This is rather a lengthy blog, so please bear with me, for I think it is an important topic at this time of the year.

Just about now many people start to feel really weighed down by the emotional vacuum that they feel. I hear from friends and associates that they are feeling “blue”, sad, lack energy, not feeling “in the mood” for the Holidays, and so on. You know the feeling because either you or someone you know is feeling them.

There are reasons for these kinds of feelings and it is time we acknowledge them and understand them. There is no reason to deny them, or to completely succumb to them, nor try to drown them out by frivolity and drinking and partying. I suggest that a sense of proportion and logic may help you understand them and deal with them and even learn considerable life lessons from them.

Consider the following:

• You may be feeling down and “blue” because it is cold, there is no sun, the nights are long and the days are short. You are not getting any prana from the Sun, so your energy level is way down lower than normal. (See below for a definition of prana and pranic triangle.)
• You may be eating too much, too many sweets, not getting enough exercise, so your receptivity to pranic energy is not open but blocked. So, double blockage here.
• You may be far from family, children, loved ones and everyone around you is so busy with their own families and their own shopping and their own parties and so on. You feel left out and alone.
• You may be getting older and seriously considering the true purpose of your life and your direction. You may be taking some time out, having a cup of coffee, and pondering if what you have done with your life has any value at all. Right now, nothing looks promising and all that you have accomplished is not really meaningful. What is missing in your life, you ask, and the answers are escaping you right now. Nothing seems feasible or doable right now.
• You are so busy “doing” the holidays that inside of you there is a recognized emptiness. You want meaning and it is simply not there.
• Try as you can, you are not “in the holiday mood” whatever that is. You wonder what is wrong with you. It must be you and that makes you feel even worse.
• You have lost loved ones. Your children have moved away and are grown up now. You remember how things used to be, and you miss that feeling of being needed and useful and wonder what you did wrong in your life to be where you are right now. Karma or fate or the gods or something is getting back at you and that makes you feel guilty and down.
• You have lost loved ones and you are thinking: God, what can be next?
  You have simply worked too many hours, ran around too many stores, and you are exhausted. A quiet bed, a thick blanket over your head is just about the medicine that you need.
• You have a cold, a sore throat, and a nagging cough that won't go away. You are so tired that you have no energy to deal with anything. So, you ask, what is wrong with me anyway?

Do these sound familiar? I am sure you can add other items to this list but these are enough to help us see that there are many causes for feeling lonely, depressed, down, blue, or in a vacuum at this time of the year.

There is no easy and quick solution to any of these feelings. If you are feeling seriously depressed and down, see a professional health counselor, call a friend, email someone, so that you can get through the day. This is important.

There are other things that you may consider, and here are my recommendations that are specifically addressing the energetic component of your life. The idea is to open up the pranic centers in a natural and non forced manner. Take care from the inside out, move energy, and the rest will work itself out naturally. Here are some recommendations:

First, take care of the physical body: get out and walk and exercise and get the body moving. Getting outside is the best if the weather permits. I would go outside no matter what the weather is, unless it is an absolute blizzard and it is dangerous. Get bundled up, put a hat on and go for a walk or a jog, or play some sports with someone. What this does is very important from the energetic perspective: it opens your “pranic centers” and they will start to move and circulate the energy of the sun, or the energy of the light that is available to you.

Stop eating sugary and white flour goodies. If you feel you must eat these, eat some protein first so that the sugar is not depressing you. Cut back on alcohol too, that is really bad for you at this time.

Find someone whom you can help, anyone, who needs anything. What you are doing here is also energetic in nature. Depression of any sort is a blockage of energy. The energy is not circulating and there are many reasons for this. If you give it out, it starts the flow. When energy starts to flow out, it will create a vacuum into which more energy will come in. So, think of yourself as a receptacle into which nothing can flow in; it is stuck shut. When you push the receptacle open by giving, you unblock the body and the energy current starts to move. So, instead of me telling you what to give, think of all the people you know and what do they need right now and give something to them that you can give. Words, love energy, encouragement, help of any kind, money, gifts, voluntarism, even cleaning for someone and shopping for them is hugely appreciated. You can even visualize loved ones, friends, family members and imagine telling them “I love you.” When you give, you shall also receive. This is not a mystery but it does escape us at this time. There is no small or large giving; giving is the flow of energy; so give no matter what it is.

