From Swamp To River: Movement Out Of Depression

Emotions and moods are an intense and passionate part of our experience as humans. They can be changeable, like the weather - a passing emotional "thunderstorm", for example. However, just like the weather, sometimes an emotional state can linger - like a months-long drought, or a weeks-long monsoon season. We can get stuck in moods to the point where it is detrimental to the health of our overall body-mind-spirit "environment".

This is very true of depression - this changeable emotional state that for some people lasts less than a day when it occurs, for others can go on months, even years. The word "depression" well-describes this state - the thoughts get depressed (more negative, less clear, less hopeful). The body's natural rhythms are altered - sleep and appetite are disrupted, energy and even speed of normal bodily movements can lower. At its root, depression is not necessarily bad or unhealthy - it is what it is. There is wisdom to be found in any emotional state. The wisdom of depression, for many, is to goad people to temporarily rest their bodies and minds, to become more inwardly reflective, to feel and release emotions about life events, to take this space and time of slowed inner and outer movement to take stock of one's life before ideally making any needed life changes that will align one with greater overall health. Depression is an opportunity for new movement to arise after a period of rest and reflection.

However, when that slowed emotional energy and movement becomes like a sticky quicksand that you cannot easily pull out of, when rest and reflection turns more and more towards the negative, when life no longer becomes supported from this emotional stance, this depressive state has become like a stagnant swamp that is detrimental to health and life vibrancy. In a stagnant swamp, water has the capacity to move but it is not doing so - it is at a standstill. Muck and grime starts to gather in the water, decreasing clarity. It is hard to see through. It is harder for vibrant life to be supported. Contrast this picture with that of a vibrant river that is flowing, energetic, singing through its movements and supportive of life around it.





When a depression takes on the qualities of a swamp, than inward rest and reflection has gone too far and it is time to MOVE. Even if this is the last thing someone who is depressed wants to do, it is critical to somehow initiate movement on any level - cellularly, nutritionally, physically, psychologically, spiritually, creatively, energetically. Get that water flowing again, transform that swamp to a vibrant river. Any healthy input of MOVEMENT will help.

MOVE! Exercise, even 5 minutes a day. Get your heartrate up. Jump on a mini-trampoline to stimulate lymph flow. Dance wildly to music you love. Go for walks in beautiful nature. Run through the woods. Swim in the ocean. Shovel the snow. Garden. Use the stairs. Punch a punching bag. Just move.
MOVE ~ Eat healthier foods, such as vibrant dark green vegetables that are loaded in brain nutritive B-vitamins, or foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids (like cold water fatty fish, walnuts, freshly ground flax seeds) that help rebalance the composition of your nervous system membranes. Drink extra water to stay hydrated and help flush toxins out of your cells.
MOVE -- Receive massage, energy work, a spa treatment, acupuncture, reflexology to stimulate release and realignment on an energetic and cellular level.
Move. Read something that invokes awe and wonder. Watch a show that inspires you, or that is amazing or exciting. Fill your brain with positive stories. Play games, do puzzles to stimulate new neuronal connections. Paint, draw, doodle, write poetry, make up a silly dance routine. Watch funny movies, laugh. Check out a new restaurant, go to a museum. Do something fun. Do something noisy.
Movement of any kind. Pray for insight that is aligned with your highest good and be open to what comes to you. Create positive affirmations that feel good to say. Engage in cognitive-behavioral-therapy (CBT) to help reprogram any stuck thought patterns. Do shadow work to learn self-acceptance and owning of parts of yourself that you avoid.
MOVEMENT: Make plans to do or experience something you have always wanted to do - that feels exciting, life-affirming, creative, alive - but have been procrastinating doing. And then do it. Volunteer to help other humans, animals, or plants...serve others to move your focus out of your own pain. Ask for, and receive, support from trusted friends.

Movement of any kind. Movement of any kind. The options and suggestions are endless, really. What's most important is picking one and doing it, just doing it, just moving, somehow, some way, as long as it's healthy and aligned with love and life.

If at any point you feel so stuck in the swamp of depression that any movement on your own feels impossible, or movements you are making do not seem to be helping, get help from a compassionate holistic mental health professional. Sometimes extra "input" to re-boot your system out of a major depressive episode is necessary and even critical to move your body/mind/spirit over a threshold where you can fully engage the tools of movement towards healing. This includes modalities such as prescription medications, over-the-counter herbs and supplements, and regular psychotherapy. There is nothing wrong with this... these are tools in your toolkit of health that when used appropriately can be powerful supports to better align you into health and mood stability. It shows much courage and strength to reach out and receive help from others. Everybody, EVERYBODY, needs help in some way. We are not here to be solitary islands and rocks. Connection, love, relationship (with others, oneself and the greater Whole) is part of the reason for being alive here on this earth.

