Maria Gaian, creatrix of The Gaian Path

In this post, I want to introduce the Gaian Path and explain how following it can help you to ditch the black dog of depression.

Everything changed for me when I discovered the Gaian Path.

After struggling with depression for most of my life, I finally found the answers I needed to ditch the black dog.

It’s taken me a long time to get to this point. I’m in my fifties as I write this, and it’s my hope that by sharing what I’ve learned and experienced, you can ditch the black dog of depression much faster than I did!

I believe there are a million reasons why there’s an epidemic of depression right now. Many of these reasons have been created by our own Governments, societies and cultures.

These things leave us feeling powerless, helpless, and hopeless. We feel trapped and out of control of our own lives.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. Following The Gaian Path™ can help you to feel more in control of your life and your future, no matter how bleak you might feel at the moment.

I believe it can save you a LOT of time and money and help you get started on your journey to feeling healthy, happy and whole. 

Here’s a quick overview.

Firstly, the Gaian Path™ is holistic.

I learned very early on that most people only focus on the ‘mind’ element of depression and that’s never going to solve anything.

We have to look at our body, heart, mind, Soul and spirit as a whole if we’re to fully heal.

Secondly, the Gaian Path™ doesn’t use a cookie cutter, ‘one size fits all’ approach, but can help you to create your own personalized pathway to recovery and management of depression.

Third, and most unusually for a depression recovery program, this method includes connection, community and contribution – also known as Sacred Activism – as part of your healing journey.

I can almost hear you trying to run away now you’ve read this, but please don’t! It doesn’t have to be scary or uncomfortable!

Depression makes us insular.

It sounds harsh, but depression is a very selfish illness.  It forces us to focus on our own pain and doesn’t consider the devastation we might cause other people if we give in to it.

Then it lies to us about our own value and tells us that other people won’t miss us, don’t need us. It persuades us that everyone would be better off if we just weren’t around.

This is the worst lie depression can ever tell us and the first one we need to banish from our minds.

By being part of a community and making a contribution to society in a way that feels meaningful to us, we can heal much faster, and more importantly, keep depression at bay in future, too.

You’ll start your journey on the Gaian Path by finding out which stage of depression you’re in.

I developed the stages of depression after realising that you need different things at different stages in order to heal.

Doing the right things in the right order will help each step feel achievable and prevent feelings of failure that can keep you stuck in depression.

The stages of depression are:

1. Crisis Stage

2. Zombie Stage

3. Functional Survivor 

4. Motivated to Heal

5. Healing Stage

6. Maintenance Stage

You can move up and down these stages in no particular order or pattern. You might skip some stages altogether.

But discovering what stage you’re in right now will help you understand what you need to do to start healing.

I’ll go into these stages in more depth in other posts.

Then we start the journey on the Gaian Path to recovery.

• Heal the wounds causing depression. These can be caused by anything from childhood abuse, to having to work with a nasty boss, or even living in a disorganized home. You may need to let go of something – the past, or people that keep on wounding you time after time.

• Banish the psychological blocks. The wounds often leave behind habits that we don’t need anymore. Negative thought patterns, limiting beliefs, self sabotaging behaviours and fears linked to the old wounds often remain and hold us back. We have to re-wild our minds back to our natural state –  meaning the person we were before we were wounded

• Dare to dream. What do you want your life to look like? You need to know where you want to go before you can create a map to get there. This is an ongoing process since many people with depression struggle to see a future for themselves.

• Create a meaningful life – a life worth waking up again for. We humans so easily get stuck in ruts, but it’s easier than you think to change your life. Finding activities or work that give our lives meaning can be the key to ditching depression. You may need to restore the lost connections that caused you to feel depressed. 

There are four main tools that make up the Gaian Path.

These are, in no particular order: –

1. Modern neuroscience based coaching and therapy techniques – we pick these carefully as we are not all the same and what works for one may not work for another;

2. Practical lifestyle changes – I know it’s boring, but nutrition, exercise, sleep, self care, stress management are so important!

3. Gaian Magick™ including Alchemical Ecotherapy™ (which includes rituals, ceremonies, tarot as well as ocean therapy, forest therapy and animal assisted therapy);

4. Sacred Activism – contribution, connection, community, collaboration, and compassion for others help us heal. I call this the Gaian REVOLution.

In future posts, I’ll delve deeper into all the aspects of the Gaian Path and why these things are so important to surviving depression.

But for now I just wanted to give you a broad overview of what the Gaian Path™ is all about.

Curious to know more? Try my FREE resources and get started on your journey to ditching the black dog of depression today.

NOTE: Please be aware that I combine modern coaching and therapy practices with the power of mother nature’s ancient magick to help people to feel healthy, happy and whole. 

If you’re wondering if all this magickal talk is a bit too ‘woo woo’ for you, please read this blog post:

Think I’m too ‘woo woo’ for you? Read this before you decide!

Have you found this post helpful? If you’d like to let me know your thoughts on this, please come over to my substack where I have a safe space for comments.