Depression

[Guest guest]

As someone who has lived through a major depression, I would like to offer

some thoughts of my own.

 

The causes of depression can be described in many ways - as a disharmony,

or energy block, caused by gross-level hormonal/dietary/bodily factors

working complementarily with cognitive short-circuits like low self-esteem,

early life traumas, and the like. The cognitive side and the physical side

have such a chicken/egg relationship that often the causes of depression

can never be fully ascribed to one side or the other.

 

Much of the pain of depression can be addressed by becoming wise and

skillful about using dietary balancing, good nutrition, adequate exercise,

chemical adjusters such as St Johns Wort, SAMe, or the more powerful drugs

like Prozac, Wellbutrin, Paxil, and the like; Yoga for complete stimulation

of the body's circulatory, lymphatic, and glandular systems; and

psycho-therapeutic investigation and attitude adjustment. There is never

one prescription that fits everyone - an experimental approach works best.

 

But there is always available, to the spiritually adept sufferer, a higher

level circuit breaker made available via practises such as meditation and

pranayama-type breathing, which releases one's energy flows to higher

levels of calibration through influxes from the subtle energy fields which

surround and interpenetrate the denser fields in which depression is

experienced.

 

These higher level energy influxes will seek to recalibrate the

individual's personal drives and vectors to more nourishing and meaningful

targets. As the individual moves away from self-esteem feedback loops

involving base egoic/emotional/sexual signifiers, which ultimately stand

revealed as meaningless, he or she opens up to higher level implosions of

meaning which release the self-contraction to an open flow state in which

galactic, archetypal sources provide an exquisite level of sustenance and

creativity. This melts easily through the seemingly endless loops of

depression, the contracting effects of extremely dense, narrow debilitating

attempts to feed off of illusory positive material/sexual/social/emotional

game outcomes, and fend off negative outcomes of the same, and replaces

those loops with expansive, light, free, loving resources for well-being.

 

Seen from this perspective, depression is actually the first sign, the

early warning system signalling to the aware individual that they are

overly reliant on positive game outcomes for equilibrium. In fact,

depression functions as a dis-equilibrilizing agent that forces one to

follow it through a protocol of dense, dark heat, which leads to a process

like slow-cooking, in which the dark elements recombine into a more frothy

substance which is more alive to the action of the subtle energy flows

which are always available to do the work of recalibration. When one

understands depression in this light, it becomes a very useful Read Out

upon one's personal Control Panel indicating the need for re-dedication to

the Work.

 

Felt as it usually is, from the outside-in, depression is a dark energy

sink or drain, but from the inside it is a startlingly vital energy vortex

full of the archetypal forms that, allowed to ferment, lead to

transcendence and transformation.

 

David

[Guest guest]

Hi David,

> As someone who has lived through a major depression, I would like to offer

> some thoughts of my own.

>

> The causes of depression can be described in many ways - as a disharmony,

> or energy block, caused by gross-level hormonal/dietary/bodily factors

> working complementarily with cognitive short-circuits like low

> self-esteem, early life traumas, and the like. The cognitive side and the

> physical side have such a chicken/egg relationship that often the causes

> of depression can never be fully ascribed to one side or the other.

 

I agree completely.

> Much of the pain of depression can be addressed by becoming wise and

> skillful about using dietary balancing, good nutrition, adequate exercise,

> chemical adjusters such as St Johns Wort, SAMe, or the more powerful drugs

> like Prozac, Wellbutrin, Paxil, and the like; Yoga for complete

> stimulation of the body's circulatory, lymphatic, and glandular systems;

> and psycho-therapeutic investigation and attitude adjustment. There is

> never one prescription that fits everyone - an experimental approach works

> best.

 

I use St John's Wort, meditation and cognitve methods, which I

suppose would be 'attitude adjustment'. And I'll try anything else

which might work.

> But there is always available, to the spiritually adept sufferer, a higher

> level circuit breaker made available via practises such as meditation and

> pranayama-type breathing, which releases one's energy flows to higher

> levels of calibration through influxes from the subtle energy fields which

> surround and interpenetrate the denser fields in which depression is

> experienced.

 

Sounds good, but I've not found meditation that helpful and I've

generally steered clear of pranayama, partly because i find it

difficult and partly because of all the 'warning' messages one reads

about it!