From a stagnant swamp, to a vibrant river.  Movement of body, of mind, of all the senses, of creative potential, of heart, of soul.  Healthy movement of any kind, of any degree, on any level, to get that water, that precious life energy, flowing again.


Healthy Body, Mind And Soul Blog by Marnie Burkman, MD is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Nail Tips. Good Looking and Healthy Nails.

Thought they might seem to be the least important, your finger nails attract a lot of attention to oneself. Nails need to be polished well and it is better for you to know what shade you need to apply. Here are a few looks you could use.

Natural Stylish Daytime Look

Day colors have to be easy to wear such as soft red and pink, gentle beige and darkish blue. File nails into short and square style to create a practical sporty effect. Apply a base layer, allow them to dry and then apply two layers of colored polish. Finish off with a top layer.
The Final Look A practical, natural style based on short square nails and a soft, easy to have polish.

Evening Party Look

It is a good chance to try out the shades that you didn't dare to wear during the day. First of all apply a base layer, then two layers of vibrant, fluorescent polish. Add extra shine by using a sparkling silver polish on top of the main colour when it is dry. Finish of with the top layer.
The Final Look Fluorescent colours are great for party as they look so vibrant a layer of sparkling silver polish adds the finishing touch.

Sophisticated Glossy and Glamorous Look

For a grown-up and glossy effect, choose deep dark colors that strike a dramatic note, such as this vampish red. File nails into a long oval shape and apply a base layer. Give nails at least 2 layers of main polish and let them dry thoroughly in between. Finish with a top layer.
The Final Look A dark, dramatic polish gives long nails a touch of glamorous finesse.

French Manicure for the Perfect Cared Looking

This is the best idea for special event when you want your nails to look perfect but not over colored. Apply a base layer and after dry, cover the tips of the nails with white polish. Let them dry and apply a very pale pink or peach polish over the whole nail. When dry apply a top layer.
The Final Look A clean and fresh effect that make the natural shine and color of the nails better.

Nail care Tips
A healthy nail is smooth in texture and has well formed cuticles.

Nails grow faster on a dominant hand of a person. They also grow very quickly when a woman is pregnant and in the summer. The fastest nail's growth is in the middle finger, with the growth rate progressively decreasing on the fourth, second, and fifth fingers and finally the thumb. Besides, fingernails grow faster than toenails.

A little advice: If you want your nails to be longer and stronger put garlic on them.

Time For Me To Fly...And Be Healthy While Doing So! (Part Two of Two)

"Airline travel is so exhausting...".  "It's hard being around so many people on an airplane...".  "I'm afraid of flying...".  "I hate when I miss my airline connection...".

It is VERY hard to miss one's connection.  Not just the connection of airplane-to-airplane to get to your destination, but in a more figurative sense, to be so stressed out by the rushed and crowded nature that airline travel sometimes represents that connection to life, to relaxation, to peace, to loving, gets missed too.  Stress, rushing, tiredness...all of that does certainly happen, but all of that can also be related to and worked with when it occurs to bring our lives back into balance, even on a crowded airplane or when running through an airport.  Below are some suggestions to hopefully catalyze reconnection, relaxation, and balance when traveling.

