Winter blues, sadness or simply the feeling of cabin fever starts to creep in this time of year for many people.
There are some very effective ways to beat the blues including light therapy (real sunlight even on a cloudy day or a happy light), increasing your exercise, eating right, and herbal remedies. Tapping will also clear the root of the problem since we know that the feeling is merely a symptom of a bigger issue.
Looks like science is looking at moods in a way that makes complete sense to me especially after all my experience with clients who suffered from them. Several studies have shown that people in the midst of a bout of depression actually have greater complex problem solving skills. Other research suggests that one effective treatment includes ruminating on one’s problems. It’s also been shown that those people that distract themselves, evade the problem, or medicate themselves through drugs (legal or otherwise)and/or alcohol end up with longer episodes of sadness or depression.
The first thing I like to ask my clients who say the are blue this time of year to do is to change how they feel first about these conditions. EFT changes this rather quickly. Secondly, I ask them to imagine depression as a gift. If there is one area in your life that doesn’t work what would that be? Deep sadness then can be seen as a spotlight that allows you the time and energy to determine what needs your attention and analysis. Social dilemmas or conscious conflicts are some of the most challenging problems to solve in one’s life and using EFT aids in coming up with solutions.
Take for example a man who has a wife whom he loves but who is an alcoholic. She is also happens to be the mother of their young child. He has tried everything to get her to clean up. She has gone through recovery programs and yet she finds it impossible to remain sober. His sadness then forced him to seek help for himself. Through the use of EFT he was able to tease apart a spiderweb of issues, problems, and guilt he was feeling that were at the core of his sad state of mind.
The same can be said of winter blues. One factor may include anniversary disturbance which is the subconscious or conscious associations you make at an anniversary of a disturbing event(s). Many people have negative associations with the holidays and they could be simply feeling the dark undercurrents of painful unresolved memories in mid winter. Another factor is that we are indoors during the grey cold days and we are in forced confinement with members of our families who really know how to push our buttons!
With baby blues the core issues can be related to a less than ideal birth, unprocessed emotional scar tissue from own mothers, feelings of not being supported by our partner, etc. Anything that related to the birth, pregnancy, or your baby that didn’t meet your expectations can lead to the baby blues.
Luckily all of these feelings are effectively resolved with EFT. One note of clarification however must be mentioned. I believe strongly that EFT practitioners can work beautifully alongside traditional counselors and therapists in this area.
