Beating Depression Naturally – Simple Steps To Get Back To Happiness

 “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” — Aristotle Onassis

Depression is one of the most widespread mental illnesses in the world. 1 in 5 people will experience depression in their lifetime. In Nigeria alone,  one million people will be suffering from depression at any one time.

I kniw few of those people.

It is hard to find words that give justice to how harrowing the experience is; but there is a way out and recovery is possible. Mild and moderate depression can be treated by understanding and working on your wellness.

Wellness meaning

What is wellness? There is a misconception that wellness is just being free from illness and is based on fitness and nutrition. However, wellness is so much more than this. Wellness encompasses you and everything around you, including your mind, body, soul, spirit, friends, family, work, communities and the natural world.  It is an ongoing a process of love, growth, change, education, awareness and acceptance.  It is ever-changing and challenging, but rewarding. Wellness is part of you, including everything you do and everyone you connect with.  Working on all areas of your wellness not only treats depression but increases your meaning, happiness and purpose in life.

Natural Depression treatment

There are many different treatment options for depression.  Natural therapies are a growing treatment as many of us are now looking for new approaches for recovery. There are many natural therapies that can help with depression; mindfulness, gratitude, physical activity, support, nutrition, natural supplements such as St John’s Wort as well as connecting with nature.

St John’s Wort

St John’s Wort is a natural antidepressant that works in a similar way to standardised antidepressants.  It has been proven to be just as effective for mild to moderate depression with less side-effects.  St John’s Wort can interact with other medications so please seek advice from your GP before taking.

Nature

Spending time in nature increases your wellness as it helps you feel grounded and connected to the natural world. Your levels of happiness will also improve. There are many things you can do in nature; hiking, swimming, mediation and reflection.  A mindfulness walk is a great way to increase your connection to the environment; it also lets you fully connect with your body in the present moment.

Here is a quick guide to mindfulness walking.

• Become aware of how your body feels and all sensations.

• Begin walking and keep paying attention to how your body feels as you take each step.

• Look around and pay attention to your surroundings, listen to the birds sing, the cars driving by, the man in the shop making a coffee, the heels of the women walking by.

• To help you be present, keep concentrating on your breathing.

• As your mind wanders, keep coming back to your breath, keep looking around- taking in every sight and smell.

• Practice for  5 minutes and try increasing it each week.

Work-life balance

Having a good work-life balance is essential for the mind and soul. Spend time doing the things that you love and that bring you joy.  If you are struggling to think of these then you can create a circle of joy. Write down all the things that have bought you joy in life and circle the ones that you think would still bring you the same joy today. Set yourself a task of doing one of these things each week.  Another fun thing that you can do is create a play area in your home; it can be in a drawer, in your wardrobe or under your bed. Fill this area with lots of fun things.

Here are some ideas to get you started.

A slinky

A colouring book

Twister

Jenga

Play doh

Bouncy ball

Yo-yo

Bubbles

Nutrition

Hippocrates, the father of medicine, said ’Let your food be your medicine and your medicine be your food’. Throughout its history, food has not only been used to nourish our bodies, but it has also been used for healing.

These foods, known as functional foods, or more recently labelled ‘superfoods’, contain nutritional benefits that improve our health and wellbeing. Not only do they have a long history of use with their medicinal benefits, but recent scientific research has revealed even more extraordinary benefits of these foods. Many fruits, vegetables, whole grains, dairy, legumes, nuts and spices contain effective nutrients that can prevent and treat depression. Conversely, studies also show the consumption of processed and fast foods can increase the risk of developing depression.

Spirituality 

Research has shown that connecting with your spiritual side enhances mood, reduces depression and heightens serenity. To find spirituality you need to be able to connect with yourself, those around you and with your environment. You can practice spirituality by being compassionate, forgiving, accepting and grateful. Here are some tips to help get you started.

• Keep a Gratitude Journal and list 3 things every day that you are most grateful for.

• Tell someone you love them and how much they mean to you.

• Look at the beauty around you and immerse yourself in nature.

• Smile at everyone.

• Nurture all your important relationships.

• Compliment someone.

• Thank the bus driver, postman, shop worker.

• Embrace life’s challenges and turn them into opportunities to grow and learn.