Stress!  Anxiety!  Irritability!  Overstimulation!  Fatigue! ~

• BREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEATHE.  BREATHE.  BREATHE.  BREEEEATHE.  When ensconced in stressful emotions, whatever they are...When in crisis, whatever it is... SIMPLIFY.  Just breathe.  All you need to do is slow down and remember to breathe.  Phew.  Your breath is always there for you, no matter what is going on.
• Guided visualization can help align the body and mind into greater peace and can be done while you're sitting waiting for your flight or on the plane.  If you carry a portable CD player or ipod with you, a helpful addition to your collection could be a recorded guided relaxing journey that you listen to.  The holistic publishing company Sounds True carries many of these types of CDs.  Intuitive psychiatrist Dr. Judith Orloff also teaches a simple, 3-minute heart-centered practice that can be done anywhere to increase your level of positive energy.  Take a few slow, deep breaths to center yourself and ground into your body.  Put your hand over your heart center in the center of your chest, and visualize/feel/imagine something that you absolutely love, that brings you joy.  Breathe with this, feel this in your heart, and allow yourself to emanate this feeling.
• Aromatherapy is the practice of the medicinal use of scents for various purposes.  Essential oils, which are volatile aroma compounds from plants, emit molecules into the air that we breathe in.  When these "scent molecules" interact with our bodily systems, our bodies respond in various ways depending on the qualities of the oil.  There are several essential oils that work beautifully to evoke relaxation of the body and mind.  Lavender is a wonderful essential oil to bring with your carry-on liquids.  It can be dabbed on the body or on a tissue and inhaled, or simply open the cap and take a few deep breaths to inhale the scent, and allow yourself to relax.  Note that when you are traveling around other people, many people have chemical sensitivities so that synthetic fragrances are not recommended as these scents can trigger allergic reactions in others -- make sure your oil is pure and essential which the label will indicate.  Pure essential oils are generally tolerated fine by most people, but if there is any question practice simply inhaling the scent occasionally from the bottle rather than wearing it on your skin.   Also note that many oils should be diluted with a "carrier oil", such as jojoba oil, before applying directly to skin to prevent irritation, although lavender is tolerated by most people.
• Bring earplugs for the flight to buffer noise, chatter, or the sound of screaming kids!
• Allow yourself to rest and nap on the flight if you need to.
• Drink extra water on the flight so you remain well-hydrated.
• Take gentle exercise breaks to stretch, walk and move the body.
• Bring relaxing herbs and remedies to take periodically, such as Bach Flower Remedies or herbs such as Valerian.  Follow the instructions on the bottle.
• Happy activities make traveling feel more light and fun.  Suggestions include playing an enjoyable game, whatever that is for you.  Sudoku?  Solitaire?  The iphone has many silly and fun game applications that can easily be enjoyed on a flight.  For some "old-school" fun, try playing Mad Libs with your travel companion.  One time my travel companion and I were both studying for a psychiatry board exam while on a long flight.  For a break, we played Mad Libs by randomly picking words to fill in the blanks from our psychiatry text book.  The resulting stories were hilarious!  Other happy activities include getting a mini-massage from an airport spa while waiting for your flight.  Aaah, relaxing.  I did this during a layover recently, and it was a lovely way to spend the 20-minute wait.  Reading a fun novel or magazine can be a happy treat.  Stopping at a cafe in the airport for a cup of relaxing tea or your favorite coffee blend can be soothing.  Watching a DVD on the airplane if you have a portable DVD player can be fun.  Some airlines provide personal t.v. sets on the seatback in front of you with free trivia games, shows and music you can enjoy with headphones.  By engaging in happy activities, traveling becomes a way to creatively release and relax.

May all your journeys through the air be happy, healthy, peaceful, fun, and safe.  Happy trails!  (See Part One of this article for airline travel guidance regarding dehydration, immunity, and motion sickness).

Healthy Body, Mind And Soul Blog by Marnie Burkman, MD is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Time For Me To Fly...And Be Healthy While Doing So! (Part One of Two)

Airplane travel is quite amazing. To be able to travel to a location hundreds to thousands of miles away in just a few hours or less is incredible.  There is quite a network of airline traffic criss-crossing across the sky at any given time.  In December 2008 alone, U.S. air carriers transported 57,790 paying passengers over 63,500,000 miles!  It's a whole community up there.  

Within this community of the sky and airports, attention to staying healthy is important.  With dozens of people sitting together in an enclosed space, issues such as dehydration, decreased immunity, and stress can be high.  Here are some tips and guidance for approaching some of the issues that airline travel presents:

Dehydration ~ 

• Staying well-hydrated is easy, but also easily forgotten when travel is rushed and options such as sodas, coffee, and alcohol are easily accessible.  However, drinking extra water is imperative while traveling to help prevent dehydration which can lead to fatigue, headaches, stressful feelings, and lowered immunity.  Asking for extra water on the plane and buying water bottles in the airport to sip from (or just frequenting the water fountain if that's all there is available) is necessary.  
• Carrying a 3 oz spritzer bottle in your carry-on liquid bag of spring water mixed with a few drops of essential oil such as lavender is great for spritzing on your face to add hydration to your skin and a relaxing aroma to inhale.  
• Carrying a 3 oz bottle of hand lotion and applying it regularly will moisturize your hands and also will help strengthen your immunity -- dry hands that crack or cut easily, more readily transmit bacteria into the body than well-hydrated hands whose skin barrier is intact.
  

