Whenever you are feeling low, upset, panicked, negative, etc. just do this simple exercise.  Looking straight ahead move your eyes from left to right as far as they can comfortably go and back again about ten times.  This can also be done with your eyes closed.  Before you are done you will notice that all your negative thoughts and feelings are gone.

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This should work no matter how bad or deep the feelings go.   This will not keep a person from engendering bad feelings in the future, which is controlled by ones thoughts, but will quickly and easily end them in the moment, which can offer temporary relief.  How to not create more bad thoughts and feelings on a regular basis is covered in another document entitled “The Sunny Side of Your Mind: Five Steps towards Improving Your Mood.”

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Warning: Naturally this process should not be attempted while driving a motor vehicle or during any other activity that requires your full attention.

How and why this process works.

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The normal waking brainwave state is called Beta, with brainwave frequencies varying between 14 and 30 hertz (Hz) or cycles per second.  The Alpha brainwave state varies between 8 to 14 Hz.  The brainwave states associated with deep meditation and sleep are below 8 Hz.

Within the Alpha zone and particularly at its lower boundary we enter what is called the Flow state, from the book “Flow” by Psychologist Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi.  This state is one of optimal performance where we lose track of space and time and are completely absorbed in whatever activity we are involved in.  It is also the state that we are in just before falling asleep, just after we wake and the state that’s required for meditation.

When the eyes move back and forth in a swift continuous motion, the left and right hemispheres of the brain are accessed in rapid succession, promoting the Alpha brainwave state to be reached, thus causing the thoughts and feelings from the moment before to be cleared away.  One reason this process works is that when we lose track of time, and we are left with only the present moment.  Bad feelings, barring those caused by an immediate crisis, come from thinking about either the past, the future or both.  Thus, being in the present moment eliminates those thoughts and the associated bad feelings.

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It works very much like restarting a computer when activity in any given set of programs causes it to malfunction (known as a bug).  When we restart the system all the problem causing commands are flushed out and we start again with clean slate.  The mind works the same way; when we enter the Alpha brainwave state we clear our mind so that when we go back to our normal Beta state of mind we are clear of the troublesome negative thoughts and emotions from before.

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Please note that rapid eye movement is not the only way to attain an Alpha brainwave state, it is just a method that is simple, easy, and fast and requires no special equipment, skill or practice.

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Why Feeling Like a Victim Encourages and Perpetuates Depressive Moods

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Let’s get something straight right up front before I am accused of “blaming the victim,” because this is not the case at all.  First of all, I feel comfortable speaking about Depression because I have been a sufferer all of my life.  Although that alone does not qualify me as an expert, I have cured myself of this horrible affliction, which is to say I have turned off the switch that began it, healed myself of the Emotional Trauma that activated it and changed the negative thinking habit that perpetuated it.  In addition, I have helped others to heal and cast off this insidious affliction.  Therefore, I have only great compassion and understanding for those who suffer from this dark and relentless foe.

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To begin with, those who suffer from Depression are truly victims in every sense of the word, and this is not just a platitude.  True Depression comes from being rejected on or about the time of birth by one or both parents, which clearly qualifies these individuals as victims.  But regardless of this fact, dwelling in ones victimhood is not at all beneficial to any individual who desires a positive and fruitful life.  And in particular, for those suffering from Depression, perpetuating this negative behavior sentences them to a life of continual darkness, sadness and depressive episodes.  

So how exactly does “feeling like a victim” especially work against Depressives?  From the book, “Psycho-Cybernetics,” June 1960 by Maxwell Maltz, MD, Dr. Maltz explains an important way that our brain functions.  Paraphrasing the explanation, there are two distinct functions in our brain, which are the conscious and unconscious (or subconscious) minds.  The conscious mind serves as the controller by making the value judgments and thus runs the show.  The subconscious mind is indifferent and carries out instructions like that of a computer system or any other unconscious machine.  Thus, we can think of the conscious mind as the operator of a computer and the subconscious mind as the computer itself, blindly carrying out its instructions.

