RISE ABOVE DEPRESSION (1 of 5)
The first self-empowering way to lift your mood naturally without drugs or therapy
When you are depressed, it can feel like the very life-force has been sucked out of you. Depression is a low-energy state which may leave you feeling unmotivated, sad, lethargic, unfocused, stressed, and unable to take care of yourself and your life responsibilities.
Depression is a complex interplay between many factors like the biochemical processes in your brain, your genetics, your life situations and circumstances, the beliefs you were taught as a kid, and your diet and lifestyle choices. It can lead to a kind of crisis of your spirit if left unchecked.
Medications, supplements, and talk therapy are usually the core of treatment for people with depression. But when these aren’t working, aren’t enough, or someone doesn’t want to or can’t utilize them, what else is there to do?
This “Rise Above Depression” series will outline five practices you can adopt in your life to begin to shift and uplift your emotional state. Over time as you integrate these practices into your life and make them habitual, you should notice yourself having more energy, more motivation, better concentration, less stress, and a more regulated, happier mood.
In fact, if you implement the “Gratitude Practice” right away (as soon as you get finished reading this post), you could notice an uptick in your mood immediately! When I engage in the gratitude practice, it feels like I have an inner smile for awhile.
Over time as you incorporate each of the five tools into your daily life habits, you may find that not only do you physically feel better, but also your relationships feel deeper, your life is more satisfying and purposeful, and you start to make positive life changes.
I will include a mix of physical health tools like diet and movement, mental tools like attending to your mindset, emotional tools like connecting with nature, and a spiritual tool - the gratitude practice.
It’s important to support your mental and emotional health with this multi-faceted approach because you are a complex being and there is an intricate interplay between these different levels of yourself. Your spirit affects your mind, which affects your emotions, which affect your body. Typically depression involves a dysregulation on more than one level. So, to reach a state of regulation and balance, you will be best served by addressing all levels of your being.
As I role out the five tips over the next several weeks, try to follow them in the order they are presented. Difficulty is subjective, but the easier practices tend to precede the ones that may require more effort from you. Each builds upon the one before it in terms of developing light energy, good habits, and a healthy lifestyle that will support your mood and energy.
Are you ready? Let’s get started with the first thing you can do to rise above depression!
#1 – Practice Gratitude
Expressing gratitude from your heart is a pathway to experiencing more happiness and peace of mind. Did you know that it is practically impossible to be thankful AND sad or angry at the same time?
Simply writing out what you are grateful for on a regular basis will create new neural pathways in your brain. You will retrain your brain to focus on what is right in your life, instead of what is wrong.
Buy a special journal or notebook and a smooth-writing pen for recording each day’s gratitude in the same place.
Designate a certain time each day when you will sit for a few minutes and write down what you feel grateful for. If needed, set an alarm to remind you. You might prefer to journal your gratitude right before bed, first thing in the morning, or maybe while you eat your lunch or after work. Any time that works for you!
Ask yourself the question: what am I grateful for today?
Write down whatever pops into your mind first. It can literally be anything that you feel thankful for, big or small. For example: I’m grateful that I have warm boots for snowy days. I’m grateful that my neighbor gave me apples from her tree. I’m grateful that the seasons provide a rhythm to live by. I’m grateful that airplanes were invented so I can visit my family easily.
Commit to practicing gratitude journaling for 40 days straight to create a new habit of acknowledging the positive things in your life. You will be much happier and more appreciative of what you have. If on some days you aren’t able to write your points of thankfulness down, then still do the practice, but say them out loud or silently in your head. The effect will be the same.
When you go through the exercise of thinking about what you are grateful for, you also feel that gratitude as an emotion. Emotions are translated into physical molecules in your body. Positive emotions, like gratitude, will trigger a cascade of positive hormones, neurotransmitters, and other biochemicals throughout your immune, endocrine, and nervous systems leading to an enhancement in functioning throughout your whole brain and body, including a flood of good feelings.
Gratitude is one of the simplest ways to quickly and powerfully uplift your mood, life, and consciousness.
Stay tuned for the next installment of the “Rise Above Depression” series where I will dive into the many many benefits awaiting you in Nature…!