Natural Grief or Persistent Depression?

Before talking about depression, it is important to distinguish it from the natural and necessary process of grieving. Depression is not grief. Grief is a normal and healthy way to cope with traumatic or sad events in your life. It is indeed a necessary mechanism to help you move on when things fall apart or you experience a loss. We all feel great sadness at different times in our lives, perhaps from the end of relationships, a divorce, moving away from family and friends, losing a job, or falling ill.

Even if you feel confused or hopeless after a loss or traumatic event, it does not necessarily mean you are depressed. You may be simply going through the grieving process, which is absolutely natural. Furthermore, since some events are more traumatic than others, they may require more time to grieve and recover. Now, if the sadness or depressed mood continues for a long period, then there is a chance you may be experiencing depression, and should seek professional help. Early treatment of depression can definitely help with a successful recovery and prevent severe recurrences.

Depression involves your mind, body, mood, and energy. It affects not only how you perceive the world, but also how you eat, sleep, think, and feel about yourself and others. It is not a sign of personal weakeness, it is a serious imbalance that needs attention and may have emerged from a variety of factors, both conscious and unconscious, past and present. Grieving is natural and will pass; depression is more like an inner heaviness you can’t simply get rid of, no matter how much you try to “pull yourself together.” It is a persistent state that most people can’t get out of through mere will power.

Depression interferes with your normal functioning and causes you pain, both mental and physical, and clearly affects those around you. It can cause you to lose the pleasure from daily life and complicate other medical conditions—it is an imbalance serious enough to lead to suicide in severe cases. However, appropriate treatment, along with psychotherapy, can help most people who suffer from depression.

Conventional treatment uses anti-depressant drugs, which basically aim at influencing the functioning of certain neurotransmitters in the brain (serotonin and norepinephrine), and require long-term management. They all have side effects, and these are more severe in some drugs than others. Alternative treatment is more holistic and aims at restoring balance.

Tridoshic Herbal Formula For Depression

Regardless of the type of depression you are experiencing, it is helpful to use all three of the following remedies:

1. Combine:

5 parts Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus)
3 parts Jatamansi (Nordostachys jatamansi)
3 parts Brahmi (gotu kola)
5 parts Guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia)

Take 1/4 teaspoon of this mixture with 1/2 cup warm water 3 times a day.

2. Take 1 teaspoon Triphala with 1/2 cup warm water every night at bedtime.

3. Inhale 3 drops of Brahmi oil into each nostril twice a day, and rub the oil on the sides of your feet at bedtime.

Source: Blue Lotus Ayurveda

In honor of May being National Mental Health Month it seems a good idea to present some ayurvedic insights and healing options for mental health disorders.

Mental health is one of the areas in nursing and medicine that has always brought anguish to my heart.  What I witnessed in my psychiatric rotation in nursing school was that many are often traveling a very fine line in our society, and the western medical offerings seem to only hold symptoms at bay with pharmaceutical drugs that carry numerous unwanted and undesirable side effects.

What seems to be most the three most common and prevalent imbalances I see today in my private practice are bi-polar disorder, depression, and anxiety.

When approached from an ayurvedic perspective, I have hopes of seeing relief of symptoms for the millions of people who suffer with these disorders.    It is truly an imbalance that creates the symptoms of these mental health illnesses.   A restoration and balancing of the doshas and the overall energy field and centers can bring tremendous success towards healing.

Unfortunately, western medicine doesn’t address these imbalances with prescription drugs.

In Ayurveda, bi-polar disorder is a “battle” between the vata and kapha doshas.

It usually starts out as a vata imbalance, that is to say that, vata rises out of it’s home (the colon, another reason to make seasonal detox and cleansing part of your preventative self care), and usually a tremendous amount of energy rises up into the head. Vata is a combination of air and wind element so it is quite easily spread in the body, especially during Fall and Winter.

Our bodies are incredibly intelligent.   They preceive this imbalance and tries to correct it with the opposite qualities, Kapha, the qualities of heaviness, water, and earth….and the downward trend of the bi-polar disorder then occurs, depression.

