Many people are told, "You can do this on your own, be strong,” as if a person can easily will themselves out of depression or anxiety. Can someone "Be Strong" and make their diabetes or bronchitis just go away? These types of suggestions only result in a delay in seeking treatment or feelings of failure in individual who finally does seek help. The stigma of psychiatric treatment also leads many people to seek help at health food store, or other types of self-diagnosis and self-medications.

Men in particular have to overcome an additional obstacle. It may seem "Un-Macho Like" to seek professional psychiatric help when one fails to understand or see their condition as an illness, and instead view it as a weakness in their character. Thus, injury to a man's ego often contributes to their long delays in seeking treatment.

My hope is that shame and secrecy associated with obtaining professional psychiatric help will gradually diminish and eventually cease to exist. If we understand how social stigma was established in first place - media lack of medical knowledge, societies' understanding or ignorance, etc., then we should realize there is no need to "stay in closet." Let's wipe out term "mental illness" and view many of these conditions as "neurochemical illness,” with same non-prejudicial attitude as we do toward diseases such as diabetes or hypertension.

Debra S. Gorin, M.D. has been in private practice as a Psychiatrist for the past sixteen years in the Fort Lauderdale area. Visit her website (http://www.doctorgorin.com) to view her growing library of psychiatric and health-related articles. Dr. Gorin's weblog can be viewed at http://debragorinmd.blogspot.com She can be contacted at couchdoctor415@yahoo.com

Here's an interesting and alternative way to massage your own internal organs - Standing comfortably, let all air out of your lungs and belly, and while trying to keep it out, allow your belly to move in and out - feel swishing inside as you move all viscera around with your muscles during exhale (Uddhiyana Bandha & Nauli's). This kind of plunging action also occurs when you activate perineal area with Kegel contraction, known as an Upward Draw in Taoistic studies. First, you have to find your Pelvic Floor. Since ultimately, you will be elevating, or pulling muscle more inward and up into torso, there are no outward signs that it is contracting. All other muscles should be relaxed - isolate this group completely.

Find urethral sphincter by starting and stopping flow of urine. Only do this initially to ensure you are using right muscles. For women, you could insert your finger slightly into vaginal opening, and squeeze as though you would pull it up into vaginal canal. For men, watching to see reaction of penis moving slightly, you can determine if you are activating right group of muscles. At first, just "chewing gum" style will suffice (clench, release, clench, release). But that is only half of fibers (short twitch). The endurance and tensile strengthening (long twitch) comes from holding and sustaining clench, and actually increasing grip force and drawing muscles upward.

Most people think that Kegels are for women after childbirth, but they are actually FOR EVERYONE! MEN IN PARTICULAR can benefit because of increased circulation to prostate gland. Because men tend to be more yang, they are holding a contracted sphincter, and women being more yin, will become more and more flaccid. Thus, men need to use exercise as a way to elasticize and relax area, bringing fresh blood, vigor and sensitivity. And of course, women need to tone and strengthen, activate and juice up area, making more and more of cells alive and available.

Enjoy creating inner fire you will begin to sense as you develop your inner yoga - feel a surge of vital force moving from a deep place, rising thru your body. This is simply your own physiology responding to your intention to pump energy. It WORKS!

Pelvic Floor Exercises for Women AND Men

•Use abdominal breathing. Count to 10 for one cycle. As you exhale (1,2,3,4,5), begin to squeeze pelvic floor tight, and as exhale continues, increase your sense of drawing base upward inside body (6,7,8,9,10) like a freight elevator, slow and strong and weighted. Then slowly Inhale and release muscle, allowing it to slowly lower and fully relax. Allow sensation of a slight bulging out when you reach "ground floor", way a freight elevator drops slightly lower and then returns to neutral. The relaxation phase IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FOR THE MAN. Attempt to fully isolate pelvic floor and avoid using any abdominal or buttox muscles. Do 15 cycles 3X a day to improve tone.

Isometric and resistive exercises promote: circulation, activation, elasticity, responsiveness, strength, and endurance. These are sometimes called Love muscles and will activate all functions of this area. Any muscle that you exercise and put your conscious intention into, will respond better, faster, longer, stronger, and more often.

Perineal release thru massage or activation thru pelvic floor exercises has been shown to have a dramatic effect on vaginal tone after birth. It also affects elasticity of opening, allowing for possibility to avoid an episiotomy. After such a procedure, sustaining one's Internal Yoga practice will have a strong impact on recovery of all functions in this area.

Poor tone of urogenital diaphragm has been shown to be related to: incontinence, hemorrhoids, organ prolapse, constipation, premature ejaculation, impotence, lower libido, non-lubrication, prostate disease, PMS.

Marci Javril, Vital Energist, is a Certified Somatic Therapist, spiritual counselor and movement therapist. She gives tutorials in Lymphatic Clearing© and Abdominal Integrity, including internal organ release and detox. Ms. Javril also coaches interested people in Pregnancy & Infant Massage, and Post-Surgical Intervention. Her work focuses on art & science of rejuvenation, enriched by many years in performing arts and in depth studies in Kriya Tantra Yoga. Marci has been in private practise since 1984 and can be reached for consultations at (866)-551-0062 or (310)-306-9838. See credentials on web site: http://VitalEnergyCenter.com or contact by email: MJavril@VitalEnergyCenter.com