Remember Depression is an illness, which affects your BODY, MIND, and SPIRIT {SOUL}
If some of these little hints don`t suit you, please skip them and try and find some that do suit you.
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BODY
The first little tips are designed to help heal the body.
When we were little we were soothed by the people who cared for us.
In depression it is very difficult to be soothed by others
We can try and soothe ourself.
WE use all our five senses.
Taste eat some of your favourite food, chocolate, ice cream etc. take a little bit. Let it melt in your mouth; imagine you are tasting it for the first time. Savour this experience.
Smell some aromatic oil, which has fond memories for you. Don`t use ones, which are associated with painful memories.
Touch Stoke something soft, the cat, dog, favourite jumper. If this sounds daft remember touch is our earliest and most important sense. Have a hug if you can.
Hearing Listen to some soothing music. Be careful not to play something which makes you feel worse, remember music feeds directly into the emotional part of the brain.
Vision. Look at something really pleasing. Pictures of nature. Or it could be your favourite comedy DVD.
Now the worst E-word for the depressed person- Exercise what can I say? You`re lying on the couch feeling terrible. The last thing you want to do is go for a walk. Remember we are trying to heal the body so try and go for a little stroll. The average intelligent dog lies with his nose flat on the floor looking glum untill‘walkie’ time. Know what I mean? Our physiology is not that different so—— PLEASE TRY>
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MIND
The first little tips are designed to help heal the body.
This is often a tricky part of ourselves to heal.
The mind starts doing its own thing. Running on bad, negative, pessimistic fuel.
OK so what do we do to heal the mind?
Imagine you are making a film of your life. You are the editor. The producers have told you the movie is expected to make billions. Your favourite star is to play the adult you. Your task is to edit out all the bad crap scenes and leave the good ones to show you as a fabulous person.
SPEND SOME TIME EACH MORNING AND AFTERNOON DOING THIS LITTLE TASK.
- Think of 5 good things about yourself. If you can do 5 try 10 if 10 try 20 and so on.
- Think of the worst person in the world. If they are 100% bad how do you compare? I bet you`ve given yourself too high a %age. Come on, remember we`re into healing here and not punishment.
- Imagine you are in a massive hall. In this place are all the people who have ever been depressed. Some of the people come and talk to you; they are people who you can relate to. They are explaining you will get better just as they have done. You don`t feel so alone. You remember what they say to you and think it over later. You are really surprised to see some very famous faces there from all walks of life. Wow, some of the nicest people have had depression.
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SPIRIT
The spirit is often really broken by the depression. It is important to spend time thinking about your spirit. It is the earliest part of a human being. It comes into existence before the body and mind are formed.
Spend ten or fifteen minutes thinking about the spiritual part of you and how can your spirit be strengthened. This might be by reading some uplifting words.
One of the poems that can be helpful is Desiderata one line is very important: –
You are a child of the universe you have a right to be here.
Another poem is The Weaver which can be found on the net via Google.
If reading is not your thing try to spend a few minutes with your eyes shut and in a relaxed position if you can manage it.
Gently concentrate and imagine a halo of pure white light nurturing your spirit.
Try these exercises as often as you can.
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The Medication, therapy and these little tools should soon find you firing on all cylinders again.