From an energetic perspective, we see the energy rising up and out of the first and second chakras during the initial stages, and eventually the sixth and seventh chakras become over active during manic period.    Addressing root chakra issues and bring the energy back down and grounded will help to restore balance.

Opening and connecting the chakras on a regular basis, with energy healing treatment sessions, in addition to having the client do grounding exercises and breathing techniques on a regular basis will help to restore balance to vata dosha, as will following a vata pacifying diet.

When the vata dosha is restored to balance, Kapha will not need to lay such a heavy influence on the body and the mood swings will lessen.

I don’t claim to be a specialist in mental health nursing, and I never recommend that clients stop taking any medications that their doctor has prescribed to them.  But I do recommend that their doctor contact me so that he can be educated in the Ayurvedic perspective and the herbal remedies that I recommend to clients.

There are several ayurvedic herbs that help to pacify vata and restore balance to the body mind. These are quite different from western prescription drugs which work against the body healing itself. In western medicine once you start taking drugs like Lithium, Xanax, and Prozac, your body forgets how to make it’s own “feel good” mood stabilizers for  itself and the original cause is never addressed…why did the body stop making them? Or, what events occurred to make the body and mind unable to maintain appropriate levels for daily functioning and well-being ?

Some of the ayurvedic herbs I recommend for balancing mental health imbalances are listed below.

To restore balance to vata means bringing  energy back down: ashwhaganda, brahmi. shank pushpi, ginger, tranquil mind, mental clarity, and,triphala are all good for this

To relieve the heaviness of  kapha imbalance, emotions, and depression I recommend pippali, ginger, triphala

By treating these mental health issues and imbalances from an ayurvedic perspective, the body has a chance to actually heal itself. I will say this…..western medicine was actually on to something when they treated patients with electric shock therapy.  Not that I believe that this is a humane and effective treatment the way it was administered, but they were correct in their premise that these disorders originated in an energy imbalance.

Now a days we have so many alternatives for non-invasive energy healing and balancing, mental health patients would benefit greatly from regular treatment sessions over the long term. These imbalances don’t come on over night, treatment takes some time, diligence, and patience.

Note: As always you should check with your healthcare professional before changing or adding any medications or supplements to your daily self care routine.

One of the simplest pleasures in life is enjoying a beautifully prepared meal especially if there is a fine blend of tastes and spices dancing on the palate.  Yet,  many don’t realize the tremendous benefit that spices can have on your health.  AS a matter of fact my four favorites below could be moved from the kitchen to the medicine cabinet,

Well, in my house the kitchen is the medicine cabinet.  And this is true of most who live an ayurvedic lifestyle……spices are a frontline therapy for health and restoring balance.  If you new to this idea, just take a peak at the list below and look at all the remedies one can get from just 4 spices.

Of course, like anything else, you should always check with a trained medical professional before embarking on a new alternative approach to healing, but spices have been around as a healing therapy for thousands of years and are very gentle yet, effective.  These 4 spices are good for all ayurvedic constitutions.

~~ Cumin

Best for Dosha: All

Best for Conditions: digests bread, along with caraway,
fennel and dill relatives; colitis, gas, digestion,
abdominal pain, distention, for overeating and eating heavy foods.

~~ Cardamom

Best for Dosha: All

Best for Conditions: Absorption of nutrients,
asthma, bronchitis, colds, cough, excellent for stomach complaints, hoarseness, indigestion, loss of taste, helps the spleen and pancreas, reduces Kapha in lungs and stomach, stimulates the mind, with milk it reduces mucus formation, detoxifies caffeine in coffee, nervous digestion, vomiting, headache, belching, acid indigestion, nausea, expels Vata in colon and digests foods in colon, convalescing from diarrhea, biliousness, respiratory disorders, involuntary urination.

Spiritual Uses: spiritual peace and purity; gives clarity and joy

Antidote: Helps digest foods if they create sluggish digestion.
Ice cream, milk, cold or sweet foods like bananas, coffee.
~~ Coriander

Best for Dosha: All

Best for Conditions: Griping, flatulent colic, rheumatism,
neuralgia, indigestion, vomiting, intestinal disorders,
removes excess Kapha, eyewash, conjunctivitis, relieves internal heat and thirst, skin/rash problems, urinary system
(cystitis, infections, etc.), sore throat, allergies,
hay fever, for all Pitta disorders, burning, juice for allergies,
and skin rashes (and externally as well);
antidotes hot pungent foods, bleeding hemorrhoids.
Used to balance very hot foods and spices (eg, chillies).

