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Overcome Stress Anxiety Depression
- Mary Heath
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In today’s episode of “Healing From Within”, your host Sheryl Glick author of The Living Spirit: Answers for Healing and Infinite Love which shares stories of spiritual awakenings, spiritual communication, healing energies, miracles and ways to go within to find your Higher Self, welcomes Mary Heath author of Get Your Life Back, a book which can help readers step out of the stress cycle and regain balance in their lives.
Mary Heath, who has 30 years experience in the Private Sector and the British National Health System as a Stress Management Consultant and is a trained Yoga teacher who has embraced other therapies such EFT- Emotional Freedom Technique.. CBT- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and NLP- Neuro Linguistic programming and energy field healing will show how building awareness through mindfulness can help us understand what causes stress, how to handle it and find solutions for managing anxiety and panic attacks.
Since we are not born with stress, anxiety or depression, why do so many people suffer the unpleasant symptoms. Mary suggests that we live in a very fast changing technological world today and stress war disease and other problems are rampant creating an unstable environment and elevated levels of unrest in the body and mind. Life and the ups and downs and strains allow us to collect as it is said…BAGGAGE… that can weigh heavily on our bodies hearts and minds…. Anxiety, panic attacks, low self-esteem, depression, fear and anger, low confidence, and disorders such as OCD and Phobias are exaggerated by these challenging events. It is estimated that between 75% and 90% patients visiting their doctors are suffering from stress related ailments leading to conditions such as headaches, high blood pressure, heart disease, asthma, arthritis and digestive and skin problems. A great deal of research has now proven and it is now recognized that the mind and body are not 2 separate entities but the body and mind are ONE.
Mary wrote “Many people think that stress is not a mental health condition and in many cases it isn’t. It is perfectly normal to feel stressed at the end of a busy working day and if after some rest relaxation and a good night’s sleep you recover and have little or no problem doing it all over again, that is normal. However, when stress turns into something that completely overwhelms you and you begin to suffer physical mental and emotional symptoms that don’t get better, then it becomes more serious. For example Depression often starts at a young age and affects women more commonly than men. One to two out of ten mothers have depression after childbirth and this affects the person with depression and affects their loved ones as well. Almost 1 million people worldwide take their lives each year. Suicide rates have increased over 60 percent over the last 45 years. Suicide occurs across all ages and in 2012 was the second largest global cause of death among 15 to 29 year olds.”
Mary describes her own experience with post-natal depression at the age of 23 after the birth of her first child. “It was quite severe and debilitating, I did eventually recover but continued to suffer occasional mild bouts of depression. When I had my second baby I suffered post-natal depression again. It wasn’t quite as bad but it went on for a long time and although I continued to take medication it didn’t help at all. I also suffered quite a few physical and psychological problems most of which were diagnosed as psychosomatic illnesses…illnesses of the mind..Trying to hide how I felt from my family put even more pressure on me. I wrongly assumed that it was best to keep as much to myself as possible. Of course looking back now I recognize that my body was reacting to the stress that I wasn’t dealing with either mentally or emotionally. One day when I was feeling low and in despair a concerned friend suggested that I start to take yoga classes. That was the day my life changed forever…..The first thing I learned was to live my life one day at a time, in the present moment and not to dwell on the past or present. We were taught how to breathe correctly and I was shocked to see how quickly and shallowly I was breathing…I learned to breathe deeply from my abdomen. My outlook became more positive.”
Sheryl says… “I myself at the time my children were born was a overachiever or type one personality and one day a medium told me I would be taking yoga…a week later my hairdresser asked if I would go with her to her yoga class at the Sky gym…I might have said “No” but because it was suggested only a week before, I said “Yes” and like Mary it was the beginning of an awakening and new reality. Later, I was guided to study Reiki energy healing reflexology hypnotherapy and cranial sacral healing all of which helped me to calm and move past the fears and limitations of our physical world and to achieve a higher state of Consciousness.”
Mary goes on to describe such health conditions and regardless of what ever label is given they must be transmuted and released to attain a state of health. General anxiety disorder - GAD is an anxiety situation that requires a medical diagnosis and have symptoms similar to panic disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and phobias . Generalized anxiety disorder is characterized by excessive exaggerated anxiety and worry about everyday life events with no obvious reasons for worry. People with symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder tend to always expect disaster and can’t stop worrying about health money family work or school. These symptoms include constant worry, restlessness and trouble with concentration. Treatments include lifestyle changes stress management physical exercise relaxation techniques psychotherapy, cognitive behavioral therapy energy therapies such as Reiki etc. Obsessive compulsive disorder is an anxiety disorder characterized by recurrent unwanted thoughts or excessive thoughts and obsessions that lead to repetitive behaviors or compulsions. Symptoms include…People are unable to control their thoughts or activities such as hand-washing counting of things, checking to see if a door is locked and so on. Some people may have trouble throwing things out. The cause is unknown and there may appear to be some genetic component with identical twins more often affected than non-identical twins..Risk factors might include a history of child abuse or other stress inducing events. The term Obsessive Compulsive is often used in an informal manner to describe someone who is excessively meticulous, perfectionist, absorbed or otherwise fixated. Many people exhibit tendencies related to these conditions but it is only when it is persistent and alters our ability to enjoy and participate in life that we must find ways to eliminate it.
