MARINA SOKOLOVA

How interesting.

According to Roper Organization's poll in 1991, 18% of Americans report at least once waking up paralysed with a strange being in the room with them, 11% had seen at least 1 gost, and 7% had seen at least 1 UFO.

And according to National Opinion Research Centre (USA), study conducted in 1973 discovered that 28% of Americans reported having been in direct personal contact with a ghost.

 

How psychosomatic medicine views excess weight.

Practitioners of psychosomatic medicine explain obesity with fear. They say excess fat is there to protect a person from a hostile environment. If people still would have hunted for their food like in the wild, then belly fat would have protected their vital organs and many chins would have protected the neck and in particular the throat. In addition to above reasons, the body stores nutrients for the future, believing that hard times will continue.

Now scientists have found evidence, which confirm the psychosomatic approach to obesity. The study published in April 6, 2010 edition of Psychosomatic Medicine states that elevated levels of stress hormone cortisol over long term are responsible for abdominal fat. It also states that, because of this, stressed people are likely to gain weight regardless of diets. And even if they do achieve any weight loss, it will be short term and they wouldn't be able to maintain it, as the body assisted by increased cortisol levels will replace the fat as soon as it gets the chance.

How to reduce levels of cortisol:

1. Eliminate caffeine from your diet. It’s the quickest way to reduce cortisol production. 200 mg of caffeine increases blood cortisol levels by 30% in one hour. Cortisol can then remain elevated for up to 18 hours in the blood.

2. Do your best to get as much sleep as you need. Sleep deprivation increases cortisol levels as your body is helping you getting through the day.

3. Do not overexercise or overdiet. Exercising for longer than an hour more often than every 2 days increases cortisol levels. Strict dieting also increases stress. Be gentle to your body.

4. Relax. Music therapy is known to decrees cortisol levels. Other ways to relax can be meditation, going for a massage, or watching a comedy. Repeated movements activity such as knitting or chewing gum can help to unwind too.

Myths about I Ching.

A lot of people seem to think that I Ching reading is simply a set of lines corresponding to one paragraph of text. That is an oversimplified version of it.

Did you know that similar looking lines in the hexagrams can actually have different numerical values and some of those numerical values make those lines into changing lines? In which case, the yang lines transform into yin ones and the yin ones - into yang ones. This transforms the initial hexagram into a new one. The initial hexagrams signifies the present. The new hexagram is meant to reveal the near future. The more there are changing lines – the more dynamic the situation is, for which the reading is performed. If there are no changing lines, then the situation is to be considered stable if it is good or stagnant and hard to change, if it is bad. What I mean by this, can be illustrated by the following example. For example, your question can be: whether you will be able to afford to by a house in a near future. And the reading signifies, for example, that currently you are not able to buy a house. If there no changing lines and subsequently no new hexagram derived from the reading, then you have no hope to change this situation, according to I Ching. As you see, I Ching readings can be just as elaborate as Tarot or other cards readings.

Some people go even further- to interpreting every single line within a hexagram and/or meditating on the hexagram. However, I stick to interpreting the initial hexagram, meanings of changing lines if there are any, and the hexagram it transforms into if it does. This is usually enough for me.

Scrapbooking.

I have scrapbooked some more of my old photos. These pages are about short break in Amsterdam in 2005.

 

 

 

When I was doing this page, I have noticed that one of the photos has orbs in it.

 

Colour Therapy.

Colour healing was a part of society in ancient Egypt, Greece, China, India, and Tibet. Egyptians in particular use to build healing temples where patients could bathe in specific colours of light, which they believed had different effects. This knowledge influenced the Greek schools of philosophy, such as those of Pythagoras and Plato, but then it disappeared for a while. So it was not until 19^th century that Newton, Goethe and others, started to study light and colour once again. Now some of the teachings preserved in ancient literature have been rediscovered and their tenets and techniques have been incorporated into modern life.

What exactly is the colour.

Colours that we see are just the reflections of an ultraviolet light from the things around us. Light in it self is an electromagnetic energy. The wavelength and frequency of light influence the colour we see. For example: all colours of a rainbow have different wavelengths and frequencies, from red with the highest wavelength and the lowest frequency to violet with the lowest wavelength and the highest frequency.

What is colour therapy.

