We are going to talk about Depression and what it takes to "Beat The Blues" or step "Out of the Blues." 

There are always going to be times where we feel a little flat or sad, as life has it's ups and downs. It is when this sadness overtakes our life that we say you are suffering Depression or the Blues. By the time that you are suffering clinical Depression, you have already missed the early warning signs of Psychological Stress. To be depressed or anxious, you have not taken care of your previous Stress effectively and you are now further from your authentic self and that is why you don't feel good. You may feel alone, lost and even hopeless. 

Please don't panic about this. You are not broken and need fixing. You have just taken yourself out of the present moment of experiencing your life in its fullness and are now running around and around in your head and continually reacting to the unpleasant feeling you are creating from thinking in this way. When you are doing this you can only access the past, for it is only when you are fully present, that you have the CHOICE to create something different or new. 

Sometimes you may have a genetic disposition and an ingrained habit of thinking, feeling and doing this. This does not mean you are bad or less worthy, it simply means you were conditioned in this way and now you are aware of this unconscious habit, you can start to practice new habits. This is often when you start comparing yourself with others who don't have depression and put yourself down.

The minute you catch yourself comparing yourself with another person, who has a different genetic code, grew up in another family, in another suburb and went to a different school, you need to STOP IT! That is like comparing an orange with an elephant. It doesn't make sense and it certainly doesn't make you feel any better.

To be depressed you have:

• Avoided dealing with something from the past. It might be last week or it may be last century.
• Attached your self worth or value to the achievement of your goals (big or small)
• Felt you have failed at something (big or small), therefore your self worth has dropped because it is attached to achieving that goal.
• Thought some particular thoughts that have caused the body to stop releasing the "happy" chemicals. It is like you have kicked in the parasympathetic nervous system without having been through a trauma and now all the rest and digest chemicals are saturating you.

To recover from Depression, you must understand that it is about you taking responsibility for yourself and how you think, feel and behave. This can be foreign for some as we are conditioned to look externally and blame rather than know ourselves and have Self Control. This means realising that every experience you have is proceeded by a thought and it is your own thoughts that need to change to recover from Depression. This is not bad, it just is. Some people are going through a physical illness such as cancer, some people have a challenge with family and some people have thoughts that lead to Depression. The great thing is that you learnt to think this way, so you can learn to think another way and keep practicing that until that becomes the loudest voice in your head. This is changing your neural pathways.

You can start the road to recovery by practicing techniques that ground you and bring you back to the present moment. Some suggestions are:

• Take a walk in nature and notice all 5 senses. What am I smelling, tasting, feeling (not emotion), seeing and hearing. That is bringing yourself back into your body and reconnecting with the external world with your senses.
• Stand in the mirror or not and laugh and smile, even when you don't feel like it. Force it at first, like a fake laugh. You might even like to look up laughter yoga exercises or book in for a class. Doing this causes the body to release the "happy" chemicals.
• Practice Mindfulness, either in your daily life when eating and walking or as a formal practice to change your neural pathways. Please follow the link to our Mindfulness Blogs... http://renewhealthretreat.com/articles/mindfulness-and-calming-mind-part-2
• Take up Yoga which causes you to be aware of your body, and this takes you out of your head and closer to the present moment. Many of the practices involve practicing Mindfulness. If you live on the Sunshine Coast follow the link for some information on Renew Therapy Room Yoga Class. http://renewhealthretreat.com/renew-programs/renew-therapy-room
• If depression and ruminating is an ongoing struggle for you follow the links and book in for our "Renew You" Private Retreat on the Sunshine Coast of Queensland http://renewhealthretreat.com/renew-programs/renew-you-private-retreat-australia "Renew Getaway" 3 Days Group Retreat on the Sunshine coast of Queensland...  "Renew Your Life" Retreat in Bali http://renewhealthretreat.com/renew-programs/renew-your-life-12-days-retreat-bali

Remember it really does only take one small step to make change and then keep taking small steps. This is the key. Humans are meant to be growing, moving and evolving.

Lets touch base again next week to talk about the specific thought that needs to have run through your head to be depressed and other helpful tools and strategies to Beat those Blues.

Jaye :))