ELEMENTS OF RECOVERY

break free from disordered eating, addiction, or destructive cycles — and step into lasting clarity.

Are you addicted to misery?

August 03, 2016 by Christina Santini in Depression, Transformation Keys

If there is one thing I have learnt in life, it is that everybody hurts sometimes. No one hurts more than others. And yet it seems that there is this competition going on “who has it tougher”. I don’t get it: Aren’t we supposed to change what we don’t like in life, instead of continue being in a situation that cause us to complain day in and day out. Isn’t insanity defined by the very act of doing the same thing over and over again, yet expecting a different outcome...?

Are you Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired?

April 27, 2016 by Christina Santini in Binge Eating, Addictions, Depression, Transformation Keys

Nest time you feel like you are about to do something that you have promised yourself not to do - ask yourself this simple question: Are you Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired? This is one of the most easy tools to begin to replace bad habits, step by step. So simple that many refuse to do it - because "it is just too easy" and thus a waste of time, because everything else in life seems like a battle. This is the lie we tell ourselves to NOT take action: if it is not hard, it must not work. Yet it is the simple things in life that works best.

4 fold death increase on anxiety medications

March 16, 2016 by Christina Santini in Addictions, Depression, Stress Tools

A study reveals this anxiety medication is reaching an all-time high of deaths now. Scott Disick has revealed his anxiety medication addiction. This is an addiction that hits every age group and wealth group. It is not harmless and it causes tremendous damage to the body and brain - it basically rips your gastrointestinal tract to pieces and causes multiple chronic health issues in its waters. Not to mention, highly deadly especially when combined with alcohol, as it often is in cases where one needs to "calm the nerves". So how do you figure out why you are anxious in the first place and thus, what the right actual treatment for you is, rather than mask it with drugs shown deadly?

5 Questions Non-Addicts Don't Ask

February 24, 2016 by Christina Santini in Addictions, Depression, Transformation Keys

Hello, my name is xyz and I am an addict. Not something anyone ever wants to have to say out loud. Therefore, we often make excuses, explanations and elaborations for our destructive habits, as to not have to attach ourselves with the term "addict". When we are scared of change, when we fear we won't make it through to the other side, when the light seems so far away and we feel weak... That is when we will often tend to deceive ourselves. We will lie in an attempt to survive in the midst of the misery. We will often lie so much, that we convince ourselves, that we do not have a problem. That everything is OK. We are OK. This is OK. What we are doing is fine - everything is just fine. When in fact we are slowly drowning.

Glutamine repairs gut and liver after alcohol damage

February 10, 2016 by Christina Santini in Biochemistry Balancing, Depression, Addictions, Natural Medicine

Gut damage, post-addiction depression and serotonin issues related to liver and gut damage are well-known obstacles in spite of managing to quit alcohol. However these health troubles are almost unbearable for many, because now the digestive and mood balancing biochemical markers really become obvious in daily life, when not numbing out from the mental and physical discomfort on the regular with alcohol. Researchers are finding that L-Glutamine plays a critical role in healthy digestion and brain function. Glutamine has been shown in studies to protect against mucosal breakdown in the gut. There are even studies looking into how glutamine can aid in reducing side-effects of chemotherapy treatments.

Transcending our limiting beliefs.

April 30, 2015 by Christina Santini in Depression, Addictions, Transformation Keys, Self-Worth, Emotional Management

I was at The Longevity Conference in Anaheim, California last week with a bunch of health nuts like Dr. Mercola, Ron Teeguarden, Dave Asprey and David Avocado Wolfe - as charismatic as they are, not much health nut news there. However, what really stood out was this guy whom I happened to stumble upon. He is absolutely brilliant in the field of transformation and transcending limiting belief systems. Check out below video where Kute Blackson talks about the importance of dyeing once before we die. This is crucial for anyone who is in recovery - we must let go of all the mental blocks that have held us chained to our past limiting beliefs.

Guess What Drug 2 Handfuls of Cashews Mimick?

April 08, 2015 by Christina Santini in Biochemistry Balancing, Depression, Superfoods In Recovery

Prozac. That's right, 2 handfuls of cashews are the therapeutic equivalent of a prescription dose of Prozac. Consider that antidepressant work by by affecting serotonin. However, with time antidepressants have been found to actually DRAIN brain serotonin and deplete much needed B vitamins - why suicidal rates actually increase on antidepressant ironically. 2 handfuls of cashews provides two thousand milligrams of tryptophan. Tryptophan is the precursor of serotonin, which will work as well as prescription antidepressants and without later side effects of draining existing serotonin levels!

What Are You Running From?

January 20, 2015 by Christina Santini in Binge Eating, Body Image, Depression, Emotional Management, Self-Worth, Transformation Keys

Everyday we are either running towards something or away from something. Think about it for a moment. What drives your actions.... even in the small every day behavior. Why do you buy diet pills, why do you drink alcohol, why do you obsess about diets, why do you avoid talking to those you are most attracted to, why do you avoid taking up a new sport, why do you always have to spend hours getting ready - and yes, this goes for men too, cos God knows vanity knows no gender. Most of us have centered our lives around our very fears. We are busy running away from something - using our energy and power to focus on what it is we do NOT want in our life. I.e. we don't want to be fat, we don't want to be shamed while speaking our mind in public, we don't want to feel unloved, we don't want to be rejected, we don't want to be alone, we don't want to feel stupid, we don't want to feel insufficient etc. etc.What do you think you get when you busy yourself with your fears? Drumroll please....

You must do the thing you think you cannot do.

December 03, 2014 by Christina Santini in Addictions, Eating Disorders, Depression, Faith, Transformation Keys, Self-Worth

One of the reasons why we don't change, let go of addictions, stop disordered eating behaviors and just being self-destructive, is that we simply don't believe we can. And whatever we believe, we will act upon. Our actions are a reflection of what we think - the things we tell ourselves day in and day out. If we tell ourselves that we can't, we won't even try - and if we try, we will self-sabotage.

The Biochemistry of Violence

November 04, 2014 by Christina Santini in Depression, Biochemistry Balancing, Addictions, Eating Disorders, Emotional Management

Did you know that violent behavior whether leading to destruction against others or one-self, such as in addictions, is tied to specific nutrient imbalances that can be traced already in kids? We used to think that violent behavior, addictions, eating disorders and general social dysfunctional behaviors were a result of lack of supportive parental guidance and a good upbringing. Well, it has long been known in nutritional psychiatry, that terrible childhood actually has little to do with where people end up later in life. We are not our trauma, and we can transcend pain of the past, when we are resilient on a biological level.

How To Have Faith When It Seems Out Of Reach

September 02, 2014 by Christina Santini in Transformation Keys, Faith, Depression

I want to challenge your perspective about what you consider as "bad" in your life right now. Keeping in mind, that our thoughts are what shape our emotions, and our feelings determine which actions we take - why it is so important to take back control of our mind, if we want to change anything in our life. When we categorize something as "bad" we often wish, that we had never encountered that experience. That life could have held a hand over us, and not allowed us to walk around seemingly alone and cold in the frostbitten storms of life.