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The one question I often face as a spiritualist is, how does one find inner peace in a world full of chaos that is impossible to escape? Our minds are never at ease nor does our fears that constantly tug at our hearts, that lead us down the winding path of worry. It’s no surprise that as we hope we are strong enough to face the world and it’s many turmoil’s that are perpetually testing our patience, resistance and temperament, is never at moments rest. We find time to unwind, sleep and even divert ourselves from all that destroys our inner peace, but do we really know the art of putting our minds at ease?

Are you really stressing yourselves out of serenity to a point of no control? What is it that makes us so attached to our fears of the unknown and worries that don’t necessarily exist in our current timeline? This is Samsara, no one said it was going to be easy to pass through it, but the secret of how to take control of every adversity and how to find balance within it all, does exist. That’s what we are here to learn, in this lifetime, at this very moment, when your soul seeks a moment of solace, your inner voice will guide you through it and all you need to do is, close your eyes, turn away from the dimensional illusions and listen.

The noxious sting of Stress

Stress has it’s many tentacles lurking around us, whether it’s physical or mental, the imbalance it creates disrupts our ability to wade through everyday hurdles leaving us forlorn and in most cases many of us succumb to the sinister clutches of depression. We are constantly overworking our minds over matters we can’t control, can’t foresee or wish we could achieve. Our behavioural disorders that are triggered by stress does affect our health, vitality, relationships and compromises our bodies to heart diseases and high blood pressure. What is stress exactly? What kinds of stress are there? Is it possible to control stress through holistic healing? How does it manifest within us when you really don’t wish it to be there in the first place?

They are three types of stress, Acute Stress, Chronic Stress and Episodic acute stress. Within these types they affect us individually in the form of Physical Stress, Mental and Emotional Stress and Post Traumatic Stress.

Acute Stress / Stress Response

Stress affects us all, it is how your body responds to any emotional threat or physical and mental exertion. At any moment where your minds senses danger, emotional pain or mental confusions the immediate reaction of our bodies defences system, self-manifests, stress. Which means, when we are prepared for the unexpected or are face with an immediate adversity whether emotional of physical, mentally we do not wish to accept the obvious and start to self-manifest an emotion called stress that lingers for as long as you allow it to. The truth of the matter is we never let ourselves to let go of that worry long after the situation that has caused it, no longer exist.

Stress response however, is an action where fear immediately makes you protect yourself, this immediate reflex action, is the way you stay more alert and focused in an emergency situation. Imagine yourself driving and due to an unforeseen incident, cars brakes in front of you, the fear you face works in micro seconds and relates a message to your mind to alert yourself from disaster and you slam your brakes. This happens because your nervous system responds by releasing stress hormones including adrenaline and cortisol, which alerts the body of an emergency situation, your heart beats faster, muscles tightens, breath hastens and blood pressure rises provoking your senses to sharpen.

Due to these physical reactions your strength, stamina and reaction time increases, which enables you to fight or protect yourself from danger. This being the most important form of training for warriors and soldiers around the world, where dealing with adversities gives them immense power to fight back and save themselves. Acute Stress or Stress Response, works in your favour and is your bodies way of always protecting you and also makes you stronger to face challenges that suddenly arise in your life.

Chronic Stress

When Acute stress isn’t properly treated or it continues for longer periods of time it does develop into Chronic stress. Chronic Stress is mostly triggered through a continuum of anxiety that is perpetual due to the way we sometimes cannot control the way we live. A troublesome marriage, dysfunctional family, unstable financial situation or an unsatisfactory job causes one to suffer from Chronic Stress.

When you heart and mind battle the reality of your pain, consequences it has on your health and well being becomes very alarming, if not controlled in time it can lead to heart and lung diseases, cancer, cirrhosis of the liver, accidents and even suicide. Known to also be the trigger for more serious mental illnesses like Bipolar Disorder or being a manic depressive the sudden mood change harms our energy level and ability to be clear in our thoughts and actions. This being the most sinister of stress types, as it slowly poisons your well being into an obscure state of mind that works against your inner sanctum gradually destroying you.

Episodic Acute Stress

People who are ill tempered, irritable and anxious and also labelled as pessimistic are known to suffer from Episodic Acute Stress. Finding it impossible to revamp their lifestyles to a more positive state of mind puts them in a quandary for those who suffer with this type of stress that directly effects their health. Learning to stay mental and emotionally balanced is imperative to tackle this.

Emotional and Mental Stress, Physical Stress and Port Traumatic Stress Disorder, all you need to know.

