Cold Depression – The Silence of the Soul

0 (1s):
Welcome to the Soul Science Nutrition Podcast, where you’ll discover that when it comes to your health, you’re so much more powerful than you’ve been led to believe. And now your host, she’s a holistic nutrition and lifestyle coach, chef author, and Yogi, Christine Okezie.

Christine Okezie (23s):
Hello, and welcome to the Science Nutrition Podcast. I’m Christina Okezie nd welcome to 2021 and away we go. So on today’s special solo show, I wanted to talk about a particular health phenomena. That is a direct result of the unique time that we’re all living in. Now, the negative effects of chronic stress are well known and well-researched, but I want to share with you today about a condition that is distinctive called cold depression. Cold Depression is chronicled in the Kundalini yoga tradition as the single biggest challenge we face as we enter the Aquarian Dge.

Christine Okezie (1m 7s):
Now every person on planet earth has been and will be effected by this epic shift in the collective consciousness. The Aquarian age is a shift away from 2000 plus years of traditional hierarchical, oppressive power structures and moving ultimately towards a more open and truly equal and equitable world for everyone. But this transformation is not without its birth pains. As we all know that sometimes in order to start fresh, everything first needs to fall apart. And that’s what we’ve been witnessing certainly for the last few years. And wow, especially right now, as, just as I record this podcast, I would say that that energy is peaking right now.

Christine Okezie (1m 52s):
As we enter into 2021, nonetheless, in the Aquarian Age, everything is happening faster, ever accelerating. There’s this pervasive feeling that we need to do more and more and more justice survive. The Aquarian age is marked by information overload, 24, seven media, social media, text emails, multiple screen views, a constant stream of information flowing to us as a society. There’s this constant craving for more and more stimulation. We want things faster. We want things right now. And as we all know, as specially, so in this pandemic, we’re even more socially isolated we’re spread apart.

Christine Okezie (2m 36s):
Bottom line is that stress is unrelenting. And at unprecedented levels, it’s creating tremendous pressure on our nervous system Cold Depression, which be to be clear is different from clinical depression is a direct result of our struggle to navigate this epic time in our history. So what is Cold Depression at the core Cold Depression is a loss of genuine vitality because of this overload on our sensory system. We caught, we say it’s cold because it’s characterized by a feeling of numbness. In other words, to cope with the information overload and the chronic stress, we literally shut down.

Christine Okezie (3m 20s):
We become numb. We become insensitive. There’s a deep sense of disconnection from life and from ourselves, but we’re not even aware of this sort of non feeling state. Now people suffering from Cold Depression don’t appear depressed in the classic sense. In fact, they may appear active and engaged, but they’re living on external sources of energy to counter the emptiness, the numbness and the insensitivity. So to get energy, we have to get it from outside of ourselves. So there’s an overdependence on sugar, caffeine, drugs, high-risk behavior, throwing themselves into an overworking situation.

Christine Okezie (4m 4s):
Folks with Cold Depression tend to create a lot of drama or ongoing conflict in their lives. There is a compulsivity to media and social media in order to receive a constant source of stimulation. So despite the chronic busy-ness, there is a lack of fulfillment with Cold Depression. See there’s this prevailing sense of anxiety along with a loss of meaning in our lives at the root.Cold Depression is being disconnected from our soul. In other words, we no longer feel our spirit, our subtle nature.

Christine Okezie (4m 44s):
We get cut off from the innate wisdom of our genuine self, and we get cut off thus from our inner guidance system. Some other indicators that someone is suffering from cold depression would be a lack of self care, a struggle with, you know, good sleep or making time for relaxation or pleasure in their lives. They tend to always be in crisis mode. And a lot of this along with emotional reactivity stems, from an underlying anger and underlying anger that comes from believing that things should be different from what they are. They struggle with calm.

Christine Okezie (5m 25s):
They flee from stillness and any kind of quietness because when they come into stillness feelings of despair, oftentimes flood the surface. Now the consequences of Cold Depression, wreak havoc, obviously on the quality of our lives, because most significantly the insensitivity that’s associated with Cold Depression leads to a distorted perception of reality and interactions can become filled with conflict due to misperceived intentions and communication. The stimulated and exhausted nervous system leads to reacting from this state of fight or flight versus calmly responding to situations.

