Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way E-Book

Nancy Liebler

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 433

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2009

Beschreibung

"If you have an interest in optimum mental health, this book belongs on your shelf!" --AMY WEINTRAUB, author of Yoga for Depression "A must-read for anyone interested in overcoming depression and healing themselves naturally. A very important book that will elevate you in many ways. Everyone must seek it out." --DHARMA SINGH KHALSA, M.D., author of Meditation as Medicine and Dead Brain Cells Don't Lie ACTIVATE THE INHERENT WISDOM OF YOUR MIND-BODY Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way shines a new light on the darkness of depression by presenting specific antidepression strategies designed to help you unleash your innate healing potential. The time-tested advice presented in this book is based on the latest theories of modern science and the practical wisdom of Ayurveda, an ancient system of natural medicine. This unique book offers a comprehensive step-by-step program for eradicating the root of depression from the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects of your being. Through detailed questionnaires about your psycho-physiological profile and elemental imbalances, you will identify an archetype that most represents your experience with depression. Then, you will design a tailor-made health program to regain balance in your mind-body. You will learn to undo depression by: * Identifying your unique manifestation of depression based on elemental imbalances * Using yoga, exercise, and breathing techniques that are in sync with your specific physical, mental, and emotional needs * Using food and meditation as medicine Whether you are battling a depressive episode or need support coping with the problems of daily living, this book will help you awaken the "physician within" and embark on a pathway to a life of balance and renewal.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

PART I - Finding Another Way

Chapter 1 - Beyond the Broken Brain

The Broken Brain Mentality: If It’s Not Your Brain, It’s Your “Mother”!

Treating the Organ of Depression, Not the Cause: What’s Wrong with This Picture?

Ayurveda: Weaving the Fabric of Health

Depression: A Slow Leak in the Basement or a Dramatic Tornado?

Chapter 2 - Why Depression Happens

The Novelty of the Ayurvedic Approach

How Is Depression Created?

How Is Depression Undone?

Awakening Your Inner Physician

Chapter 3 - The Many Faces of Depression

Reductionist Thinking about Depression

Changing Paradigms of Depression

The Ayurvedic System of Doshas

Depression: It’s Elemental!

Chapter 4 - Airy Depression

Arial’s Story: Anchorless in the World

Ayurvedic Diagnosis

Becoming Reanchored

Do You See Yourself in the Mirror?

Chapter 5 - Burning Depression

Barbara’s Story: Burning to Cry

Ayurvedic Diagnosis

Cooling the Fire

Do You See Yourself in the Mirror?

Chapter 6 - Earthy Depression

Ed’s Story: Needing to Liven Up

Ayurvedic Diagnosis

Igniting the Fire

Do You See Yourself in the Mirror?

Chapter 7 - Metabolizing Life

Processing Matter, Digesting Life

Finding Balance, Expanding Awareness

Ama: The Gunk of Depression

Transforming Life Experiences into Vital Energy

Chapter 8 - Consciousness Becomes Us

Consciousness and the Unified Field

Consciousness: The Power Behind the Interventions

Airy Depression: Taking Hold of the Cosmic Anchor

Burning Depression: A Fiery Head and a Deflated Heart

Earthy Depression: Letting Consciousness Flow

Connecting to Consciousness

PART II - Creating Happiness

Chapter 9 - Meditation: Transcending Darkness

The Many Ways We Can Explore Our Being

The Transcendental Meditation Technique

Meditation as Medicine: Feeling Great the Natural Way!

The Chemistry of Happiness

Getting a Flavor of the TM Experience

Undoing Depression: Balancing the Elements of Being

Gauging the Benefits of Meditation

Using the Mind to Relax the Body

Chapter 10 - Breathing: Letting Your Life Force Flow

Prana Is Good Medicine

Airy Depression: Calming the Winds of Change

Burning Depression: Diffusing the Smoke

Earthy Depression: Stoking the Internal Fire

Breathercise for Life

Myths That Take Our Breath Away

Check Your Breathing Pattern

Chapter 11 - Exercise: Moving Your Spirit

Shaking Off the Blues: Motion, the Magic Potion

Arial’s Story: Trying to Run Away from Depression

Barbara’s Story: Burning Down the House

Ed’s Story: Shake Your Buddhi!

Excessive Exercise and Free Radicals

Walking Away from Depression

Your Exercise Program: What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Chapter 12 - Yoga: Posing for Life

The Energetic Flow behind the Poses

The Poses

The Yoga-Ayurveda Connection

Yoga Poses and the Doshas

Arial’s Story: Calming the Winds of Change

Barbara’s Story: Opening the Mind’s Eye

Ed’s Story: Lightening the Load of His Heart

Yoga Poses and the Body’s Systems

Letting the Body Move the Spirit

Body Language: Analyzing the Pranic Meaning of Yoga Poses

Chapter 13 - Sleep: Recharging Your Life Force

If You Snooze, You Don’t Lose

Attuning Ourselves to the Rhythms of Nature

Depression and Sleeplessness: Which Came First, the Chicken or the EEG?