Emotional Stress: Manifests itself in us when we lose the ability to cope with an adversity that distresses us emotionally, whether it may be a quarrel with a loved one, betrayal, uncertainty of one’s emotions or death. Anger, sadness, depression and anxiety are the main triggers for this kind of stress, which reflects upon on our eating habits, sleeping patterns and the urge to find a moment of peace with placebos such as alcohol and drugs. We constantly ponder over issues that we no longer have a control over and our mind loose the ability to find logic from within.

Mental Stress or Psychological Stress: Is when one feels mental pressure and strain, be at the workplace or home. Getting de-motivated, demoralised, and mentally pressured affects the performance to one best ability causing human errors to occur in their lives. Being threatened, blackmailed or even demeaned about one’s ability to cope with a situation leads to a complete imbalance of the mind and heart making it practically impossible to perform any task properly. The reaction to being mentally stressed out makes our body vulnerable to illnesses such as heart attacks, ulcers, strokes, and depression.

Physical Stress: As we know stress affects all aspects of our lives, our emotions, our ability to think logically and also physically straining us. The body like the mind and the heart does react to stress in its own way, by showing symptoms such as, chest pain, high blood pressures, headaches, hair loss, insomnia, low energy levels, loss of sexual desire and cold sweats is just to name a few. Any kind of stress you are dealing with will directly affect your health physically, mentally or emotionally when one finds it hard to deal with it. Substance abuse, eating disorders, anxiety attacks, sex addiction, uncontrollable anger, depression and numerous health issues are synonymous with stress. Making this the most toxic disease that we all face.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PSTD): Occurs when a person is exposed to a sudden traumatic event, such as sexual assault, accidents, death, warfare or any life-threatening situations. What emerges out of this is a constant reminder of the unforeseen event through dreams, feelings and thoughts. The stigma it creates within the mind, makes the person avoid the trauma related alternations. The symptoms last around a month after the event has occurred however this can put the person of risk for self-harm and suicide.

Stress management, doing what comforts you

The hierarchy from the onset of any stress type, propels into a very unpleasant stream of mental, physical and emotional abuse our bodies have and will face. The times we live in constantly puts us on the spotlight wherein if we are not our competitive best, we lose. Sadly, no one stops to think or feel, we supress, hide, switch off and submerge further into our many ordeals, and not dealing with them as we all know poisons our body and mind. The placebo effect comes into action as we see it to be the best option in tackling our inner most apprehensions and anxieties.

The reality is most of us don’t seek help as it makes us believe it’s a sign of weakness, our ego’s do get the best of us when we refuse to reach out for help when we need it the most. The reason we do this is, definitely not because of arrogance, but a deeper reason of becoming dependent on that particular source we seek help from and if one day that we don’t find that comfort, we crumble. The heart and mind are at a perpetual battle to find a sense of logic and truth amongst it all. We need to comprehend our own fears and strengths before discarding any efforts we might make towards seeking help.

The fact remains, stress affects us all very differently and we learn to deal with it just as differently, keeping in my mind that we know, what helps us go into our secret comfort zone whenever we choose. Obviously when people around us see us struggle they reach out hoping their ways of tackling their own anguish would be the perfect way to help us.

The most important aspect of Stress Management is to first know and relate to what suits you best, though some of us need that little nudge from someone special, some seek solace in their solitude, while the rest just go back and forth in confusion and uncertainty trying to make sense of their next step in just accepting their predicaments.

Identifying the right stress management system that benefits you is imperative and to do that one must and always accept the one integral rule and that is, seeking help doesn’t show weakness, but strength and strong character. Speaking to a close friend, a therapist or just switching off from the illusions around you does and will help. Pay attention to your emotional and mental reflex action during stressful times, be in control on your body and mind. Eat healthy, get enough sleep, exercise, say no to placebos, be social by being around positive people helps us deal better with our issues and always remember give yourself a break you’re only human and it’s ok to turn away from it all for a moments peace. Not everyone can go on vacations when life gets out of control, but you can find your happy place and go there, do what relaxes your body and mind and allows you to think more logically and clearly and revives you to get back on your feet and face any adversity smiling right back at it with full confidence and inner peace.

Anti- Depressants, facts your Doctor won’t tell you

Are Anti-depressants a good option to deal with stress? This has been quite a debatable question. What are anti-depressants? Who really benefits from them the most? Do you really need them when you can’t grip over your emotions? Or If I am taking them, does that mean I am mentally ill?

Before I elaborate on these frequently asked questions let me remind you one simple but factual thing, if you are reading this article and have asked yourself these questions in the past or present let me assure you that you are Not Bonkers! Many a times while at the doctors, we are given medication that we don’t really look into as we are being assured it would make us feel better and when we start feeling more in control, we brazenly take advantage of the fact, that we accept that there was no other way to deal with the turmoil’s our way your heart and mind were battling against. But in reality, this is only a way to avoid the obvious and evade yourself from the truth of what you need to do and that is to rebuild yourself up strong and powerful in your actions, thoughts and emotions. That’s why we humans face afflictions anyway, they are meant to strengthen our spirit not weaken it, ignoring this only make you succumb more and more into obscurity.

