Motivation for Depression
One of my really good friends called me up yesterday asking for a “motivational talk” since he’s going through a very tough break up from a long-term relationship.
After I heard him out, I told him that my advice is to use this pain to start exercising regularly. At first I think he was disappointed by my response as he was probably hoping for something fancier, but the truth is that is all starts with your physiology.
See if I were to ask you to emulate someone feeling depressed and sad you would most likely droop your head down, close off your body, take shallow breaths, etc. Whereas the opposite of depression is expression, open body language, movement, etc.
As you begin to change your physiology and become more active this will release feel-good chemicals to your brain. And as your body starts to transform you will feel more confident about yourself, and when other people start to notice you will feel even better. It’s a snowball kind of a effect.
Another thing is that most people breath very shallow throughout the day, and some studies prove that one of the best benefits of exercise is the simple fact that it forces you to take deeper breaths oxygenating your body more richly.
Now exercise certainly isn’t where it ends because you can still be fit and depressed, but in my opinion it’s a great place to begin.
For those of you that have reached out to me about being sad and depressed you know that this is a common response of mine. I apologize for not having a more complex answer, but in my life I’ve come to find that some of the simplest home-made solutions create the biggest changes.