Christine Okezie (6m 10s):
So our decision-making becomes impaired and certainly interpersonal relationships become challenged because of communication and drama, this disconnection and loss of a sense of purpose leads to a very intense despair underneath the surface, which fuels anger and can ultimately fuel rage as well. From a physical standpoint Cold Depression can lead to actual clinical depression and certainly generalized anxiety, cold depression can lead to adrenal fatigue, a weakened immune system, blood sugar imbalances, brain fog, compulsive behaviors he see called depression is what underlies the compulsive and stress-based illness.

Christine Okezie (7m 2s):
And it’s the barrier to our health and wellbeing. As we try to integrate into these changing times. Now, as you listen to this podcast, I’m sure some of this resonates with you because the reality is that this is a sign of our times. And to be honest with you, we all suffer from varying degrees of Cold Depression these days, right? We it’s just part of our human experience right now. In fact, you could argue that cold depression can actually feel worse than regular depression because you feel low, you feel heavy and depressed, but you don’t understand why because Wolf things seem to be moving, right.

Christine Okezie (7m 43s):
You’re able to get up and go and get things done. So what are the key elements to overcome cold depression while at the heart of it, we need to strengthen our nervous system. We need to find ways to recalibrate our mind, our body, our psyche, and restore that deep connection to our authentic self. Back to our soul. We need to tap into the realization of our innate value. And we can only do this by developing our intuitive mind. In other words, the meditative function of the psyche, which is allowing us to have the ability to stay mentally clear and emotionally intelligent because our intuitive mind is what discerns, what is true and real.

Christine Okezie (8m 31s):
And it’s what gives us our ability to reconnect with that inner guidance system. So in other words, we need to find a way to loosen the grip of the rational mind. How do we do that? Well, we do this by connecting to something much more powerful, much more intelligent. You see our individual human psyche is finite and it can’t deal with all the problems. Ultimately, we must learn to connect psyche to something more infinite, an infinite consciousness, a deeper understanding and experience of the wisdom of life. And we need to find a release valve. Quite honestly, we need to find a release valve for our nervous system. That’s going to give us a net vitality instead of a net depletion.

Christine Okezie (9m 16s):
Now Kundalini yoga and meditation are the most powerful tools that I have found, but of course, everyone has mine find their own pathway and collect the tools in their own toolbox. But for the purposes of my recommendation, this is why a mind, body practice like Kundalini yoga is really powerful because it uses the different parts of the body to change the psyche, to tune into a better flow of life. It works on our physiology, our psychology and our spirituality, right? So it’s kind of a very comprehensive toolkit to address cold depression out of all the traditional systems of yoga Kundalini, yoga contends to be the most comprehensive to that regard.

Christine Okezie (10m 4s):
It includes physical postures, the use of breath work, or conscious breathing, known as, pranayama, meditation, and mental focus, and the use of mantra. And all of these are put together in specific kriyas or sets that are designed to have a very specific effect on the nervous system. And with regard to call depression, we use the system of Kundalini, yoga and meditation to give the person a feeling of calmness with energy. And the goal of Kundalini yoga essentially is to help the person rebuild their life force, rebuild their Prana so that we can have that feeling of running on energy from genuine life force energy, rather than constant external stimulation or adrenaline.

Christine Okezie (10m 55s):
A huge component of recovering from Cold Depressionis using these tools to regulate the natural rhythm in our body, right? The dysregulation that happens from an unhealthy lifestyle or living in constant stress, the rhythm of the mantra, which is the sound current that we use through chanting and kriya, the physical postures and the breath work helps restore the natural rhythm of the body. In fact, mantra, and the meditation changes the frequency of the brain and impacts those stress hormones. So we use the breath work to build the prana, increase the energy circulation, release, unprocessed emotions, release those stress patterns in the body and the mind and restore our magnetic field.

Christine Okezie (11m 43s):
The kriyas work directly on our endocrine system that’s been aversely affected by the prolonged stress. So the central approach is to build the Prana reestablish that rhythmic balance in the body and restore that feeling connected to our genuine self, our infinite nature, connected to a wisdom deep within ourselves, plugging into that inner awareness, that intuitive non-thinking part of our being. We literally attune the body to a different frequency that has deep love our true nature and compassion for ourselves as well as for others.

