This has been a post mulling in the back of my mind for quite some time. And it seems perfectly apt to toss it into the inter-web on the day before this highly anxiety-ridden national election.

Many of us are currently in the embrace of these 2-domineering energetic and/or hormonal imbalances. Keep that in mind when you witness your fellow Americans behaving in ways that seem questionable. And remember, we are the greatest tool, in fact, the only tool, that can overcome these great challenges presented before us. When we heal ourselves, we become a part of the narrative of healing everyone.

With that, there are so many holistic ways to ease both anxiety & depression. Please note: I am not a medical doctor, and this post is in no way meant to override any current plan you may have with a doctor or any medications you are currently taking. These suggested practices can, most often, be used in conjunction with any play you may currently be on and I will highlight when you should consult your doctor before a listed practice.

The Vagus Nerve, or the largest cranial nerve that runs from the base of the brain all the way down to your intestines, is the primary nerve involved in anxiety – this guy’s tells you to run away from bear, which is fantastic if you’re being chased by a bear. He’s also the guy makes your stomach do flip-flops while you’re washing dishes and leave you wondering why. Toning this nerve will do wonders for anxiety & depression.

Also note, that to see true, long lasting results, you do need to find supportive practices that you can easily add to your day over a long period of time, without gaps and done with enthusiasm. Do what you find simple, that you can stick with and avoid practices that you know you will not be able to stick to. Or maybe modify those, so that they are more reasonable for your life. The below can give you immediate relief, but it’s best to cultivate a routine you can keep as part of your regular daily emotional hygiene.

In this post you’ll find information on:

• the vagus nerve
• breathing & mantra
• food
• Intermittent fasting
• yogic philosophy
• supplements
• crystals

Before we get started, one of my favorite visuals comes from Elizabeth Gilbert in the book ‘Big Magic’. She compares her anxiety as a friend, one whom you kinda would prefer to not hang around so much. Imagine you’re going on a road trip and your friend, ‘anxiety’, has to join – you don’t have a say in the matter. Think in your head ‘ok, Anxiety, I see you’re coming along for the ride, too. That’s fine, you can sit in the back seat, but you do not get to drive the car.’

Take what resonates with you with this post; leave the rest. Come back later if you feel something else speaks to you. This is not intended as something to figure all out today, unless doing just that is what resonates within you.

Vagus Nerve

There are several ways to tone this nerve:

• Sound – humming or om’ing are great or gargle (see below for more detail on sound)
• Cold exposure – go splash cold water on your face, or if you’re in a northern climate, pop outside for a minute, maybe take a short walk
• Deep, slow, diaphragmatic breathing (see below)
• Probiotics
• Meditation, if you can. If it’s hard, maybe look into apps such as Insight Timer and find a short, guided meditation that appeals to you
• Omega 3’s
• Exercise
• Massage
• Laughter; put on a funny movie
• Socializing with someone who uplifts you and refrain from over-socializing with those who increase your anxiety

Breathing & Mantra

Breathing is essential when it comes to working with anxiety & depression. Focus on deep diaphragmatic breathing. Imagine the breath starting at the base of your spine, traveling up through the center of your torso, past the ribs, heart, throat & all the way to the crown of your head. Pause gently at the top and then slowly release the breath back to the base of the spine and gently pause the breath. If pausing exacerbates the feeling of anxiety, then imaging the breath rolling from the inhale to the exhale and refrain from pausing. Sitting some place quiet & still for a few minutes to practice this is ideal. Practicing this while your washing the dishes, folding laundry or reading this post is also good.

Mantra is, at its simplest, using sound to vibrate our physical and energetic body. Sound will vibrate the vagus nerve, which helps to keep it tone. It also vibrates our energetic body, and in essence, think of the vibration of sound as shaking out the energetic cobwebs that are no longer serving you. Get into the habit of chanting ‘Om’ whenever and wherever. No joke, if I’m feeling anxious because I’m running late, but I have to make that one stop through the grocery store, I will absolutely chant ‘Om’ in aisle 7. I figure it is better than my getting edgy and irritable at the other shoppers for also being there. Practice at home some you start to feel the vibration, then, when you’re in aisle 7, you’ll be able to Om quietly – or even in your head! – and still feel the vibration!

Food

Food plays a very large roll in anxiety and depression. All food has positive & negative prana (life force energy – that which adds to your life, and that which takes away).