Colour therapy, also known as Chromotherapy, is an alternative healing therapy that usually involves exposing a person to particular colours in order to bring one’s body back into harmony and restore his or her health and well-being. Nowadays colour therapy is also often combined with visualisation, meditation, acupuncture, acupressure, reflexology, music therapy, psychological counselling, yoga, and conventional medicine.

What can it heal.

Colour therapy can heal asthma, colic, constipation, diverticulitis, impotence, infertility, menstrual problems, anxiety, depression, grief, insomnia, stress, emotional traumas, and alopecia. It can also help during pregnancy and menopause.

It is advised that for diagnosis and treatment of serious illness, one should always consult a qualified colour practitioner. Under the professional code of practice for colour practitioners, all colour treatments for serious illnesses should be given under medical supervision.

 Are there any side effects.

There is no united opinion about whether colour therapy can cause any harmful side effects. Some sources state that it is completely risk free. Other highlight the need for a good therapist indicating that self-practising colour therapy can be dangerous. For example: a pregnant woman should not be treated with green as it can destroy embryonic cell structure, or so it is believed by some.

How does it work.

The are seem to be vast number of theories attempting to explain how colour therapy works. Here are the most frequent:

Aura.

Colour therapy practitioners usually believe in human aura. It is said that our auras consist of the layers of colour around our body, each layer represents one colour. First layer, the nearest to our bodies, is red. Whereas following layers are orange, yellow, green, turquoise, blue, violet and magenta. The layers are continuously moving and interpenetrating each other. These movements respond to environmental inputs as well as shifts in thought, feeling, and physical well-being. The layers of the aura are also thought to be a manifestation of the whole person, where each layer corresponds to a different aspect of the human function.  It is said that when we are healthy the colours in our auric fields would appear clear and luminous. Whereas, when someone’s body is out of balance, particular colours may appear darker, or paler, or don’t have a significant presents in that person’s aura, or change into completely different colour. 

Colour therapists believe that by administering the colour or colours, which the sick person is lacking in his or her aura, they can bring the body of that patient back into harmony.  One might ask: how do the therapists know what colours they might need to apply. Aura can be easily perceived to those people who are gifted or have received special training and thus it can be used as a diagnostic tool and a guide to treatment. Alternatively, if the person does not have the ability to “see” auric field, he or she can tune their senses through dowsing or use a variety of other more scientific techniques.

 Chakras.

This approach is very similar to the previous one, only here colours and aspects of human bean are represented by chakras instead of layers of aura. Although, these two approaches are often mixed. The chakras are lens-like structures that collect and strengthen the light that surrounds us. There is eight of them that are usually considered: one is just above one’s head of magenta colour, another is near brows and of violet colour, blue one is near the throat, turquoise one is near the chest, green one is near the heart, then there is the yellow chakra near solar plexus, orange one that is close to belly button, and finally the red chakra that is near the crotch. The chakras are also linked with endocrine glands and certain organs of the body.

 The energy of colour.

This one is based on the belief that colours’ energies or their frequencies can influence the energies or the frequencies of organs in a human body. So once a diagnosis was made, the person can often be healed by a particular colour. For example: red in conjunction with its complementary colour of turquoise can counteract infections. The red increases the blood supply to the infected area and the turquoise helps to reduce inflammation. Another example – orange ray is used to treat stones in the kidney and gall bladder.

Matching the frequencies.

This method implies that diseases, viruses or infections have their own frequencies and wavelengths and if one matches them with the frequencies and wavelengths of the colours then the healing would happen. Therapists practising this method actually promise to remove bacterial and virus infections purely by applying colours providing that client completes the treatment.

 Scientific version.

Scientists agree that colour therapy can heal. They believe that the brain itself is colour sensitive and when we look at different colours it may facilitate the production of different hormones. Thus for example, using blue colour can help with sleeping problems and violet colour can help to relax. You might have noticed that many TV DIY programmes made use of colour therapy to give rooms “moods” which influence how we feel when we are in them.

 Using colour therapy at home.

Here are some very popular colour therapy techniques that you can, as most therapists agree, safely try at home.

 Colour breathing.

Sit comfortably and breath, as you breathing imagine that you inhale one specific colour and exhaling another. For example, to increase vitality, breathe in red and breathe out turquoise. For joy: inhale orange and exhale blue. For increased intellectual abilities: breathe in yellow, then breathe out violet. In order to cleanse and balance your body, breathe in green and breathe out magenta. Inhale turquoise to strengthen the immune system, exhale red. Breath in blue for relaxation and peace then breath out orange. To increase self-respect, inhale violet and exhale yellow. Breathe in magenta in order to release obsessional images and thoughts and breathe out green.

