Finding The Centre of Self, Seasonal Depression and Anxiety

Over the past few winter months, I've observed more individuals in practice grappling with a combination of crippling anxiety and depression.

I have learnt to appreciate these symptoms as a profound process of the soul, intricately tied to the body’s physiology and its healing rhythms, interrelated with life’s impressions and the rhythm of the year—particularly as we transition into the longer winter months.

These symptoms reveal part of an integration and digestion process, where the body’s wisdom rhythmically steers our soul consciousness, guiding us inward.

This process pulling us inwards, offers us an opportunity to reconnect with our centre and inner compass.

We can either resist this, trying to continue as we have before, or we can gather the courage to let go and follow our body inwards.

The physiology of the seasons

As the days shorten and we receive less sunlight, the body begins to prepare for a time of reduced external activity. Physically and mentally, we have less energy to expend. This shift is reflected in our physiology as the adrenals naturally “hibernate,” prompting us to sleep more, retreat inward, and seek warmth. We see this in the reduced secretion of adrenal hormones, along with decreased serotonin and increased melatonin production.

Effects on consciousness

With less energy to engage with the outer world, our bodies naturally guide us toward introspection, allowing us to process and digest the events of the year as it draws to a close. However, it’s not always possible to go inward. Sometimes, external demands remain unchanged despite the season, or we may have experienced a traumatic year that makes reflection difficult. In such cases, we struggle, swimming upstream against the natural flow of the season and our own inner physiology.

Going against the Flow

What happens when we resist the natural rhythm of the body and the year? When we push through the demands of the external world, we engage the adrenals, waking them from their autumnal/winter slumber.

Once activated from this state, the adrenals function in an erratic rhythm, causing cortisol levels to spike and dip throughout the day. This fluctuating adrenal activity also impacts serotonin production, leading to further rhythmical instability.

Over time, the adrenals may crash, significantly reducing cortisol levels, which in turn lowers serotonin. This can leave the brain and nervous system subdued, with a feeling of extreme fatigue.

The soul's response to this is often intense anxiety, as we feel unable to meet life’s demands.

When the adrenal glands reach this state hyperactivity, they are in a mode of survival. Survival mode adrenals effect the way we think, filling the thoughts with negativity and dangerous hypothetical scenarios, additionally survival mode adrenals change our outlook on the world; the world becomes a dangerous place in which we have to survive. In this case sleep almost becomes impossible, as the adrenals hold on to the waking state, looking out for threats or planning for danger in the near future.

This creates a vicious cycle of emotional turmoil, as the body and mind lose their equilibrium. Additionally, immune function becomes compromised, which may result in not feeling ill despite the bodies state of extreme physiologic arrhythmia.

Letting go and going inwards

When catastrophising takes hold, the only option is to turn inward. Trying to maintain control over everything only deepens the struggle. Letting go of this external fight allows the adrenals to relax. Sleep improves, and a deep sense of tiredness and heaviness sets in. This signals the body’s initiation of integration and digestion, which occurs on both a physiological and conscious level.

The body begins to physically release accumulated patterns from the year, which require processing. The liver becomes heavily engaged in this task, creating a sense of sluggishness, much like the tiredness felt after a large meal. The individual may feel cut off from the world, unable to absorb anything new as they focus on internal processing.

At times, this process feels overwhelming, and the person may attempt to return to the previous cycle in an effort to regain energy. However, this risks reigniting the adrenal survival state, perpetuating the cycle.

Introducing medications, such as serotonin selective re-uptake inhibitors, during this stage can mask the physiological reality, tricking the brain into a false alertness. This disconnection from the body’s rhythms makes the situation even more complex.

This cycle is not only experienced by the individual but also their loved ones, who may feel helpless and frustrated by their attempts to offer help.

The journey of healing is ultimately one that the individual must undertake alone, to reconnect with themselves, digest, and find their centre and inner compass. Only from this true centre can they begin to break free and move forward. Facing this inward journey is essential, but it can be terrifying, much like trying to find the calm at the centre of a storm, surrounded by chaos.

Guiding and navigating through the bodies wisdom

How can we navigate this process without medication? What hands-on approaches can help guide the healing? The first step in treatment is to help the adrenals release the survival mode they’ve been stuck in. This can be accomplished with a simple, hands-on approach. Once the adrenals are no longer in survival state, a deep sense of release and calm follows. The stress hormones produced by the adrenals suppress the immune system, so once this state is alleviated, the immune system is able to reawaken and begin integrating the body again.

The immune system helps break down old patterns in the fascia, recycles old cells through apoptosis, and prepares the body for detoxification via the mucous membranes. This process involves fever and the subsequent elimination through these membranes. The liver becomes burdened with the task of sorting and detoxifying the body, leading to a feeling of heaviness—similar to the fatigue experienced after a hangover.

This heaviness, combined with the lack of adrenal energy, can lead to a depressive state, polarising the previous anxiety. The pull to return to the anxious state can be strong during this time.

As the liver processes and integrates these patterns, the individual can consciously work through them. This is where the digestion and integration of the year takes place.

Finding the centre

As we process, digest, and integrate these patterns physiologically and emotionally, we shed the layers that have disconnected us from our centre.

Only the individuals own centre can act as a personal life compass.

This is the true meaning and journey of both anxiety and depression during these darkest months. We must learn to trust in the body’s healing, integrating, and evolutionary abilities as we navigate the challenging path of digestion and integration; momentarily breaking away from the world to find our true self and inner compass.