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Depression

8 Natural Healing Methods for Depression

Dealing with the blues does not necessarily mean that you have to start popping those orange pills.  Studies show that one of the major deterrents to treating mild depression is the fear of patients to be addicted to anti-depressants.

While conventional anti-depression drugs provide an effective way of treating diagnosed depression, it is by no means the only way to elevate your mood.  There are a host of natural healing methods that are considered safe and effective in improving mood and altering brain chemistry to take your blues away.

Exercise to Boost Your Mood

Exercising literally pumps you up because it releases feel-good chemicals called endorphins that interacts with your brain receptors and diminish the perception of pain.  Much like morphine, endorphins suppress pain by triggering a feeling of happiness and a positive outlook.  Unlike morphine though, endorphins are naturally occurring chemicals that do not lead to dependence or addiction.

Scientific evidence points that doing a 30-minute routine of moderate aerobic exercise at least three times a week is effective in alleviating symptoms of depression.  Those who maintain their exercise routine even after being treated of their depression are also less likely to return to a depressed state.

Eat Healthy

 Depression tends to disrupt normal eating habits, pushing those who suffer the symptoms of depression to either overeat or starve themselves.  Taking control of your eating habits does not only keep your body nourished, it also restores a certain sense of control over your life, which also in part relieves your state of depression.

Some studies show that eating foods that are rich in omega-3 fatty acids found in tuna and salmon, as well as those that are rich in folic acid such as avocado and spinach, helps relieve depression by restoring chemical balance in the brain and nervous system.

Meditate To Relax

 Much of the anxiety, stress and symptoms of depression that we experience can be relieved by giving ourselves some time to relax and clear our mind.  Meditation enables deep relaxation by clearing the mind of distracting thoughts and focusing on proper and deep breathing.  It provides us a means to have an altered state of consciousness.

Meditating on a daily basis is a good anti-depression practice because it trains us to let go of our thoughts, focus our attention on the here and now and cultivate an attitude of acceptance and openness, which could also help relieve depression and the negative feelings associated with it.

Do Yoga

 Although most yoga techniques also involve meditation, yoga promotes an added incentive of exercising the body to improve balance, strength, and flexibility while also practicing proper breathing techniques to help clear the mind and focus.

As a whole, yoga works to align the spine, invigorate the nervous system, improve blood circulation, promote mental clarity, reduce stress and anxiety, and promote relaxation and emotional wellbeing.  It provides a potent way of alleviating symptoms of depression.

Get Enough Sleep

Being in a state of depression can lead to altered sleeping patterns and make getting enough sleep feel like a tiring battle.  Unfortunately, being sleep deprived can heighten your depression and make matters worse.

While it might prove difficult to sleep well, make a concerted effort to make necessary changes in your sleep routine to ensure that you get enough shut-eye when you need it most.

Try going to bed and getting up at a specific time every day to encourage your biological clock to cooperate.

Remove all distractions from sleeping such as TV, computer, or even your mobile phone (the male energy of the devices is not conducive to a good night’s sleep).  You can also try a short power nap during the day to relax and feel rejuvenated.

Take Anti-Depression Herbal Supplements

Supplement your diet and boost your mood by turning to natural supplements.   Try a relaxing drink of chamomile tea or some St. John’s Wort.  Both herbs are said to relieve depression and anxiety.

Have a Massage

We know that touch therapy promotes relaxation and uplifts our mind and spirit.  Specific massage modalities such as Swedish, Shiatsu and Hawaiian Lomi-Lomi promote relaxation and healing.  The use of aromatic oils and music that promotes relaxation during massage provides a holistic experience to deal with the blues.

These natural healing remedies for depression work well to complement whatever medication or psychotherapy session you may be using to help you improve your mood and promote emotional healing.

Create an Environment for Healing

And, of course, we are here to help you discover the emotional and physical imbalances that are creating the environment that might be blocking your natural state of being.

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Challenge Your Body and Beliefs

How Often Do You Challenge Your Body

 In order to improve we need to challenge ourselves. Having challenges involves setting new goals or changing our old goals so that we always have more to do. But how often do you challenge yourself? How often should you challenge yourself? How do you determine challenge?