 Art therapy.

This usage of colours involves art therapy. When you feel disappointment, pain, or anger, get a set of crayons and a sheet of white paper. Sit down and intuitively choose only three colours from your crayons. Express your feelings on paper with the crayons of your choice. Your drawing doesn’t have to resemble any known objects or look attractive. You don’t have to show it to anyone if you don’t want to and of course you don’t have to keep it. It is healthy to release your feelings this way instead of keeping it all in until they manifest into physical disease at a later date.

 Eye strengthening exercise.

This technique is supposed to improve you vision. Take three white sheets of paper. Paint or print out a blue octagonal shape on one sheet and red octagonal shape on the other. Keep the third sheet clear. Do the following six times a day. Focus your eyes on the blue octagonal and maintain your gaze for 15-20 seconds. Then look at a blank sheet for 15-20 seconds and after that look at the red octagonal for the same length of time. Hopefully, you should see the results soon.

 Visiting a colour therapy practitioner.

When you come to a colour therapist for the first time, he or she will use certain diagnostic tools to suggest a treatment. Different practitioners may use different approaches to this. They might read your auric field in order to determine its state of colour balance, dowse to read the balance of your colour energies, or use psychological techniques such as Lucher colour test or art therapy in order to see your attitudes toward life.

Then once they choose colours to bring your body back into balance, they would usually expose you to the coloured light for a number of sessions. Some practitioners can also give you coloured water in bottles to use in between sessions or suggest to wrap your self into coloured silk body wraps at home.

Colour therapy affects all three aspects of our being –body, mind, and spirit. Bringing these three aspects into harmony let us become whole beings and colour therapy can help us with that. Yes, it can seem confusing, but we only have to learn to trust our intuition, which would lead us to our individually right path.

 

 

Healing Music.

Since very ancient times, humans have created music that has served their goals. Lullabies, marches, love songs and so on are as old as the history of humanity itself. In modern times scientists have studied the power of music and found that music that meets certain requirements can heal, increase mental abilities, and energize.

What is healing music.

Healing music comprises of sounds of the frequencies that correspond to frequencies of certain brain signals. It is able to stimulate production of certain chemicals in order to achieve desired goals, such as healing and improving one’s body functions. The concept of healing music can also be used for purposes other than healing, such as increasing intellect, improving memory, removing pain, increasing self-contentment and so on. For example, sounds of frequency from 90 to 111 hertz increase production of beta-endorphins subsequently increasing pleasure.

How does healing music work.

Nerves of your inner ear turn sounds into electrical impulses, just like all the regular impulses in your brain. Some of them go to the hearing centre of your brain, others end up in different parts of the brain affecting the body functions and the production of hormones.

Which music is good and which is bad for humans.

Sounds with a frequency from 5 to 8000 hertz are energizing for humans, where sounds with a frequency of 8000 hertz are the most energising. When scientists tested already existing music, they found that music written by Mozart has the highest quantity of beneficial high frequency sounds. A curious fact is that sounds of birds singing usually have frequency of 5000 hertz, which makes them beneficial for us. On the other hand, low frequency sounds cause a draining effect on the human mind and body. Examples of low frequency sounds are noises of road traffic, airports, factories and most rock music. Another interesting fact states that the most beneficial music consists of patterns that repeat themselves every 20-30 seconds, this is doe to the function of human central nervous system, which has a 30 seconds cycle. Surprisingly, of all the music analysed, Mozart’s music fitted this requirement of 30 seconds cycle the best.

Of course no one is going around measuring the frequency of music they hear all the time, but you do not need to do so in order to understand which music is good or which is bad for you. Once you get tuned into your survival senses, your physical, emotional, mental and spiritual states can let you know what music and sounds are good for you. Beneficial music would have a positive effect on your pulse and blood pressure. You may notice that it uplifts you spiritually, relieves your pain, increases your energy, and sparks your creativity.

When you go shopping for music, the safest music to buy is new age, world, and classical. The risk of getting bad for you music increases slightly with the pop music. The death metal, alternative rock, and rap music is usually very harmful.

