How do you Bring on Depression?

Hang on a minute...did you say how do I, bring on depression?? I don't bring it on! It just arrives! I don't choose it! 

I can hear you...I know that some of you will be thinking this when you read the title...but yes, I really do want to talk about how YOU create your own depressive state - and this is a good thing because if it is true that you bring it about then it also means that YOU are in charge of your state and can therefore change it.

What I want you to do is to really notice, really consciously notice what happens when you feel depressed. I want you to note what thoughts come to you JUST BEFORE the state of feeling depressed arrives, I want you to notice how you hold your body, what your breath does, what your face does, where your thoughts go next. I want you to keep noticing this and to keep writing it down somewhere until you see clearly how you are able to 'go to' depression and also how you are able to 'go away from' depression by countering the actions that led you there in the first place.

I use this method with my clients and it is incredibly empowering (for want of a better word, I feel that one is a bit overused)...go through the steps below and write down everything for at least a week, preferably for a month. 

1) Notice when you are feeling depressed and rate your depth of feeling from 0-10 0 being not depressed at all and 10 being the most depressed you have ever felt.

2) Notice how you are holding your body in that moment, have you hunched your shoulders, started to look towards the floor, moved your body closer together so it is less open...what does your body language look like when you are feeling depressed? Write it down.

3) Notice what is happening to your breath when you are feeling depressed, has it got shallower, has it become harder to breath? Does your breathing seem different in any way to normal? Write what you observe down.

4) Notice what you thought right before you felt depressed - was it a small fleeting thought? Did you think of a person? Did you think of a worry you have about the future? Did you feel sorry for yourself? Write down the thought you had no matter how vague that was.

5) Notice the predominant feeling that you have when you are depressed - use a different word other than simply to state that you feel 'depressed', look on a deeper level at it, are you worried, afraid, do you feel loss, anger, emotionless...write down the words that come to mind and pick out the one that was the predominant one in that moment.

6) Notice where you are - are you alone? With people? At a social gathering? At home? In a cafe? Write down your location when the feeling was strong.

7) Notice the time of day - write down the time of day or night that it was when you felt that way.

• Then I ask clients to keep a track of all these things for at least a week so that we can pick out patterns together and understand the picture that makes up their Depression Data. This data is then used to create the opposite effect. 

• Look at your data after a week or more and see where you can immediately alter your body language when you start to feel depressed - fling your arms open wide if you are normally closed, deepen your breath, lift your head up.

• Look at the thoughts you had to see where the real issue lay and get to work on that issue so that the root of the problem can be brought to light.

• Look at which settings can be triggers for you and get into a positive state before you enter them again and use different body language when you are there.

This is just a very quick overview of a more complex procedure, but it is a window into the room where we know and understand that we can alter our state very quickly and purposefully if we know what happens when our state is depression - all we need to do is change from following one pattern to creating a new one. We have the power to do that.

For more support and to ask me questions and get answers for free, I would like to invite you to join the intimate Facebook Group called Positive Potential where you can share in confidence with people who understand and who are there to support one another in their path to a more positive way of life. I look forward to meeting you there.

Love Nova xxx