How often we challenge ourselves should depend on how great a challenge we set for ourselves. Pushing ourselves a little bit every day can be good, and so can pushing yourself to the max from time to time. But, if you push yourself to your limits every day, you might not be giving your body enough time to recover.

Challenging Your Muscles

This is especially true for weight lifting and resistance training. When we use our muscles, acids can build up in our blood, which leads to that burning feeling. Muscle fibers can also undergo wear and tear. Both of these things are healthy and normal parts of exercising, but if we don’t give our blood time to flush out that waste, or our muscles enough time to repair those fibers, we can harm our bodies.

The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) advises against working out the same muscle group more than three times per week for beginners, four times per week for intermediate athletes, and six times per week for advanced athletes.

While you shouldn’t challenge the same muscle group every day, you can still challenge yourself every day by only working out one or two muscle groups every day and alternating days for each exercise.

The ACSM also has recommendations for how to challenge yourself. With a partner, a coach, or a spotter, find a weight or resistance that only allows you to successfully complete and exercise once. This establishes your “1 Rep Maximum.” As a beginner, you should be lifting no more than 75 percent to 80 percent of your 1 Rep Max, though advanced athletes may go for as much as 80 percent to 100 percent.

Challenging Your Heart

Your biceps aren’t everything. To be completely healthy you also need to exercise muscles that people don’t see – like your heart. The American Heart Association recommends half an hour of intermediate cardio five days per week, or half that much time if you’re doing rigorous exercise, which is discussed below.

Unlike with weight lifting and resistance training, there doesn’t seem to be a point of diminishing returns on aerobic exercise. The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute recommends that for a real challenge you can do as much as 300 minutes of aerobic exercise per week, but also say that “the more active you are the more you will benefit” without placing an upper limit on that claim.

Just like with other muscle groups, there are actually ways to quantify whether or not you’re being challenged. Most of these recommendations involve percentages of your estimated maximum heart rate.

Most of us shouldn’t be going above 80 percent of our maximum heart rate. This is estimated by subtracting your age from 220.

So, if you are thirty years old, your maximum heartrate is probably around 190, so you shouldn’t be doing anything that brings your heartrate above around 150. In order to challenge yourself and get the benefit of exercise, however, you should probably be going above or around 60 percent of your estimated maximum heart rate. For that same thirty-year-old that would be around 114, or roughly twice the average resting heart rate.

There are easier metrics though: If you can sing a song while exercising, you’re probably doing intermediate difficulty or less. If you have trouble talking while exercising, you’re probably doing more rigorous exercise.

Challenging Your Emotions and Beliefs

Are you living in a perpetual state of stress? Is your lifestyle good for your health? Is your job a place to recharge or a place you hate? Do you enjoy your life? Are you living the life you’ve chosen?

You ARE good enough. You have the RIGHT to choose your lifestyle. You have the means to live a happy life. If any of those statements made you stop in disbelief, I challenge you to explore the underlying emotions and the belief system you’ve created that is not serving you and is not allowing you to live your best life.

YOU HAVE THE CHOICE. When you’re ready to take the first step toward your new life, schedule a session and see what’s possible.

 

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Natural Remedies for Fatigue

Skip The Energy And Caffeine Drinks: 8 Natural Remedies For Fatigue

Have you been feeling exhausted or lethargic lately?

If so, you are probably experiencing fatigue. When you are fatigued, you are both physically and mentally drained. Daily tasks that were once so easy to perform can now feel like you are trying to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.

There are many different reasons why fatigue may occur. Some of them include depression, lack of sleep, illness, over stimulation, and mental stress. No matter what the reason, here are a few natural remedies that can give you the energy boost you need without the crash later.

#1 – Eat a Good Breakfast

When you wake up in the morning one of the first things you should do is eat breakfast. As you have heard so many times before, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. When you eat breakfast, your energy levels get a boost. It is this boost that can help you perform your daily tasks more efficiently.