Very specifically, if I feel anxiety or depression creeping onto the scene, I may start with intermittent fasting. If you have experienced an eating disorder or have had bariatric surgery, consult your doctor. Intermittent fasting might not be right for you. This is a practice that you need to take slowly and with the understanding that there are no heroes in intermittent fasting; if you start to feel brain fog, weak, agitated, head aching and such, then it’s time to break-fast. There is so much information on the web on how to do this safely & with health as the goal rather than ego, so be sure to do your research before adding this practice to your arsenal. With that, however, fasting is a very powerful tool in reining in anxiety & depression. You can find that sweet spot, kinda like a ‘runners high’, or a deep meditation while fasting – where absolutely nothing can disturb your peace. But it does take time, patience and practice, just like anything else, on getting there. How you break your fast is just as important, as well. Always break with something small such as fruit or broth. Something that is easy on the tummy. Avoid heavy foods such as rice, nuts and grains, for several hours.

Then focus your calories over the next 72-hours to be mostly red, orange & yellow on the color spectrum. Greens are also very good, but not our primary focus. This is where you might find things get a little wacko-doodle. But that’s Ok. Color is energy – it’s light. I studied Color Theory as a photographer, and I love how Color Theory also applies to our bodies. We see energy as a certain color, and those colors are traveling at a certain speed – some faster than others. These color energies are at the same frequency of the energetic element of our bodies that govern everything, including the body’s responses of anxiety & depression.

My go-to meal, otherwise referred to as my ‘Happy Bowl’ is some sort of variation of this (I’ll add & remove items based on what I have and/or have access to, such as the edible flowers):

• quinoa as the base – though bulgar is also good
• mango – diced
• carrots – cut into thin strips
• cabbage – cut into thin strips
• red/orange/yellow bell pepper – use one, two or all three – cut into 1″ pieces
• edamame; shelled
• avocado – diced
• butternut or acorn squash or sweet potato – diced
• hemp seeds (omegas!)
• edible flowers! such as nasturtium, calendula or portulaca
• nuts (be mindful here – nuts are very hard to digest, you may want to omit these or not add them until the 2nd day if you elected to start with fasting)
• you can also add a hot pepper, such as jalapeño or habanero, if you’d like. If you’re agitated, omit anything spicy. If you’re more inclined towards depression, feel free to add the heat
• salt & pepper to taste
• apple cider vinaigrette (1 clove garlic – optional, again, omit all together if you’re agitated, OK if you’re more leaning towards depression / 1TBLS dijon mustard / 1/4 cup raw apple cider / 2 TBLS fresh lemon – or lime – juice / 1-2TBLS sweetener – I use stevia, but honey will also due if you don’t stick to a purely plant-based diet / 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil / salt & pepper to taste)

I use the quinoa as the base and then top with the other ingredients so that it looks pretty. Drizzle with the apple cider vinaigrette and then toss together when you’re ready to eat. If you chop enough ingredients, you can have this bowl for several days and it’s super easy to just toss together. This is one of my all-time favorite meals. Please leave me a comment if you try this and let me know what you think!

For the rest of your meals, keep them light; relying on things such as nuts and ancient grains, chia & hemp seeds to help you feel full but each meal should highlight those colors. Consider the color of the flesh compared to the color of the skin. For example, an apple that is bright red on the outside, but pale on the inside, will have less of the nutrients your body is needing. Though this is OK for red, a red bell pepper will be better as the entire flesh is vibrant red.

During this time, avoid or limit these negative panic items (if it makes you more anxious, then limit, do not avoid, but avoid if you feel good in doing so):

• alcohol, tobacco, drugs (not including prescription)
• fast food / heavily processed foods
• soda
• not getting exercise – even if something light exercise – or just showing up to a yoga mat and going into childs pose, try and move your body
• excessive caffeine
• lack of water
• habits you feel negatively impact you, such as staying up late, watching tv/movies that increase your level of fear, anxiety, anger and such, pay attention to your day and what might be contributing towards negative prana
• environments that increase your stress
• poor breathing
• lack of sleep

After the 72-hour focus on red, orange & yellow foods, see if you can continue limiting or avoiding the things that contribute towards negative prana.

Yogic Philosophy

Yoga, by its own nature, reduces stress, anxiety & depression. The very purpose of yoga is a tool to help us severe our attachment to our suffering. And if you’ve ever sat down to eat an entire container of Oreo’s, or maybe drank the full bottle of wine, you have a good idea on how what might seem to contribute to our happiness at the time, ultimately results in contributing to our suffering. This yo-yo cycle eventually catches up with us, and we become depleted and without resources for deep, long-lasting happiness.

