twitter_iconfacebook_iconrss_icon
The Dark Side of Excellence

The Dark Side of Excellence

by | Apr 14, 2017 | Depression, Enough, Enoughness, Excellence, Fear, Happiness, identity, insecurity, Needs, Purpose, Satisfaction |

Teray Garchitorena Kunishi, ND

Dr. Teray offers natural and integrative programs for healing anxiety & depression, chronic fatigue, and digestive conditions. She is a licensed naturopathic doctor, wellness coach, author, and creator of the Deeply Happy Expert Series. She serves clients globally via phone and video consultation.
Get in touch at http://www.deeplyhappy.com/contact/

Latest posts by Teray Garchitorena Kunishi, ND (see all)

Once there was a greatly admired martial arts master. He was at the highest level of his field, skilled not just in his physical prowess, but in his deep understanding of the subtle energies that govern the practice. He was a great friend to many, often the first to help in a time of crisis. He was even an accomplished sushi chef. It seemed there was nothing he couldn’t do. He was the envy of many. One day, he took his life “with his own steady hand.” My teacher opened up one of his courses with this story. His intention was to remind us that while cultivating great skill is a wonderful thing, it does not erase the deep sense of not being enough. Achievement and success may feel good, but if you have hungry ghosts in your heart who always want more, the pleasure is fleeting. What was once your dream come true becomes ordinary, and not quite what you wanted. One of the signs of addiction is believing that the thing you desire will solve your problems. It doesn’t work, yet you persist in the belief and want even more. You’re like a big empty bowl, that only gets bigger the more you try to fill it up. Here’s another way. Become a smaller bowl. I know this is the opposite of what many self help books and life coaches tell you to do. They tell you to dream big and reach for the stars. With the subtext being, this will make you happy. The truth is, beyond what you need to live a comfortable life, there...
Can Writing Make You Happier?

Can Writing Make You Happier?

by | Jun 25, 2015 | Depression, Enough, Gratitute, Happiness, Self-care, Writing |

Teray Garchitorena Kunishi, ND

Dr. Teray offers natural and integrative programs for healing anxiety & depression, chronic fatigue, and digestive conditions. She is a licensed naturopathic doctor, wellness coach, author, and creator of the Deeply Happy Expert Series. She serves clients globally via phone and video consultation.
Get in touch at http://www.deeplyhappy.com/contact/

Latest posts by Teray Garchitorena Kunishi, ND (see all)

You’ve probably experienced the relief that comes from talking about a deep seated problem with a trusted friend or professional. But sometimes there isn’t someone to talk to, or it doesn’t seem to be helping.   Research on happiness has revealed that a simple practice can be just as powerful, if not more, for healing trauma and increasing joy: journaling.   Here’s why it works so well: the power of writing is in organizing your ideas into coherent sentences. This is turn helps your mind gain clarity on an subject, in a way that talking might not. Recall a rambling conversation that left you more confused than when you started, and you know what I mean.   Writing helps you get better acquainted with your true self, and understand how you think and feel. Also, it’s very hard to lie to yourself in writing.   When I feel like a hot mess of anxiety, confusion, and just plain whininess, it really helps me to grab a pen and paper, and write down what I feel. I get to identify exactly what is bothering me. I go from an amorphous cloud of upset, to “I feel insecure about what I said at the meeting today.”   Boiling it down to its essence calms me down, so I can find a solution, or just move on. Has that ever happened to you?   You may be the type of person who loves to write, or who struggles with it. So I want to be clear here that journaling for happiness does not require you be clever, original, or grammatically correct. Inspired...
A Shamanic Cure for Depression

A Shamanic Cure for Depression

by | May 8, 2015 | Community, Depression, Happiness, Shamanism, Support, Uncategorized |

Teray Garchitorena Kunishi, ND

Dr. Teray offers natural and integrative programs for healing anxiety & depression, chronic fatigue, and digestive conditions. She is a licensed naturopathic doctor, wellness coach, author, and creator of the Deeply Happy Expert Series. She serves clients globally via phone and video consultation.
Get in touch at http://www.deeplyhappy.com/contact/

Latest posts by Teray Garchitorena Kunishi, ND (see all)

Leave me alone to complete the business of my life, and know that I will never forget you. This is what author Andrew Solomon was instructed to say, to the spirits that had caused his depression. He did this as part of a Senegalese ritual known as ndeup, which is performed to cure mental illness. While the idea of evil spirits causing depression may seem superstitious to the western mind, there is a certain beauty to the way the Senegalese perceive mental illness, and most especially, it’s cure. Once an individual is understood to have been cursed, it becomes the role of the community to restore balance, and bring her back to herself . This point of view is fairly incompatible with  traditional western psychology. Solomon recounts the words of a Rwandan he met on his travels: “We had a lot of trouble with western mental health workers who came here immediately after the genocide and we had to ask some of them to leave… Their practice did not involve being outside in the sun … which is, after all, where you begin to feel better. There was no music or drumming to get your blood flowing again when you’re depressed, and you’re low, and you need to have your blood flowing. There was no sense that everyone had taken the day off so that the entire community could come together to try to lift you up and bring you back to joy. There was no acknowledgment that the depression is something invasive and external that could actually be cast out of you again. Instead, they would take people one...
The Most Important Thing About Bruce Jenner’s Confession

The Most Important Thing About Bruce Jenner’s Confession

by | Apr 27, 2015 | Anxiety, Depression, gender, Happiness, identity, Satisfaction |

