Meditation And Giving Thanks For Depression

by Gabrielle J. Melin, M.D.

Meditation

I view meditation as a way to invest time in you and you alone each day. We commit ourselves to many activities every day. Many of these activities likely are commitments to other people. Find a place that is relatively quiet to meditate and devote 10 or 15 minutes to meditation. Make it work for you. You can buy tapes, CDs, written affirmations or other material to help you meditate. Alternatively, you can repeat positive statements in your head, sing a song to yourself or visualize a peaceful place. Try different methods and find what works for you. Meditation is a powerful depression treatment tool and you will see results in a short time. You can use this virtually anywhere, anytime. Empower yourself, and share with others if you’ve had success using meditation for depression.

Giving Thanks Helps With Depression

Depression can zap your confidence.

Some days you may feel like you can’t even follow through with the smallest of tasks. Being grateful can do wonders for your mood.

This doesn’t have to be elaborate or detailed. I suggest that you write down three things each day that you’re thankful for. This can be three sentences or three words, the simpler the better. Keep paper or a journal by your bedside and jot in it daily. This can be at bedtime or in the morning, whichever works best for you.

What’s so nice about jotting down why you’re being grateful is that it doesn’t take a lot of effort and is very powerful. Looking back over what you’ve written can help you to evaluate and learn where you’ve been and who you have become. This is a simple, reasonable goal that you can accomplish. This will build up your sense of positive self worth. You can do it, and you deserve to invest in yourself.

From the Mayo Clinic Foundation