Second, think of your emotional nature. It is OK to feel a lack of energy and feel quiet and reflective. Why not? We don't need to be jumping up and down all the days of our lives! So, it is nice to take some time out, sit on a comfortable chair, look out a window, and let your feelings tell you what is going on. When there is less light and less energy from the sun, we naturally feel less energetic. So, you can use this time for really good thinking. If you honestly ask and ponder, life will reveal to you just what is going on in your life. You probably have not had the time to ask this question: what is really going on and why do I feel as I do?

I believe it is perfectly fine to feel sad, lonely, lacking somehow and acknowledge it and accept it as what is inside of you right now. At the meantime, have in your heart the knowledge of the subtle worlds of existence. You may be picking up the sadness and loneliness and lack of energy from millions of people all over the world who are really hurting now. There are millions who truly lack the basics of life, so in your time of intense sensitivity and vulnerability, you are picking up the very real pain of others. This is real and we can appreciate it and understand it. In this case, a period of quiet prayer and meditation will be of enormous help to you. Reflective thinking of what is wonderful in your life is important. Also, visualize people all over the world, or in your particular nation, and send prayers and blessings to them from the Great Ones, from God, or Whomever you wish. We individually can be conductors of loving and healing energy to anyone in the world. There is no separation of time and space in the world, so your prayers and blessings will reach people through the etheric network of nature.

Most importantly, think of who loves you. Many people love you right now. Also, God loves you. Christ loves you. Any Great One in Whom you believe loves you and gave the spiritual guidances to you in order to help you and uplift you. That guidance is there for you. Reach to it and grab it and make it your own. That kind of love is immortal, never ending, never lacking. Visualize the love you get daily, every minute, from the Great One in your life and feel it and surround yourself with it as a stream of violet/golden light. Let that light bathe your entire being without focusing on any one particular part of your body.

Third, mentally think of the continuity of life. We lived before this life and will live out this life and incarnate many more times before we reach a level of enlightenment and mastery. Give yourself the gift of the huge picture of many lifetimes. Our present condition can truly be useful and instructive and uplifting only if we can see life from the subtle levels of existence. Our feelings of being bound to something beyond our control comes from feeling that the material worlds of existence are the only ones we operate in. But think of the life of your emotions, your mind, your spirit, and beyond that into infinity. Open your horizons mentally and think of the various levels of life all over the Universe, in its myriad of forms and levels of existence. How lovely is the universe and how profound and deep. The human soul is fully aware of these, but not in full consciousness. Being unconscious of the vastness of life, we feel that our limited existence is the only life there is.

At this time then, your third tool is to expand yourself into the Universe and see life in continuity. You already know this in your heart and soul, so now bring it out into your conscious awareness. Uplift yourself by consciously knowing that life is a continuum, an open system, and everything evolves and moves and grows. Even at a seeming standstill, your life is moving.
Wait and be patient. The days will get longer and the warmth of the Sun will imbue life once again. Life will reveal its treasures and understandings to you. You will be filled with compassion and love for others because you have the experiences of loneliness and sadness and you know what that feels like. You will have more patience and understanding. Life will be beautiful once again.

With God and the Creative Forces of the Universe all things are possible. The Spirit in you, the Immortal Soul, the Higher Self in you is pure, radiant, and permeates all of life.

Here is a beautiful prayer that I love so much and say often:

More radiant than the sun
Purer than the snow
Subtler than the ethers
is the Self, the Spirit within my heart
I am that Self, that Self am I.

May the blessings of the Great Ones be on all of us at this time and help uplift us to our spirit and soul nature.

Gita

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References: what is prana? It is energy from the sun that is absorbed into our blood stream from three areas in our body. These are the three centers of prana, around our heart center, just above the solar plexus, and around the spleen. These centers receive prana and if they are open and active, will circulate the energy into our blood stream. The condition of these centers is based on our physical habits, emotional habits, and mental habits. Changing these three areas of our life will open the centers and the energy will circulate freely in your physical body. The more conscious are your decisions and more purified is your life in these three areas, the better the centers will operate and your health and healing will improve. This is the short version.

You can read more on prana and pranic triangle in the book New Dimensions in Healing by Torkom Saraydarian. If you want to know more about the subtle worlds of existence, see the book Other Worlds by the same author.