Sleep: Guidelines from A to Zzzz’s

Oil: Royal Treatment for the Mind-Body

Sleep Serenade: How to Sleep Until Sunrise

Airy Depression: The Wind That Blows Sleep Away

Burning Depression: Alert but Not Ready for the Day

Earthy Depression: When Sleep Is Too Much of a Good Thing

Sleep’s Promise of Health and Happiness

Sunrise, Sunset, and Seasonal Change in Nature

Chapter 14 - Food: Nourishing Rites

Diet: What’s Eating You

Food: Courier of the Life Force

The Process of Eating

Agni: Stoking the Digestive Fire

Other Gut Feelings

A Tasteful Way to Balance Emotions

Herbs as Medicine

Oxygen: Another Aid to Digestion

Airy Depression: Is Grabbing Food on the Run Making You Light-headed?

Burning Depression: Are Power Lunches Leaving You Hungry for More?

Earthy Depression: Are Comfort Foods Taking a Bite Out of You?

Metabolizing Life: Are You Eating Your Heart Out?

Chapter 15 - Now What?

Putting Knowledge into Action

Maximizing Your Plan of Action

What If One Size Does Not Fit Me?

Appendix - Authors’ Evaluation of the Mind- Body Questionnaire: Assessing Our Imbalances

Resources

Index

Copyright © 2009 by Nancy Cullen Liebler, Ph.D., and Sandra Moss, M.S.P.H. All rights reserved

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New JerseyPublished simultaneously in Canada

Drawings by Chris Houghton

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:Liebler, Nancy Cullen, date. Healing depression the mind-body way: creating happiness through meditation, yoga, and, Ayurveda/Nancy Cullen Liebler and Sandra F. Moss. p. cm. Includes index.

eISBN : 978-0-470-52241-7

1. Depression, Mental-Alternative treatment. 2. Medicine, Ayurvedic. 3. Hatha yoga. 4. Meditation. I. Moss, Sandra F., date. II. Title. RC537.L554 2009 616.85’2706—dc22 2008055886

To the wisdom inherent in each and every one of us—may it prevail and bring forth happiness and vitality.

Foreword

The ancient, timeless wisdom of Ayurveda, the science of life, focuses on the human being. According to Ayurveda, every individual is indivisible—undivided, total, complete—a unique expression of universal consciousness. Within this life, there is a beautiful amalgamation, which is the union between energy and matter, or rather, the union among the body, mind, and conscious principle.

In the human body, every single cell is a center of awareness and is a functional unit that contains its own intelligence called mahat. Furthermore, there is a beautiful communication taking place among cells—this is the flow of intelligence, also known as prana. Prana is a bridge among the body, mind, and consciousness. It is the manifestation of consciousness into the great five elements—space (also known as ether), air, fire, water, and earth. These elements operate at the cellular and physiological level. The structural aspect of the body is governed by ether (or space), air, fire, water, and earth. However, the functional aspect of the body is governed by the three doshas: Vata, Pitta, and Kapha.

Prakruti is an individual’s unique constitution, his or her unique genetic code. The model of prakruti in Ayurveda speaks a great deal about the interplay of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha and how they govern our psychophysiology and psychopathology. Over time, however, the bodily doshic ratio of Vata, Pitta, and Kapha can change, and that altered state is called vikruti. We are constantly exposed to external environmental changes—diet, lifestyle, relationships, jobs, even seasons. These changes are constantly bombarding the body, and the doshas react in the form of doshic aggravation. This is a crucial point where the disease process begins. Vikruti, the altered state of the doshas, can happen on either a physical or mental level.

This beautiful book, Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way, explains the interplay among the three doshas. Nancy Liebler and Sandra Moss have nicely blended Ayurvedic philosophy into their unique work in the psychological field.

The many faces of depression reflect qualitative and quantitative changes in Vata, Pitta, and Kapha. When Liebler and Moss speak about the broken brain, they are mirroring the Ayurvedic concept that biochemical disorders can create a khavaigunya, or defective space, in the manovaha srotas, which is the mind-body connection mechanism. Manovaha srotas are the psychoneurological channels through which thoughts, feelings, and emotions flow continuously between the body and the mind. When these channels become blocked, a defective space is created that permits the doshas to accumulate and create psychological problems. Depression is one of these problems.

Nancy Liebler and Sandra Moss have taken the wisdom of Ayurveda and elegantly integrated it with yoga and meditation in this book, creating a healing modality that addresses the whole person. Every sentence of this book breathes the truth of spiritual awakening so that the chemistry of happiness can unfold by metabolizing life, processing matter, and digesting the emotions—all of which creates the chemistry of happiness. If we pay complete attention to our thoughts, feelings, and emotions, a transformation takes place—and through that transformation, we can awaken our own physician within.

Ayurveda explains that every person is a good healer; the body knows how to heal itself. Healing Depression the Mind-Body Way offers a new dimension to healing oneself. It teaches us a very simple and practical way to live without suffering from depression. It is my wish that great joy, happiness, and healing energy will unfold in your heart as you read this book.

—Vasant Lad, B.A.M.& S., M.A.Sc.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the many sages, teachers, scholars, and guides who have illuminated the world with the light of Ayurveda.

They would like to express their gratitude to all of the individuals who have contributed to this endeavor. To James Brooks, M.D., Paul Dugliss, M.D., and Suhas Kshiirsagar, M.D. Ayur. for their encouragement and tutelage. To their agent, Doris Michaels, and to Delia Berrigan-Fakis of the Doris Michaels Literary Agency. To the staff at John Wiley & Sons, with a special thanks to Tom Miller, Christel Winkler, and Kimberly Monroe-Hill for their insight, leadership, and commitment. To Judith Antonelli for exquisitely polishing the manuscript. To Chris Houghton for his artistic spark in creating the illustrations for this book.

