I write because it is my inner
calling to share, whatever I had learned through experience on my journey
inward, to heal myself and become the best version of myself. Even though each
individual journey is unique, I hope my experiences would help in some way, at least a few who are going
through depression, to recover and find their way back to happiness.
I give below the path I followed,
the moment I became aware of the depression.
1) Intention
You must have a genuine desire to
heal yourself. Instead of wallowing in misery and plunging into deeper
depression, make a positive affirmation to yourself. “ I want to heal myself as
quickly as possible” and send your intention to the Universe; and don’t forget
to thank in advance. Say “ Thank you for healing me ! “ Do this several times a
day until it is deeply rooted in your subconsciousness.
2) Take Responsibility
It is natural for the human mind
to blame others or the circumstances for driving one to depression. However, it
is important to realize that NO ONE IS RESPONSIBLE for the state you are in.
YOU ALONE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR ALLOWING YOURSELF TO FALL INTO DEPRESSION AND YOU
ALONE CAN COME OUT OF IT. So take the
responsibility and start working your way out of the misery that you yourself
had created.
3) Embrace the Pain
I agree, it is the most painful
thing but you cannot run away from it. You may postpone it, deny that you have
been hurt and try to act strong but eventually, the repressed wounds are going
to take the toll by way of manifesting as depression gradually, without you
being even aware of it. So be brave and embrace the pain and let yourself feel
the pain to the maximum. LET THE HEART BREAK ! I promise your heart can take much more
pain than you had ever imagined! Let the heart break, and let the light in, to
heal you and make you stronger. Cry as much as you can. Tears are the best
healers. You will be amazed how calm and relaxed you would feel after letting
out the blocked energies.
04) Meditate
Having cried your heart out now
you are in a perfect position to meditate. No, I am not talking about sitting
cross-legged with closed eyes. It is a graceful moving meditation developed by
OSHO, the Indian Mystic Guru. It’s Kundalini Meditation. The one, that still
works best for me. It helped me to release
all the bottled up emotions and made me feel calm and relaxed. For the more
energetic ones, the Dynamic Meditation can help. Both Kundalini and Dynamic
meditations are usually done in a group but being an introvert, I prefer to
practice alone. Make sure that you have one full hour for yourself,
undisturbed, and make sure the phone is switched off.
For those who are not familiar
with Kundalini meditation here is the link.
http://www.osho.com/meditate/active-meditations/kundalini-meditation
05) Practice Self Love
You need to love yourself because
no one else is going to love you the way you want to be loved. We have been
conditioned to believe that loving one’s self is “selfish”. Having grown up
with this mentality, we put others before us and totally forget to love
ourselves, which invariably leads one to despair at some point in life. When
that happens, there is no other way to come out of it, other than to reverse
the whole sequence. “How can you expect others to love you when even you cannot
love yourself?” I had to ask myself this question innumerable time to convince
myself that self-love is “healthy”. Here are few ways to practice loving
yourself.
1. Accept
yourself totally. Look at yourself in the mirror from head to toe and accept
yourself as you are, with all your imperfections. Know that you are beautiful
in your own unique way! Look into your eyes and take note of the expression.
Are they sad, angry or fearful? Your eyes are the mirrors of your soul. Promise
yourself to bring love and compassion to your eyes by working on your soul.
Start working on inner beauty and the outer body will respond accordingly.
2. Look
at yourself in the mirror as many times as possible. Smile and say “I love you
my beautiful soul”. As you continue this practice, you will gradually develop a
desire to be beautiful inside out!
3. Set
healthy boundaries. Learn to say “No” when necessary. It is not your duty to
please everyone. If it doesn’t agree with your conscience, by all means say
“No”.
4. Love
your body. It is the temple of your soul. Your body has served you
unconditionally for so many years. Take time to feel thankful to your body.
Feel each part of your body lovingly and say “Thank you, I love you”. Your body
responds to your touch and will regenerate itself to serve you even better.
5. Take
up Yoga / Sport/ Exercise. Anything to keep you moving and active. I love yoga
because it helps me to keep the body and mind together, maintains my
flexibility and keeps me in good shape and health. Besides, it is a kind of a
physical meditation for me.
6. Spend
time in Nature. Take a walk in the park. Walk barefoot on grass and feel the
freshness of the grass moving through your soles and revitalizing the body. Let
the Earth absorb your negative energies and replenish you with positive
vitality. Lie down on grass or on a bench and gaze at the sky. Talk to the
clouds and send your gratitude to the Universe. We are fortunate to be alive on
this wonderful planet, aren’t we?
7. Get
yourself immersed in a hobby. Be it reading, writing, painting, music, dancing
or anything that brings you joy and keeps your mind focused.
06) Laugh. Laugh for no reason.
When we laugh, the brain releases
dopamine, a neurotransmitter that produces feelings of happiness. Healthy
production of dopamine will keep you cheerful throughout the day. For those who find it difficult to laugh, the
Laughing Meditation technique of OSHO will definitely help. You may find it
very artificial at the beginning, but do not lose heart. After forcing myself
to laugh for four days, I cried on the fifth day because it was so difficult to
bring myself to laugh. On the sixth day as I was about to give up, I had a
‘glimpse’ of laughter which lasted only for a few seconds. Nevertheless I was
encouraged. On the tenth day, laughter
came out as naturally and I was laughing for no reason and feeling like a child
again ! Try this. I promise it will be worth trying !
OSHO LAUGHING MEDITATION
EVERY morning upon waking, before
opening your eyes, stretch like a cat. Stretch every fibre of your body. After
three or four minutes, with eyes still closed, begin to laugh. For five minutes
just laugh. At first you will be doing it, but soon the sound of your attempt
will cause genuine laughter. Lose yourself in laughter. It may take several
days before it really happens, for we are so unaccustomed to the phenomenon.
But before long it will be spontaneous and will change the whole nature of your
day.
For those who have difficulty
laughing totally or who feel their laughter is false, Osho has suggested this
simple technique. In the morning, early, before you have eaten anything, drink
almost a bucketful of water – lukewarm with salt in it. Go on drinking it and
do it fast, otherwise you will not be able to drink much. Then just bend down
and gargle so the water will flow back. It will be a vomiting of the water –
and it will clean your passage. Nothing else is needed. There is a block in the
passage so that whenever you want to laugh, that stops it.
In Yoga, this is a necessary
procedure to be followed. They call it a ‘necessary purification’. It purifies
tremendously, and it gives a very clean passage – all the blocks dissolve. You
will enjoy it and you will feel the cleanness all day. The laughter and the
tears, and even your speaking, will come from the very deep centre.
Do it for ten days and you will
have the best laugh around!
Source - OSHO The Orange Book
07) Practice Gratitude
Feel grateful for everything you
have in your life. There are millions out there who are wishing for what you
have been given in life. It is gratitude that brings us happiness. Not the
other way.
These are my first hand
experiences. If you know of other ways to help someone come out of depression,
please share and help to grow the list. Thank you for reading.
Published in view of the Mental Health Awareness Month of May 2017.
Image Credit : Photo Artist