When you skip breakfast, you put yourself at risk for a variety of health problems. Even if it’s something quick, make breakfast a part of your everyday routine. Try to keep your meal around 300 calories.

#2 – Eat More Broccoli

Broccoli is a superfood that can help prevent stress and fatigue. It contains dietary fiber that can help reduce the amount of adrenal damage caused by stress and fatigue. The result is a better-controlled blood sugar level and less glucose being metabolized in the body.

Broccoli is also able to help eliminate the fat that is often found in the midriff area. Fat in the midriff area causes the hormone cortisol to increase in your body. When this happens, you gain weight. By eating broccoli, you will be able to reduce insulin resistance and improve the metabolism of blood sugar.

#3 – Get Plenty of Rest

Never underestimate the power of sleep. In order for your body and mind to function the right way, you need to get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep every single night. Having a proper sleeping pattern is a key step to preventing fatigue. When you get plenty of rest your will feel rejuvenated and ready for the day. When you don’t get enough rest, you will feel very sluggish and unable to focus.

#4 – Have a Little Lemon Balm

This perennial herb is used to treat a variety of different ailments. The chemicals it contains have a very calming effect. When you are calm your level of mental fatigue is significantly lowered. For best results mix lip balm with nettle, raspberry leaf, oat tops, ginger, and licorice. Consume this fatigue fighting mixture at least 3 times a day and you may be able to completely eliminate fatigue.

#5 – Take a Nice, Warm Salt Bath

Salt baths are great for helping you release your fatigue. Just take a little salt and add it to a tub of lukewarm water. Sit in the salt water for about 10 minutes. Allow your body to relax as the salt massages your pores. Never let your face or hair get in the salt water. Tie your hair up and submerge yourself in the water from the neck down.

# 6 – Drink a Glass of Wine

All the wine lovers out there will love this remedy. When it comes to getting rid of fatigue all you may need is a glass of wine.

Take 1 liter of your favorite red wine and mix it with the following ingredients:

  • 25gm of sage
  • 25gm of rosemary
  • 2 tsps. of honey

Find a glass container and mix in the wine, rosemary, and sage.

Put the glass container in a pot of boiling hot water for 20 minutes.

Remove the container, strain the liquid, and add in the honey.

Let it cool off a bit and enjoy. It is the perfect way to end a long day.

#7 – Consume Rose Petals

Rose petals are known for their ability to help combat depression and tension. Generally speaking, both are a direct result of mental fatigue. Get 20 to 30 rose petals and mix them in a glass of water. Boil the mixture for about 15 minutes. Once it has cooled down you will need to store it in an airtight container. Have a glass up to 3 times a day and feel your fatigue melt away.

#8 – Add Spinach To Your Diet

If you have chronic fatigue, consuming spinach is one of the better natural remedies. Spinach is a nutrient-rich food. The folate it contains helps fight chronic fatigue. Spinach also provides your body with other nutrients that give it energy and ward off fatigue.

For best results, consider having spinach at least once a day. You can eat it or drink it in a smoothie or juice. Look for recipe ideas so you can avoid burn out.

#9 – Bonus Tip

Muscle test your foods and nutritional supplements before you buy. Everyone’s body chemistry and tolerance level is different, and even the best quality food or supplement available isn’t a perfect fit for everyone on the planet. You may be missing a vitamin or mineral that is available in the produce or spice section of your local grocery store. It’s always a good idea to check in with your body to see what it needs. If you don’t trust your muscle testing, or if you’d just prefer someone else do that for you, we should talk.

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Exercise After 50

Exercise After 50: What You Should Be Doing

Many people get exercise wrong as they age. Why? Because they often stop altogether. This is one of the worst things you can do to your body, especially at a time when exercise is needed more than ever.

The aging process speeds up breakdown of muscle and connective tissue, and can leave you immobile – especially if you sit there and do nothing about it!

Already over 50? No problem, you can still take action to help prevent an unfortunate outcome. Read on to discover what exercises you should consider incorporating into your fitness plan.