Nancy acknowledges her good fortune in having her husband, Bud, in her life. He has been consistently supportive and inspiring—and always lots of fun to be with.

Sandra offers thanks to her husband, Frederick, who sees life through spiritual eyes, and her mother, Fabiola, for instilling in her the importance of living a life filled with Spirit.

Introduction

By picking up this book, you are in good company. You are among the 40 percent of Americans who are, according a report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, regularly accessing care from outside the Western medical tradition. People are increasingly seeking treatment based on a paradigm that goes beyond the reductionist view of the human body.

This book is about Ayurveda—the original and ultimate form of mind-body medicine that is the traditional system of medicine in India—and its power to eradicate the root of depression. The central theme of Ayurveda is that nature and the mind-body are aspects of a single continuum of intelligence. Vedic knowledge (dating from India’s Vedic civilization, thousands of years ago) explains that what exists in the macrocosm of the natural world also exists in the microcosm of human physiology—in other words, the human mind-body and the natural world are reflections of each other.

According to Ayurveda, human physiology is an ecosystem in which a stressor on any one aspect of the being affects every other aspect. Research in Western medicine is currently validating this concept that has come to us from the ancients. For instance, psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) informs us that the systems of the body are interrelated and that they communicate with one another through messenger molecules. PNI is considered to be one of the most exciting fields in modern medicine. Studies in this field have taught us that, in a very basic sense, our health is the direct result of the relationship between the mind and the body.

The knowledge that has come to us from the Vedic sages and from PNI informs us that the body is the outward manifestation of the mind, of awareness or consciousness. PNI proposes that we can no longer consider the mind as one thing and the body as another, or mental health as separate from physical health. This is new information for us Westerners, who are often inclined to believe that if we are depressed or anxious we should just “snap out of it.” That isn’t the case. We can no more snap out of emotional difficulties than we can snap out of physical challenges. We need practical techniques to eradicate the root of depression and anxiety. This is where Ayurveda comes into the picture.

Refined techniques that help to bring balance to the mind-body were developed thousands of years ago. These techniques are available to us today, and they have never been needed more. Depression is growing by leaps and bounds in every industrialized country in the world. It is considered to be the “common cold” of mental illness. Since depression is caused by a nexus of issues, the likelihood is that there will never be a one-size-fits-all “magic bullet” that will be a cure-all. Instead, monitoring one’s lifestyle is and always will be the best way to ensure physical, emotional, and mental health. We wrote this book hoping that it will give you what you need to make the changes necessary to enhance your health and ultimately your happiness.

We urge you to remember that Ayurveda is compatible with Western medicine. Whatever Ayurvedic interventions you add to your lifestyle will simply enhance your well-being. We hope that you’ll take the suggestions we make to heart and implement them, and that they will, indeed, help you to prevent or undo depression in your life. You deserve to live your life to its fullest, happiest, and healthiest every single day. Your life can only be what you make it. Make it yours and make it great!

We wish you the full realization of your birthright: perfect health and happiness.

PART I

Finding Another Way

1

Beyond the Broken Brain

In the middle of the path through life,I suddenly found myself in dark woods.

—DANTE

If you believe that depression is not just in your head, this book is for you. If you have been in therapy and have popped pills and supplements but still feel like you’re not quite right, read on.

Do you ever wonder why your entire being hurts when you are depressed? Have you ever asked yourself, “How did depression take hold of my body, mind, and spirit?” Perhaps you can trace back and pinpoint exactly when darkness struck your life like a hurricane. On the other hand, maybe the blues seeped slowly into your physiology like water into the basement of a house. You see the evidence of the damage but can’t find the source of the problem.

Depression can become an unwanted companion casting a shadow on every aspect of your life. Do you feel robbed of liveliness and energy? The menacing presence of a heavy heart, waves of anxiety, or crabby irritability may describe your experience of depression. You long to feel happy, yet you experience a gulf of emptiness inside that nothing can fill. Then again, maybe you have recovered from a bout of depression and want to prevent a recurrence. Having been released from the grip of depression, you now want to safeguard your most precious assets: happiness and vitality.

We wrote this book because we believe that a different way of thinking about depression is needed. As long as our culture is stuck thinking that depression is only about a chemical imbalance in the brain, there will be no cure or plan of prevention in sight. We hold that depression is about more than a “broken brain” (a chemical imbalance) or an emotional problem that you should be able to let go of or talk your way through. It is not an unavoidable genetic problem. Although depression can be a reaction to a trying situation in your life, it does not have to be a permanent state of mind.

The Broken Brain Mentality: If It’s Not Your Brain, It’s Your “Mother”!

So what is this about a “broken brain,” you ask? When Western medical science seeks answers to a problem, it focuses its search on the physical body. That is its area of expertise, and it does this well. First it isolates a disorder to a particular system in the body, such as the circulatory, the digestive, the respiratory, or, in the case of depression, the nervous system. The next step is to centralize the problem to a specific organ, such as the heart, the stomach, the intestines, the lungs, or the brain.

