FIVE EASY STEPS TO DEAL WITH DEPRESSION.
1. Stop saying “my depression”. Think of the state of depression as something you learned and because of the plasticity of our brain, you can learn a new way to deal with the challenges in our lives. Challenges that we all face.
2. Be willing to look at the feelings within the depression you are experiencing. I will send you an easy, (did you hear me say easy?) way to begin to look at the feelings that form the conflicted mass of human emotions that are the depression you are experiencing. We have been told we are not safe to feel. There is a reason you have these feelings, and it is not what is wrong with you, it is what is wrong with society that has taught us to not feel our feelings.
3. Be willing to identify your soul gifts that aid in your soul’s purpose. I will also send you several written exercises that can help you begin to take the Hero’s Journey (a term first coined by Carl Jung) that will enable you to move beyond depression to dream fulfillment.
4. This is a hard one or it may sound harsh: Be willing to move from feeling like a victim to a person that has choice. Truly, the only time we are victimized is when we do not have a choice. This especially occurs when we are young and living around wounded parents who believe they are victims and can do nothing else but what they are doing. Because you are willing to get to number four on this list, you are choosing to not be a victim. Remember, we are victims when we don’t have choice. Once we turn 18, we most likely do have more choices available. Please listen to your “Inner Knowing”** and it will show you that there is a tiny choice available. And, the beautiful part about this step is that all we ever need do is take our next step. That is it. I will send you an
article on this if you like. When we take our next step, the next step will be available. **I have just written a book about teaching our children to be connected to their Inner Knowing and I am hearing that adults love the way it also teaches them to be connected to their “Inner Knowing”. The book , ALL CHILDREN ARE GIFTED: Raising Confident and Aware Children, is available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble’s website or through my publisher, Archway Publishing.
5. Find some way to do some exercise. Dan Siegel, world-renowned neuroscientist tells us that 30 minutes of exercise may be the best antidote to depression there is. If you have trouble deciding on what to do, go to the nearest YMCA. They will give you a free pass for a week, and give you ideas on how to begin, and remember you only need take your next step.
Take these 5 steps and you will be more aware of your next steps.
And take these steps in one week. The time is NOW! You life is not a dress rehearsal.
And If I had a magic wand** that I could wave over you, I would ask you to take these next 2 steps after you do the first five.
1. Be willing to eliminate Sugar and white flour. Since I am not a nutritionist, I will only suggest this and for further information, goggle eliminating these culprits from your diet. The thing is you learned to medicate feelings with sugar and white flour. You are not a bad person if you over –use these 2 products. You LEARNED to do this and you can un-learn it. May I suggest that you try this for 3 days?
Instead of sugar, try fruit and instead of white flour, use whole wheat flour. If you can, go see a nutritionist. Many health food stores give free nutritional counseling. Just be willing in this area.
2. Get the Grief Recovery Handbook, revised edition, by John James and Russell Friedman and do the written exercises with a friend or partner or a therapist if you can. I do this type of counseling by phone or in person, call me if you would like to discuss this.
**Finally, I do not have a magic wand, but I have the next best thing: MY BELIEF IN YOU AND MY BELIEF THAT YOU HAVE A HERO’S HEART WITH MANY SOUL-GIFTS. THE WORLD NEEDS YOU TO BE IN TOUCH WITH YOUR HEROIC NATURE, IGNITE YOUR COURAGE AND BE WHO YOU HAVE COME HERE TO BE!.
Call or email me: Suzanne Carter
equinelites@aol.com
www.Unitywholenesscenter.com