Depression can be like a descent into immobility.
Silver Wattle
I often like to use water and its different forms to describe the mental conditions of humans. Water can be expressed as vapour, liquid , snow or ice. The characteristic of snow and ice is that the molecules have slowed down to a very low vibratory rate, while the molecules in liquid form move moderately quickly and those of vapour move very fast indeed.
Examples are the speed at which clouds (vapour) move across the sky, the way water in a river inexorably moves downstream, and that snow and ice remain stationary, until melted.
Both the ice and snow forms of water create blockages that are difficult to shift – snow has to be shovelled and ice needs to be by-passed.
Depression is like snow (perhaps less severe/acute) or ice (more severe/chronic). It is when we become immobilised, unmotivated and unable to respond to the world around us. At the same time, we often have a backlog of negative and non-selfserving thoughts that cram our brain, taking up all the space, so that a new vision cannot see the light. Those who suffer from this imbalance often refer to it as ‘dark’, persistent and difficult to shift.
Cassia
If the thoughts are overcrowded with darkness then ‘light’ cannot penetrate and we stay frozen and unable to move through life. We cannot become motivated to respond to a new vision for the future if there is no room for the ‘light’ of inspiration to enter.
Life is cyclic – constantly on the move and in a state of continual change. We can observe this in the plant world where continual growth underpins the life cycle of a flowering plant.
It is often when we experience the birth of a new baby into our world or the death of an old person that we face the reality of the constantly changing nature of life. Movement and change are often elusive qualities to observe in our everyday life – the ego is more readily placated by a sense of sameness. We suffer if we are so fixed and rigid that we cannot allow for mind changes, differences in perspective, or attitudinal shifts that are a part of the growth process. This leads to a shrivelling of the soul.
Very often depressed people cannot embrace change at the mental level. They are stuck with recycled thoughts leading to stagnant emotions. As we know stagnant water becomes toxic and so it is with depression: some depressed people sabotage any good things they have going in life, because they are be-leagured by toxic recycled feelings which they put out into their environment.
E-motions are an expression of energy-in-motion. When we are cold, energy deficient or immobile our emotions tend to contract inwardly in phase with the energies of the body. Internalised emotions can precipitate depression.
Research tells us that depressed people respond to exercise. Nothing is truer – movement is the answer to toxic emotional build-up and has the effect of recharging the battery to clear out the old energy. For some the start needs to be gentle and to build gradually to getting the body energy moving.
Swamp Lily
All you have to do is to stand with your feet planted firmly on the ground and start shaking from the feet up…..make sure your arms and hands are shaking along too. You can do it to music. But the key is to only do it for a minute and then STOP and stand still for another minute. Then start again and rest again. In the beginning only attempt two phases of shaking and resting (four minutes in all) and gradually build by adding a two minute phase of shaking and resting each day until you get to fifteen (half and hour in all). It is best to do it in the morning as soon as you wake up.
The other obvious thought that arises from our use of water as an image to describe depression is that ice and snow need heat to thaw. In your life you can help your depression by keeping warm – again sounds simple but its true. Cold consumes energy – you know that when you are cold you shiver to stay warm. Shivering uses up the energy that is normally necessary in the body to maintain the function of the brain, your organs, the circulation of your blood and the flexibility of your muscles. Cold slows life systems down, including our thoughts. Oops, there we are back at the beginning of this blog post taking note that depression often comes about from lack of a crippling lack of movement on all levels of being: physical, mental and emotional.
The Spirit of Woman Australian Wild Flower Essences (for more info on the individual essences click here and follow the links on the side bar for individual essence descriptions) used for depression are:
White Wandering Jew
Silver Wattle (brings back the hope and optimism)
White Wandering Jew (turning on the ‘light’ to dark thoughts of despair)
Swamp Lily (reenergises, restores and restocks our basic resources)
Verbena (assists in reaching out for help)
Cassia is good too because it helps to let go of the old toxic thoughts and to make room for a new vision.
In some cases, I use Red Kamala because it increases circulation in the second chakra where we often hold fear. This little essence can have a lovely side-effect because it supports the libido!
The blend Vital Energy is also helpful for depression – it lifts us up and opens us to embracing change.
If you would like to purchase any of the above essences go to our online shop and follow the links in the left-hand side menu bar.
Stay happy and keep moving……
Red Kamala