Music that is good for you is also good for your plants and animals. For example: if you put plant next to a speaker and play same music to it regularly, it will ether grow toward it or away from it.

What music can heal.

Music can help with stress, depression, sleeping disorders, confidence and self-esteem, as well as other emotional issues. There is also music designed for general well being and music with specific goals to improve the work of certain body organs or functions. Such as: liver, kidneys, bowl, reproduction system, and blood pressure.

Is there a guarantee of healing.

Even so affects of healing music on humans are well studied and have good records, unfortunately there is no guarantee of music healing some one. It helps a lot of people, but in some it only slows deterioration and for a few it does not help.

Are there any side effects.

Healing music does not facilitate addiction to it like alcohol or drugs and it does not cause withdrawal symptoms. In fact the more one uses it the better result one tends to get as the mind becomes more trained to achieve desired states.

Eating with music.

Listening to dinner music while eating is beneficial for the following reasons. Studies have shown that whilst listening to slow classical music people tend to eat slower, chew their food more properly. As a result, their bodies assimilate more nutrients, because they are able to digest food better. Where as when people eat while listening to rock music, they tend to eat very fast and their bodies do not assimilate many nutrients.

Studying with music.

Music can also considerably increase one’s mental abilities. Many people like to study listening to music that contains binaural beats.  Binaural recording transmits music of different frequencies in each of your ears from headphones. Different variations of those frequencies do a few interesting things, such as balance sodium and potassium levels in your brain removing ‘mental fatigue’, reduce stress, manage pain, improve sleep quality, reduce sleep requirements, and enhance creativity and intuition. Some people also use music with binaural beats to assist themselves in remote viewing, telepathy, out-of-body experience, and lucid dreaming.

Nowadays scientists also developed a variety of machines that can emit sounds in hundreds of frequencies not audible to the human ear that awaken production of certain chemicals in the brain which facilitate intellect and increase memory. These same chemicals tend to help very well with depression and drug addiction. However you do not need a special machine to help you increase your intellect, most people who have tried any variety of sound or music therapy agree that their mental abilities are increased where as stress and pain are decreased.

From theory to practice.

One of the cheapest ways to experience the power of the healing music is to by a CD.  However buying it can be a bit more complicated that it sounds. Most shops offer mainly relaxation and new age music. Those CDs that claim to contain healing music, don’t always give any instructions or explanations and could be just compilations based simply on personal music preferences of a compiler, with no scientific approach. From those that have descriptions on the boxes, only few specify the frequency of music and what purpose it should be used for. Others just justify their benefits by spiritual reasons.

Another option is machines that contain music for healing and other purposes. They are usually called ether sound machines, sound and light machines, or mind machines. You would not see them often in shops, but one can find a big range of them on the Internet. The cheapest ones are the price of the CD. They play range of music and sounds that would sooth, relax, help to sleep and mask disturbing noises. More sophisticated machines can cost up to few hundreds of pounds. They can help with autism, learning disabilities, bi-polar disorder, dyslexia, depression, and so on. They can also include programs that relieve stress and anxiety, boost creativity, boost physical performance in athletes, provide rehab for brain injury, improve social skills, do hypnotherapy, and provide digestive solutions. They usually come with dozens of preloaded programs on them and free memory space to download more programs from the Internet. Many expensive machines also tend to include a device that is used like spectacles that shows lights for visual stimulation or colour therapy. Those lights are not for people suffering from epilepsy. So one must be careful there.

The more personal and guided approach is the hiring of a professional music therapist. Although working with music therapist does not necessary involve only listening to music as one would do at home. They use variety of other methods: moving to music, playing music, singing, lyric discussion, lyric writing, guided imagery and improvisation. Many of them also incorporate traditional psychotherapy techniques into their sessions. They work with developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, autism, speech disorders, behavioural problems, mental retardation, psychotic behaviours, physical rehabilitation, substance abuse problems, and acute and chronic pain. They also enhance skill related to social interaction, concentration, academic achievements, and motor abilities. For psychiatric patients music may be used in conjunction with medications.

Finding music therapist can be a bit tricky as well. If you can not find any in your yellow pages, you can contact Association of Professional Music Therapists (020 8440 4153, APMToffice@aol.com) and they will help you get in touch with your local music therapist.