~~ Fennel

Best for Dosha: All

Best for Conditions: Abdominal pain (gas or indigestion),
menstrual cramps, hernia, diarrhea, colic, vomiting,
morning sickness, nausea, anorexia, cough, dry cough,
promotes semen, increases vision, raises agni, difficult
or burning urination, digestion-children and elderly;
promotes menstruation, nursing mothers-increases breast milk flow.

( This was on a post card my sister in law found in an airport shop )

Stand Tall and Proud
Sink your roots deeply into the Earth
Reflect the light of your True Nature
Think long term
Go out on a limb

Feel the wind and the sun
And delight in their presence
Look up at the moon that shines down upon you
And the mystery of the stars at night
Seek nourishment from the good things in life
Simple pleasures
Earth, fresh air, light,

Be content with your own natural beauty
drink plenty of water
Let your limbs sway and dance in the breezes
Be flexible
Remember your roots
Enjoy the view!

By Ilan Shamir

HAPPY EARTH DAY 2010

…..And how are your expectations related to your life expectancy?  Humor me as I play on this theme for a moment.

I read an article this morning that stated, ” Insurance statistics show that the average person has a life expectancy of less than three years after retirement if he/she doesn’t have any goals beyond retirement.  The person that has a purpose or goal can expect to live up to nine years after retirement”. 

It made me think, how does this concept play out with our quality of life and health in retirement?  (For those that have goals and make it into their golden years).  Is our current medical care system supporting healthy and vibrant living?  What do we expect our health and retirement to be like?  (Hopefully not more of this Medicare bickering).

I taught a class last evening and most of the participants had a baffled look on their faces for the first 30 minutes.  They were hearing new thoughts, ideas, and holistic modalities (from a registered nurse), that were completely foreign to them.  Finally a woman asked, “How come I’ve never heard of this?  If these things can help get me off of medications, and I can be pain free, how come my doctors don’t know about this stuff”.

Fortunately for us, our time had come.  If we bring the law of attraction into the mix, they must have been EXPECTING more for themselves, their health, and their life.  We could not have attracted each other if we weren’t having thoughts and expectations of something “more”.  I expected that the people who were ready to move forward with new information for their health and wellbeing would come to find me.  I expected to be able to help and reach more people.   I prayed to be led with my heart to be able to help more people, to relieve pain or suffering, (the reason I became a nurse many years ago).  After twenty years of mainstream nursing I have been led as a professional healer and educator to give people the information they need to get out of the “sick-care” trap of mainstream medicine.

Yet without these new students having expectations, our meeting couldn’t have come to fruition.  Laws of attraction wouldn’t line us up with out a vision from them.  They decided to expect a solution beyond narcotics, surgery, and physical therapy.  They decided to feel empowered and to take action and responsibility for a better and different outcome.  They decided to put their trust in something new and unfamiliar.

They didn’t expect their doctor to have all the answers they needed.  They didn’t expect to get better if they followed on the same path they had been on.  They didn’t expect for their health insurance to make them feel better, or to pay for my classes, or to improve their quality of life.

So I’m wondering if our life expectancy has improved because we are a becoming a society that is shifting in a paradigm to expect more for ourselves, our health, and wellbeing?  What are you expecting for your self, and your health? 

If you are living with less than vibrant health, energy, and wellbeing are you doing the same thing over and over again, and expecting to get different results?   Where can you shift your expectations?  Just a wiggle…….to bring more of what you want to experience into your life?

Can you begin to dream of something different?  This is the first step; to have a vison….no matter how small, that you can expect to see a different outcome than the one you are experiencing right now.  Hold that vision every day, until it becomes and expectation.  By the natural laws of the universe, your expectation will become a real and tangible evidence.  With a different expectation you can shift the outcome of your health, your life, and your wellbeing.