Aerobics

Aerobics, also known as cardio or cardiovascular exercise, is important at any point of life, but more so as we get older. Aerobic exercise plays an important part in maintaining the health of various organs, including the heart, lungs, and brain.

Though there are many different types of aerobic exercise, you should probably start with low-impact to protect your joints until you get ready to handle more.

Some to consider:

  • Walking
  • Swimming
  • Cycling (including stationary bikes)
  • Jogging
  • Dancing

Strength Training

Many people associate strength training with becoming a bodybuilder, but your body actually needs resistance to stay functional. People that weight train regularly have a greatly decreased risk of fractures, pain, and immobility typically caused by muscle atrophy.

You should consider basic strength training until you feel ready to add resistance. Added resistance is good, but do it only when you feel you are capable.  Injury is a risk you don’t need to take to strengthen your body.

Some exercises to consider:

  • Squats
  • Bench presses
  • Push ups
  • Pull up/ assisted pull ups
  • Lat pull downs shoulder presses
  • Deadlifts / hyperextensions
  • Triceps presses
  • Dumbbell curls
  • Yoga
  • Pilates
  • Tai Chi

Flexibility Training

The single most underrated aspect of any training program is the flexibility component. It’s easy to overlook because you don’t see immediate physical changes, but in the long run it can greatly improve your ease of movement. Think of it as insurance – the insurance that safeguards you from possible immobility or injury. Flexibility training has numerous benefits on a body aged over 50, such as:

  • Decreased pain after training – One reason muscles and joints ache after a workout is because of an inability of muscles to elongate or stretch back out without placing undue stress on connective tissue.
  • It promotes balance – Loss of balance occurs frequently as we age due in large part to loss of muscle mass, but also because of stiff connective tissue. Flexibility training can significantly help you maintain balance as you age.

Include these in your flexibility training to reap the benefits:

  • Dynamic Stretches – These are stretches performed prior to your workout to get the muscle and connective tissue loose and ready for activity. This significantly helps to reduce the risk of injury during an active workout.
  • Static Stretches – These are stretches performed after working out a muscle group, to relieve muscle tension. Static stretches help stretch the muscle fibers and reduce pain after your workout.

Conclusion

A complete plan should include aspects from each of the exercise types mentioned above to maintain the integrity of joints, heart, and muscles. Staying mobile will help extend your high level of health and quality of life as you age. If you have physical pain that prevents you from beginning an exercise routine, talk to your doctor for suggestions. You can also set up an exploration session – maybe we can figure out why your body is sending you the pain signal and restore balance to that area so the pain signal can go away. Then you can exercise and enjoy it without pain!

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Your Personal Growth and Vision

4 Actions That Target Your Personal Growth

We all have areas where we want to improve; health, work, family, finances, you name it. But reality can get in the way – along with a busy schedule that doesn’t leave any room for quiet time, let alone personal development. We also sometimes lose focus or can’t muster the willpower to take the steps to create the improvement we so desire. Or maybe we just don’t know where or how to start.

There’s a saying I often mention to my clients who are trying to grow their business – you need to know where you are to figure out how to get where you want to be. So, where are you now? Where do you want to be? What do you want your life (or business) to look like? In 3 months, 1 year, 3 years, 5 years? Define your targets and figure out the action steps you need to take immediately to move you toward your goal. If you don’t know the goal, how do you decide which way to go or which opportunity to jump on? Without direction you can get so lost and frustrated that you lose your creative spark, and give up just a few steps from the finish line.

You need a unique, individualized growth plan.  For your personal development, and for your business.  You have to know where you are, where you want to be, and what roads to take to get you there.  You CAN achieve the vision you have of yourself, but it’s something you will need to consciously think about and work toward. If you don’t plan your own development and growth, no one else will.

Here are 4 steps you can take to create your unique growth plan.