• Focus on your strengths.

Depression is a serious and complex illness. The first step is getting support. If you feel you may be depressed, please seek professional advice or contact

how to become tge creator of your life

How to Become The Creator of Your Life

“I don’t dream at night. I dream all day. I dream for a living.” – Steven Spielberg

Some of us live life on our own terms. Others surrender to their circumstances. But in doing so, they also abandon the vibrant force that guides all creation. They abandon serendipity, wonder, joy, radiance and all the tantalizing elements of creation. 

If you want to live a fulfilling life, you must know how to harness your own power to create. Here’s how to become the creator of your life.

1. Know your power

We’re not the spectators, but the creators of our lives.

To become the creator of your life, first you need to know that you are one. Take a few moments to review the major events that occurred with you in the past month or so. Realize how those events were a direct result of your choices. Some of those choices were made years ago. Some were made only recently. 

If you had made different choices, you’d be a different person today.

Realize that the source of creation works within us. The creative matrix exists inside us. If you want, you can change how people think, act and live. This ability to leave a dent on the universe symbolizes your power to create. Only by truly realizing this power, this creation, within each cell of your body, will you be able to dream your life into being.

Raise your level of consciousness. You are not here to be a puppet of big corporations, rigged government systems or even robotized education systems. Don’t listen to what others say about you. Listen to your heart.

2. See with your heart

The heart has its reasons that reason knows nothing of.

To create your life, first you must look within to discover your desires and then you must see the future with your heart. Your thoughts and visualizations have more power than you think.

The top athletes know how to harness the power of visualization. Here’s how positive visualization works. When your vision aligns with your heart, it draws energy from the infinite source, the divine ocean, and is translated into reality.

First, discover what you want. You don’t need endless thinking to discover your desires. Just listen to your heart. Tune-in and write whatever comes to mind. Soon, you’ll find a couple things that you really want deep down. 

Second, now that you know what you want, see yourself achieving it. How will you do it? What steps will you take? See yourself meeting the people you will meet, doing the things you will do, to realize this vision. Spend 5-10 minutes visualizing this way.

3. Take Action

If you want change, change your actions.

Most people go where the flow takes them. To become the creator create your own life, you must take conscious decisions.

Decide what you want, figure out a course of action and then just do it. Don’t think how it will turn out or what will go wrong.Doubt has killed many dreams in this world already. Don’t let it kill yours.

A practical step is to write a one-page action plan. In the previous step, you learned how to know what you want and see yourself achieving it. Now, you must write it down, list your goals and the key action steps.

To become the creator of your life, writing down your action plan is important. Because it solidifies your commitment and engraves it to your memory.

4. Have courage

“When we lack courage, we have to settle for the world that is being dreamed by our culture or by our genes — the nightmare.”. – Alberto Villoldo

Courage is essential to follow your heart. For example, if you want to be a singer, your family and friends may not support you to chase this goal. But if you keep going with dogged determination, you will attain the right skills and people will want to hear you sing.

Maybe you’d have to sing in restaurants first. But one day, if you keep trying, you’ll get that platinum record label deal.

People will stop you. You may not have the money. You may not have the skills. But you must be relentless. You must be willing to ignore the resistance and take bold steps towards your vision. 

Don’t choose comfort over courage. Osho said, “A comfortable, convenient life is not a real life – the more comfortable, the less alive. The most comfortable life is in the grave.”

How to create a Vision for your life

Topic - How to Create a Vision For Your Life – Four Simple Steps

You dreamt of becoming someone when you were a kid. But then you grew up and all hell broke loose. You stopped dreaming. 

Don’t fret. There’s still time left. 

Here is how to create a vision for your life.

1. Know what you want

Question: Who am I? What talent do I possess?

The biggest problem people face is that they don’t know what they want. They have jobs they don’t like and wait for the weekends to actually start living. So face the truth. What do you really want? What kind of career? What about relationships?

Self-awareness is the foundation of your vision. Great people clearly know what they want. Here are some questions to help you know what you are good at.

“What do people thank me for?”

“How am I different than others?”

“What makes me lose sense of time?”  

“Who inspires me? Why?”

“What would I do if wasn’t afraid?”

“What would I do if I had all the resources?”