Victory is theirs, Western medical scientists believe, if they can find a causative molecule. When low levels of the brain chemical serotonin were linked to low mood and other depressive symptoms, the medical community thought that it had identified what was wrong in the body and how to fix it; that is how Prozac, a drug that increases serotonin levels in the brain, became a household name.

This line of thinking and its success should not be undervalued. There is a wealth of clinical evidence that biological and chemical processes in the brain influence thinking and emotion. Logic therefore dictates that if those processes go awry, abnormalities of thinking and emotions will result. In other words, if the brain breaks, the emotions suffer; but does this line of thinking really tell the whole story?

If the brain is “broken,” what caused the breakage? Different opinions exist. Medical doctors are inclined to focus on the physical, whereas psychologists focus on the mind. You are the product of your experiences, the psychologist surmises. Since the neurons in your brain are hardwired in early childhood, the experiences and family patterns of interaction at that time are pivotal in making you who you are today. The biological and chemical processes in your brain, the theory goes, reflect your ongoing relationship with your environment.

Depression, according to this line of thinking, is the result of a lifelong collection of experiences, from childhood to the present. Because memories are stored in your brain, the key to living depression-free is to understand the thought patterns in your head. Therefore, psychologists claim, talk therapy and the changes that result from such therapy are the solution. In other words, if it’s not your brain, it’s your “mother”!

Treating the Organ of Depression, Not the Cause: What’s Wrong with This Picture?

Antidepressant medications artificially and externally manipulate the level of chemicals in the brain. Ultimately, the brain reacts to this artificial manipulation by blunting its sensitivity to these chemicals. This is not unlike hearing loss that results from long-term exposure to excessively loud noise. The person who is taking the medication is then forced to incrementally supply the brain with more and more of the substance in order to achieve its purpose. This is generally followed by the need to take another medication to counteract the negative side effects of the antidepressant. It is not uncommon for people who increase their antidepressant during the day to then need a sedative or a sleeping pill at night. (How depressing!)

The three natural brain chemicals that are associated with feeling good—dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin—work in concert with one another. Nature did not intend for one of them to work independently of the others. Nature intended for them to work synergistically and in balance with one another. This is what brings long-lasting relief from symptoms. If one aspect of the body is interrupted, it triggers a cascade of reactions that runs through and disrupts the balance of the entire body. Unfortunately, medications generally target only one or two of the brain chemicals. This partial solution can potentially create other problems.

Given how medical doctors and psychologists perceive the problem of depression, it is no wonder that they focus on the biochemicals and the life experiences that influence brain function. The most common treatment modalities used by Western medicine today are drugs and talk therapy. Drugs, whether synthetic or natural, manipulate the chemicals in the brain. Generally speaking, talk therapy aims at figuring out the inner workings of the mind.

Drugs: A Window of Light?

When it comes to the question of depression, we want you to consider the following: What came first, the chemical imbalance or the episode of sadness? It is generally accepted that a chemical imbalance accompanies depression. Depression is associated with a biological derangement in the brain. This derangement may be triggered by a genetic tendency, lifestyle choices, a tragic event, or a combination of the three. In other words, a chemical imbalance coincides with the presence of depression. However, this coincidence (known in science as a correlation) does not necessarily indicate causality. It also does not indicate the direction of the causal relationship. That is, does the chemical imbalance cause the depressive episode, or does the depressive episode cause the chemical imbalance?

Antidepressant medications manipulate the level of at least one of the three brain chemicals. Serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine are called neurotransmitters. Considered mood brighteners, they are responsible for feelings of alertness and happiness. According to Western medical theory on depression, effectively increasing the levels of at least one of these biochemicals should resolve depression in a person.

The value of pharmaceutical interventions to treat depression is currently being questioned by the scientific community. In a study done in the United Kingdom in 2008, antidepressants were shown to be only slightly more effective than taking a placebo. This can be interpreted to mean that people who take antidepressants get better because they believe the pills are helpful and they expect to get better. This placebo effect calls into question whether the antidepressants actually have inherent curative properties. In addition, many researchers are concerned about the negative side effects of the pills. For a variety of reasons, approximately 40 percent of people discontinue their use in the first month. That being said, some people who have experienced severe depression report feeling helped by the medications initially.

Episodes of depression recur in 50 to 85 percent of people who have had one episode. This terribly high recurrence rate has led some physicians to advocate that people who have been treated for major depression remain on antidepressant medication for life, as a preventative measure. Yet even then many individuals do not recover their zest for life, their physical and emotional vitality. In fact, it is reported that 70 percent of people who take antidepressant medication continue to experience lingering symptoms of depression. In addition, a lifelong use of medication may mean living with negative side effects such as dry mouth, rapid heart rate, constipation, dizziness, sexual dysfunction, jitteriness, blurred vision, and memory impairment. In short, medications do not always cure what ails, and they can potentially trigger other problems.

Why keep looking to find a cure in a pill? At best, drug interventions simply soothe the depressive symptoms. This is because pills manipulate one’s brain chemicals but do not treat the totality of one’s being: body, mind, and spirit. Only a limited biochemical aspect of one’s physiology is addressed, and only in a segregated area. When underlying causes are neglected, symptoms tend to eventually recur. However, relief from the darkness of depression must be sought, and antidepressants may, in some cases, provide a window of light. There is anecdotal evidence that this pharmaceutical technology has been helpful to many people.

