Depressed? Feeling Meh? Immediate Fixes To Bliss

Ever notice that when you're down mentally, that things that excite you just don't anymore? That you find ways to find negatives in things that you shouldn't be able to? That's because, your state, your mental state, changes your perception.

It goes the opposite way too. So when you're feeling on cloud 9, all those problems seem to lighten (what problems you say?!) Well, that's your answer. Find. A. Way. To. Lighten. Every. Subject. And Ta-Da, here's a less known trick: It doesn't happen directly, it doesn't happen with dedicated focus on what's wrong. Instead,  joy happens with distraction from what's pulling you down.That is why flow yoga and Crossfit and racquetball are so good for me, it keeps me moving and breathing instead of thinking. And the further I get from thinking, the better I feel. One exception to that; if I'm getting a massage or I'm 10 minutes into a run and thinking- Thinking during those times takes me to a happy bubble.

Our job is not to gather the best circumstances in order to have a good life. If that was the case then Helen Keller would not have been who she was. Instead, it's your job to be exactly where you are and find the best possible aspects of it. And if you can't find something good about where you are, you back away from the subject or you distract yourself. Problems should be approached just like you would if you saw 'Ol Mr black Bear in the woods. Back away!

When you find a way to be positive, then the world around you changes. People change. Things that were holding you down, can lift. You can breathe again. You feel excited about your day instead of dreading it. That's your power! You CAN change your thoughts to shift your energy. So don't wake up and start thinking of the big problems in your life. Instead, wake up and start appreciating the little things, or give yourself praise for something, or think of something hilarious that made you belly laugh. These are all tricks that change your state. When your mental state is changed, your world changes. 

Want to know more? Here, my inner musings...about depression and our moods

1. YOU are not depressed. You might have been labeled as such, but that's just what Doctors do to stuff you into a pretty little vanilla file so they can move onto another patient. If you are depressed and someone came up to you and said, "here's $10 Million dollars" or if someone needed help finding something, you would in that moment forget about your depressing thoughts. Remember this: Depression is like a cloud that floats along in the sky. You are not the cloud, you are the whole sky, my love.  Don't get stuck in labels. They will always keep you down longer than you need to.
2. The more you think, the worse it feels. Mental chatter does not make for a bliss experience. You have to turn off the thinking body, (what Ekhart Tolle calls, The Pain Body) OR as Abraham Hicks explains, thoughtlessness raises your vibration. Then you have to realize you are innately happy. Happiness is your birthright, just stop overthinking so you can feel it.
3. Anxiety is experienced both physically and mentally. Anxiety is also caused by focusing on what you DON'T want. Instead of focusing on what you don't want, start to come up with fantasies of what could happen. It's called the "what if" game. It goes like this- What if the people I just met end up being my best friends? What if I end up loving the body I'm in? What if this is the best thing for me in the long haul? What if I practice bravery and help others do it too...
4. NOTHING is more important than how you feel. And if that means you are a homeless man on the street and you find joy in placing your hands over a burning trash can because it's warm - then you're off to a good start. Don't seek out the conditions to be happy about, instead be happy in the right now moment. Once you begin to find the things to be happy about, you'll begin to experience more happiness. Happiness is not something that comes to you, it's something you seek out and something that builds up momentum.
5. Depression is caused by thoughts of the past, Anxiety is caused by thoughts of the future and both are caused by the inability to be fully be in the present moment. How can you live in the current moment? You find something to cherish, something to be in awe of that's happening where you are right now. It could be two people hugging, it could be geese flying overhead, it could be the fact that you are reading my awesome blog. Find something small and let the momentum carry you.
6. Realize the pain you are experiencing is because you are inflicting a monumental shift in your beliefs. What you used to make you happy in the past no longer applies because you are learning to find joy without perfect conditions. example: Can I be happy if my health is not perfect? Can I see this as an opportunity instead of as a punishment? Can I know that behavior of another makes me angry but refrain from anger?
7. Your point of focus (what you are giving your attention to with thoughts and actions) is spurring these emotions. Drop any topic that doesn't feel good. Move onto something totally random and let the problems sort themselves out shortly there after. The other day I was down in the dumps mentally and I started to watch a video on how to braid hair- boom. felt better.  Distractions unrelated to your problems end up solving your problems. It's like when you feel crappy and then you hear about someone else being in a really bad spot and your problem "mountain" turns into a molehill.
   