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Thus when any individual, especially a depressive, starts feeling “sorry for themselves,” they necessarily think of the sad, gloomy and hurtful things that have happened to them in the past which directs the subconscious mind to go to that dark place in their psyche.  As understandable as it is to do this and as soothing as this enticement absolutely seems to be, it is but a sirens call which lures the unsuspecting sufferer to an even darker, gloomier and more sorrowful mood than where it began.

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Therefore, this syndrome of feeling like a victim by reliving all the experiences that serve as a justification for feeling that way and thus validating ones victimhood is simple a trap that locks the individual into a downward spiral which is nothing more than a vicious cycle of unhappiness.

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The good news is that there can be a happy ending for all of us by resisting the temptation to be a victim by endeavoring to stay in the present moment and catching ourselves when we slip on the banana peel of victimhood.

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The Sunny Side of Your Mind

Five Steps Toward Improving Your Mood

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This is obviously a takeoff on the song, “The Sunny Side of the Street.”  This is the second installment on the theme of victimhood and how and why one should resist the temptation to go there because it is so destructive to one’s life.  Unfortunately, I speak from personal experience.  It’s not that I have been a true victim in life or really considered myself one, but I must admit that I have entered in that pond from time to time in an effort to soothe my “inner child” by wallowing in self pity.  Unfortunately, it never works.  Thinking dark unhappy thoughts, regardless of your intent, still and always will create dark unhappy feelings and moods; it is a simple case of cause and effect.  Your mood does not take sides; it just does what it is told.  Thus sad thoughts create sad feelings every time.  In other words, you can’t win by being a victim; life just doesn’t work that way and it only leads one into a vicious cycle of anger, sadness and negativity (not a good formula for a happy life.). 

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Please don’t misunderstand my intent here, unfortunately life does create some actual victims and I am not in any way trying to minimize the suffering of these brave souls.  In fact, I am saying just the opposite, there are true victims and those who just want to wear that mantle. And then there are those people of superior character and courage who are true victims but transcend it all the same.

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The realization that I have finally come to after living more decades than I enjoy admitting to is that “mood conquers all.”  I used to think, believe and accept that a bad or dark mood was the direct result of my circumstances and until and unless this was changed, I had no choice but to suffer the consequence of my current life situation.  This lead me, in my younger days, to seeking out venues where I could drink and party to boost my mood or think of the “magic scheme” that would free me from my rollercoaster like emotional ride.

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Then one day, when my partying days were over, I learned the truth about ones mood.  That truth is that mood, for the most part, is not so much controlled by ones circumstances, which we cannot often control, but by ones thoughts, which we can.

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As the song goes, “I used to walk in the shade with my blues on parade,” but “Life can be so sweet on the sunny side of the street,” the same holds true with your thinking.  So now that we know what not to do here is my formula for a lifetime stroll down the “sunny side of your mind.” 

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Five Steps Towards Improving Your Mood:

• Make it your Intention to be a Happier Person:  This may sound simplistic and even a bit Pollyannaish, but it is nothing of the sort.  I hereby give you permission to feel okay or even good even when things aren’t going your way.  Those of us who wait for everything to be just right to feel good have a long wait indeed.  Believe it or not but feeling good and having a good experience can be mutually exclusive, in an overall sense.  Like having a positive attitude even when things don’t go your way.

• Maintain Awareness: Be aware of your negative thinking and nip it in the bud

• Make Your Happy List: Write down a list of the things in life that make you feel happy when you think about them, preferably things that you have actually experienced and carry positive emotions.  Both see and feel these experiences in your mind.

• Daily Practice:  Go over your “List’ in your mind on a daily basis, as many times as possible especially upon rising and before sleeping.  Do this at least three times a day for the first two weeks and then as often as possible.

• Going Forward: Revert to your Happy List whenever you catch yourself feeling bad or in a dark mood.

 

What I have written here is not just a theory, it is a simple and practical way of feeling “Happier,” which I use myself and teach to my clients with excellent results.