If you have chosen to take medication to relieve the symptoms of depression, you are not precluded from embarking on the holistic program this book prescribes. The two are compatible and additive in their effects. The whole purpose of this book is to show you how to kick-start your own self-healing mechanisms; to do more than simply address the symptoms of depression. We want to introduce you to a holistic way of treating depression that delves deep into the core of your physiology and sends symptoms scurrying away permanently. We want to offer you a fuller, more encompassing view of the problem, with natural solutions.

There are natural ways of balancing brain chemistry that do not require popping a pill (synthetic or natural). Mind-body techniques are available that bring overall balance to one’s physiology and, consequently, affect brain chemistry deeply, safely, and holistically. The body is the best pharmacy, and this is where nature intends for you to go when you need medication.

Treating depression with drugs alone is analogous to using aspirin to relieve a fever caused by an infection. Aspirin merely reduces the fever and makes the patient feel more comfortable. It does not address the cause of the infection.

Brain Chemistry Gone Awry?

Arecent study stating that antidepressant medications appear to help only severely depressed people and work no better than placebos in many patients has rocked the perception of the public. “Although patients get better when they take antidepressants, they also get better when they take a placebo, and the difference in improvement is not very great. This means that depressed people can improve without chemical treatments,” said Irving Kirsh of the University of Hull in England, the author of the study.

Dr. Helen Mayberg, a professor of psychiatry and neurology at the Emory University School of Medicine, responded to the study by saying, “This [depression] is about very sick people; there’s something wrong with their brains” (italics added). Herein lies the problem, we think. Even dedicated and well-meaning psychiatrists tend to see depressed patients as cases of brain chemistry gone awry, rather than seeing them as a complex system whose body, mind, and spirit have gone awry.

Approximately 118 million antidepressant prescriptions are issued in the United States each year. Do we really believe that millions of U.S. citizens are walking around with something wrong with their brains that a pill can cure?

Not even a decade ago, physicians treated heart disease by focusing on the organ of the heart, rather than focusing on the person experiencing the disease. Nowadays, no cardiologist would think to give a pill for heart disease without simultaneously discussing the impact of lifestyle on heart health. It is our hope that very soon the psychiatric and psychological communities will shift their current paradigm and begin to think of depression in a holistic manner rather than simply as brain chemistry gone awry.

Talk Therapy: Words and Nurturance

Going to therapy can be extremely helpful for a depressed person. The most common recommendation is to attend talk therapy and take pills. How effective is talk therapy? In some studies, therapy has been shown to improve the symptoms of depression as significantly as medication. These studies have focused primarily on cognitive-behavioral therapy, which strives to bring cognitive awareness to the relationship among thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. There is no doubt that awareness can be a powerful tool for positive change. The hope is that by actualizing personal awareness or insights, people will eventually set themselves free of the same old situations and the same old negative feelings.

There is enormous healing power behind the changes in cognition, behavior, and relationships that are brought on by talk therapy. Everything affects brain chemistry and our overall physiology. If we sit and look at a photograph album and remember the past through pictures, our body chemistry is altered. If we get caught in a traffic jam, our physiology is changed. If we are stressed because of a family conflict or concerns at work, our internal environment is thrown out of balance. Likewise, beneficial changes in the way we perceive ourselves, which can be brought on by talk therapy, are a powerful means to alter physiological chemistry. Effective psychotherapy can be an aid for overall health as well as a treatment for depression. Improved relationships that result from an increased awareness of our thoughts, actions, and emotions can induce positive changes in our being.

However, although therapy certainly offers insight into many of life’s problems, by itself it is not a cure for depression, especially major depression. Mild depression is more likely to be treated effectively by therapy. This type of depression is usually time-limited, and increasing self-awareness and experiencing a therapeutic relationship can be very helpful in ending the depression sooner rather than later.

The foundation of talk therapy is the belief that insight leads to change. Talking about life issues is indeed good and helpful. We believe, however, that this is putting the cart before the horse. Improvements in the overall health of the individual—body, mind, and spirit—must also take place if changes in perception (insight) and alterations in feelings are to become permanent. The internal world must move into an overall healthier state. After this psychophysiological shift occurs, insight engendered in the context of a positive relationship can be of great assistance in promoting continuing change.

Mental and physical exhaustion also limits the effectiveness of talk therapy. All too often, a depressed person lacks the mental, emotional, and physical energy to turn insight into action. It is entirely possible to have an intellectual understanding of the connections among thoughts, feelings, and behaviors and still not be able to make changes. It is not uncommon to hear people say, “I know what I should do, I just can’t do it” or “I know I shouldn’t think like I do—it doesn’t help me, but I am unable to change the way I am.” Perhaps you have said similar words yourself.

Depression depletes our energy. This emotional malaise (lack of ease) affects every aspect of our being. The talking cure is limited because words are abstract building blocks. They are not the practical interventions that are needed to rise from deep sadness. Talk therapy does not give the necessary physical, mental, and emotional strength to put insight into action. For this—the project of restructuring body, mind, and spirit—we need practical techniques that help us to build ourselves up from the inside out. To fix a crumbling house, the builder starts at the foundation, not the roof. We must do the same.

