The Secret Cure For Depression

If I could offer you a cure for your depression and anxiety that did not cost any money, required no special clothing nor equipment and is something you are already doing, would you want to know what it is? Or would you rather take expensive pills which have multiple side effects.

There is even a hidden extra benefit which comes along with the secret cure, of which I will inform you later…Before I tell you the secret, I also need to give you a few facts.

There are various forms of depression from dysthymia (mild) to clinical (severe) with many variations in between these extremes. With extreme cases medication in combination with psychotherapy, yoga, meditation and exercise is the most effective treatment.

But most people along the mild to moderate portion of the scale who are functioning, living a productive life, but who feel numb or just do not feel fully alive are not in need of medication. Maybe they are OK at work, because it provides structure, a place to go, something to do everyday. But on weekends, they may isolate and hang around the house watching TV or sleeping all day, never even getting dressed all weekend. They do not shop or cook for themselves, so they tend to eat fast food or junk food, mindlessly.

Does this apply, even a little bit, to you?
So part of the secret cure that most people are not aware of is that they can control their own nervous system. Many of us spend our lives trying to control other people and our environment (which is not possible), instead of trying to modulate or regulate our own states of arousal or moods. We have it completely backwards. The only thing we can control is ourselves. But since our nervous systems and emotions reside in our bodies, (Pert, et.al), we cannot control or regulate our emotions from our minds.

Are you getting any closer to guessing the cure?

What do meditation, Yoga and exercise have in common?
You may guess breathing and you would be correct. Let me explain how the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) works and how you can use breathing to modulate and change it. The ANS is often thought of as “automatic” because it controls functions which are usually unconscious, such as heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, circulation to name just a few. However, many of these autonomic or unconscious functions can come into conscious control through one system.

By now, I think you have guessed it. Breathing is the one function in our body mind that can be done unconsciously or consciously. Actually breathing is the most basic support system of living. You can live long periods of time without food, and shorter periods of time without water, but only minutes without breathing.

Here are 4 basic ingredients of the secret cure for depression:
• Breathing
• Containment
• Grounding
• Presence

Breathing
When we are hyper-aroused (sympathetic or fight or flight) we are stuck in a response which floods us with stress hormones. We can regulate our ANS down to parasympathetic (relaxation). How? Through breathing!