Depressed / Can’t Sleep

Whilst there are many things I have mentioned you can do on a personal level thought-wise to rid yourself of the blues / panic or insomnia, I also suggest the following:

First of all, if you’re laying in bed and you can’t sleep after 20 minutes or so, I suggest you get up for an hour and then try returning to your bed. Should you stay in bed and think and think and think, you are beginning the association with the bedroom as yet another thinking place to air all of your troubles! When you start to associate this room as ONLY a place for relaxing will you find it easier to sleep.

CLEAN IT UP...

If it is cluttered, it will only cause you to be less inclined to go to bed or relax. Get rid of those stuffed toys, sporting equipment, old clothes / shoes lying around on the floor. Keep it tidy!

BEDROOM COLOURS...

NEVER have your wall colour or decorations in dark colours (dark blue, black, grey, etc) or too bright of colours (bright red, yellow, orange, etc) in your bedroom. This will NOT help in your relaxing for stress or depression. These colours stimulate you to a point of over-exaggerating your problems be it from stress or depression! You are wanting soothing colours in your room such as cream, light blue, pinks, purples, something bright without the dramatic colours! You get the idea.

YOUR OASIS...

Put your stamp of approval on it, make it yours. It doesn’t matter what another thinks (unless of course your significant other happens to naturally get involved), make it your place for relaxation.

I have found that painting a room is one of the cheapest ways to improve the look!

BOOKS...

If you have a favourite self-help book, I do suggest you keep it on your night-stand for times when you are finding it difficult to sleep. Reading for me is one of the FASTEST ways to become sleepy and divert my attention! Purchase a good book-light, I suggest personally you google Think Geek (in the US) and search in their site for “book light”, it is amazing, it does not disturb your partner with light in the room, not like any other book light I have used, for me, it is ideal!!! I will put a link up here later for those of you wishing to find out more about them!

ONE MORE THING...

Should ANY of you have questions that have not been answered, PLEASE contact me and I will do my best to help you! If it is appropriate for this site, I will post, however I will NOT give names or personal details in this site!

LOVE
*.*.*. JOY .*.*.*

EXERCISE

Sometimes it is difficult if not impossible to exercise or even want to for that matter, so, here are some ideas for you to get started no matter where you are at regarding nervous tension or depression...

1. If you are finding it difficult to get out of the house, take small steps, for example, walk around your back-yard, go to the letterbox, even just outside your front door, wherever you are at is just fine! Keep testing yourself every day and build-up the momentum, don't forget to PRAISE YOURSELF for EVERY EFFORT you make! Wherever you are is perfect for you! Reel in the feeling of accomplishing this task!
2. Either start to or when you have conquered the first step, try a quick walk every day, it doesn't have to be long, it could be just a few minutes to a walk around the local block.
3. Go for a 15 minute brisk walk. I find walking briskly gets the nerves down and becomes relaxing (This releases ENDORPHINS in the body, like a HAPPY TONIC). The more anxious you are, the faster you walk because when you get home and sit down, you will feel more relaxed within yourself!
4. Go for a 20 minute walk (see where this is going?), gradually build-up your exercise regime.
5. DON'T THINK THIS HAS TO BE DONE IN A DAY, WEEK OR MONTH, THE BEST ADVISOR ON THIS TOPIC IS YOU. YOU KNOW WHERE YOU ARE AT EMOTIONALLY AND YOU WILL "FEEL" WHEN THE TIME IS RIGHT TO INCREASE YOUR SCHEDULED WALKS - THIS GOES FOR ANYTHING YOU DO!

For those who have mastered the above or are already at this point, I suggest:

1. GET INVOLVED IN AN OUTSIDE ACTIVITY: Take that class you have always wanted to do, Meditation Classes (some may think this would be perfect to start with, however, sitting quietly with new people CAN (for some) be overwhelming to begin with), Yoga, Pilates, Boxing / Boxercise (a great one for stress, trust me;) ), Chi-Kung (very good, I love it), Table-Tennis, Chess (ANYTHING THAT GETS YOU INVOLVED IN THE COMMUNITY / MIXING WITH OTHERS), Art (My personal favourite).
2. Start an on-line chat group about something you ENJOY! PLEASE NOTE THIS: I would NEVER suggest you start one regarding Panic / Anxiety Attacks & Depression for the following reasons... I attended such a thing (Panic / Anxiety Group) and found it not only overwhelming because everyone wants to talk about their personal stories & problems, AND, they want to discuss the latest drugs on the market, etc. There may be some advantage, BUT, I did not find it. You can have friends with the same issues! The difference being, it is easier to tell them you don't want to hear their problems, just solutions and it makes it easier for you to change the topic should you become uncomfortable...!
3. Try to plan outings with loved ones, something you love to do, anything from a picnic at your local park to a day at the zoo, perhaps a bike-ride, the beach, an amusement park, museums, visit places that ring your bells. From that, each time you do this, you are WIDENING YOUR BOUNDARIES to the point where going to the local shops, work, etc seem INSIGNIFICANT in time!

That should be enough for today:)

One tip I have come across more recently and I am pretty excited about it. As mentioned on "Food Matters", they suggest for NERVOUS TENSION, to eat Cashews, this will help calm you down! You can check their link out, it is on the right hand side of this under "HEALTH MATTERS", they have a FREE PREVIEW AND YOU CAN ALSO WATCH THE WHOLE THING ON-LINE!!!

TO GOOD HEALTH

LOVE

*.*.*. JOY .*.*.*