The Yoga Sutras & Diamond Cutter Sutra give us some very clear tools that will help us manage this very specific time of unrest. These particular practices will also have a very positive impact on reducing our anxiety and depression responses, as well, as they all ultimately move us towards a more equanimous state of being. (some areas are direct paraphrases from ‘Inside the Yoga Sutras‘ by Reverend Jaganath Carrera and ‘The Diamond Cutter‘ by Geshe Michael Roach.)

The Locks & Keys:

Someone who is happy; respond with friendliness. We might think we naturally are friendly to everyone, but unfortunately this is not always the case. So tomorrow, if your guy loses, see if you can still find friendliness for your neighbor/family/friend who’s guy wins.

Someone who is unhappy; respond with compassion. We may, again, feel we are naturally compassionate, but as in our above attitude of friendliness, that is not always the case. Tomorrow, if your guy wins, try and find compassion for your neighbor/family/friend whose guy loses.

Someone who is virtuous; when someone embodies traits that bring benefit to others and harms no one, such as patience, courage and reliability, we should delight in his/her spiritual maturity. We can also use these virtues to help us navigate our own uncertainties. This is particularly useful when we see these traits is people who make us uncomfortable or whom we do not particularly like. Everyone has at least some virtues; are we perceptive enough to recognize any in our enemies?

Someone who is non-virtuous; we respond with equanimity. This is not the same as aloofness or praising non-virtuous, and especially harmful behavior. It is also not to state that we hold back entirely from correcting bad or dangerous behavior. Any corrections should be done with the intent being to not cause harm, and mindful if your actions will be received well, or will insight anger. But we are encouraged to rise above anger for ourselves and look inside for our ability to clearly perceive the nature of the non-virtuous act through close and unbiased examination. Forgiveness can also play a key role in this action.

Though I’ve addressed the lock & keys here specifically to offer focus for your mind during the upcoming days, these are all fantastic practices to continue with and will contribute to easing anxiety and depression overall.

From the Diamond Cutter, as we seem to be on a cultural, and even global, wave of arguing and not seeing eye-to-eye, we should all be very mindful to never engage in the kind of talk that has, either in its expressed or implicit aim, splitting up people. Whether the talk is true or untrue, make sure that your primary purpose in talking is that you are not causing two or more people to end up farther from each other than they were before you opened your mouth. Ensure the intent of your speech is to bring others together.

And lastly, focus on not speaking harshly. There are 2 types of harsh speaking: direct and indirect. Direct: words intended to be unpleasant and or harsh & Indirect: those spoken with sarcasm. Avoid both forms or rough talk consistently, over an extended period of time and observe yourself making these new, healthier choices.

You might not be treated the same way, but try and do these anyway.

Supplements

Again, if you’re on antidepressants or any other medications, consult with your doctor to ensure these supplements are safe for you to take. My go-to supplemental boost when I feel anxiety or depression starting to creep in is:

• Omega 3
• B12
• Magnesium

I might also reach for Valerian Root – especially if the issue is disrupting my sleep, and/or St. Johns Wort. Again, do your research, but these all support the body when its energy is becoming imbalanced.

Crystals

There are soooooo many crystals out there, but I find that a simple combination of amethyst, rose quartz & smoky quartz to be the perfect pairing to bringing me back to a space of wellness. Grab ones that are palm’ish in size (2-3″). Take a seat or lay down and hold the amethyst in your left hand, rose quartz in your right and the smoky quartz at the base of your feet. With this layout, you take in the wellness from the amethyst, send out love with the rose quartz, and drain all negativity through the feet to the smoky quartz, and ultimately to the Earth where that negative energy will be transmuted into a higher energy. Stay like this as long as you can – take a 10-min break or maybe you have longer, that’s good, too. You can also put the amethyst in your left pocket & rose quartz in your right for an added boost throughout the day. And sometimes, I’ll even sleep while holding the amethyst & rose quartz – I do not sleep with the smoky quartz, however, as it can be a bit too ‘jazzy’ and disrupt sleep.

I wish you all the best in navigating these next days. We would all benefit from remembering that the guy at the top is only a representation of all of us. In taking steps towards easing our own anxieties & depressions and living in a more balanced way, we benefit everyone. The greatest thing we can do to help our world, it to cultivate a self-care routine for ourselves so that we can better nourish the world.

Om, Shanti, Shanti, Shanti, Om (om, peace, peace, peace, om)

xoxo! Sarah (Geeta)