ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
“Where the pain resides, the healing thrives and the growth has to indeed rise”
Ask any of my close family and friends. I’ve had mental health concerns. Anxiety and depression to be exact. From when I was a kid I experienced them. My earliest memory was siting downstairs over a bucket of bile and saying, “I want to die, Mum”. It manifested differently in different stages of my life, but It was something I was determined on understanding more deeply and managing better.
From where I am today I can say with confidence that I don’t have a mental health condition. I still experience the gamet of human emotions, but they do not inhabit my whole being, wreaking havoc on my days and my life, I work with them, they do work on me.
I wanted to share how I see the whole picture now and what elements soothed my anxious and depressed soul. There was alot of journeying to get to this clarity.
I see it in three parts
Bio-chemical.
Mental/Emotional.
Spiritual.
1. BIO CHEMICAL:
It took a lot of trial and error, but I found an amazing functional health practitioner in Dave O’Brien, also my boss and mentor at 5th Element Wellness. I did two protocols from my blood work, one protocol from my stool test and one protocol from a breath test.
All tests found fundamental biochemical reasons why I may be experiencing what I was experiencing:
-mental health concerns: anxiety, depression.
-skin dysfunction: acne and cystic acne more prevalent around my period.
-digestive concerns: bloating, constipation, diarrhoea and flatulence.
These protocols helped sooth and heal my brain, skin and belly from the inside out.
Along with these protocols I eliminated alcohol, sugar, gluten and caffeine, and ate more nourishing foods.
2.MENTAL/EMOTIONAL
I’ve been seeking the insights of others who could teach me the ways of my thoughts and emotions from a young age. I’ve engaged with psychologists, coaches, mentors, health practitioners and healers. Cultivating relationships with family, friends and intimate partners has also been and continues to be a huge source of healing and growth.
3. SPIRITUAL
This part was about exploring those big things in life. How do I want to be of service in this world, creating a deeper connection with my sensuality/sexuality and creativity, and exploring energetic practices in soothing my energetic body.
These three things appeased and nourished me from a place of stress and tension. I am thankful for the peace I have cultivated, the perspectives I have shifted and the relationships I get to experience both in other but more importantly within myself.
Sending you love and strength on your own journey.
N x