An excerpt for BELIEVING IS SEEING
“Keep physically fit is a must for us who are and who have been depressed. My walking not only restores harmony to the body but it restores my self-esteem and self-confidence. One of the major areas to remember when someone says that they are depressed is to recommend that they get some physical exercise. So many times when we find that we are depressed, feel listless and lacking energy we tend to recoil from any activity that attempts to force us out of our isolation and inactivity. At one time our lives, any task or type of activity, even the smallest might have been cause for happiness and a continued life of productivity. When we are depressed , we just want to lie down and sleep. We feel that we have no mastery in our life, thoughts and future. What we forget is that this is the innate nature of depression. We believe that there is no use in getting active because we just can’t get the energy to even attempt anything that requires a positive response.
Mastery is what we gain when we force ourselves to get out of bed, get going and start an exercise program on a regular basis.
“Walking is a very efficient exercise,” Dr. Leach asserts, “especially in terms of toning muscles and giving people a good feeling.”
Dr. Ralph Wharton, another psychiatrist tells us that “going for a walk prevents excessive preoccupation and rumination, and it distracts you from your own inner concerns.— after all you have to look where you are going.” Prevention Magazine, June 1985, Pg. 95.
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I can state for a fact, walking gradually helped clear my mind of the fog that had it imprisoned and in a lock down. It took awhile. It didn’t happen overnight. It was the sheer desperation and strong desire to free myself from whatever had me mentally paralyzed. It was months later when I slowly felt the fog begin to lift. Gradually the hollow feeling in the gut, the painful anxiety and trepidation that filled my body without letup all slowly dissipated. Because I feared that whatever brought me down would come back and bite me. I kept on walking. I have to say I really never had many down days in my life. I’ve suffered my losses and hurts like everyone else but I never had experienced the depth of the pain that made me scared, hopeless and helpless.
It was short time later when I had my old self again. My mood became hopeful. I could even feel a little cheery knowing that there was a light at the end of the tunnel. From that day forward, I knew that the secret of staying focused and upbeat was for me to walk everyday. And what lesson I learned from this was to reflect on what was going on in my life that preceded these dark symptoms of depression. I believe that symptoms of depression don’t just fall out of the sky–out of the blue. The way my thinking continuously cycled negative thoughts, producing negative feelings, and these gradually had me imprisoned and behind the bars of my fears and isolation from others. A gradual distancing my family and friends was the result of a deepening separation from everything that previously made my daily life pleasant and hopeful.
I also have written about this fact in our recent publication, I’ll do it when I feel better.