Healing Seasonal Affective Disorder
2 minute read
For those of you who are living in the North, or in the Pacific Northwest, there's a chance you may have experienced SAD or Seasonal Affective Disorder. It usually starts to sneak in mid-autumn, or when the sun grows weak, but for some it can continue well on into the Spring, even as the days are growing longer. SAD can have an effect on the mind and body in varying degrees. By learning how to work with our breath and the Navel Chakra, we can improve the energy of our body & mind. Which in return can help to heal the physical and emotional effects of SAD.
Our Navel Chakra is in charge of keeping our physical body strong and energized. It's an excellent spot to store extra prana or life force. Think of this chakra as a storage unit. By storing prana in this chakra the whole body strengthens and becomes energized. Over time, if practiced with some regularity, the Navel Chakra will have a reservoir of life force for your body to pull from. Say for example, if you were to fall sick, the intelligence of your body would be able to take life force from this chakra as it needs to help have a faster recovery. This is just one example of the many benefits of building energy in this area.
How to build up your life force to ward off Seasonal Affective Disorder:
This technique is best done after your meditation practice. This is a time when we have an excess amount of prana within the aura. That being said, if you don’t meditate, this technique is still effective.
This can be done sitting down or standing up. For the sake of this breathing exercise, avoid any mudras or hand positions. If you’re sitting, just leave your hands on your knees, palms facing upwards.
Start by placing your awareness on the navel or belly button. Begin nice deep breathing from the belly. Let the breath be natural, don’t do any kind of counting, or holding. Just breathe as you would normally. In and out. It’s best to keep your breathing smooth and even and to make sure your body is comfortable. Keep it simple.
As you breathe, leave your awareness on the navel. Continue to do this for up to 10 minutes. If the body and mind have been very depleted, do this exercise every day until the condition normalizes. Sometimes when we’ve been low on energy over a prolonged period of time, it can take a while to ‘fill up’ and feel the effect of the practice. This is because the body may be in dire need of energy therefore it absorbs the life force very quickly so it can heal, recharge, and rejuvenate. I encourage you to keep practicing daily if you can. If you have any kind of dizziness, pain or discomfort after this exercise, please stop practicing. People with blood pressure ailments should practice with caution.
Furthermore, making sure you are exercising enough, getting proper rest, drinking clean water and eating lots of food with prana in it (fresh fruit/vegetables/sprouts, etc) is very important. If possible, try to increase your exposure to sunlight, or if it’s dark, overcast, or simply too cold to be outside, consider bringing light therapy lamps into your home or office. If needed, receiving psychological healing can be extremely beneficial.
Enjoy this post? Share the good word below: