Maria Duval - Know How To Overcome Depression

Know How To Overcome Depression
There are times in a person?s life where loneliness and lack of contentment is experienced. Depression is a state where an individual feels bored and sad. This feeling can be disturbing especially when a person seems so low and cannot overcome the obstacles that he is experiencing.

Many have thought that this emotional problem is not that serious to worry about. Studies have proven that this state of depression can be an illness and must be treated. Some depressed people may go to a physician for check up and consultation. It could be more advisable if the person would see a therapist.

Most depression therapists are very good in finding the reason why a person became depressed. The process in which a therapist treats depression is through emotional and psychological approach. On the other hand, a doctor will recommend patients to take anti depressant medicines. There are instances that have happened where a doctor treating a patient for depression was involved in such controversies where improper medications were applied.

An expert for depression would classify a depressed person if he shows some symptoms of significant weight loss, increase in appetite, loss of agility, or weight gain because of excessive eating. Others who are depressed may also encounter problems in sleeping or insomnia, over sleeping, decrease of sexual interest, and the lack of interest in lifestyle activities.

Some indications of depression may also come in a more emotional approach like the feeling of sadness and boredom, feeling of being a useless individual, the feeling of guilt to oneself, the feeling of being undecided to some simple decisions, and the decrease of the ability of the mind to think and concentrate. The most frightening symptoms of depression may come if a person is always thinking of his death or an individual wants to commit suicide.

Here are some ways to deal with depression in a personal approach:

1. A person must force himself to go outside. Do not even bother if the climate is not that good. Try to have a walk outside, read a book, or even try to write a poem. This can be an effective idea to overcome the depression rather than staying on the room alone.

2. It is always better if there are people that will support the person in depression. It is recommended that a person seek for a friend or a companion while he is still in the stage of recovering depression. If the individual is not use to this kind of therapy, the Internet should be a very good resort to find ways how to find ways to treat this kind of illness. It could be a little awkward to find some other people who are experiencing depression, but there is the possibility that there are others out there that can relate.

3. It is advisable for the individual to write what he feels at the moment. If there are no friends to tell what the problems are, he may try writing about the feeling so that the hatred or sadness will subside. Holding the feeling can just add more depression.

4. Meditation can be a good tool to overcome the depression. Deep breathing and good relaxation can relieve anxiety and pressure that may lead to depression.

Depression can be treated if the person realizes that he must also do his part on overcoming the illness. If these recommended ways do not show any development to let go of depression then it should be best if the person seek the help of a doctor or a therapist.

Robert Thatcher is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino, California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides depression resources on www.aboutdepression.info.

A General Introduction To Meditation
Meditation is the primary means of cultivating the inner peace and happiness that we all long for. Inner peace and happiness are found to be resident parts of our inner nature when we are able to take away the barriers in our nervous system from the purifying influences of yoga practices. Inner stillness is the essence of enlightenment, and how do we nurture this in ourselves? - Through deep meditation. Scientific studied even found explanations to confirm some benefits of meditation. These studies point out that meditation shift the brains activity from the stress-prone part to the calmer part of the brain. This mind exercise lessens the effects of stress, anxiety, and depression. They further found out that the brain processes lesser fear due to the changes in the brains activities. Meditation is merely conscious relaxation. It is a process which involves the mind to achieve a state of serenity or bliss. This may sound like someone being sedated. Actually it does. Meditation is a deeper form of concentration. If we are to give a concrete way to illustrate it, lets use water as the example. If you start pouring water from the pitcher to a glass, the first few drops would be considered concentration, however a steady flow is obtained after that which is likened to meditation. The unsteady first drops and the small splash they make are considered the distractions in concentration. A deeper state, which is the steady flow in the example, characterizes meditation. Thus, it clearly frees the mind from any clutter and distractions. Stress has always been one of the reasons that people are resorting to meditation. A lot of unpleasant consequences have resulted in ones inability to cope up with stress. Some have found solace in taking calming medications or pills to temporarily get rid of these thought s and feelings. But unfortunately, these only provide fleeting relief. After the medicines wear off, it is back to the pit again. Unless you try to overcome these negative thoughts and feelings with your mind, it will always succeed in getting the better of you. So how do you go about meditation? It is simpler than people thought it to be. You only find a quiet spot, sit comfortably, relax your emotions and concentrate on an object to meditate on. It is important to just think of a single object and concentrate on it. Some distractions like other objects will come into focus. Drive your mind away from those. They will only break your concentration. You can still hear the sound around you, but when youre deep in thought about your object of meditation, even those will not disturb you. It is always important to prepare yourself before doing meditation. Getting yourself in the right mind set and setting a spiritual atmosphere will help a lot in the practice of meditation. To do this sit in Easy Pose with a straight spine. Hands are in the lap, palms up, right hand resting on top of left and the thumbs touch and face forward. Overall meditation is often cheaper than a other forms of relaxation. If you use tools like CDs or cassettes or if you ask the help of a friend to guide you, it wouldnt cost you as much as a private session would. Though, these private sessions are considered as meditations as well. Meditation can make you understand the basics of meditation more clearly. It can help you get rid of all distractions and meditate more effectively. Most of the meditation has particular goals, from physical healing to spiritual-related goals. While meditation may be used to achieve healing, the guides are not the healers though. Your naturally healthy state is just being restored through the flow of energy freed by your meditation.

Jason Story found his lifestyle change when he found Pilates & meditation and uses a mari winsor pilates techniques as much as possible. You can visit his sites at: Pregnancy Winsor Pilates.

Meditation: Choosing the Right Meditation Pillow
Whether you realize it or not choosing the right meditation pillow can make a huge difference to the success of your meditation session. Most people when starting out on learning the technique of meditation will simply sit on the floor and try to meditate with no support at all. However, trying to maintain the right posture for any period of time is quite a challenge and will simply lead to an unsuccessful meditation session. Before choosing a meditation pillow you must first understand where you are going to be undertaking the meditation session. For example, you will need a different style of meditation pillow for soft grass to meditating on wooden floors or on concrete. If your meditation session is to be undertaken on grass then you simply need a light weight pillow which has a soft inner fill. Generally a nylon based fill for this type of session will suffice. It is also worthwhile getting a meditation pillow that is machine washable as well because if you are sitting on this pillow on the grass it will get dirty and if you do not wash it, you may find that the grass stains will not wash out after a while. If you are meditating on harder surfaces like wood or concrete, I recommend using a two stage pillow. Essentially, the base of the pillow is a solid style foam, with the top part of the pillow being made of either duck down or a soft synthetic inner fill. You will find that if you use a normal pillow on harder surfaces for any period of time that you will find it difficult to get up or more so, a sore rear. If you are not comfortable during your meditation session then the bottom line is that you will focus on the discomfort rather than the meditation. If you find sitting up straight on the floor difficult to do, you can purchase from quality meditation suppliers, meditation pillows that also include a back support as well. The meditation pillows that contain this are almost like chairs for the floor. The key advantage of this style of meditation pillow is that by keeping your back straight, during the meditation session you will be helping ensure that you control your breathing more effectively. I certainly encourage you to try out your meditation pillow before you buy. Ensure that when you sit on the pillow that it supports your weight and that you are not sitting directly on the floor. Make sure also while you are sitting on your pillow that it does support your back and that you do not naturally slump over on the pillow. For an effective meditation session, you need to ensure that you have a well structured posture, that you are comfortable and that you can relax without any niggling pain or pressure. Be aware that if you feel an unusual pressure as you sit that this is the first warning sign that you are about to experience pain in that area.

If you are looking for effective Meditation Music for your meditation sessions please feel free to visit our website. Downloadable and MP3 versions of our meditation music are also available.

Thinking About Thinking - Part 1of 2
How much time do you spend just thinking? Take a guess - how much during any given day, week or month? I'm don't mean the kind of thinking you do while driving in your car, commuting on the train, during your morning run, or even in the shower. I'm referring to the kind of thinking you do ensconced in your office, or your den, or perhaps your garden. You are not reading a book or a magazine, nor watching TV, nor listening to music. You are simply thinking.

How much time do you spend doing that? Most of you will answer little to none. Many people consider spending time "just thinking" to be a luxury. After all, you have real problems - customers, employees, investors - all wanting some of your time, all wanting you to do something. And in our action driven society, we need to be doing something - much of the time we seem to be doing two or three things at once. But thinking?

It seems silly to rhetorically ask why this is so important. Thinking is the process by which companies and people create intellectual capital and knowledge. Thinking is the way we actively develop new ideas, rather than reacting to our current circumstances. Thinking is how we invent strategy. Thinking is one of the hardest things there is for people to do, let alone do well. But to figure out how to make the most of your precious resources, to leap ahead of your competition, and to master the ever-accelerating pace of change, you have no choice. You have to think about things.