Immunity ~ 

Colds and flu can be more easily picked up when surrounded by other people in an enclosed space, some of whom may be sick themselves.  There are many ways to strengthen your immunity to prevent getting ill, which is important prior to, during, and after your trip.  Physican and herbalist Tieraona Low Dog once shared how her "soil" is healthy and therefore she does not get sick.  Nurturing your own internal "soil", the earth of your body, creates a powerful internal environment that is more resilient and less likely to break down when exposed to physical or emotional stress.  

• Good nutrition is important - a general guideline that is supportive for most people is to eat meals where half of your portion consists of fresh vegetables cooked and eaten warm, especially highly alkaline vegetables such as sauteed spinach or other dark greens.  Cooked rather than raw is generally more warming to the body (especially if immunity or energy is low) than a raw salad, but for certain body constitutions raw foods can be very supportive and there are many proponents of raw food diets that one can explore if this is the case (see books by Gabriel Cousens or Brigitte Mars for details).  Rounding out the plate, 1/4 portion consists of a variety of lean healthy protein (such as lean turkey, chicken, fish, beans, or tofu) and 1/4 portion is starch (preferably high fiber or whole grain).  Avoid white flour and white sugar/high-fructose-corn-syrup products.  
• Taking immune-supporting herbs and supplements prior to and during your trip is also helpful.  Six Persimmons Apothecary in Boulder makes a great herbal blend called Cold Nip that can be taken just prior to travel and at the first signs of a cold.  Other effective remedies that can be taken prophylactically or as treatments include Emergen-C packets dissolved in water; Yin Chiao Chinese herbal blend; Sitopladi (an Ayurvedic blend); Amalaki; turmeric extract (standardized to 95% curcuminoids) -- this has antiviral & antibacterial properties and liquifies mucus that holds infectious agents; echinacea root; and certain homeopathic remedies.  There are many other supplements that support immunity as well that can be explored, but these are a few to consider trying as a start.
  
• Ayurvedic procedures that powerfully support the immune system include nasal and sinus flushing, and ear oil.  Nasal/sinus flushing can be done by way of a neti pot (found at health food and supplement stores or online).  Dissolve about 1/4 teaspoon of non-iodized salt in 1/2 to 1 cup of warm water.  Using the neti pot (which is your delivery system for the flushing), flush half of this amount into one nostril so that it drains either through the other nostril or through your mouth.  Gently blow your nose, then repeat the flush with the other nostril.  Follow this by swirling a small amount of cold-pressed sesame oil (via a Q-tip or your little finger) into each nostril and inhale the oil into the sinuses (this procedure is called Nasya in Ayurvedic medicine).  Nasal/sinus flushing followed by Nasya can be done daily up to 2-3 times a day, and is a great preventive treatment for sinusitis in addition to being supportive of general health.  Ear oil also nurtures your mucus membranes: draw up some cold-pressed sesame oil or high-quality ear oil into a small glass dropper.  Hold the dropper for a few moments under running hot water to heat the oil to a warm (but not too hot) temperature.  Drop a few drops into each ear, then stuff a small cotton ball into each ear.  Keep the cotton ball in for about 15-minutes then remove it.  This procedure can be done daily as a preventive measure, or more frequently if you have a cold/flu.  Refer to this article by Dr. John Douillard for more information about this technique.

Motion Sickness ~

• If you are prone to motion sickness, choosing a seat that is over the wing of the plane will provide the best stability and the least sensation of motion as compared to other regions of the airplane.
• Ginger has been found to be an effective treatment.  Take 2 capsules of ginger powder, or dissolve a half-teaspoon of ginger powder in water and take either of these 20-minutes before travel.  Bring a supply of ginger candies (that contain actual ginger rather than just flavored) to chew on while you're on the airplane.
• Acupressure wristbands, applied correctly, are also helpful to try.  These bands press on anti-nausea acupressure points on the wrist, and are sold in drugstores or online.

In Part Two of this article, I will discuss tools for preventing and treating stress, anxiety, irritability and overstimulation that can all occur during airplane travel.  Happy trails!

Healthy Body, Mind And Soul Blog by Marnie Burkman, MD is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Nails and Nail Polish.

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Well-groomed nails with nail polish are very beautiful to look at. Most of the women go to beauty salons, get pedicure and manicured, and ornament their nails with nail polish. But the colors usually fade or peel off after a few days.