It is important to recognize that we are always in the midst of a transition.

Often when we examine our health it’s easy to focus on what’s wrong at that moment….instead of how we’d like it to be.  Sometimes, if you’re living with symptoms of pain or illness, it’s so
easy to become focused on uncomfortable symptoms and you may miss small signs that healing is taking place.

Sometimes the most challenging part of healing is shifting your perceptions and beliefs.

For example, I noticed this when I was challenged by a skin disorder.  Instead of blessing my body for doing it’s job,(removing toxins through my body’s largest organ),  I focused on the fact that my body looked,”ugly” with breakouts on my face and back.

Yet, I had been “asking” for a deep healing….a healing from the inside out. As you become aware and more conscious of the wisdom of your body’s natural healing mechanisms and apply them in the context holistic modalities, you will be less likely to feel that you need to cover up or annihilate a symptom. 

Instead, you can be grateful for the divine wisdom and healing, releasing judgement as to we how you think it should “look”. 

At the time, I was drinking a shot of wheat grass  almost every day….and the chlorophyll was purifying and detoxifying my blood, sending toxins to the surface of my skin to be removed.

At this point it was beneficial to reassess my healing plan to determine what the next step should be. That is the beauty of a holistic approach to healing….it is fluid and flexible….not the “one size fits all” approach that many doctors use.

What were those skin breakouts trying to communicate?   In a holistic model it is less likely that I needed a trip to a dermatologist for an acne or cortisone cream.

It is more likely I could benefit from the added boost of dry brushing, or taking a bath with dosha appropriate essential oils….opening up pores and penetrating deep into the tissues, to assist with further removal of the toxins.

Or, maybe I needed to drink more water.

The point here is this……no matter where you are starting from, you must look for the good….you must shift your perception and awareness.

Divine healing, often the “miracle”, spontaneous healings that we hear about…….I believe happen THROUGH you, not to you.  They can only happen when you are willing to choose it…..willing to acknowledge the good, the divine innate wisdom of your body, and give thanks with gratitude for the healing that occurs even when it’s is not as you imagine it.

Sometimes you can miss the healing if you’re focused with your mind as to how you “think” it should be.   Focus on the end result, not the how.

Become a channel for healing.  Take the steps you need to take, move towards postivie actions each day……see and feel the end result you desire.  As one of my early spiritual mentors Robert Schuller used to say…….Count your “haves” not your “have nots”. I am grateful for those little break outs, they let me know what my next steps should be.

Signs and symptoms in your body can be a blessing that provide information about your imbalances, they are valuable to a holistic practitioner in creating a treatment plan specific for your needs.

Matcha Tea
Renown Cancer Fighting Catechins are Found In Green Tea

I have always believed that despite that fact that many of our commercially farmed soils are deficient in nutrients these days, we should get as many nutrients as possible from our food choices, and “let food be our medicine”.  In part 2 on Matcha tea, you can see why this is a food source that has “super powers.”

Not all antioxidants are created equal. Antioxidants are found in many foods including fruits and vegetables.  There are many types of antioxidants, however, the class known as catechins are only found in green tea, and these maybe the most potent of all. And of the catechins,  EGCg (epicgallocatechin gallate) is the catechin with broadest and most potent cancer-fighting properties.  Sixty percent of the catechin content of matcha tea is EGCg.

Matcha Tea – For Cleansing the Body of Toxins
Rich in Chlorophyll, A Renowned Detoxifying Agent

Chlorophyll,  helps to remove heavy metals and chemical toxins from the body. Because matcha tea is fully ingested when consumed, unlike tea leaves which are infused then discarded, and because matcha is shade grown, a process which increases the chlorophyll content in the leaves, matcha tea is a chlorophyll rich food. 

Matcha Tea – For The Amino Acids
Naturally Mood Enhancing Matcha contains L-theanine, an amino acid known to relax the mind.  For this reason, matcha is also known as a mood enhancer.  Buddhist monks drank matcha to assist in meditation, as matcha’s amino acids, combined with caffeine, offer a sustained calm alertness over time. 

