Help Yourself

 Healing!

There are many ways that I started to "heal", I started with small and simple steps to get me started.

My healing involved clearing my mind, indulging my senses, improving my diet and strengthening my body. I have told myself that this will take time, dedication and will power all of which I am willing to take on as I'm committed to helping myself to overcome this. 

I'm also seeing a Psychologist, my GP and started on antidepressants, just so anyone reading this knows that I have not been able to overcome this on my own. The first step to my recovery was to realise I wasn't coping and to seek professional help.

After receiving my diagnosis I started with gentle, relaxing and comforting things like:

Guided Relaxation Therapy combined with Muscle Relaxation Therapy.

Listening to some of my favourite music.

Wandering around my backyard just taking in the smells, sounds and visuals.

Playing with my pets (this is very relaxing and a great distraction)

Photography (starting off in my backyard and then venturing out along the countryside).

Bike riding/Walking and gentle exercise (Yogo & Tai Chi and great).

* I found that cutting back on stimulants like coffee & alcohol & eating a healthy diet was very beneficial.

 Encourage! 

To encourage yourself when you are feeling, anxious and depressed it a very hard task indeed but with time you will find that it becomes easier and easier. Once you have built your confidence and self esteem life will seem a lot clearer.

Seek help from professionals, family & friends or just talk to someone who is willing to listen, in talking about it you will be surprised to know that you are not alone and listening to someone who has or is experiencing the same issues can bring comfort, understanding and hope.

You may like to try:

Confidence building quotes, repeating these either out loud or in your head.

Write a journal - include Goals, Exercise and Relaxation for the day (At times it will be difficult to stick to your goals, exercise and relaxation but as long as you try eventually it will become part of your daily routine)

Try puzzle solving exercises, crosswords, sudoku etc

Take up a hobby etc - If you're good at something for example poetry, jewellery making, scrap booking, card making, baking, sewing then put yourself out there, enter a competition, show off some of your creations, take some baked goods to work. You will be amazed at how many times you will be given praise for your talents & skills, people may even offer to buy some items from you. (the upside to this is you feel a sense of purpose & achievement as well as building your confidence and self worth.

Surround yourself with positive people!

 Love!

Loving yourself is most important because if we do not love ourselves then we do not care and if we don't care then how are we going to begin to help ourselves get better.

At times we may think that we have nothing to offer, we're not good at anything or quite simply not good enough but WE ARE - we need to acknowledge everything we have achieved, our different roles we have, Parent, daughter/son, friend, lover, work colleague and accept that at times we may not be perfect but nobody is but if we are doing the best we can then we haven't failed, we may not be performing at the rate we used to but we shouldn't place pressure on ourselves to get back to our old self in a hurry, it will take time and we are all different (so some may take less time than others to overcome depression)

Things to help you start loving yourself:

Make a list of all the things you're good at.

Take on board the compliments you receive, we are too quick to take in the nasty or rude things people say about us but not quite as quick to take in the compliments.

Talk to others, you will be amazed once you open up about your own experience just how many others are facing the same problems. You may even be able to help each other by sharing your strategies, starting a yoga class together, having a walking/riding buddy. 

Love your body by fuelling it with healthy foods and plenty of water, when we do this we start to feel less fatigued and less sluggish and more likely to want to exercise, socialise and get up out of bed in the morning.

Get plenty of rest: - a good nights sleep does wonders for our mental & physical well being. Try to go to bed at a reasonable time and get up early and around the same time each day, it's important to keep your body clock maintained. 

Eat breakfast - if you start the day off with a healthy breakfast then you will think clearer and concentrate better and you be less likely to eat rubbish if you are not hungry.

Try not to focus on "what needs doing" and just be! 

Wear something colourful and bright, I have a pair of multicoloured shoes I wear at work on the days I feel abit flat, they lift my mood and everyone comments on them.

