Those who follow my journey on Facebook and Instagram know that I went through a severe depressive phase in my life. There was this constant surge of emotions and I felt that I was of out of control. Some days I’d be happy and chirpy and on some I’d cry for hours. I was also under medication for two years. However there were side-effects of the medication and that’s when I switched to alternate therapies like CBT, NLP and Storytelling.

In today’s post I want to share the lifestyle changes that I embraced during that phase and still continue to practice.

• Decoding my Inner Narrative:

Inner Narrative or Self Talk determines the way we feel and also influences the choices we make and the decisions we take. Most of us are unaware of the inner chatter that keeps going on. For many of us it has become like a background score and for me it was as if I was walking with a Walkman in my head. As I learnt the personal development tools I spent time daily to decode my inner world and the stories that I told myself. I’ve written about this in detail in these following posts.

What’s your Story?

Rewrite your Inner Narrative

You can also watch my YouTube video where I talk about my experience of decoding my inner narrative.

• Sunlight:

This is the most important change that I embraced. As I worked in shifts and spent 8 hours in a cubicle and 4 hours travelling, I wasn’t getting any sunlight. That meant Vitamin D deficiency. This led to exhaustion. However I found it challenging to wake up early in the morning. So I decided to sit on my bed open the curtains and soak in the sunlight. This helped a lot. Within a week’s time I began to notice a shift in my physical sensations and felt energetic.

• Diet:

I recently read in an article that animals have a diet while humans go on a diet. Isn’t it strange? I worked in an environment where junk food was easily available and naturally I made unhealthy choices. However when I chose to eat fruits, salads, nuts and sprouts in my diet I saw a significant shift in my feelings. When I’d feel hungry instead of eating biscuits or chips, I chose fruits. Most of the time hunger is masked by the feelings of thirst. So having a fruit satisfied that thirst and the cravings too.

• Movement:

I wasn’t getting any movement. I did all the household chores but that’d exhaust me and not exert me. So I enrolled for a Kathak class on weekends. This made me connect to a new group of like-minded people and also made me move. You could join a gym; try yoga, Zumba or any other form of movement that you enjoy. The key here is movement plus enjoyment.

• Reading:

This has definitely been the biggest shift that I made. As I got busier, reading took a backseat. However since 2011, I made a choice to read some fabulous books on psychology, neuroscience and memoirs. This has shifted my mindset, thought process and also the way I connect to my ‘self’ and others. I’ll do a separate post on the books that I read.

• Investing on myself:

Every year I have decided to save money and invest in learning something new. Over the years I’ve learnt CBT, NLP, Storytelling, Acting, Core Transformation, attended workshops on Kathak with Vishal Krishna ji and Sanjeevani Kulkarni Bai, cleared 3 levels of Kathak, 1 level of Hindustani Classical, learnt to ride a bike and drive a car. These little milestones have created a huge impact in shaping my current identity. Learning something new kept the curiosity in me alive, helped me to network and build my own tribe.

So these were some shifts that helped me to navigate through the depressive phase. If you know anyone who is going through a low phase or if you are going through such a phase I’d highly recommend to try all or some of these techniques. You may never know what may work for you, so do give it a try.

How have you dealt with the low moments in your life? What are your strategies? Let the conversation begin in the comments. I would love tod read your views.

Lots of Love & Gratitude,

Gayu