Matcha Tea – Suited for Meditative Practice
Create Your Own Ceremony and Relieve Stress

The Japanese Tea Ceremony known as Chanoyu is a highly ritualized practice of drinking matcha tea. The Zen monks were the first to introduce matcha to Japan, and their influence is seen throughout the ceremony. Most notably is the emphasis on a calm mind, serene settings and awareness of nature. Drinking tea alone will not convert you a Zen monk, but adding a tea ritual to your day, will increase the possibilities for calm and serene experiences in your life.

Spring can be a challenging season for anyone that suffers from allergies or hayfever. This was really true when I lived in Austin.  Many there lived in misery because of allergies to the Cedarwood Trees.  (they all wanted the trees cut down, I wanted Gary o come from Young Living and tap them for essential oils).

In Ayurveda, Spring is Kapha season, and kaphas tend to swing out of balance with excess moisture, allergies, and asthma.  Food choices can restore harmony and balance to the body.  This recipe combines ingredients that heal and support the immune system.

Miso is an enzyme rich, fermented  food that helps to boost the immune system with good bacteria, combating infection and removing toxins from the body.  Garlic is well known for it’s antiviral and antibacterial benefits making it an all natural super food.  Apple Cider Vinegar  is also rich in enzymes and can assist in reducing inflammation in the body, helping to calm allergies and sinus passages.

This is a simple, quick, and easy recipe, great on vegetables as well as salads.  You can adjust the ingredients to make it thicker or thinner.  Use it as a spread to add flavor to a wrap or sandwich, the possibilities are endless.

Depending on your dosha (mind/body type) you can add various herbs to promote healing of your health conditions.   For spring I recommended fresh grated Tumeric root, pepper.  (Kapha types should avoid salt as it will cause more moisture in the body).  Most Vata types can manage salt just fine.  For a sweeter version add a little Agave nectar.

this is a “raw” living foods recipe………who knew?   So simple to add raw foods to your daily meals.

Keep a fresh batch in your fridge and enjoy the outdoors this spring.

Garlic Miso Salad Dressing

The first step in staying healthy is to develop an awareness of the potential causes of disease, and tune into your  body…….listening to the messages it is giving you.   Yet, here is another level to consider when applying the idea of self healing.

Ayurveda can sometimes feel like mastering a science coarse…..here is my best to give you the simple layman’s version so you can have the best information to make the best choices for your own body and self care.

If you have questions contact me, you are not alone, I’m excited to help you.

What if you haven’t taken the time or been taught how to develop this awareness, to modify the cause and to apply the opposite qualities to restore balance?  What should you do to restore balance? What can you do if you are experiencing illness and what to use Ayurveda to heal?

In Ayurveda, the principle of opposites is helpful at almost every stage of disease but once a disease has developed it becomes necessary to use techniques for cleansing and purifying your body of accumulated and excess toxins.

This is the process of eliminating Ama.

When doshas (your mind/body constitution) becomes aggravated because of poor diet, unhealthy lifestyle, negative emotions or other factors, it first affects the body’s biological “fire”, (referred to as Agni)…….which governs digestion and assimilation, (judging by all the adds on TV for Nexium, Prevacid, etc…..there’s a whole lotta folks that have aggravated Agni).

When your fire becomes weakened or disturbed food is not properly digested.

The undigested, unabsorbed food particles accumulate in the gastrointestinal tract and turn into a toxic, sticky substance called Ama.

In the third stage of disease, spreading, Ama clogs the intestines, over flows into other body channels such as blood vessels, and leaks into the body’s tissues, causing disease.

The presence of ama in the body can be felt as fatigue, heaviness, and lethargy.   It can induce constipation, indigestion, gas, diarrhea, stiffness in the body, aches and pains, mental confusion or dullness.

According to Ayurveda, disease is actually a crisis of ama.  So the key to preventing disease is to help the body eliminate toxins and prevent ama.

 If you are experiencing any signs or symptoms of disease ask yourself…..Got ama?

Consult with an Ayurvedic or holistic practitioner that can help you with detoxifying your body so you can enjoy a life of energy, health and vitality.  This is your natural state of being.