How to create a vision for your life: Know yourself. Ask the right questions.

2. Set Inspiring Goals

Question: What do I want to achieve?

Once you are crystal clear about your passion and desires, set inspiring goals. Don’t be scared to dream big. What goals if achieved will make your life amazing?

If you like to sing, it might be getting a gig with a big record company. If you like fitness, it might be running a successful gym. Whatever it is you want, it is the seed of greatness within you. Believe in it.

If you think you are useless, think again! Even reading Facebook memes all day long can do wonders. Memes make people laugh. Don’t underestimate anything. Just launch your own blog or work for a top blog like Buzzfeed.

The golden word here is BELIEVE.

How to create a vision for your life: Set goals that excite you and bring a smile on your face.

3. Build Strategy

Question: How do I plan to achieve it?

There are many ways to build a strong strategy. Study the people who’ve already done it. This is the easiest way to achieve your goals.  

An important part of the strategy is to take leverage. The right strategy can save you months or years of failure. So do the necessary research and find the best way to move forward.

For example, if you aspire to become a professional singer, enroll in a singing class and look for singing gigs simultaneously. Make some music and create your own YouTube channel.

Write three to five concise steps explaining how you will accomplish your end goal. This is your strategy.

How to create a vision for your life: Learn from experienced people and build strategy.

4. Visualize and Write

Question: How will my life change if I reach my goal?

Now that you know the path you will take, see yourself moving towards your goals.

No, really see yourself. Give it a couple minutes.

What does it look like?

Write down one paragraph each for how your life will change in the following five areas:

Career

Family & Relationships

Spirituality and meaning

Finances

Health

However, you must focus on changing only one area of your life. Other areas will change in the process. But don’t try to do everything at once. Focus is important.

How to create a vision for your life: Visualize how it will change your life.

Now that you know how to create a vision, go try it.

Parental upbringing

 A boy was selling groundnut

to FCMB footballers who were about playing a novelty match. The MD was in attendance and everyone was in a joyous mood. They called the boy and asked him to sell all the groundnut to the footballers. After he gave them the groundnut , he was asked the price and he said everything was N2,100.00k, Ladi asked his PA to give him 10k but the small boy refused saying he doesn't know how to explain to his mom where he got 10k instead of 2,100. He refused the money that his mother will not accept it. Ladi was touched, he collected the money back from him and asked him to go and bring his mom. The mother was afraid and was crying but Ladi told him what happened and how impressed he was with the boy's upbringing. The boy was eventually given a scholarship for his uprightness and integrity.

This boy's father is late and was brought up by his mother with other siblings.  Despite their condition, he still held on strongly to their family values.

My submission, everything is from the home, if the home is good, the society will be good and if the home is bad, the society will be bad.

All our societal and national problems started from the home. Overall, the family system has broken down.

*Please share to parents and parents-to-be*

* Don't assist your child to procure "espo"

* If your child or ward brings home items you didn't buy for him/her, ask questions in patience. Without being scary

Then admonish him/her

* For your unemployed school leavers, watch the company they keep

Be wary when you see expensive items with them

* There's the age to admonish, age to be hard, even beat, and age to talk again

Everything is not beating... Makes children's heart hard

* May God help us in setting our children aright. May they become prides of the community

5 STEPS TO CREATING AND MAINTAINING A HIGH VIBRATIONAL STATE OF BEING

 #30dayswritingchallenge

Day 17

Topic - 5 STEPS TO CREATING AND MAINTAINING A HIGH VIBRATIONAL STATE OF BEING

To live in flow, we need to become familiar with existing in a high vibrational state.

The difficulty is that most of us are addicted to our own suffering.

Unconsciously many of us are focused on the ‘negatives’ in our existence.

When we focus on what’s wrong instead of what’s right in our lives, we lower our vibrational state.

The Law of Vibration states that everything in the universe is made of energy, and this energy is constantly vibrating at different frequencies. This includes your thoughts, words and actions.

So, by taking into account this law, it is safe to say – if you are consistently thinking about all the ways life has done you wrong, how people have hurt you or how nothing ever goes your way then you are going to find it hard to put yourself into a positive vibration.

So how do we shift our thinking from low vibrational to high vibrational? Well as most of us are not used to this way of being.. It’s going to take a little bit of effort.