8. Don't talk about those subjects that don't feel good unless it's with someone who'e extremely optimistic (rare gems.) Anything that you want to be true, or anything you want more of, talk about. Anything you don't want to be true, just generalize it! You generalize it by saying things like, "I'm sure other people have been in this same situation and made it through." Or say, "its always worse from this point of view." Don't let your need to be accurate outweigh your desire to feel good. If you talk to people and tell them how awful your life has been in order for them to understand why you've put on ten pounds, then you're only holding yourself back from change. Plus complaining lowers the energy of the conversation you have. Instead, find a subject that makes you feel good when you discuss it.
9. Recognize when you feel a certain way, it's a jumping off point to dive into something else entirely. If you feel uncomfortable with a certain group of friends, don't judge yourself harshly like there's something wrong with you. Just acknowledge it's there with a light heart, so you can move on. If you judge it you'll only muddy of the waters of transformation.
10. Anxiety and stress cause shallow breathing. Shallow breathing tells your body that something is wrong. When that happens your mind will begin to seek out what's wrong and the momentum will carry you into a really bad place. Breath deeply my friends, we're all in this together.
11. Imagine your preferences. Where do you want to be instead? What do you want to be doing instead? Who do you want to be with? What do you want to be different? Asking yourself empowering questions will bring you up out of the depths of despair. Instead of hanging out in victimization, flip it into what your preference is instead. Just write it out or daydream it. Your mood will lift just from thinking about what you want.
    
12. It's always darkest before the dawn. Your worst day will prepare you for the best day. 

Hope this helps. Much love to you all!

Our Livers, and How To Fix Congested Ones

One awesome piece of advise I am implementing in 2018 is Your Mess is Your Message (thank you Tracy!) What that means is, the health issues that come up for me physically can be something I can learn about and use to help others. So for personal health reasons, I'm diving again into the messy topic of the good 'ol liver. For my prior blog, go here. 

My Mess: At my last functional doctor appointment I was told I have a congested liver.


How did this happen?
If you're  picturing my red, rubbery liver coughing and blowing it's nose into a tissue, then you're at least laughing a little. Actually, a congested liver can be caused from stress (yes) overeating (guilty) fatty foods (kinda guilty, blaming almond butter all the way!) and too many toxins - even mold or heavy metals (toxins are everywhere actually! And I'm not much of a drinker so it's not alcohol!) A congested liver can also be caused from food allergies (most common ones are eggs, sugar, gluten, dairy and nuts) and really yucky thoughts that keep cycling back through your mind, stressing you out. Although, one might say that the liver can cause the yucky thoughts to cycle through the body. In other words, was it the chicken (liver) or the egg (negative thoughts)? Also, parasites could be the cause of liver burdens, but that word travels right to my gag reflex so... let's stop there.

On a physical level our liver is your detox organ that  helps clot your blood, breaks down old blood cells, breaks down fats using it's own bile (bile is stored in the gallbladder but created by Mr Amazing liver) Among other things the very busy liver does is to shed fat, remove toxins from the body (including dirty arss pharmaceuticals) and produce cholesterol. PS, Don't go hating on cholesterol, we need it to make hormones, we just don't need too much of it AND it doesn't all come from dietary things like eggs people, read some new research. AND did I mention, people with liver problems tend toward anger?

Tangent over, back to the liver; the organ actually has over 500 jobs in the body that shames your multitasking claim.  Your liver is amazin'!  So is mine, but we're not here to talk about me. Actually, we are going to talk about my liver, though. So there.

My Message: 
Liver problems in Louise Hay's book, You Can Heal Your Life, (AKA my Bible) are listed as chronic complaining, feeling bad, justifying fault finding. The affirmation to help it is: My mind is cleansed and free, I leave the past and move into the new, All is well.
That's on the spiritual/emotional end of things, take it or leave it, lovies.  