> These higher level energy influxes will seek to recalibrate the

> individual's personal drives and vectors to more nourishing and meaningful

> targets. As the individual moves away from self-esteem feedback loops

> involving base egoic/emotional/sexual signifiers, which ultimately stand

> revealed as meaningless, he or she opens up to higher level implosions of

> meaning which release the self-contraction to an open flow state in which

> galactic, archetypal sources provide an exquisite level of sustenance and

> creativity. This melts easily through the seemingly endless loops of

> depression, the contracting effects of extremely dense, narrow

> debilitating attempts to feed off of illusory positive

> material/sexual/social/emotional game outcomes, and fend off negative

> outcomes of the same, and replaces those loops with expansive, light,

> free, loving resources for well-being.

 

Okay, I'll take your word for it. Now - how, exactly does one go

about causing this to happen?!

> Seen from this perspective, depression is actually the first sign, the

> early warning system signalling to the aware individual that they are

> overly reliant on positive game outcomes for equilibrium. In fact,

> depression functions as a dis-equilibrilizing agent that forces one to

> follow it through a protocol of dense, dark heat, which leads to a process

> like slow-cooking, in which the dark elements recombine into a more frothy

> substance which is more alive to the action of the subtle energy flows

> which are always available to do the work of recalibration. When one

> understands depression in this light, it becomes a very useful Read Out

> upon one's personal Control Panel indicating the need for re-dedication to

> the Work.

>

> Felt as it usually is, from the outside-in, depression is a dark energy

> sink or drain, but from the inside it is a startlingly vital energy vortex

> full of the archetypal forms that, allowed to ferment, lead to

> transcendence and transformation.

 

Good, now tell me some (easy) methods!

gill

[Guest guest]

Hello Gill:

I've suffered with depression on and off for most of my life. It

finally got taken care of through a practice of yoga. There is one

exercise I did every day for months that took care of it permanently

(towards the end of my time of doing it I actually felt something

fluid like release around the stem of the brain) but it does involve

a pranayama. Taking into consideration your identification with the

manipura and anahatta chakras there are a couple of easy things that

you can do. Forward bends from a sitting position are very good for

the manipura (make sure your spine is held straight as you bend from

the hips) you could chant 'ram' while in the posture. For the heart

area a spinal flex is good at opening up the area and then chant

'yam' after the exercise. You should not use the mantras for longer

than 3 minutes. The words are pronounced with an 'a' as in

alms....not 'yam' like the vegetable or 'ram' like the animal.

Imaging yellow in the 3rd chakra is good and green in the heart can

help. There are also chakra tapes that you can listen to while

meditating that work to open up the chakras a bit. BTW when I say

that the depression was taken care of permanently that does not mean

that I do not have times when I feel low or sad it just does not go

one for days and days or weeks, months or years which is what it was

like at one time in my life.

Depression can be a complex subject and there is no one answer for it.

My daughter is on medication and is happier and more balanced that

I've ever seen her. Now that she is working through a combination of

meds and therapy she is approaching her spiritual self but for her the

medical intervention was necessary. I'm confident that you will

eventually find the right method for yourself.

Namaste,

Linda

>I use St John's Wort, meditation and cognitve methods, which I

>suppose would be 'attitude adjustment'. And I'll try anything else

>which might work.>Sounds good, but I've not found meditation that

helpful and I've >generally steered clear of pranayama, partly

because i find it >difficult and partly because of all the 'warning'

messages one reads >about it!>Good, now tell me some (easy) methods!

>gill

Enter:

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and indeed all experiences arise from and exist in and subside back

into the Space of Awareness. Like waves rising are not different than

the ocean, all things arising from Awareness are of the nature of

Awareness. Awareness does not come and go but is always Present. It

is Home. Home is where the Heart Is. Jnanis know the Heart to be the

Finality of Eternal Being. A true devotee relishes in the Truth of

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[Guest guest]

Hi Linda,

 

Thanks for this; I'll try the two positions you suggest. What was the

pranayama? I'd like to try that too. Anything 'permanent' sounds

good to me!

 

I've tried antidepressants in the past and I really don't want to use

them again (apart from St Johns Wort), so I'm very interested in

using yoga and meditation.

