How to deal with Depression

Depression is signaled by a pervasive low mood, loss of interest, in everyday activities.

The person has a lowered ability to enjoy things or experience pleasure. ‘Nothing pleases me,’ a depressed person will say. ‘I did not feel like waking up in the morning. Combing my hair and bathing needed a major effort.’ This is how a depressed person feels and all of us are depressed at one time or another. No laboratory can confirm this. Doctors have to depend on what the patient says. It can appear suddenly or be a life-long disorder. This can affect one’s whole life and harshly impact the family and its ability to enjoy life.

Treat Depression

• Being able to rise above the gloom is crucial. Soothe yourself by talking kindly to yourself. First-aid by the self is necessary while we are feeling low, insulted or tired.

• Any form of meditation or silence will heal and illuminate your inner space.

How to Deal with Anger

Red light

1. Stop, calm down and think before you act.

Yellow Light

2. State the problem and how you feel.

3. Set a positive goal.

4. Think of lots of solutions.

5. Think ahead to consequences.

Green light

6. Go ahead and try the best plan.

Affirmations for Physical Health

Sit peacefully and breath deeply with your eyes shut, play the following mental tapes of affirmation every day:

 Every day, I am growing healthier and more radiantly beautiful.

 Every day, my body is becoming healthier and stronger.

 The special, tasty, fat-free, fresh food I eat fills my body with peace and happiness.

 The food I eat heals my body.

 I am very caring about my body and treat it with love.

 I eat only what is good for the health and wellbeing of my body.

 I love my body and my body is nurtured by my love.

 My body is strong and agile and attractive as it is.

Yoga Sadhana for Wellness

Yogasanas in conjunction with pranayama bring harmony and balance to every part of the body, and are highly therapeutic for the body, mind and soul. They mould every part of the body to its ideal contour through various postures

1. Padmasana (Lotus Pose). This is the ultimate yoga pose. It destroys all disease, and brings peace of mind to those who suffer from anxiety, tension, anger and other negative emotions.

2. Sarvangasana (Shoulderstand). Also known as the queen of asanas, this asana helps expand the rib cage and increase lung capacity. The inverted body pose also brings fresh supply of oxygen and rich blood to the heart.

3. Matsyasana (Fish Pose). This asana expands your chest and tones the nerves of the neck and back. It also ensures maximum benefit to the thyroid and parathyroid glands.

4. Darikasana (Surrender). People with high blood pressure, glaucoma or a detached retina, should concentrate on Aasanas which may rectify their condition before performing inverted poses like Sarvangasana, Halasana.

5. Dhanurasana (Bow Pose). An excellent asana for the spinal cord which strengthens the hips and takes care of spondylitis. The expansion of the chest increases blood circulation in the heart muscles.

6. Savasana (Shanti Asana). This relaxes the body through various techniques like self-hypnosis, Kaya-kriya. Persons who are sad and disturbed can be benefited.

7. Yoga Nidra (Yogic Sleep). A state of conscious deep sleep for extreme
relaxation and subtler spiritual exploration.

8. Silence. Practice silence. Let thoughts pass like birds in the sky. Let the mind sink to its bedrock of silence. As the Zen Buddhists say, ‘The mind is a drunken monkey that is bitten by a scorpion.’ Allow it to relax in to silence.

Mind, Body and Soul: A Holistic Approach to Health

Sushruta Samhita, the ancient Indian work by the physician Sushruta, describes perfect health as a state where all body parts function at their optimal level and where the body, mind and spirit are in perfect balance and in a state of bliss. This is the highest goal.

Health is a state of physical, mental and social wellbeing, not merely an absence of disease or infirmity.^* Really speaking, health is not a state but a continuous adjustment to the changing demands of life and the environment. Positive health implies perfect functioning of body and mind in a given society.

Ayurveda defines health as ‘svasthya’—to be one’s own spiritual self. It is the state of equilibrium of the three doshas or mind-body energies that govern our external and internal environment―vata (wind); pitta (bile); and kapha (phlegm), along with a contented state of the senses, mind and soul.

All the ancients believed that no attempt should be made to cure the body without treating the mind and soul. To be healthy is to have the ability, despite an occasional bout of illness, to live with full use of your faculties and to be vigorous, alert and having a joie de vivre, even in old age. This concept of operational health has been termed ‘wellness’. It is a sense of all-round wellbeing.

Rules for Eating

• Sit down peacefully to eat. Close your eyes and allow your mind to leave aside all other subjects and return to the food before you.

• Choose the fuel for rebuilding your body with care.

• Thank the universe for creating the food that will give you the energy to accomplish your goals.

• Focus on the sight, the smell, the feel and finally the taste of the food you are eating. As you chew, be completely assured that the food is gently repairing all the cells of the body.

Happiness Traps

 Expect too much from others.

 Not accepting yourself as you are; wanting demand too much of yourself.

 Not being content with anything.

 Feel you are not contributing.

 Not Feeling incuded.

 Play politics and being manipulative.

 Feel you cannot prevent another’s suffering (Eg mother’s pain)

 Constant craving for food.

 In a rush all the time; in a hurry. Toomuch hurry

 Excessive anger.

 Lethargy and inactivity.

 Too much tiredness.

 Ignoring others and harm the world (selfishness).

 Being too self-absorbed.

 Promising more than you can deliver