There seem to be two broad categories of thinking. One category consists of free-form activities like daydreaming and meditating, and I will address these in a later column. The second category includes the disciplined process of asking questions and trying to answer them. This is the practical side of thinking and is the perspective of this article. Does it make sense to write a brief article about thinking? Not a learned, academic treatise on cognitive science - but a short pragmatic missive, practical and prescriptive. I think so. I think clarifying the concept of thinking gives people a way - a process - and perhaps provides greater access to thinking.

When I think about the issue of thinking, what am I really doing? I am asking a question - I actually say to myself - "what is thinking?" I might further ask, "what does my mind do when I try to think?" Or maybe, "How can I think without asking a question?" And so on. I don't get very far with all of this, because no matter how I try to direct my thoughts, I discover that I am always asking a question. Every single time.

This would be hard enough if all there was to it was asking good questions. But for the process to be of real value, I have to consider answering the questions as well. Or at least I have to consider possible answers. So my simple definition of thinking is: asking questions and considering possible answers.

Why don't I just say answering questions rather than considering possible answers? Because generating definitive, single-pointed answers is only one kind of thinking. The second, perhaps more powerful kind of thinking - particularly in the realm of strategy - is known as inquiry. In the process of inquiry, you ask questions and look at possible answers. Your goal is not a definitive answer, for that would bring the inquiry to a close. Rather you peel back the question, like the leaves of an artichoke, revealing more questions, and more possible answers, and so on. At some point, you get to the heart of the matter, just as you get to the heart of the artichoke.

To think about an issue, focus your mind by asking one or more germane questions. Each question should be designed to elicit a response driving your mind in a particular direction. You can ask questions serially, answering each in turn, or stack your questions one on top of another, attempting to answer the whole lot of them at once when the time is right. Sometimes your answers will give birth to more questions. Even your unanswered questions will sometimes yield more questions.

When do you cease asking questions? When you have thought the thing through - when you have developed sufficient ideas that profoundly illuminate your original question.

There are other criteria for stopping your questioning. You might decide to inquire into an issue for a fixed period of time, say thirty minutes, or seven days. Or, you might ask a question with the intent of coming up with fifteen or twenty new and provocative answers. You might decide to keep asking questions until your answers yield no further questions, or until your questions yield no further answers. You might not decide any of these things and simply stop when it feels right - when you feel you have the "right" answer. Or you might not stop at all, instead engaging in the question continually.

Then there is the issue of answers. I've always liked those 8-Ball fortune geegaws which offer the same answers no matter the question. But what distinguishes thinking from mere questioning is developing answers authentically and responsibly. I think it is the commitment to come up with a useful answer, rather than saying "I don't know" or simply trotting out some time-worn old bit you know will fit, but not really add anything.

Many times you have no idea as to what an answer might be. What do you do then? One of my favorite perspectives is, "Well if you did know the answer, what would it be?" Another useful perspective is to simply invent an answer. Make one up and see if it fits. Trust your subconscious. Access all of your stored knowledge and experience - it just might come through for you. I think that is thinking.

What kind of questions should you ask? I have no idea, but it's a good question. Since I am unable to answer it, I have decided instead to offer 16 questions about strategic direction. I think these questions are worth asking. Please substitute we for I, our for my, my company for I and me, as appropriate.

What is my purpose?
What do I want (to be, to do, to have) that I do not already (be, do, have)?
What am I thinking is the real thing, when "the real thing" is simply substituting for something that can really make a difference?
In what ways am I being effective? In what ways am I not being effective?
What isn't getting done that needs to get done?
What doesn't exist in our market, which people want, and we could deliver?
What other ways would people like to get what we give them?
What are we doing that we want to stop doing?
What would make us happy?
What did I forget?
When will we be ready?
How hard are we willing to try to make it easy?
What aren't we taking on because we don't think we know how?
What is the most important thing, right now? What will be the most important thing next month?
Who could help us?
Where are we looking for answers, and where not?

I hope these questions get you thinking.

Business Coach, Paul Lemberg is the President of Quantum Growth Coaching, the world's only fully systemized business coaching program designed to rapidly create More Profits and More Life? for entrepreneurs.