Emotional Health

Depression and the Thyroid Connection

Depression and the Thyroid Connection

“Obtaining a comprehensive thyroid panel is essential to rule out thyroid disorder as a possible cause of depression. The medical literature has discovered a link between low T3 and long-standing depression. In fact the common treatment of hypothyroidism with Synthroid (a T4-only thyroid medication) may be contributing to an increase in depressive symptoms due to its inability to address a deficient T3.”

Whirling Dervishes

Whirling Dervishes

The divine may be experienced through a variety of means. In various global spiritual traditions, including prayer, a meditation on sacred texts, participation in religious ceremonies, and going on pilgrimages. There are other means of achieving a religious experience that is perhaps not so common in the Western world. One of these is through the medium of dance, with one of the most famous examples being the incredible whirling dervish dance, called the Sema, practiced by the Sufi Mevlevi Order.

How Mandalas Help the Healing Process

How Mandalas Help the Healing Process

A mandala is a spiritual and ritual symbol in Asian cultures. It can be understood in two different ways: externally as a visual representation of the universe or internally as a guide for several practices that take place in many Asian traditions, including meditation.

How Dance Helps the Heart

How Dance Helps the Heart

Dancing has many benefits and can prevent people from being unhappy, providing a doorway into calming the mind and heart.

We are all physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual beings. Read below to learn the positive impact dancing can have on these various aspects of our being…..


Success in the New Year

Success in the New Year

With each New Year, many of us set goals or resolutions for the upcoming year and take stock of the year that has passed.

Most of us are products of a society that defines success in terms of material supply. Yet true success is demonstrated by wholeness, which is only experienced by walking in alignment with the needs of your soul.


Natural Remedies for Anxiety

Natural Remedies for Anxiety

Everyone experiences anxiety or nervousness about stressful situations from time to time, but many people face debilitating anxiety that can make daily activities difficult and unpleasant.

There are many ways for people to treat anxiety naturally. Exercise is an easy way for people to heal naturally.

Other ways for people to naturally treat anxiety are spending time outdoors, gardening, meditation, yoga, acupuncture, aromatherapy, massage, biofeedback, creating a regular sleep schedule, and more


Painting as a Form of Art Therapy

Painting as a Form of Art Therapy

Finding ways to relax and to let yourself be creative is a necessity in maintaining a happy and healthy life.

“When you use imagery, colors, shapes, and designs as a part of your therapeutic process, your thoughts and feelings can be expressed through your art, rather than words that are often difficult to articulate to others.” (heysigmund) Art therapy can be practiced through ways that range from sculpting to painting.

The Benefits of Meditation

The Benefits of Meditation

“Meditation is the habitual process of training your mind to focus and redirect your thoughts” (healthline).

Meditating can radiate positive energy through practitioners, leading them to pour out this energy into the world to the people around them.

When thinking of pain as a mindset, practitioners may be able to control the level of pain they feel through meditation as they remove stress and focus on meditating.


Healing Through Dance Music

Healing Through Dance Music

Not only is dancing a form of creative expression that can help build a person’s creativity and imagination, but it can also positively affect physical and mental health.

Electronic dance music can heal in a variety of ways. “Through the act of dance, EDM participation requires one’s awareness to be in the body, allowing participants to experience “a kind of bodily mysticism, in which mystical union is experienced on physical, somatic, and kinesthetic levels”


Make Grounding Part of Your Health Regimen

Make Grounding Part of Your Health Regimen

Did you know the energy from the Earth can help you live a healthier life? The concept is known as earthing or grounding, which is no more complicated than walking barefoot.

"[G]rounding is literally putting your bare feet on the ground. When you do that, you're in contact with the Earth, and mother Earth is endowed with electrons, and these electrons are literally absorbed through your feet. It's like taking handfuls of antioxidants, but you're getting it through your feet."

Grounding or earthing is defined as placing one's bare feet on the ground, whether it be dirt, grass, sand or unsealed, unpainted concrete (especially when humid or wet)

When you ground to the electron-enriched Earth, an improved balance of the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems occurs.


Mindfulness

Mindfulness

Paying attention means watching and noticing without comment. It doesn't mean judging, criticizing, or feeling guilty. You are just seeing yourself as you are, observing your body, your mind, and your feelings, and how they interact with one another.


When you are mindful in this way you notice the ground beneath you as you walk, the sound of the birds, or the feel of the wind. You are in the present moment rather than lost in thoughts of the past or future.

What Keeps Us Feeling Younger

What Keeps Us Feeling Younger

Suggestions for helping us reach a younger state of mind:

  • Challenge yourself to try new things

  • Bring attention repeatedly to the present moment. This keeps us from becoming lost in regrets of the past or imagining future deterioration

  • Develop a sense of meaning in life by focusing on something larger than yourself

  • Commit yourself to a hobby you love