On Saturday my good pal, Pam, and I sat at The Coffee Bean solving the world’s problems. We got around to discussing depression, a subject with which we both share up-close-and-personal experience. Looking back, we could see we came by it naturally. We remember sad family members. My Dad’s side of the family went beyond sad to mental illness. Even today, my Aunt Alice is a well-known crazy lady of Whittier, CA, regularly getting thrown out of local establishments. She can go from sweetness to rage in the blink of an eye. As a child, I perfected a mean imitation of chain-smoking Alice sucking on a cigarette, smiling saying, “Hi honey” and then going “off.” Just part a regular family gathering.

I was an early crier. My parents wondered what they had done to have a child who would hide under a table and  just weep for a while. Then my mood would shift and I’d be over it. The ups and downs were my “normal.” You learn to cope. You wake up in the morning and take your emotional temperature. Am I happy? Am I sad? How do I get from sad to happy?

 I used to have “bottom of the well days.” I imagined myself down in a damp hole, trying to climb up slimy walls toward the light. Indeed, I was “low.” What to do? Grit your teeth and wrestle it? (Pam referred to fighting the Black Dog. ) Try to give yourself a hearty pep talk? Or worse, think of people less fortunate than you. I can tell you THAT only makes you sink lower.

My studies over the past thirty years have led me to see the relationship between energy frequency and depression. We all have measurable energy frequencies. A healthy human is generally between 62-78 Hz. I discovered that if would consciously raise my physical frequency level, I would raise my mood. The greatest break-through came for me in 2005 when I had my first energy healing treatment. The lifting of my entire auric field to a higher vibration was like grabbing a rope to be lifted out of the well. Here are some of the frequency elevating tools I have discovered:

• Reiki or other energy healing techniques.  Multiple sessions will ultimately raise your frequency set point to a healthy level. Of course, you’ll also probably work through a lot of other issues in the process.
• Meditation and prayer. Learn to open yourself to the ever-flowing energy streams. You will encounter Spirit, develop intuition, and become permanently plugged into a higher energy
• Eat live food. Energy begets energy. Fruits and vegetables will feed your body and raise your emotions. Drink lots of water. Caffeine, alcohol, and drugs will keep you on a seesaw of ups and downs.
• Exercise. Only 30% of Americans exercise 30 minutes 5 days a week, but use of antidepressant drugs has risen 400% in the last twenty years. This is crazy! Go for a walk and dump the drugs.
• Get back to nature. The energies of the earth, water, and sky are extremely healing. Digging in the dirt to plant a flower is one of the most energy-raising activities I know. We have a city park in my town with a “lake,” by California standards anyway. I can walk around it in about seven minutes. In the years I was taking care of my stroke-affected Dad, that walk around the water was my saving grace. No matter how low I felt, the water, wind and those crazy geese always lifted my spirits.
• Music. The vibrations of music literally rock your body. Find the tunes that lift you and keep them coming. 
• Essential oils. These are the life blood of plants and have measurable frequencies of 52-320 Hz. Young Living Essential Oil sells a blend named Joy, which includes rose oil, the highest frequency oil. And doesn’t smelling a rose always lift your spirits? It only makes sense that applying something to your body with high energy will elevate your energy field.
• Sufficient sleep. Last, but certainly not least. Getting enough sleep is probably the best mood elevator known to man. Make getting a good night’s sleep a top priority. As the Good Book says, “Weeping may tarry in the night, but joy comes in the morning.” Psalm 30:5

I am happy to report that I have climbed completely out of the Well of Depression. Oh, I’m not skipping around, singing Mary Poppin tunes, but I am functioning at a much higher level.

Most days, praise God, I am happy.

Blessings–

Dana Taylor