 1.  Know Thyself

In order to plan for the future, reflect on your past experiences, your weaknesses, and strengths – they’ve made you who you are today. Clarify your own unique values, such as integrity, respect for others, leadership, honesty. Your values define your position – at the workplace, with family and friends, in your romantic relationships. Ask yourself:

  • What do I want my life to look like (emotional and physical health, finances, career, relationships, activities, possessions, spiritual, etc.)?
  • What are my greatest achievements?
  • What are my strengths?
  • What are my weaknesses?
  • What skills do I have?
  • What are my personal goals?
  • What are my career ambitions?
  • What steps have I taken to pursue these goals and ambitions?

Once you’ve asked and answered these questions, you’ll have a better idea of who you are and what you truly value.

2.  Develop your vision

So where do you see yourself in the future? What does your perfect world look like?

What does your house look like? What car are you driving? How big is your family? How many pets do you have? What career field are you enjoying? What kind of vacations do you take? How much cash do you have? How many best-selling books have you written?

Ever heard of a vision board? It’s a powerful little tool that can be really simple or really elaborate. My most powerful one was created using colored markers and white poster board. Now I use apps available online. But that first one I created while living abroad – and when I unpacked it just a few years later I realized that EVERYTHING I had created on that poster had come true. Now I wish I had imagined even greater things – who knows what could have happened already!

So create your vision board! Then write out action steps you can take today to move you from where you are to where you KNOW you want to be. Brainstorm multiple paths to get you to your goal so that when obstacles pop up you can switch to another path for a while. Don’t get stressed about timing – be flexible in your planning because when those obstacles crop up they can mess with your project coordination and timing. The goal is to keep moving. Failure is irrelevant – it just means you need to correct your course and keep moving toward your goal.

3.  Assess your present-day situation

Implementing your plan can be difficult at first. But with dedication and an eye on the prize you’ll soon find that taking action becomes a daily habit. Putting your strengths to good use will harness your energy level so that it’s utilized efficiently. Outsourcing for your weaknesses can free up valuable time – hire a housekeeper, an assistant, or a yard maintenance company, get an online virtual assistant, use an online scheduling program, the opportunities are endless.

Set up achievement milestones, and celebrate when you reach them. Smaller goals give you the motivation and drive you need to work your way to the big ones. And each time you reach a milestone or achieve one of the small goals, reward yourself for your hard work!

4.  Review your progress

Each project needs to be reviewed and assessed. Your unique growth plan is no different. You should schedule your review on a weekly basis to start, no more than monthly, until you build up the discipline and the habit of checking in internally and moving forward regardless of what is going on in your life to distract you.

It’s crucial that you take a step back and look at all the hard work you’ve accomplished.

Check to see if you’ve left anything out or missed any deadlines. Or maybe the mini-goals you set up last time don’t fit your criteria any longer, or they need tweaking or readjusting. Reflect on your experience and consider everything you’ve learned. This will ensure that you keep moving forward toward your long-term goal and the vision you’ve created.

Pull out that vision board every day – at a minimum during your weekly review. Step back into the feeling you get when you see yourself living your new reality. That feeling is what will keep you moving forward, and will help attract those things into your life. Be grateful for every step you’ve managed to take, and every scrap of evidence that showed up to prove to you that you CAN make things happen.

Final Thoughts

You create your own reality. The life you are living today is a direct result of the choices you have made and the steps you have or haven’t taken. If you want your life to change, you have to take action NOW. Move toward your vision. Take a baby step. A baby falls a hundred times before he learns to stand. But he keeps trying and eventually learns to walk. You can too!

If something is keeping you stuck and you just can’t take a single step, we should talk. If you can’t see a better future for yourself, there’s something out of balance in your body that we need to take care of so you can live your best life. You can do it!

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Fibromyalgia and Arthritis

Complementary Alternative Treatments for Pain from Fibromyalgia and Arthritis

Fibromyalgia and arthritis are medical conditions that are both associated with pain that can be chronic and debilitating. While fibromyalgia involves flu-like, muscle pain throughout the body, arthritis involves joint pain and inflammation.

Both diseases have no exact causes, and medical treatments range from palliative to preventive approaches.

Both conditions typically lead to debilitating pain and can truly affect the quality of one’s life.