The condition of depression is all-encompassing. Depression is a physical problem that is beyond the reach of pills, it is a mental problem that is beyond the reach of words, and it is a spiritual problem that requires techniques to help us connect with the abstract qualities of life. Talk is good. It can be exceedingly helpful, but it does not reach the deep physical roots of depression. It affects perceptions and viewpoints and helps us to change the way we relate to ourselves and others. This is wonderful, but it is often not enough.

Fortunately, many practical techniques exist that positively affect our whole being. These work on a totally different spectrum than talk therapy does. When our overall health is improved and our inner source of healing is activated, then talk therapy can become increasingly helpful. (And hopefully you never again need say, “Coulda, woulda, shoulda.”)

What If There Were Another Way?

Both drugs and talk therapy have a time and a place. Nevertheless, on the overall effectiveness of treatment, studies say that of all Americans who experience a major depressive episode during their lifetime and use conventional methods of treatment, 50 percent will experience some symptoms of lingering depression and 50 percent will have a recurrent episode. Seventy percent of people who experience a second episode are likely to have a third. In addition, approximately half of the people treated with only the conventional treatment methods for depression show no improvement. Are you wondering why? We were, so we researched it and wrote this book.

There is another way. Let’s think about it. Your physiology has an inherent self-repair mechanism. There exists an internal healing intelligence that guides the healing of wounds. This intelligence senses the pain brought on by a cut on your finger and immediately mobilizes a series of reactions to stop the bleeding, form a scab, and induce the regeneration of skin. Elegantly and effortlessly, this process has a 100 percent rate of success, assuming it is not interrupted. It must be successful, for your life depends on it. What if there existed a way to unleash your innate healing intelligence to cure depression?

Depression is a condition that intimately involves many facets of you: your physical being as well as your mental, emotional, social, and spiritual self. This is perhaps why, when you are depressed, everything hurts, nothing seems right, and problems may at times seem larger than life. Do we really think that one single chemical or even a whole concert of such substances is capable of creating an emotion on its own? Can we really expect to solve our problems by talking our way through them? If we could, we would. However, a problem can’t be solved with the same mind-set that created it in the first place.

We are not denying that an imbalance in brain chemistry is involved in depression. We merely want to highlight the fact that the interplay of molecules in the brain is incredibly complicated. Brain health is affected by much more than the quantity of brain chemicals produced. Hormones, for example, greatly influence the workings of the brain. Food, in turn, influences the production of the hormones, and our emotions often guide our food choices—for better or for worse. All aspects of our physiology are interwoven. Mother Nature is a weaver, and she has woven every thread of our being into one tapestry, which is maintained by our lifestyle. This is the point of holism.

Holism goes deeper than the eye can see. Human beings are more than the mortal packaging they inhabit. We are a creation of our consciousness. In fact, in a deeper reality, an energetic pattern of vibration underlies the totality of our being—body, mind, and spirit. From a holistic perspective, matter is energy and energy is matter, so there is no separation between body (matter) and mind (energy). Where attention goes, matter flows, it’s been said. The implication of this philosophy is tremendous: it implies that we can use our consciousness to create our worldview, our mind, and our body—and to heal. We do this by enlisting a consciousness-based health program based on the ancient science of Ayurveda.

Ayurveda: Weaving the Fabric of Health

During the Vedic epoch in India (about five thousand years ago), there lived sages, wise men and women, who developed a system of health called Ayurveda. This ancient science has recently been revived, to the delight of millions. Ayurveda provides an instruction manual for unleashing the self-repair mechanisms that are inherent in our physiology. Ayurveda can help us to do this because it looks at the human being from a deeper reality than Western medicine does. Ayurveda moves beyond studying the systems of the body to studying the underlying energetic patterns, the vibratory essence of the human being. Its concepts readily correspond to modern theories of quantum mechanics physics, which are increasingly deciphering the energetic nature of the human body, mind, and spirit.

Ayurveda is considered by many to be the original holistic science of health, and we think it is the ultimate system of mind-body medicine. The solutions for depression offered in this book are based on this ancient science of healing. Following the Ayurvedic path will help you no matter where you are on the continuum of mental and physical health. Ayurvedic interventions will enhance your well-being whether you are battling a major depressive episode, are trying to beat the blues, or simply need support coping with the problems of daily living.

If you are currently taking medication and choose to continue, this holistic program will help you to achieve radiant good health. On the other hand, it can help you to transition away from medication, if it is judiciously applied in consultation with your physician. Ayurveda can also help people who have never experienced depression but who want to keep any possible genetic tendencies at bay by maintaining a state of optimal wellness. Fundamentally, this knowledge can help anyone who wants to uproot depression from his or her life.

Ancient Science, Modern Wisdom

Ayurveda is the world’s oldest system of natural medicine. Whereas fads come and go, Ayurveda has had five thousand years to work out its kinks, toss what doesn’t work, and refine what does work. Native to the Vedic civilization of India, it predates Chinese medicine by several hundred years. So are you scratching your head now, wondering why you have never heard of it? Maybe you have.

Ayurveda is the tree of knowledge from which many popularized therapeutic interventions have grown: for example, aromatherapy, sound therapy, vibrational-energy therapy, herbal therapy, massage therapy, polarity therapy, chakra therapy, and yoga postures. As a complete system of health, however, Ayurveda has been introduced to the Western world only in very recent times. We and a lot of other people who have experienced its benefits think it is here to stay.

