Wemay feel low for a variety of reasons: no motivation, breakup, trauma, toxic office environment, depression etc. Every one of us goes through this at some point in time in their lives.
There are times when we feel this is it, we can’t do it anymore, we can’t try anymore. It seems very difficult to even do the smallest of things. I have lived like this for almost a year. I wasn’t able to understand what to do, what path to choose, from where to start. All I used to feel that I am broken into pieces and I am unable to gather those pieces to join them back together.
Whenever you feel you can’t do it, then is the only time when you have to do it -Anonymous
I have seen days where I would lie in bed for days without eating. There have been days when I didn’t leave the house for months except for going to the office. Constant feeling of anxiety, fear, sadness grappled me. It used to be very difficult for me to do anything at all.
Those were horrible days for me, and whenever I look back, a feeling of anxiousness comes running to me. After a little over one year, I decided I have to start from somewhere. I had no idea what my starting point would be — all I knew is that no matter how I felt, I will not give up.
I kept pushing myself to do things. Even a small effort used to make me better. This small effort was as small as standing in the gym for an hour without doing anything. I just used to force myself to go to the gym and then I used to stand. After 2 days, I started to do 1–2 exercises and within 10 days I felt it wasn’t that difficult to go to the gym and exercise.
I tried many methods, strategies to help myself.Some of them worked for me and some of them didn’t. Based on my experience, i am sharing 5 things that helped in my fight of dealing with a feeling of sadness, anxiety, pain and don’t want to do anything.
1. Laugh even if you don’t feel like laughing
As per an article published by Forbes, laughing is the best medicine because of the following reasons:
Laughter fosters brain connectivity
Laughter is central to relationships
Laughter has an effect similar to antidepressants
Laughter protects your heart.
Laughter is a potent endorphin releaser
Laughter contagiously forms social bonds
Laughter is a potent endorphin releaser.
Our brain lives either in the past or future. Whenever you are alone, observe yourself, you will always be thinking about the past or future and never about the present. All this is your brain doing, so you have to trick your brain. The more you laugh, the more you feel that everything is alright around you.
2. Spend time on your hobbies
I realized the importance of this when I started to sketch and paint again. Spending time on my hobbies used to take my mind off from the monotonous routine wherein I used to perform daily chores, but my mind kept on taking visits to past and future events.
My hobbies port me to a different world, and I feel happier after getting engaged in these activities. For me, hobbies are the way to live in the present.
As per research conducted by famous health psychologist Matthew Zawadzki, doing a mentally stimulating hobby reduces stress. It can provide immediate stress relief and lower the level of negative feels after the practice ends.
3. Try to meditate for just 5 minutes every day
When you are disturbed in life, mediating becomes very difficult. Whenever you start meditating, within secs, your mind starts thinking about things that have hurt you. You start listening to various people’s voices inside your head. All this happened to me as well.
In the beginning, it was difficult for me to even mediate for 10 seconds, but I ensured that I get through these 5 mins somehow and don’t leave. Today I may be able to get myself calm only for 1–2 minutes, but I will become better day by day. The trick in making this work is that we have to get through these 5 mins.
Many people say they get answers while they meditate. Though this is not the case for me, but it can work for you. You may get some answers in your meditation that will help you relax.
4. Go on a solo trip
Being alone for somedays, away from your regular life and regular people, will give you perspective on what you want at this point. It will provide you a sense of freedom. There will be no one to tell you what you should do and what you shouldn’t do. You will become the owner of your life.
You want to cry- cry, want to eat something good- eat, want to dance- dance. There are no rules when you are alone. Solo- trip to a scenic place has its benefit. The calmness of the mountains or the sound of the sea can help you relax. I lived in mountains for ten days alone, away from cell phones, away from everyone. It was just me with myself.
For two days I didn’t leave my hotel room. I cried a lot. I asked so many questions to myself. On the third day, I felt much better, and I left my room to visit some places. The moment I sat on the bench and saw the beauty of nature, I instantly felt better.
5. Don’t be in a denial, accept the truth
Denial is the worst thing that you can do to yourself. If we can indicate to our brain that we are happy by putting on a fake smile, then we can also indicate it to ignore the truth. The more you deny, it will become more and more difficult for you.
The thing with denial is that you can pass years denying something, but eventually, you have to accept the truth. Finally, when you accept the truth, you realize that so many days or years have passed. I lived in denial for many days. I used to ignore the fact itself that something bad has happened.
None of these will solve all your problems. But they call can be a start.
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This post was previously published on medium.com.
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Photo credit: Kristopher Roller in Unsplash