Conventional Medicine versus Complementary Alternative Treatment Methods

The problem with using conventional medicine is that the effects are usually limited. Because both of these conditions are ‘incurable’, the aim of medications and treatments are often symptomatic and temporary only.

On the other hand, using alternative methods can provide long-term and reliable results – by not just addressing the symptoms but by targeting the cause – which can prevent the symptoms from reoccurring.

Addressing underlying imbalances that show up as chronic pain is possible using intuition and the Body Code to find out what is not functioning properly.  Balancing that part of the body creates a safe place for the body to begin to heal as it was designed to do.  In many cases the pain ‘miraculously’ disappears.

Typically we find that there are multiple layers of issues that have built up over time creating a weakness in a specific area. As more issues run to the point of weakness, pain becomes more evident and eventually seems to be a constant.  As we peel back the layers of the onion – the layers of pain – we get closer to the origin of the imbalance.  And we create that safe healing environment.

As we work through the layers, clients typically report that their medication needs to be changed.  We never go against medication orders, and always work with the client when physical changes might indicate that the dosage should be adjusted to provide the best benefit.  We also direct clients to check with their medical provider before beginning any energy healing modality.  It is important for each client to take personal responsibility for their own body and their health choices.

In addition to using the Body Code to explore the underlying reasons for the body’s imbalance, there are other popular alternative treatments used to relieve pain associated with fibromyalgia and arthritis that complement conventional medicine protocols.

Acupuncture

Traditionally practiced by the Chinese, this ancient method of treatment has been adapted by Western practitioners and is now a popular and widely accepted form of alternative medicine. Acupuncture is based on the concept of “chi”, which is believed to be the body’s life force.

The chi travels along the body’s natural pathways known as meridians, found throughout the body.  Any pain, discomfort or illness a person manifests is believed to be caused by blockages in the chi’s natural flow throughout the body.

The goal of acupuncture is to remove these blockages and let the chi flow freely, thereby allowing the body to heal itself from any illness or pain.

Acupuncture is done by inserting very thin needles through the skin, targeting specific “acupoints” where blockages are suspected.  Acupoints to be penetrated depend on the nature of the disease and the area where pain is felt.

Chiropractic Treatments

Chiropractic medicine is based on the concept that all body parts are aligned from one specific point- the spine.  When the spine is in its natural and correct position, the body is able to heal on its own and free itself from diseases and pain.  On the other hand, any misalignment within a specific body part can cause an imbalance with the spine and the rest of the body, causing various types of pain and maladies.

Chiropractic care typically involves spinal manipulation, in order to align the vertebrae back to their original position.  What most people do not know is that after an injury or illness, any misalignments with the bodily structures are still present, despite the symptoms disappearing.  The truth is that the symptoms may be gone temporarily but the actual problem is left unresolved.  While conventional treatment may mask the symptoms of arthritis and fibromyalgia, chiropractic can promote long-term relief for pain by restoring the spine’s natural alignment.

Massage

Therapeutic massage can provide warmth to the muscles and increase blood flow, promoting relaxation and pain relief.  It is very important, though, that an experienced therapist is utilized – one who knows which areas are affected – to avoid aggravating the condition.

Nutritional Counselling

Many symptoms associated with fibromyalgia and arthritis can be triggered by the food you eat.  The goal of nutritional counselling is to help the sufferer work out a new dietary regimen that aids in the relief of pain and progression of the disease.

For example, if you have arthritis you might be advised to avoid food that triggers inflammation, such as:

  • Dairy products
  • Alcoholic drinks
  • Fried food
  • Grilled, processed, and pasteurized food
  • Food high in sugar, salt, and preservatives

Alternative medicine focuses on treatment that is non-medical and non-pharmacological.  It involves a natural approach that is meant to aid the person suffering from fibromyalgia and arthritis during a usually lifelong battle with these diseases.

Herbalism

Another natural healing method for the pain experienced from arthritis and fibromyalgia is herbalism.  There are numerous herbs that are known to be effective in helping to alleviate pain.  Make sure to take care when using herbs and consult a professional expert herbalist or a Chinese medicine doctor.