Ayurveda has had such longevity because it helps us to maintain ours. Ayur and veda are two Sanskrit words that mean “knowledge of living.” This explains why the focus of Ayurveda is to teach us how to live our lives vibrantly by creating good health every step of the way. As a matter of fact, Ayurveda defines health as a state of complete physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being. Health is not merely the absence of disease and infirmity. This ancient science offers the epitome of a holistic approach to living life with zing. Think of Ayurveda as Mother Nature’s spokesperson, giving instructions on how to weave threads (our daily actions) into a vibrant tapestry (our physiology).

Ayurveda is, however, more than an instruction manual for how to live our life. It is all about awakening the incredible “physician within” to actualize our potential to heal. More specifically, as will be explained, the physician within can be conceptualized as the natural intelligence inherent in all of us. This natural intelligence can heal a cut on our finger, bring balance to our brain chemistry, and even heal a broken heart. Explaining how natural intelligence works and how it can be unleashed is the job of Ayurveda.

Why, then, does undoing depression seem so hard? Even when you have a road map, the difficulty often lies in following it: getting the correct orientation, reading the signs, staying on course, and making the right choices at crossroads. Yet even for these challenges, Ayurveda proposes a solution: expanding your awareness. This is the key step, the answer to safeguarding happiness, to living life with zing. Before you dismiss the rest of this book because of statements that may seem overly simplistic, unrealistic, and unconvincing, let us offer you a glimpse of the belief system underlying the Ayurvedic worldview.

Ayurveda is ancient yet ultramodern. It is ancient when measured by chronological time, because the gems of wisdom it offers are timeless. The Ayurvedic framework is described by the sages in metaphorical and poetic language rather than with modern terminology. Ayurveda is ultramodern, ahead of its time, because its fundamental concepts are currently being explored and expounded upon by those at the cutting edge of modern science and technology: quantum physicists and molecular biologists, among others. We expect that in the future, as modern wisdom catches up with this ancient science, Ayurveda will become a household name. As you read about Ayurveda, you will often realize that we are telling you what you already sense, can validate through your experience, and intuitively know to be correct. The beauty of this system of health is this: it works!

Often the brain must be fed before the mind can open. Therefore, throughout this book, we intend to draw parallels between ancient precepts and modern scientific knowledge. From the onset, let us underscore that Ayurveda represents a complete system of health. Although its roots trace back to the ancient Vedic civilization of India, its principles are universal in their applicability.

Seeing Life through the Eyes of the Vedic Sages

The ancient sages and the scientists of modern times have one fundamental thing in common: both strive to understand the nature of the universe and its inner workings. How they go about doing this determines which category they fall into: sage or scientist. Addressing the question of how each group (and everyone in the academic disciplines between the two) arrives at an understanding is beyond the scope of this book. Suffice it to say that this is the issue that fills the corridors of universities and drives the creation of volumes of academic manuscripts.

As far as we know, the Vedic sages did not sit on sterile laboratory benches, make use of scalpels, or experiment on other living beings. They did not use microscopes, employ molecular biology techniques, or have mechanical computers to solve complex mathematical equations. What they did have was the earth around them; this was their laboratory. They made connections based on no other reference than life as they saw it. Traditionally, it is believed that the nature of the universe was revealed to them while they were in a deeply meditative state of mind. (Einstein did this too, you know, and so can you.) Essentially, the Vedic sages realized the following:

As is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm.

As is the atom, so is the universe.

As is the human body, so is the cosmic body.

As is the human mind, so is the cosmic mind.

This verse states that living beings are microcosms of the universe itself. The Vedic sages understood that we are made up of the same elements as the cosmos and are influenced by the same forces. The fire that burns deep within the belly of our planet is the same energy that drives digestion in our stomach and intestines. The element that makes up the earth we walk on creates our physical body. The expansive space that surrounds us is as vital to the universe as it is to the working of our brain. The mineral composition of the water in the sea is similar to the fluid inside our cells. The elegant workings of the universe are mirrored in our cells.

If human beings are, in effect, a reflection of the universe, then they are also subject to all the laws that govern the universe. The same natural intelligence that controls the rhythms of the seasons also regulates the inner workings of our physiology: our digestive, circulatory, endocrine, reproductive, respiratory, and nervous systems. The same force that drove a seed to create an oak tree also drove a single cell to create the wonder that is you.

Before we start to get too heady, let us explain how the concept of natural intelligence and life-energy relates to the task of daily living. Our physiology is a manifestation of the natural world. Life-energy is blocked when our connection with the energy field that underlies the natural world is disrupted. Disease ensues when the flow of natural intelligence transmitted through our mind, our body, or our spirit is impeded.

Every day, through every action we take and every decision we make, we are guiding the flow of this life-energy. Our decision to live in accordance with the laws of nature or against them brings consequences. It determines the health of our physiology and the well-being of our mental and emotional life. Teaching us about these laws and, therefore, restoring the flow of connection to natural intelligence is the goal of Ayurveda.

Ayurveda focuses on the person who is experiencing the symptoms rather than on the symptoms themselves. Therefore, instead of the one-size-fits-all Western medical approach to treating the brain, Ayurveda offers a comprehensive plan that addresses the uniqueness of the individual, starting at the level of spirit, beginning with consciousness.