Whatever option one chooses, healing music gives a chance to reap the rewards of researchers’ work that have combined traditions with modern technology.  Even though it does not work one hundred percent for every one, it is nice to try a pleasurable alternative to drugs.

 

 

Flying Stars and 4 pillars.

I have been reading a lot about flying star feng shui over last month. I knew a bit about it already and I decided to update my knowledge and thoroughly understand this feng shui system. I think I can recommend the most these 2 following books about flying stars: Flying Star Feng Shui by Stephen Skinner and Flying Star Feng Shui for the Master Practitioner by Lillian Too. I also found in a local library The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Feng Shui by Elizabeth Moran that teaches Flying Stars, 4 pillars, and more basic Feng Shui. I wouldn’t recommend it for learning Flying Stars. The knowledge given in this book is limited compared to the 2 books I mentioned above. However, I think this book is good for learning 4 pillars (also known as ba zi or paht chee), it has one of the best explanations of this system that I have seen.

 

Speaking of 4 pillars, if you haven’t started on it yet, I would also recommend another book that I have by Lillian Too: Unlocking The Secrets of Chinese Fortune Telling. It has a nice colourful step-by-step introduction to this system.

 

I think you would also appreciate these free flying star and 4 pillars calculators on the Too’s website, if you haven’t tried them yet: http://wofs.com/index.php?option=com_custompages&Itemid=82, http://wofs.com/index.php?option=com_custompages&Itemid=88. And if you can read Russian, then you would like this 4 pillars calculator even more: http://feng-shui.ru/calculators/4-stolpa-sudby/.

 

Learning alone can be boring, so I like to search for some interesting forums where helpful people gather together. I think feng shui forums that I read the most are http://www.wofs.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=2 and http://www.bezproblem.org/index.php. I guess I am lucky to be bilingual, it is very convenient for learning and gives me twice the amount of online resources to choose from. Sometimes I find information in one language that is not available at all in another language and that feels thrilling.

Urban Voodoo by Jason Black and Christopher Hyatt.

It is an interesting book and gives a couple of interesting ideas that can be experimented with even outside voodoo. And it is always quite interesting to read descriptions of other peoples’ personal experience with witchcraft or divination techniques. The book also educated me about the discrimination of colour people that used to exist in USA or maybe even still exist when it comes to encountering very similar occult practices. For example: authors point out that jews never needed permission to carry blood sacrifices to get kosher food, where as people of colour use to be arrested by police for that and reported on the news for their “satanic” practises.

 

However, when authors try to explain and promote voodoo, a lot of their explanations and arguments luck logic. They say it is a religion/practice about life that encourage and serve normal human desires and recognises that people need money/means to live and helps with that. They say it is powerful and good at helping with that. Then they say that mostly poor people practice voodoo. And when those people get wealthier they betray their roots and switch to christianity (btw, I like to point out here that I am NOT promoting christianity here, I am against all women-hating religions in general). So if voodoo is that powerful, then why its practitioners are poor? And when they are not poor why they are not sticking to it? I see the society pressure and discrimination, but I don’t see power in that. The authors claim that people who explore magic for spiritual development are simply afraid of real power. Authors portray them as losers who settled for low paid jobs so they can practice their hobbies. Then they describe the poorness of people who practice voodoo (in urban life) as a virtue, because they are not into consumerism and are close to nature.

 

Then one of authors interviewed the prostitutes who practice voodoo (the voodoo priestess refused to meet him :)). They use voodoo to get sexual explotators pay more money (for example: by anointing a doll with his semen) and punish violent ones. The book portrays these women as wise and strong, who know powerful voodoo secrets. Again, I don’t see much ability or power, or logic for that matter. If it is that good, why don’t they use it to get safer and better paying jobs in the first place. The authors did, btw.

 

I understand that authors probably tried to avoid critique of the voodoo practising community because they are white males who entered a world dominated by black people. It is visible from their description of their experience that they were often pointed at their skin colour. Because of that, I sense, they are used to treading on eggshells and lost a bit of objectivity and clarity. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the book and found it interesting and entertaining to read as well as learned a lot of new things, as it was the only book I ever read about voodoo so far.

 

Beat that depression.

Depression was probably first named as a condition by Hippocrates, who named it melancholia. Throughout history many famous people have suffered from it: Solomon, Abraham Lincoln, Diana, Winston Churchill, J.K. Rowling, Anne Rice, and many more. It is estimated that there might be about 300 million of people in the world today suffering from depression. If you are one of them, do not despair – many ways have been found to deal with this illness.

