you’re excited and passionate about even and especially if you haven’t explored those in years, the arts, as well as professionals – and most importantly, YOU as a thoughtful, compassionate, responsible adult to yourself.
4. R-E-L-A-X . . . R-E-L-E-A-S-E . . . R-E-C-H-A-R-G-E . . .
If you don’t know how, then learn – to meditate, “get away from it all” and take big and little regular breaks, let go, exercise, sleep well, eat nutritiously, enjoy life, laugh, find sources that bring you joy, love, forgive, be fully and freely present, take full unconditional responsibility for yourself and your life, and stop seeing yourself as a victim as well as blaming yourself/others. The simplest, best, most effective wellness and self-healing technique you can do at least five times a day is to completely focus your attention on yourself for several minutes, call yourself by name either silently or out loud if you prefer and are able, and say the word breathe – then count five, full, deep breaths – to break out of depression and anxiety, and “reset” your response pattern.
5. Acknowledge honestly and without judgment your feelings – stay on track and extend insight and development by journaling.
Cutting Edge and “Roots” Medicine
I have heard that the translation of the words for “medicine” for Native Americans means both “healing” and “power”. Let me know as you try all of these five key recommendations (and the number five is understood to be the vibrational frequency of transformation) how you can treat, erase and transmute depression and anxiety to feeling good and at peace!
In love and light, Marjorie