Get outside, sit in the sun, Vitamin D is so good for you, not just muscles & bones but it makes you feel good - I have a lovely little sunny spot I sit in to have my brekky and read the paper, I also try to get out there for my cuppa's as well.

Make time for you - soak in a bath, get a massage, read a good book, do something that inspires you, catch up with a friend, walk to and from work (this is a great way to unwind after a busy day)

Get off the internet! instead of communication online do it face to face, meet up with friends on a regular basis. Facebook, Twitter and the like are great but we also need the face to face contact from people. How good is it when you meet up with your friends and you get that great big hug and then see the smile on their faces when they see you, the conversation goes from one thing to another in know time and to  literally laugh out loud with others is the best medicine.

Remind yourself how beautiful you are, be the best you can be, be kind, gentle and loving towards yourself  & others, don't hold grudges (this is so soul  destroying) always be there for yourself first and don't take yourself too seriously.

 Protect!

Protecting yourself is extremely hard but not impossible. You will need to sit down and make a list of people, situations, thoughts & lifestyle choices that may be issues for you and a hinderance to not being able to fully help yourself and recover.

Once you have made your list which may include the following:

Friends/Family/Acquaintance - jot down their name and add a reason beside it as to what the issue may be with them. For example: Joe - is extremely possessive! 

keep going with your list:

Work - I get tired and snowed under.

Thoughts - I'm constantly putting myself down, I feel like i'm a loser.

Lifestyle Choices - I cannot control my eating habits and I'm so lazy.

 Your list may be much longer than this example and thats ok, just work on them in the same manner as this example.

Looking at the issues on your list, starting at the top, think about how these people, situations etc impact on you as a whole, are there any ways you can help to manage these issues and manage them in a way that helps you! can you distance yourself from a friend that is continually using you as their sounding board or as their scapegoat (there may be people you cannot completely cut off but you can distance yourself from them) try not to be someone's "only" friend, in the end you will be dealing with all their "issues" making your situation harder to cope with.

Work: If work is an issue for you, you need to decide which areas are giving you the most stress and find ways to manage the stress. If it's deadlines that do it, try to stay focused, find a quiet spot in the office to work, away from the distractions & interruptions that can occur in a busy office area. You need to be firm with those people who are always asking you to do things for them (especially at time's where you have deadlines to meet) tell them that you are happy to do that for them but they will have to wait until you have met your deadline. (they will either be patient or do it themselves)

The workplace is one of the most stressful at times, whether it be meeting deadline's, keeping appointments, dealing with the public, issues with different staff personalities and also depending on the job itself, there can be a whole range of work related issues such as environmental factors and the like.

Most workplaces now have OH&S officers, counselling services and the HR department if you feel the need to talk to someone about your specific issues at work.

Thoughts: Your thoughts can be the most damaging, we tend to put ourselves down and not give ourselves enough credit. Thoughts of this nature can be very debilitating and take time to overcome. We need to focus on our good traits and habits and all the things we do that exceptional and we all have something that we are exceptional at. Our thoughts need to become positive one's, try not to put yourself down, instead of saying "I was no good at that and therefore I'm a failure", try saying " I did my best but I know I can do better next time" don't forget everything takes time and practice. Boost your ego by doing something you know your good at and accept the praise you get from others. Surround yourself with happy, healthy, positive people!

Choices: Some choices we make in life are good for us and then there are the choices we make that are no good at all. Some choices in my life have been bad eating habits, lack of exercise, caffeine & alcohol and my bad judgement when it comes to people. When I was diagnosed I made the stand to cut back on my caffeine & alcohol intake, exercise more (and I'm not talking marathons or the like) including things like cycling/walking, yoga & meditation, as long as I'm being active in some way. I also decided to eat a more healthy diet, the benefits of just some of the lifestyle changes was immense and I started to feel really good :-)

Well these are just some ideas for you, I will be back soon with more, in the mean time stay Focused, Happy & Healthy! xx