 

Conventional treatments.

 

One should not hesitate to see her or his doctor about depression. Patients usually get prescribed counselling and/or antidepressants. Antidepressants need to be taken for long time, usually until one has at least few months without symptoms, then the course can be considered complete. Many people shy away from antidepressants, but that is wrong. Modern drugs that treat depression are much less addictive and work better.

 

Complimentary therapies.

 

Acupressure.

 

Lightly press an acupoint that is called Governing Vessel 26 with the edge of a fingernail for no longer than one minute. This acupoint is located in the groove right between the nose and the upper lip. It is important to press it very lightly as doing it hard is believed to increase blood pressure.

 

Aromatherapy.

 

The essential oils that help to reduce depression are rose, rosemary, calendula, and sandal. Rose essential oil should not be used by pregnant women. Otherwise one can eat one drop of rose oil on tea spoon of honey twice a day or massage in 3 drops of rose oil mixed with 20grams of base oil. Base oil in aromatherapy can be any of the following oils: Apricot Kernel, Avocado, Coco Butter, Grape-seed, Hazelnut, Jojoba, Sweet Almond or Wheat Germ. Another way to use rose essential oil for depression is putting 2 drops in an oil burner.

 

Rosemary essential oil should not be used by those who are pregnant, have sensitive skin, or going through a chemo therapy course. It can be applied with a massage – 8 drops mixed with 20grams of base oil, added to bath  - 10 drops, or put in the oil burner – 2 drops.

 

Camomile essential oil should not be used during the first 7 month of pregnancy. For easing depression one can ether eat 2 drops on 1 tea spoon of honey twice a day or put couple of drops in an oil burner.

 

Another essential oil that serves as antidepressant is sandalwood. It should not be used with serious illnesses of the kidneys. It is best to apply it with a massage  - 9 drops mixed with 20g of base oil or burn it in an oil burner – 2 drops.

 

Bach Flower Remedies.

 

Mustard is good for depression that has no apparent reason, when unhappiness descends and then lifts like a cloud without an identifiable cause. Gentian is for depression from any known reason. It is particularly good during setbacks that cause discouragement or disappointment.

 

Colour Therapy.

 

Orange colour brings changes in the biochemical structure resulting in the dispersing of depression. Yellow is the colour of detachment and can help to detach from obsessional thoughts, feeling, and habits. Magenta enables us to let go of ideas and thought patterns which are no longer right for us. If you have clothes of those colours you might want to try wearing them a bit more. Otherwise you can simply meditate with a particular colour in mind. For example, you can imagine orange light of sunset, feel the orange sun rays on your skin, inhale it, imagine it filling you, glowing inside you or something similar that you personally are comfortable with.

 

Chakras.

 

It is helpful to cleanse and balance root cakra, also called base centre, when dealing with depression. It is located at the base of the spine. Its symbol is deep red lotus flower with four petals. It’s a centre of physical energy and vitality, sense of smell, will, and power. When this centre functions fully, it gives person a strong will to live on the physical plane and he or she is filled with vitality and energy and enjoys life.

 

If however, this centre is blocked, the person’s energy levels are low, there is

no enthusiasm for life and he or she feel unable to carry daily work. It is believed that activities like cooking and cleaning at home, sitting on the ground, walking barefoot and dancing can help to balance this chakra.

 

In addition, here is a small meditation that should clean your root chakra of any stale energy:

Take a deep breath through your nose and hold it for about four seconds then slowly exhale it through your mouth, do this again. Slowly release the tension in your body until you are completely relaxed. Visualize or feel a round and transparent ball, coloured in a beautiful shade of ruby red, floating inside your body near the base of your spine. Mentally look at this ball. Notice if it has any areas of darkness. Inhale deeply through your nose, and imagine that a white light feels the red sphere and cleanses it of impurities. As you exhale through your mouth imagine that any negative or stale energy lives that sphere and your body. Continue breathing in and out deeply in this manner, until you can gain a mental picture of perfectly clean and transparent chakra. Repeat this meditation few times on different days and you should notice significant difference in the way you feel.

 

Reflexology.

 

The following procedure that employs reflexology may also help you during time of depression. Let your middle fingers fall into each foot’s solar plexus point, press as you inhale and release pressure as you exhale. Walk with your thumb over the head of each toe, especially the big toe.