Teray Garchitorena Kunishi, ND

Dr. Teray offers natural and integrative programs for healing anxiety & depression, chronic fatigue, and digestive conditions. She is a licensed naturopathic doctor, wellness coach, author, and creator of the Deeply Happy Expert Series. She serves clients globally via phone and video consultation.
Get in touch at http://www.deeplyhappy.com/contact/

Latest posts by Teray Garchitorena Kunishi, ND (see all)

Last week, Bruce Jenner, once hailed as the greatest athlete in the world, an all American hero, and father to the most famous reality TV stars, admitted to Diane Sawyer that he is “for all intents and purposes, a woman.” In so doing, he brought the word “transgender” into the national conversation like never before. But what struck me most were not the fascinating revelations about his sexuality and gender. Despite the sensational topic, the most important thing about Bruce Jenner’s confession is that it represents an essentially human struggle: Keeping who you truly are a secret, for fear of being shamed, rejected, or worse. Jenner pointed out the symbolism of his Olympic track and field triumphs: “I was literally running away from all this stuff.” While the world saw the face of success and victory, he saw confusion, and the trap of public identity. He kept his true gender a secret, because he didn’t want to disappoint people who expected him to be someone else. He experienced depression, and at one point, considered suicide. Because it seemed so much easier than facing the truth. Here’s the beautiful part about his journey – he finally realized that he needed to come forward with who he truly was. “I would be so mad at myself if I didn’t explore that side of me…I want to know how this story ends.” Knowing who you truly are and being honest about it, despite the fear of rejection: this is one of the deepest yearnings of your heart. Your soul demands it – at first quietly, and then, if you ignore it, more urgently. Often it comes in the form of dissatisfaction, anxiety or sorrow…an insistent voice that says “This isn’t it. This isn’t you.”...

When Medicating Depression is Not the Answer

by | Apr 18, 2015 | Depression, Medication, Supplements, Uncategorized |

Teray Garchitorena Kunishi, ND

Dr. Teray offers natural and integrative programs for healing anxiety & depression, chronic fatigue, and digestive conditions. She is a licensed naturopathic doctor, wellness coach, author, and creator of the Deeply Happy Expert Series. She serves clients globally via phone and video consultation.
Get in touch at http://www.deeplyhappy.com/contact/

Latest posts by Teray Garchitorena Kunishi, ND (see all)

There’s a dangerous standard in mainstream medicine. One that treats illness like an external enemy to be eradicated at all costs, instead of an internally generated signal regarding important inner workings gone awry. Nowhere is this trend more disturbing than in psychiatry. In a commendable effort to remove the stigma from depression, there is a move to frame depression as a disease. According to the disease framework, depression has nothing to do with the individual, and how they live their life. Depression is given the role of a villain, and the patient the victim. The hero, of course, is the prescribed medication and treatment. But the worst part about the disease framework for depression is that it implies that only happy states are good and healthy. I disagree wholeheartedly. For me, depression was a painful, terrifying, yet crucial experience that ultimately led to understanding myself better than I ever had. Without going through depression, I would not be as clear about my purpose and as committed to living my truth. The key phrase here is “going through.” Not “getting rid of” or “treating” or even “curing.” It was only by surrendering to the process that I got the lesson I had already paid for in the form of pain and suffering. If I had taken an antidepressant and it helped me feel less terrible, I’m not sure that I would have experienced the transformation that I did. It was the agony, and the belief that I had something to learn from it, that pushed me to go deeper. But our culture is obsessed with painlessness. You see this in...

Drug – Centric Psychiatry is Out

by | Feb 10, 2015 | Depression, Food as medicine, Medication, Research |

Teray Garchitorena Kunishi, ND

Dr. Teray offers natural and integrative programs for healing anxiety & depression, chronic fatigue, and digestive conditions. She is a licensed naturopathic doctor, wellness coach, author, and creator of the Deeply Happy Expert Series. She serves clients globally via phone and video consultation.
Get in touch at http://www.deeplyhappy.com/contact/

Latest posts by Teray Garchitorena Kunishi, ND (see all)

Nutritional psychiatry (food as mood medicine) is rightfully taking its place in the mainstream. I have seen incredible results from using nutrition to treat anxiety, depression, and other mental illnesses. My patients know firsthand how the right nutrients can totally change someone’s mood, energy and mental clarity. We’re not the only ones. The Lancet, one of the world’s leading medical journals, recently confirmed the link between the food you eat and your mood. According to their recent article, dietary treatments have been found to be helpful in treating: Depression Psychosis Suicidal tendencies Childhood mental health issues Schizophrenia Bipolar disorder Compulsive behavior PTSD In particular, the Lancet article discusses the promising results of the Mediterranean diet, with nuts, in preventing the onset of depression. Nutritional psychiatry goes beyond the essential foundation of using food as medicine. It includes using targeted supplements to act as mood modulators by themselves, and to increase the efficacy of medication. Individualized supplementation – using vitamins, minerals, amino acids and essential fatty acids – is helpful in the following ways: Correcting deficiencies due to poor nutrition Compensating for poor absorption or genetic errors in metabolism Reducing inflammation Improving the action of neurotransmitters (serotonin, dopamine, noradrenaline) Enhancing cell-membrane function Growth and repair of nerve cells Protecting cells from damage The Lancet article identifies key nutrients that are particularly helpful in improving mood and brain function. These include: B vitamins (with active forms like methylfolate, please!) Zinc Magnesium Sam – E Vitamin D So does this mean that you should run out and buy these supplements? Maybe, maybe not. Remember, individualized medicine works better than any one-size fits...