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Meditation for Depression
Whether mild, major, postnatal or bipolar, meditation is an excellent natural treatment for many different types of depression. It acts on a number of different levels to restore balance, harmony, rationality, and positivity to our mind and body - and studies have shown that after eight weeks of practise, participants demonstrate a 40-55% reduction in symptoms of PTSD and depression.
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The problem
Dealing with depression, which is a hidden disease, can feel extremely bleak and debilitating.
As negative thoughts and inertia consume you, it is common to blame yourself for your condition. You absolutely shouldn’t.
All forms of depression are linked to an unhealthy production of neurotransmitters and hormones, which are vital to psychological well-being. In that sense, it is just as real a disease as diabetes.
According to eminent biologist Robert M. Sapolsky, “It is impossible to understand either the biology or psychology of major depressions without recognising the critical role played by stress.”
There may be many “apparent” reasons for the onset of depression; life events, a physical or psychological disorder, or a side effect of medications prescribed for other conditions for example.
However, the principal underlying cause is the chain reaction of physiological and hormonal responses we experience when the stress response is regularly activated.
When we are frequently stressed, our brain begins to lose its ability to shut down the secretion of glucocorticoids. If this becomes a permanent feature, we run a much higher risk of depression.
These steroid hormones cause problems with all three of the main neurochemicals involved in preventing depressive symptoms – dopamine, noradrenaline, and serotonin – all of which are essential to feeling happy, healthy and balanced.
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How it affects you
People experiencing major depression are often fighting for their lives.
One of the many harmful results of depression is that our sleep becomes disturbed by arrhythmic patterning, which just makes the problem worse.
And if that isn’t bad enough, the stress of coping with depression simply intensifies the symptoms.
During depression we experience elevated activity in the right side of the brain, which corresponds with feelings of great negativity, and under-activation of the left side, which is much more positive.
Chronic stress steroid release also impairs our cognitive abilities and memory function.
Our cortex – responsible for our motor skills and abstract thinking – tends to be much less activated which explains the feelings of apathy. It’s not you, it’s the depression.
Our nervous system enters a state of constant doom. The amygdala, the dreaded mediator of fear and anxiety, also displays a unique type of activation. Whenever it perceives sadness, it becomes highly stimulated and induces a wallowing sensation of empathetic sadness.
Finally, there is a sense of defeat and helplessness; that everything is outside of our control.
Without the clarity of perception, we lack the motivation to try and change the situation because we are programmed to assume the worst.
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How can Beeja help?
Beeja meditation for depression is the easiest to practise of all the alternative therapies for depression and is commonly found to deliver the quickest results.
We have had numerous successes with depression, whether mild, major, postnatal or bipolar, and, as far as we are aware, no failures.
Studies have shown that after eight weeks of practise, participants demonstrated a 40-55% reduction in symptoms of PTSD and depression.
It acts on a number of different levels to restore balance, harmony, rationality, and positivity to our mind and body.
The individually selected mantras bring balance to the nervous system so that there is no more hijacking of our thought processes with irrationally negative perspectives.
There is greater activation of the left side of the brain, eliciting a greater sense of positivity and enhancing the motor coordination that so often goes off track when depression sets in.
As you practise, the vicious cycle of intensification of symptoms caused by stress unwinds and in its place comes a virtuous cycle whereby everything starts getting a little better.
The activity of the amygdala is normalised so that it stops becoming hyper-aroused every time we see something sad.
The correct balance of neurotransmitter production means we have more happy hormones lifting our mood, and fewer glucocorticoids reducing our energy levels and generally wreaking havoc throughout our body.
Meditation for depression has also been shown to increase a vital hormone which helps to offset glucocorticoid secretion by blocking their access to receptors.
By the end of this decade, the second leading cause of disability in the world is likely to be depression. Meditation can be the empowering cure, and it will also act as a preventative tool.
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Reviews
“I learned five weeks ago and my experience has been super positive. My anxiety and depression is lifting, I'm sleeping like a log, I have waves of energy, am super productive at work and less reactive to potentially stressful situations. My friends and colleagues have noticed how much calmer, balanced and happier I seem. I treasure the glimpses of bliss and tranquility I get to experience when I do this. Thank you!”
“I meditate twice a day as suggested and I love it. Everything that could go wrong in my life has but since learning to meditate with Will the depression and anxiety have lifted, I’m a different person and it’s only been 2 months! Life changing is all I can say.”
Manage and relieve symptoms with meditation for depression
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“This particular kind of meditation is very, very potent, and needs to be considered alongside, or maybe ahead of, some other interventions.
Norman Rosenthal, Psychiatrist, Author and pioneering Researcher (discovered SAD and introduced the treatment of light therapy)
"..I managed to switch off for long enough to get that floaty feeling people from Brighton swear by."
"I have a lifelong tool that has brought me calm, clarity and increased creativity"
"I've noticed that I’m no longer ruled by emotions – I can see when I’m angry or frustrated without being in that feeling.”
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