 

Vitamins and minerals.

 

Depression can occur from deficiency of vitamin B and/or magnesium. Buy your self a vitamin B complex and magnesium with calcium as calcium helps body to absorb magnesium.

 

Herbs.

 

The most popular herb against depression nowadays is St. John’s wort. It is not addictive and has an antidepressive effect in the treatment of mild and moderate depression, which makes it as effective as some traditional antidepressants. However, it makes the contraceptive pill very ineffective. A different popular herb is Kava kava. It can help to restore peace of mind by easing nervous anxiety, insomnia, and restlessness. Another well-researched herb is Gingo biloba. It helps by improving the circulation to the brain and can also serve as a mood elevator.

 

Homeopathy.

 

Natrum muriaticum 6x is for those who feel sad, depressed, weepy and tend to brood about unpleasant events. Lycopodium 6x is most suitable for person who is sensitive, fearful, afraid to be alone, usually anticipates an ordeal, nervous before a test or public appearance and does not like doing anything new. Sulphur 6x would help most people who are depressed and hopeless. However it is especially suited for someone whose state of mind is dominated by imagination, or person that dwells to much on religious or philosophical subjects, or one that is very indifferent to personal appearance. Calcarea carbonica helps those who are fearful and lack self-confidence.  If you choose any of the above homeopathic remedies, take one tablet three times a day for six days.

 

Stones.

 

A ring with hyacinth gives hope and treats its owner from depression. However it is believed that it can cause a female to lose her lover. A stone called garnet gives optimism, heals the mind, extinguish depression and balances the root chakra. Although, it is not advisable to wear garnet to those whose star sign is Taurus or Cancer. Set in gold olivine-chrysolite also heals mind and relieves depression and it is suitable for anyone.

 

Feng Shui.

 

Depressed person has too much yin energy and lacks sufficient amount of yang energy. To increase yang energy in one it is advised to eat yang food, do yang activities and spend more time on the sunny side of the home, which has more yang. Yang food is beans, root vegetables, grains, fish, eggs, meat, salt. Where as yin food is leafy vegetables, tofu, salads, fruits, liquids, ice cream, and sugar. Yang physical activities are those that are very energetic such as fast walking, running, aerobics, tennis, dancing, gardening, football and the like. Yin activities are more relaxed and peaceful such as meditation, yoga, stretching, sunbathing, etc. Yang mental activities involve some mental exercise. It can be studying, doing accounts, playing games that requires thinking such as chess or cards. Yin mental activities involve more leisure. It is watching television, reading, listening to music, chatting, painting and the like.

 

Witchcraft.

 

Collect some rainwater during the full moon. Wash your face, head and hair with it. While you do it, ask the water to wash all the negativity of you and mother earth to accept it.

 

Dealing with depression may seem very overwhelming. You may think: “How can I do it, if waking up with the symptoms of depression is almost unbearable and it takes all my strength to get through the day?” You need to remember that depression is highly treatable. You can take an active role in managing your illness. Take it a day at a time, try different approaches, reach out for help and before your know it in few month or a year, depending how bad is your depression, you will forget you had it.

Quest for better eyesight.

I was diagnosed with slight myopia sometime a go, about –2, but I do not have glasses. I do not like techniques that do not cure or solve anything, such as glasses, asthma inhalers, diabetes pills, etc. I am also not entirely comfortable with the idea of channelling any personal power outside one’s body into an external object.

 

So I have collected few books on eyesight: psychosomatic, EFT, herbal, physical exercises for eyes. So far, while looking through these books I have made few discoveries. I make the following common mistakes that apparently lots of other people often do too.

 

1)      I often hold my breath till I reach end of sentence or longer while reading or writing. Apparently, they say, this can temporary starve eyes of oxygen. Thus decreasing quality of eyesight. Stopping this habit and making sure I breath more often and deeper cleared my vision significantly and helped the most so far.

 

2)      I rarely blinked while reading or writing. Supposedly, better moisturised eyes see better. Blinking slowly and more often, like advised, helps me a little.

 

 

3)      I was over tensing my eyes’ muscles. They say that relaxed eyes can see far and one only needs to tense it in order to see near. Hence one needs to relax eyelids and eyebrows, “soften” the gaze and look at things leisurely. “Softening” the gaze helps a little as well.