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So give it a try, the only thing you have to lose is the blues!

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3 EMPOWERING FACTS ABOUT

DEPRESSION FOR THOSE WHO HAVE IT

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April 3, 2018

Sofia Adamson, Staff Writer Waking Times

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Mental health is an exceptionally big issue in today’s world. Not only are rates of depression higher than ever and rising, but there are more people than ever taking psychotropic medications. At the same time, the craziness in the world seems to be accelerating, adding evermore stress and feelings of disempowerment. In this environment it is easy to forget how much power you have over your mental health.

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There really is no other way to say it: depression just plain sucks. But as time goes by we learn more and more about what causes it and how best to combat it. Knowledge is power, and sometimes just a simple shift in perspective can bring about a dramatic change for the better.

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If depression is part of your life, or of someone you know, then take a look at this short list of uplifting facts about depression. This could very well trigger that unexpected shift in perspective to help them realize just how much control they do have over their lives in their search for happiness. The brief bits of knowledge here may be able to help turn the tide on depression.

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1) Depression is not exactly a chemical imbalance, like you’ve been told.

Doctors are good at simplifying technical information for their patients. The term chemical imbalance is widely used, and is perhaps one of the most disempowering medical ideas today. Sure, levels of brain chemicals and hormones can and do affect mood, but it’s the not the whole story. Chemical imbalance implies the existence of an uncontrollable condition.

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We are discovering the more we treat depression as an ailment caused by past experiences and especially past trauma, the we learn that depression can quickly resolve itself by looking at the psychological and spiritual roots of the problem.

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Furthermore, we are also learning that the gut microbiome plays an important role in the health of the digestive system, which may somehow cue the brain in how to act and feel. The point is that we are just now learning of a deeper connection between food and depression, and we all have control over what we choose to eat.

 

2) There are many self-care practices that are highly beneficial in overcoming depression.

Self-care may very well be the simple key for most people in overcoming depression. Simple things like exercise, meditation, spending time in nature and so on are surprisingly effective. Plus, the changing of one simply habit is often the pathway to redesigning your whole reality by changing all of your habits. Science can now tell, good personal care habits lead to good mental health.

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“Here’s the reality, though. That reaction to antidepressants isn’t strange. It’s pretty normal. Common even. Leading scientists are even now finally admitting that the “chemically imbalanced” brain notion is bunk. This fact has largely been proven already in clinical trials of these drugs. They use something called the Hamilton Scale to determine where you lie on a continuum between pure ecstasy and suicidal tendencies. Just as a reference – getting enough sleep can bump up your Hamilton score by 6 points. Eating high quality, organic, plant-based food can bump you up another 6 points on the Hamilton scale. Listening to music you love, or spending time with friends can bump you up several more points – closer to joy and further away from despondency and depression.”

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3) Antidepressants don’t really work as advertised.

Yes, antidepressants can severely alter your mood, making a person feel less depressed, but that is not quite the same thing as curing depression, and antidepressants are increasingly not working for people. Not only can they make all human emotions seem dulled down, including the emotion of joy, but they also do not address psychological concerns.

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They are, however, habit-forming, as they create physical and psychological dependencies. This means it is logical to explore other options than just antidepressants, especially when the potential harms are factored in.

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New research from Switzerland demonstrates this in a bit more detail:

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In a recent study conducted at Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland, researcher Michael P. Hengartner came to the conclusion that, “antidepressants are largely ineffective and potentially harmful.”

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“Due to several flaws such as publication and reporting bias, unblinding of outcome assessors, concealment and recoding of serious adverse events, the efficacy of antidepressants is systematically overestimated, and harm is systematically underestimated.” ~Michael P. Hengartner, Researcher at Zurich University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland

 

Final Thoughts

Again, you never know when the right bit of information may have a huge impact on someone’s life. Sometimes a simple empowering message is enough to change the course of a life, and through personal empowerment we know that anything is possible.

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