Rather than focus on the treatment of a symptom, Ayurveda addresses the underlying cause that created the fertile ground for an ill condition to flourish. This is why we have begun with an introduction to this science of living, which offers knowledge on how to live life rather than on how to get rid of a symptom. This is also why we believe that Ayurveda can teach us how to create happiness in our lives.

The following chapter will discuss the Ayurvedic paradigm of depression. The benefit of this worldview is that it opens the gateway for the treatment and prevention of depression. Only a multidimensional analysis of the problem of depression can bring about a holistic solution to the condition. Let’s get to the root of the problem. The answer to depression is in the minds of the Vedic sages.

Depression: A Slow Leak in the Basement or a Dramatic Tornado?

Before we proceed, we would like you to consider the evolution of your current predicament in terms of the many aspects of your being:

• What analogy would you use to describe your unique expression of depression? Think back on your experience of depression. How would you describe it? Would you say it came on like a slow leak in the basement of a house? Was it not easily identifiable until it had already caused damage? Or did depression hit you like a dramatic tornado? Can you trace your bout of depression back to a specific triggering event?

• Depression happens—it evolves and changes. What were the first telltale signs of depression in your life? Did the symptoms change over time? Can you correlate any lifestyle habits or events that triggered them to change, for better or for worse?

• Depression is created one act at a time. How did your symptoms of depression affect your physical self (your general health and your physical stability and strength)? Your mental self (your thinking and perception)? Your emotional self (your feelings)? Your social self (the manner in which you relate to others)? Your spiritual self (your ability to remain mindful of the abstract aspects of life)?

• Depression is undone one act at a time. Describe any interventions that have been successful for you in undoing depression. As you describe them, consider which aspect of your being you are addressing. In other words, how were you able to support your body, mind, and spirit to restore physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being? Be specific.

• Think back to a time in your life when you were not experiencing depression. In fact, think back to the best time of your life. How would you describe your physical, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual self at this point? Please realize that this describes your true nature.

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Why Depression Happens

Enlightenment, peace, and joy will not be grantedby someone else. The well is within us.

—THICH NHAT HANH

According to Ayurveda, happiness is our birthright. In the quiet of our minds, most of us agree. We intuitively know that we are capable of more positivity than we often experience. We sense an inner vault of happiness and vitality, but we have difficulty accessing this treasure. We wander through life searching for the key that unlocks that vault, often to no avail.

What has happened to our happiness? We have not really lost access to our birthright; we just think we have misplaced the key. What we have actually done is to forget how each choice we make, every step of the way, affects our experience of happiness.

The sunflower has no choice but to turn its head toward the sun. In this way it survives and flourishes. We, on the other hand, possess an intellect that gives us choices. Unlike the sunflower, we often forget that we are an inherent part of the natural world and are subject to its laws. We make mistakes in many of our daily choices about food, sleep, exercise, and how we use our time. The mistakes are often made unwittingly; nevertheless, the body is adversely affected. In this way we block our ability to experience happiness and we create depression. The good news is that what we create, we can undo. By embracing the holistic nature of our body, mind, and spirit, we’ll find the key, unlock the vault, and realize our birthright.

The Novelty of the Ayurvedic Approach

Ayurveda goes where therapy cannot reach and offers what medication cannot provide. It tells us how we create and can undo depression. In its toolbox, Ayurveda has many practical techniques to help us regain vitality and happiness. It can help anyone who is stuck anywhere on the continuum of depression. If you suffer from the blues, have gone through the tyranny of recurrent bouts of depression, or simply wish to maintain your emotional wellness, you will find Ayurvedic treatments to suit your unique needs.

The Ayurvedic theory of physiology corresponds more readily to theories held by modern physicists than to traditional medical theories. Both the Vedic sages and contemporary quantum mechanics physicists regard human physiology as a pattern of vibrations that exists in a sea of consciousness (intelligence). Sages and physicists, working thousands of years apart, have used similar words to describe the reality of the human being in the universe.

Understanding the Ayurvedic worldview changes the way we understand our physiology. First, the Vedic sages urge us not to think of ourselves as solid, unchangeable beings. According to them we are in constant flux, living in a sea of consciousness. Second, they instruct us that our physiology is an extension of the environment. This means that we affect and are affected by everything that exists in this sea of consciousness. Third, the sages proclaim that our physiology is a pattern of vibrations orchestrated by natural intelligence.

In order to understand our physiology, it is imperative to understand how nature works. Nature organizes everything. It is constructed in layers, and what we see with our eyes is only the manifest layer. There is a logical, sequential unfolding of the different layers of nature. As we move through the layers of nature—as we go from the seen to the unseen—energy structured in different patterns is revealed to us. In this manner we find that the essence of our physiology is energy. This does not negate, however, that at the manifest layer we are solid beings. (Of course you look solid, feel solid, and are solid.) At a more fundamental level, however, you—the complete you—are one seamless energetic system, and every aspect of your being affects the totality. When we learn how to address the underlying layers of our physiology, we can effectively promote health and wellness.

How Is Depression Created?

Depression happens. It can seep into an individual’s body and mind like a slow leak, like water into the basement of a house, or it can arrive like a windstorm, coming suddenly and with dramatic force. Depression is influenced by genes, life situations, and the state of one’s general health. We should not underestimate the impact of the wear and tear of daily living on our physical, mental, and emotional health. Regardless of the origin, Ayurveda gives us hope by offering strategies for keeping depression at bay.