In order to regain control of your vibration, you must learn to cultivate and nurture it. You have to increase your awareness of your own thinking, speaking and acting and be willing to self-analyse and self-adjust.

5 Steps To Creating And Maintaining A High Vibrational State Of Being

1. Hold a vision for your inner state

Before you start to create your vibration or ‘state’ it might be a good idea to consider first, what it is – that you want your state to look and feel like. Consider it to be your vibrational road map. Think of energies and feelings you enjoy and that make you feel GOOD – these are your secret weapons.

2. Remove the attachment/addiction to suffering

Take responsibility for your emotional wellbeing and learn to detach from the suffering you have experienced. So much of human suffering exists because of our obsession with holding on to pain. We keep our pain alive by re-telling stories over and over again. This is not to discount pain, it is so important to honour and validate our wounds, but we don’t need to constantly reopen them in order to heal them.

3. Practice creating your state

Learn to cultivate joy in your life in a way that you love. This could be through dance, meditation, prayer, cooking, singing or walking at the beach! There are countless ways you can create a beautiful state for yourself.

4. Accept when things knock you off the path

Pain in life is guaranteed. Suffering is optional. Accept that sometimes things will knock your vibration down, but you must make it your business to redirect yourself with consciousness back to a beautiful state of being.

5. Be the boss of your vibe

This is probably an overly simplistic statement but really, you just need to decide once and for all that a beautiful state is your baseline. Do not allow yourself or anyone else to alter or affect that. This is your life, your experience, and it won’t last forever.

You deserve to be happy, abundant and fulfilled. Make a beautiful state your number one focus today and see how much your life changes.

 

#hallover_diary

If i die today

 #30dayswritingchallenge

Day 18

Topic - IF I DIE TODAY

If I died today would I be proud of the life I lived?

Death… It’s the one thing that puts everything else into perspective.

Thinking about your own death, can be the best thing you can do for your LIFE… and how you LIVE that life before you die… Why? Because it forces you to reflect on some very important questions…

If I die tomorrow…Was I happy? Would I be proud of the person I have become?

Was there love in my life? Did I give enough love? Did I show those I love the REAL ME?

Did I live the life I WANTED TO LIVE? Or was my life made up of things I should’ve let go? How could I have brought more happiness to my life and the people I really cared about? Could I have done things better? Differently? How?

Will I be missed? What will I leave behind? Will anyone on earth be better because I was there?

Thinking about your own death forces you to self- examine your life… and gives you the OPPORTUNITY to take responsibility for that life… for all the areas you have not been at your best, and therefore the opportunity to DECIDE TO DO BETTER FROM THIS MOMENT FORWARD.

Sitting, alone, with your thoughts… and thinking about your passing is perhaps the healthiest thing you can do for your life if you want to improve it. And the truth is, none of us know if we are going to wake up tomorrow. None of us come here to earth with any guarantees.

That is why we should all… very often… think about the ONLY real guarantee… and this is of our death… and the possibility it might be sooner than we think… and because of that LEAVE NOTHING FOR TOMORROW.

If you don’t like who you’ve been up to this moment – MAKE A CHANGE… AND MAKE IT NOW.

If you have a broken relationship with someone you really love – MEND IT NOW. If you can give more love – GIVE IT NOW. If you can play more and work less – DECIDE AND COMMIT to that NOW. If you can do anything to improve the quality of your life – MAKE THAT COMMITMENT NOW.

Write down everything you must change in your life NOW. Everything that can not wait for tomorrow.

Every phone call you need to make. Every apology. Every hug you need to give. Everything you need to say.

Decide to stop caring about what other people think of you. Start living the life YOU really want to live. Start feeling the way you deserve to feel. Start loving the way YOU want to love.

Bring your defences down. Drop your guard and open your heart.

Write a list of the amazing experiences you’re going to commit to experience before you go.

Think about how much better all your relationships will be when you open up, when you are your true self, when you are PRESENT, living in the moment and let go of all care for others opinions and judgements.

Think about the amazing life you can live when you let go of societies expectations and the seriousness most people live with.

Get excited about your life. LOVE YOUR LIFE… while you are LIVING IT.

#hallover_diary