 

gill

[Guest guest]

Thanks

Linda for this. I would ask other experienced yoga teachers to offer methods of

hatha yoga and post them on ACOWPAL as well. Gentle and mild Pranayama done

correctly is indeed very powerful for changing the emotional state. Even

walking with deep breathing for half and hour to an hour daily can be very

helpful for the mind/body condition. There are many good books available on Pranayama

for those interested.

Love

Harsha

-----Original

Message-----

Linda

[jyotish (AT) warwick (DOT) net]

Monday, March 13, 2000 12:21

AM

Re:

Depression

12.0pt;margin-left:.5in">

color:black">"Linda" <jyotish (AT) warwick (DOT) net>

Hello Gill:

I've suffered

with depression on and off for most of my life. It finally got taken care

of through a practice of yoga. There is one exercise I did every day for

months that took care of it permanently (towards the end of my time of doing it

I actually felt something fluid like release around the stem of the brain)

but it does involve a pranayama. Taking into consideration your

identification with the manipura and anahatta chakras there are a couple of easy

things that you can do. Forward bends from a sitting position are very

good for the manipura (make sure your spine is held straight as you bend from

the hips) you could chant 'ram' while in the posture. For the heart area

a spinal flex is good at opening up the area and then chant 'yam' after the

exercise. You should not use the mantras for longer than 3 minutes.

The words are pronounced with an 'a' as in alms....not 'yam' like the vegetable

or 'ram' like the animal. Imaging yellow in the 3rd chakra is good and green in

the heart can help. There are also chakra tapes that you can listen to

while meditating that work to open up the chakras a bit. BTW when I say

that the depression was taken care of permanently that does not mean that I do

not have times when I feel low or sad it just does not go one for days and days

or weeks, months or years which is what it was like at one time in my

life.

windowtext">

Depression

can be a complex subject and there is no one answer for it. My daughter

is on medication and is happier and more balanced that I've ever seen

her. Now that she is working through a combination of meds and therapy

she is approaching her spiritual self but for her the medical intervention was

necessary. I'm confident that you will eventually find the right method

for yourself.

mso-color-alt:windowtext">

Namaste,

Linda

margin-left:39.75pt;border:none;mso-border-left-alt:solid black 1.5pt;

padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt">

color:black">>I use St John's Wort, meditation and cognitve methods, which I

color:black">

>suppose would be 'attitude adjustment'. And I'll try anything else

>which might work.

>Sounds good, but I've not found meditation that helpful and I've

>generally steered clear of pranayama, partly because i find it

>difficult and partly because of all the 'warning' messages one reads

>about it!

>Good, now tell me some (easy) methods!

>gill

windowtext">

auto;margin-left:39.75pt;text-align:center;border:none;mso-border-left-alt:

solid black 1.5pt;padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt">

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0in 0in 0in 0in" height="60">

height:23.25pt">

height:21.75pt">

Enter:

height:21.75pt">

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padding:0in;mso-padding-alt:0in 0in 0in 4.0pt">

color:black">//

color:black">

All paths go somewhere. No path goes nowhere. Paths, places, sights,

perceptions, and indeed all experiences arise from and exist in and subside

back into the Space of Awareness. Like waves rising are not different than the

ocean, all things arising from Awareness are of the nature of Awareness.

Awareness does not come and go but is always Present. It is Home. Home is where

the Heart Is. Jnanis know the Heart to be the Finality of Eternal Being. A true

devotee relishes in the Truth of Self-Knowledge, spontaneously arising from

within into It Self. Welcome all to a.

To from this list, go to the ONElist web site, at

www., and select the User Center link from the menu bar

on the left. This menu will also let you change your subscription

between digest and normal mode.

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12.0pt;margin-left:.5in">//

color:black">

All paths go somewhere. No path goes nowhere. Paths, places, sights,

perceptions, and indeed all experiences arise from and exist in and subside

back into the Space of Awareness. Like waves rising are not different than the

ocean, all things arising from Awareness are of the nature of Awareness.

Awareness does not come and go but is always Present. It is Home. Home is where

the Heart Is. Jnanis know the Heart to be the Finality of Eternal Being. A true

devotee relishes in the Truth of Self-Knowledge, spontaneously arising from

within into It Self. Welcome all to a.

To from this list, go to the ONElist web site, at

www., and select the User Center link from the menu bar

on the left. This menu will also let you change your subscription

between digest and normal mode.

windowtext">