Some women do their own nail care at home so that save money. Because you can buy all the necessary tools and stuffs to do your own pedicure and manicure sessions at your house. But your frustration anyway is that most of the time, the nail polish collection that you have would not stay fresh for a long time. It dries up very fast. When this happens, it can be considered as a loss of investment because you couldn't use it anymore.

Though, there are ways to keep your nail polish fresh for a long time. One way is to keep it in dark place and do not let it get exposed to direct sunlight. The sun and a bright place will damage the nail polish's color. When this happens, the color and the texture will not be pleasant anymore.

Another way to make it stay fresh is to keep the neck of the bottle always clean. Wipe away the neck of the bottle from the inside to the outside. That way, you will remove the excess amount of polish that may have built up while you are using it. If the polish thickens, you couldn't close the bottle properly and air will get inside. When this happens, the nail polish will become hard and you will be left with no choice but to throw it away. For sure, you wouldn’t want this thing to happen to any of your stuffs.

What Does Twitter Have To Do With Health?

First of all, what is Twitter?  Twitter is an online social networking and micro-blogging service that began in 2006.  Via Twitter, people share very short comments (of 140 characters) in answer to the question, "What are you doing?" that other users connected to them can read and respond to; these comments are called "tweets".  People can type their comments from various places including from the Twitter website or their cellphones, and it is estimated that Twitter has over 5 million regular users.  

So what does Twitter have to do with health?  In this contemporary, electronically-wired age, Twitter and other online social networks have created a modern version of social connection.  There have been some critiques and media jokes regarding what some people view as a sharing of frivolous, ordinary information with other people.  However, I would assert that while this may sometimes be the case depending on someone's interpretation, regardless of the content of the "tweets", users are reaching out and revealing their lives to other people and vice versa.  And this is critical for health.

The importance of social connection for health has been studied in medical research and can simply be observed in oneself and others.  Studies have found that people reporting high levels of positive social relationships and activities live longer, have less chronic illness later in life, are less likely to have a recurrent heart attack and have lower blood pressure.  An interesting study from 1997 found that the more diverse one's social network is, the less likely one is to catch a cold.  People with six or more types of social ties were over four times less likely to get sick than people with only one to three types of social ties.  

Positive social connection of any kind -- group support, marriage, intimate relationship, friendship, pets, participation in spiritual and social groups -- has been shown to decrease life stress.  Dr. Dean Ornish, a physician renowned for his work in developing programs that reverse heart disease, has written that, "I am not aware of any other factor in medicine that has a greater impact on our survival than the healing power of love and intimacy -- not diet, not smoking, not exercise, not stress, not genetics, not drugs, not surgery."

Humans have been called "social creatures" and indeed, positive connection with other beings in any way triggers the body, mind, emotions and spirit to relax, to breathe more deeply, to feel heard, to serve others through supporting them when they need it, to feel close with other beings rather than separate or isolated.  More and more, humans are globally-connected with the evolution of the internet, so modes such as Twitter are modern ways that can positively support humans' instinctual need for social connection and thus improve major facets of human health.

 

Healthy Body, Mind And Soul Blog by Marnie Burkman, MD is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

5 Easy Ways To Strengthen Your Nails

There are 5 easy ways to make your nails strong and healthy.


1. Strengthening emulsion made from olive oil and fresh lemon juice. 1 table spoon of olive oil mix with a coulpe of drops of lemon juice. Rub the emulsion into your nails then put on cotton gloves and leave it all for the knight. Do it twice a week.

2. Strengthening bath from sea salt. You need to take half a litre of warm water and add 1 table spoon of sea salt (it is desirable to use sea salt without aromatic additive). Put your fingers into the bath and keep them there for 20 minutes. Then dry your hands and smear them with a cream. Do it evey day for 10 days. Then repeat it in 1 month.

3. Mask with red pepper for strengthening and acceleration of growth. Mix half a tea-spoon of cayenne, 10 drops of water and 1 tea-spoon of cream for hands. Smear it on your nails and keep it for 15-20 minutes. Do it not more often than once a month.

4. Grease made of beewax for strengthening nails. Melt 4 grams of beewax, then boil an agg and mash the egg yolk with a fork. Blend the beewax and the egg yolk. Add a little peachy oil. Use it every evening.

5. Lemon juice and salt for strengthening nails. One table spoon of lemon juice mix up with several pinch of salt. Smear nails with it using a brush. Keep it for 15-20 minutes then wash your hands.