Let’s describe the symptoms of a Panic Attack and how to deal with these symptoms and the conditions that might be causing these events. There may be listeners out there who have experienced this and were so unable to understand what was happening to them and how to get help. Panic attacks are of acute onset and acutely debilitating: generally severe, and may be followed by a period of residually impaired psychological functioning.
Fear of another attack may turn into a condition known as panic disorder. A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear that triggers physical reactions when there is no real danger or apparent cause. Panic attacks can be very frightening and people may experience sweating, heart racing, weakness and shakiness, and heart palpations… When panic attacks occur you might think you are losing control, having a heart attack, or even dying.
Most people will have just one or two panic attacks in their lifetimes and the problem will go away, but if you’ve had recurrent unexpected attacks and spent long periods of time in constant fear of another attack you may have a condition called panic disorder. It is not known what causes panic attacks or panic disorder but these factors may play a role; genetics, major stress, a temperament that is more sensitive to stress or negative emotions, certain changes in the way parts of your brain function, and attacks may be triggered by certain situations. Some research suggests that your body’s natural fight or flight response to danger is involved in panic attacks.
Some solutions for anxiety and panic attacks may include:
- Change Your Thinking..everything begins with a thought( if you begin to feel anxious it may be due to the thought of negatively interpreting a situation. This refers to acute anxiety brought on suddenly, not GAD and is called chronic worrying.
- Change Your Behavior Do the opposite of what you normally do and try to change the outcome finding coping strategies..you will find it was the thought or fear not the situation itself that caused the problem
- Change Your Lifestyle… Incorporate healthy strategies and fun filled events into your life to include practicing breathing, physical exercise positive thinking and positive affirmations finding ways to relax or let go of daily responsibilities, cutting down on alcohol and caffeine giving up smoking getting regular quality sleep increasing your social life or reducing it if that applies.
Some of the Many Causes and Reasons for An Increase in Depression are:
- A Pessimistic perception and negative reaction to major life events such as loss the death of a loved one divorce or the break-up of a relationship
- Insecurity about employment and stability of remaining in a job for the long haul which is rare today.
- Broken Homes Single-parent families are commonplace these days and show that children living with both parents have less emotional and behavioral problems and are more socially adept and less liable to take drugs and develop anti-social behavior.
- Loss of the Extended Family and Decline of Community Spirit
Then of course we need to COMMITT FULLY TO SOMETHING;
Setting a Goal
Visualizing Yourself Exactly How You Want to BE
Making the Decision to Change Your Life
Taking Responsibility
In Sheryl’s book The Living Spirit, she addresses the way towards spiritual transformation as the need to release lower emotions and energies such as anger pain fear and despair by experiencing them, embracing them, knowing them, and then releasing them so higher vibrational emotions and feelings can replace them. Sheryl wrote “Spiritual transformation is the key to manifesting a better physical experience, period. It is also necessary to attain life achievements that are not only materially advantageous but are a real reflection of your true Divine Self. Connecting to this inner voice, spirit soul energy or essence brings you an innate awareness of how to commit to your educational goals, the people in your life, your hobbies, interests in nature, and the beauty of creation. This ultimately results in a more balanced peaceful proactive state of being, as well as more loving interactions with everyone and everything in your life.”
Mary would like her readers to realize that you can regain your balance step out of the stress cycle develop behaviors and techniques that assist you in facilitating positive changes in your life and finding greater joy. You can begin to be mindful and less judgmental or critical about events people and even some of your own choices so you can learn acceptance and flow more easily through life. You can learn to use visualizations affirmations breathing exercises sports yoga and find solutions for managing anxiety and panic disorders and discover what causes your stress and remove or learn to function better regardless.
Mary Heath has shared her own personal experiences with post-natal depression and her lifetime of studying stress anxiety panic disorders and other health issues that compromise our health and happiness before offering a plan to strengthen one’s resolve and work through all these conditions.
Sheryl and Mary explored many common ailments which result from stress and from living life in these modern fast moving and challenging technological times. Mary has offered many suggestions to alleviate these life altering problems such as anxiety, panic attacks and panic disorder and lowered levels of self-esteem and self-confidence and how to approach the best version of yourself.
Mary suggests the Six A’s of Serenity which are necessary for creating a lifestyle to deal with stress and to alleviate worry and fear to live in a state of harmony peace and love beyond restlessness fear pain and worry. The 6 A’s are Awareness acceptance adjustment attitude affirmation and achievement. They are indeed a necessary element for becoming the person who lives with joy and laughter. Sheryl in a similar fashion suggests allowing accepting and surrendering to life with a positive attitude and flowing with the natural order of events.
Mary and Sheryl would have you begin to reflect on your thoughts and actions becoming more positive… achieving more of your desired goals and getting off the vicious cycle of unhealthy stress… expectation of others and fear of failure…What you focus on and work towards is possible when you commit and work responsibility for your continued personal growth.