Christine Okezie (12m 26s):
Now, I think it goes without saying that when it comes to Cold Depression, when it comes to nutritional guidance and intervention, there is going to be, you know, what is most effective is going to be based on the individual, you know, what is going to work best for their body in supportive their healing? So clearly, you know, there are some things that we can all benefit from to address what’s going on with the cold depression symptoms. And of course that begins with eating whole, you know, nutrient dense eliminate as much as possible process foods, anything that essentially adds stress to the body stress to the system.

Christine Okezie (13m 11s):
So obviously that would be artificial sweeteners, processed foods, you know, white flour foods, things with a lot of chemical preservatives. And it’s also important to, you know, recognize, you know, how much we need to cut back or even eliminate, you know, certain stimulating foods, including sugar and caffeine and alcohol, restorative sleep improving the quality of our sleep is absolutely essential as well when it comes to overcoming cold depression, especially because of the lifestyle choices associated with cold depression.

Christine Okezie (13m 52s):
You know, the stress of the adrenals is a huge part. So less sleep means, you know, more stress, more taxing of the adrenals during the day, creating new habits around rest and relaxation and sleep will help the body readjust. And repattern the stress response. As you know, I am feeling very passionate about highlighting the need to focus on what really serves us during this rapidly changing time, this historical, you know, epic period of transition that we’re in. And that comes down to really what I call mastering our mind.

Christine Okezie (14m 38s):
Every thought that we have is extremely powerful and it affects our emotions and our sense of self and our behaviors. So the more that we can find the tools like meditation and mindfulness and yoga, anything that gets us out of our busy thinking mind and drops us into, into our body. This is where we can really tune into a sense of self and reconnect to our essential nature. Because what I found is that if our mind does not get the contentment and the sweetness from an internal condition within ourselves, then our body will seek it somewhere outside, hence the food and the alcohol and the overworking.

Christine Okezie (15m 33s):
And quite frankly, no amount of good intention will help the matter. I believe that people heal when they experience the perfection that they really truly are. And this experience only comes from the intuitive mind. The intuitive mind is also essential for overcoming Cold Depression and integrating the changes of this time because it’s what gives us the skillfulness to navigate the pain and the uncertainty with wisdom. So if this has piqued your interest and perhaps some aspects of Cold Depression are resonating with you and coming into your awareness, I want to tell you about a program that is coming up in the next couple of weeks, a brand new program called find calm and restore a vitality therapeutic yoga for balancing hormones.

Christine Okezie (16m 35s):
I’ve designed this program to be the mid pandemic course correction that’s been designed to help you thrive and feel more joy as we go into 2021. So if you want to experience the benefits, the therapeutic benefits of Kundalini yoga in a supportive group setting along with some beautiful discussions and self inquiry and journaling, as well as some helpful nutrition guidance. I hope you’ll join me. The link will be in the show notes. The link is also in my website, which is www.energeticnourishment.com.

Christine Okezie (17m 15s):
This special group experience is designed to support the health of our heart, our lungs, our thyroid, our adrenals, and our digestive system, all of which are really critical for having a strong metabolism and a healthy immune system these days. So by the way, even if you have never done yoga or meditation, this class is still offering so many benefits to you. If you’re not able to sit on the floor for extended periods of time, pretty much all the seated exercise can be done in a chair. So don’t let that scare you off. And you also don’t need any fancy yoga clothes or special equipment either.

Christine Okezie (17m 56s):
And once again, the a course is for seven weeks, it starts on January 20th. It meets every Wednesday, and there are daytime and evening sessions available that you can sign up for as well. So I hope you’ll join me cause I know we’re all gonna need a lot more than adrenaline and willpower to fuel our resolve and stay out of this funk. As we navigate the new evolving normal of 2021. So here’s to a whole new level of taking care of ourselves, where we need it the most. Thank you again for listening. I hope you enjoyed the show and if you would like to leave a review or a rating, I would be grateful.

Christine Okezie (18m 37s):
And if you haven’t already please hit that subscribe button so that you don’t miss the next episode. I’ve got some exciting guests lined up in the next few weeks. I hope you’ll join me in the meantime. Take good care. Bye for now.