Heal Thy Mind

How are we to understand that in today's modern world, at the Pinnacle of medical ingenuity and sophistication, we are seeing more and more mental illnesses, afflictions and addictions. These mental afflictions are to a large extent a function and a consequence of our living conditions and environment. Today we are living in a social culture which is hostile & toxic. Toxic - because of the immense pressure it builds on our minds, the stress & anxiety it causes - intense competition, consumerism, spread of negativity, distrust, polarization, all have necessarily become new norm and is pervading every aspect of our life. I see it as the most important and consequential health concern of our time given by the effects of burgeoning chronic stress that is undermining our emotional wellbeing in the most serious ways. 

Today, we find that mental health issues like Anxiety, Depression, Bipolar disease, Alzheimer’s, Brain fog, Chronic fatigue syndrome, Memory loss, ADD, ADHD, Parkinson's, OCD etc have become the new normal. But is it really the normal way of life? The answer is a big ‘NO’.

We can learn to live free of stress & anxiety. We can cultivate, nurture and develop the art – the art of being peaceful and equanimous even in the presence of provocations, challenges and stirred up emotions. It is possible to rewire your brain through neurogenesis & neuroplasticity, substituting your subconscious programming, substituting negative, self-sabotaging & self-limiting beliefs & perceptions with positive, forward-looking programs. It's possible to correct chemical imbalances and neural pathways in the brain by the right nutrition, lifestyle strategies, mindfulness, meditation, hypnosis and guided imagery.

Moreover, a good mental health diet is crucial for anybody dealing with these disorders to reverse chronic signs and symptoms. Correct mental health diet not only helps fuel the brain and make you feel better but is also important for the functioning of most systems of the body.

Brain disorders do not always show up as chronic depression, dementia, Alzheimer’s, or ADD but mostly they start as less than optimally working brains and show up like:

• Poor or lack of sleep
• Groggy or always tired feeling
• Lack of attention & concentration spans
• Dependency on caffeine to keep going
• Dependency on alcohol for calming effects
• Mood swings and low energy levels
• Incessant mental chatter
• Poor memory
• Brain-fog & inability to comprehend & be focussed
• Addictions or eating disorders like bulimia or binge eating
• Anger & irritability issues
• Behavioural problems
• Anxiety

If you have any of the above symptoms, you need help to restore your brain health. The brain is the most powerful and crucial organ of the human body as it governs almost all critical functions of our body.

The conventional healthcare just uses medications like antidepressants, stimulants, antipsychotics, and memory medications to treat brain disorders. These medications cause a lot of side effects - sexual dysfunction, fatigue, insomnia, loss of mental abilities, nausea, and weight gain. But do we really need these medications? The real question to ask is ‘what caused those chemicals to be out of balance’ and how can we reverse them to their natural state of balance? 

Brain health depends on everything that we eat, feel and think. By introducing correct diet & nutrition, exercise, sleep, removal of environmental toxins, stressors of daily life, meditation & breathing techniques, we can influence our microbiome and in turn our brain health.