Anti-depressants are psychiatric medications used to treat patients with depressive disorders as it alleviates symptoms, they work like mood suppressants, they help in returning the stressful mood back into a normal state artificially.

They promote the action of monoamine oxidise, a brain enzyme that helps break down neurotransmitters like serotonin. Serotonin, found in the gastrointestinal tract, blood platelets and the CNS (central nervous systems) of humans and animals is the known to the main contributors to the feeling of well being and happiness. Anti-depressants are primarily anti-anxiety medication used to treat many conditions including depression and anxiety in the long run they aren’t the solution if you are not suffering from any major clinical mental illness where no alternative medicine would help.

I personally would not recommend them as they don’t allow you to be affirmative in dealing with your issues that you aren’t strong enough to handle at that moment of time.

So, though it is believed that people should learn to deal with their anxieties and depression naturally , doctors debate the point by suggesting that we need help to regulate emotional problems though medication, the fact remains is if you don’t suffer from a major mental illness like, schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Obsessive- Compulsive disorder (OCD), Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa to name a few, then your doctor urging you to take them just to help you relax and be more assertive is just as ridiculous as thinking it’s actually a good idea.

Now, here is the part where it starts to all make sense of why I am totally against Anti-depressants when you really not mentally ill but just going through life’s major ups and downs. It has been proven that any medication that involves serotonin regulation is potentially set to cause Serotonin toxicity, which mean excess of serotonin can induce mania, restlessness, agitation, insomnia and emotional lability. Monoamine oxidise inhibitors or Anti-depressants have serious side effects such as, seizures, edema, weight loss and gain, sexual dysfunction, diarrhoea, nausea, insomnia, drowsiness, fainting spells, postural hypotension and hypertension just to name a few. The doctor would at times mention these symptoms as a general information one might receive at the time of when the dosage is prescribed, but what he would fail to tell you is the seriousness of using Serotonin regulators.

My advice to you is, next time you feel you are being lured into taking anti-depressants by your doctor because medically for them it’s the appropriate thing to do, stop and question yourself, do you really need them when alternate therapies and healing techniques can help you better.

Sadly, I have noticed that people have lost the ability through the years, to deal with their emotions as our ancestors did. Were they stronger than us especially when we hear heroic stories of their life’s struggle and we come nowhere near to dealing with adversities they faced in our time. The struggle for being financially stable, have a happy home and loving family and friends remains on all of our list of having a balanced life.

But did our ancestors really know the art of staying balanced through the madness of life unlike us? Or has progressing socially and hedonistically enslave us to the illusion of a competitive life to such extremes that we have decided to forget to find inner peace as long we make it through the day unscathed and undefeated? Has Hedonism really manipulated us into to turning away from all that’s natural and pure? Is there a truly a better way to find your inner peace without stimulants and placebos? Is it really possible to swoon back to serenity?

It might surprise you to know that although we might think that we are way to rigid or powerless in our ability to focus through troubled times, its actually when you are at your emotional and vulnerable peak is when you find inner strength to move towards finding your moment of solace. Breaking through the barriers within your mind that restricts you to try something new apart from the obvious remedies is the key. Allowing yourself to let go of your inhibitions about doubting your own inner strength is what mediation will do for you.

It takes you on a journey to a very unknown realm your soul has been long craving to be in. Imagine yourself in the most crowded chaotic place you can find, then imagine everything around you loud and incoherent, then try to find one second of silence within it all. Seems impossible doesn’t it, well actually the secret is you cannot escape the chaos by acknowledging it, when you learn to realise that it’s all impermanent, illusionary and self-manifested it becomes much easier to switch off from it. There was a time when I myself couldn’t drive without smoking, I’d sit in the car first light up and then start the engine, the more traffic I faced the more I smoked to calm down my nerves.

Placebos were never a solution their addictive qualities succumb our consciousness to rise and weaken us to a point where we don’t see any logic in a little bit of perseverance to finding an alternative path that is truly reviving and healing for us. Not everyone can go on a spiritual path and switch from the third dimension like I did, but yes everyone can find their Eden and reach it while engulfed in a turbulent lifestyle. All you need to know and be aware are the fact that two realities exist. One the conventional, all that is immediate, logical and seen, the other is the Ultimate reality, that allows you to detach from all that’s unreal, impermanent, illusionary and self-created. Once you master the art of grasping the power and ability to reach beyond and perceive reality with your soul, that’s when you start to realise that all that had overpowered you to fail and doubt never really existed at all.

Part Two: Swoon back to Serenity! How mysticism can save your life!