In Chinese medicine, liver qi stagnation is associated with liver problems, where headaches, a flushed face, a short temper and a sore neck/trap area are involved. It also looks like cellulite (a word dirtier than parasite) and hair loss.  AND now things are getting ugly. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, any blockage of energy (chi) will inhibit liver function and cause physical symptoms like nail and eye issues including burning, itching or dry eyes. It also means you are not going to be able to process your emotions and since your liver disperses energy, then you can get stuck in emotions like depression, frustration, irritability, and anger. 

So what does my liver congestion look like to outsiders, like my family? I still look like me (though {dramatic sigh}heavier than 2 years ago) plus I'm an irrational, irritated and angry Mom that tries to maintain her cool but loses it for meaningless reasons. As in, "who didn't clear their plate, and why are there footprints on the floor I just cleaned, or why are you wearing your shoes in the house" ( red faced and "short Mom" yells)

And then 10 minutes later, after rapid, non-speaking, angry house tidying up, I'm back to being good (saintly) Mom again. Or, if you're my husband, you know I can go for a whole day giving the almost-silent treatment, where we talk only on a need to know basis. That's what others see, but its only part of my experience.

Inside my body, it feels like a storm is brewing. Loving peace feels like a rarity inside my mind- only after exercise, during a massage or when I'm in my PJ's and the family is settled for the night. The other times of the day, I feel complete elation and excitement, cycled with crying and irrational thoughts/actions. In other words, I'm a moody bitch which is one of my worst fears come true.

So there's my story up until present. Last night, my sweet daughter, Juliet and I had a talk. She hit me with this conversation when I was tucking her into her bunk bed, "So, let's talk Mom"
"OK, what about?"
"Well, why have you been so angry lately? Your anger comes in a pattern, one minute your fine and the next you're mad."

Our conclusion was to watch less TV, eat less sugar, gluten and fats (like delicious almond butter) and to relax more. My sweet daughter  really wanted to help and even offered to do her own laundry! It was important to me, that I explain to her, the anger is not who I am, I am still her loving mother who's expressing the emotion of anger. Anger itself is not bad, anger needs to come out so it doesn't harm the body. In fact, anger feels better than depression and is a few steps up on the emotional scale. (see picture!)
Now, on for other solutions-

Solutions:

1. Eat without distractions. Consuming food is sacred and should be done in peace. No TV, no phones, no standing up while eating. When multi-tasking while eating, blood will travel more to your brain than to your stomach for digestion. It's important that the eyes be relaxed (which are linked to the liver meridian) when eating so that nutrients are properly assimilated. And overeating is less likely to happen taking away the time suckers like TV and phones, also.

2. Kundalini states to cool off the liver (which is what is needed for congested livers) by making a straw with your tongue sticking out (if you can't curl your tongue then just stick out tongue instead) and breath in through your mouth slowly. Then close your mouth and breath out through your nose only. Repeat ten of these a day for intense liver love!

For more Kundalini liver tips, go here.

3. For me, there's also some detox medicine that I will take for the next 5 months to help detox my liver. Guaranteed to work. How do I know it will work? My doctor muscle tested me for it with kinesiology. (Side note - applied kinesiology is the most incredible medical aid in my life right now!) My body told me, via muscle testing, when to take the medicine (at night) and for how long (5 months). Hopefully I'll be a new woman by June 2018, joyful and full of energy with less bad Mom moments to mention. My kinesiologist here. 

My detox dinner pills

Liver 3 acupuncture point, hold here

4. In acupuncture, you know they work with energy systems rather than Western diagnosis. If there's an energy block, then you can get stuck in emotions and toxins. (as written above)You can get a quick fix by getting an acupuncture treatment (get community acupuncture for 1/3 of the cost of a private session) or you can hold this point (liver 3, in picture) on your foot for a quickie. Hold LV 3 or massage it for 1-2 minutes, several times a day. It's always tender for me, so that let's me know it needs some extra loving.

Community Acupuncture, hell ya!

And to close let me just say - I hope this helps you. Just remember, life ebbs and flows, and there is nothing linear about our health. Having good health is not an award you win that you hang on your wall. You win sometimes and you learn sometimes, and it all has it's own benefit, even if you can't see it yet. 

Blessings to all for your journey, thanks for reading. Much love to you. (I'm in good Mom mode, can you tell?)