Mindfulness for Depression

2021 has been difficult in many ways and in different ways for everyone.  You’ve tried meditating but you can’t sit still.  Try mindfulness for depression instead – it’s easier than you think.  You don’t have sit and you don’t have to do it more than 1 minute!

Meditating doesn’t work (for you)

If you’ve been struggling during these past couple of years or whether you’ve struggled with mental health in other eras of your life, you’ve likely been told to meditate.  Meditation can be helpful to quiet our minds.  But, if you’re a particularly anxious person, sitting for even a few minutes – quietly – can be especially difficult.

Your mind starts to wander thinking about:

1. Your to-do list
2. Money
3. The dishes (or other household chores)
4. Work
5. Family
6. Other relationships
7. Car or house repairs

Whatever you are worried about is what you start thinking about because you’ve finally given your brain a chance to think about it.  So, this makes it especially hard to quiet your mind when you have so much to do.  Yet we know that quieting our minds are exactly what we need to do.  It’s a vicious cycle that we don’t know how to make better.  This is where mindfulness comes in!

Mindfulness for depression

What is mindfulness?  Mindfulness simply means being aware, being conscious, and being present.  Seems simple enough.  But, I know it’s not.  That’s why I will teach you how I mastered this even with my anxious personality!

Anxiety

I have always been an anxious person.  I’ve worried about everything.  The uncertainty of life caused me a lot of strife.  Despite all that, I have mastered mindfulness.  Here’s how I did it.

1. We all know that uncertainty exists and that life is everchanging – meaning, we don’t have the control we would like to have.  Knowing this is the first step.
2. For just one moment (and I mean just one moment) – just stop and look around – for 1 minute or even 30 seconds like this girl!

 

There, you did it!  You were being mindful and you didn’t even have to think about it.  I’m not kidding.  That’s being mindful and if you do that once a day, you’ll notice you’ll start doing it more – maybe twice a week, then 4 times a week, then everyday – multiple times a day.  This is actually how I mastered mindfulness for myself.

The problem with mindfulness for depression

The problem I was initially having (and I suspect it’s the same thing you’re going through) is that I was overwhelmed with sitting for even 10 minutes at a time – trying not to think about anything.  My anxious mind couldn’t deal with that.  But, once I took tiny baby steps by starting out with 30 seconds, I was able to make it to a minute without any effort.  Time just passed as I was being present.  You only need one moment.  One moment turns into 2 which turns into 10.  It’s a process and it’s OK.

The beauty of this trick

Here’s the thing:  it doesn’t matter when or where you do this.  It doesn’t matter what time of day it is or what you’re doing.  You can be working on your ‘to-do’ list or washing the dishes.  All you have to do is be ‘there’.  WASH the dishes.  Look at the dish water or your dish gloves.  Notice the warm, sudsy water.  Feel the dishes as you wash them.  Seconds and then minutes pass.  And, there you were – being mindful without forcing it!  Peace!

Conclusion

Whatever you are dealing with or how ever many times you’ve tried meditating, mindfulness for depression can help.  You just never knew how well you were doing it until you give yourself the permission to do it for just one minute.  Depression is a killer and if you want to feel better, you need to beat the depression and anxiety in a constructive way.  This is the way to start on that road.  Baby steps.