Depression is like having a shadow cast over you and no matter where you go or what you do, it just seems to follow you. The problem is most people turn to medication to solve this problem and that can lead to serious complications. Ironically, it can even make the problem worst. You may want to deal with this naturally but not sure how to treat depression without medication.

I’m going to introduce you to a few proven methods that will help you deal with depression and many other problems. These are exercises that I do myself and know first hand what type of affect they can have on your mood. They are meant to strengthen and relax your mind, body and values/beliefs.

Before we get into that, let’s look at the negative side effects of depression.

The Sad State of Depression

Depression is a problem most of us face from time to time but it’s so bad in some people that it makes daily living almost impossible.

It can lead to:

• Underrating: This can lead to undernourishment and lack of energy.
• Self Doubt: You confidence drives you in life and can be the difference between success and failure. If you suffer from depression it’s likely your confidence is suffering which makes it hard to get out of tough times.
• Difficulty with Relationships: Being alone makes depression even worst and gives you more time to think about your situation. It may be hard to connect emotionally and you may not be able to keep friends.
• Feelings of Emptiness: You might feel unimportant or non existent which are all terrible feelings.

Obviously these are just a few of the symptoms and depression can look different for everybody. Some people may overeat to cope while others may self harm or drink.

Your quality of life is not would it should be with these feelings and it can lead to really unfortunate outcomes.

Depression can be defined as over catastrophizing the past, present and/or future. The next three exercises are meant to help you live in the present in complete comfort and to build your character.

Don’t wait until your depressed to do these either. Use these exercises as a means of prevention.

Exercise One: What Do You Value?

The first things you need to investigate is your values and beliefs.

Basically, there are two types of values:

1. Intrinsic, and
2. Extrinsic

Intrinsic values are based on cooperation, self improvement and building healthy relationships.

Extrinsic values are based on competition, money/material possessions and status.

The people who focus on intrinsic values are happier than those who focus on extrinsic values. There have been many studies on this and has always been proven true. In fact, it’s a proven fact that happiness doesn’t increase between a person who makes $70,000 dollars a year and a person who makes $5,000,000.

This is because you only need a certain amount of money to take care of your basic needs which includes shelter, food and being able to pay your bills.

Once your basic needs are meant it is more important to put your energy into self expression, self improvement and charity. It will bring more peace of mind and happiness than the pursuit of money.

This lesson is again reiterated in another study about lottery winners. The happiness that comes form winning millions and millions only lasts one year! After that they return to the same level of happiness they felt beforehand. There’s even a TV show called “Lottery Ruined My Life.”

This is because they didn’t grow as people.

It is important to note there’s a big difference of happiness between people who make $5,000 a year than people who make $50,000 to 70,000 a year. It is extremely difficult to cover your basic needs at $5,000 a year.

Ask the following questions to yourself for the next few weeks. Answer honestly and don’t stop until each answer is written down clearly.

What are my ideals? What do I really believe in?

What is my real ambition in life– and why?

Am I prepared to face the truth about myself and make a change?

Or am I liable to sit on both sides of the fence?

The next one is VERY important:

What are my faults? And what are my talents? What am I going to do about them?

What are the things which affect and worry me? Just how important are they?

Whether you realize it or not your values and beliefs shape your life more than any other factor in your life. “You are what you think.” All your decisions, thoughts and feelings start with what is important to you.

Putting these in order will do wonders for your mood going forward.

Exercise Two: Clearing the Mind

The first exercise is meant to act as a strong foundation to prevent depression and to build happiness; something that takes a few weeks to build and should be checked in on every once in a while going forward.

The second exercise is a daily exercise meant to clear your mind before bed and to prevent you from repressing your feelings. This way you don’t internalize them.

It’s very simple and only requires honesty and persistence.

Right before bed, write down the events of the day in a journal in reverse order. Think back and picture every moment and trace your steps until the moment you woke up.

Investigate and analyze all incidents, thoughts, feelings, motives, acts and words of the day.

You are trying to gain insight into yourself and see if you are truly living to your values and beliefs. Anything you learn just simply write it down and use it going forward.

Are you happy with how you acted? Are you embarrassed about something that happened? Did something upset you? Did you upset someone else?

You need to find the “why” to all these questions and any questions you can think of.

Once you do, you can use it to build your character. When done honestly, you can prevent and manage those moments that can lead to depression.

You can learn to navigate tough times and who and what to avoid. You can be more decisive and less worried and anxious.

The most important part of this exercise, besides honesty, is to remain emotionally unattached. Learn to forgive yourself for anything you did wrong and to feel good about what you did right.

As long as you are using the information to improve your life, why be mad at yourself? Rest easy and know you are on the road to a better life.

Learn to forgive other too. In most cases they aren’t even aware of what they’re doing and you’ll learn how to deal with that.

Lastly, your subconscious mind is unrestrained during sleep and you can gain important insights about yourself by analyzing your dreams.

Exercise Three (My Personal Favorite)

In the first exercise we discussed values and you can use that in determining an exercise routine for your body.

You can, like most people, pick a routine that only develops superficial muscles.

Having overdeveloped arms or chest is basically indifferent towards your overall health and in some cases be injurious though. It certainly won’t have lasting effects on happiness or mood.

Or you can pick a routine that develops the most important aspects of your body like your lungs, internal organs and skin function while giving you strong and proportional muscles.

I hope the second one sounds more appealing to you. If so, I’d like to introduce you to My System.

My System is a fast and easy routine that gives you amazing health results in just 15 minutes. It took fifty years to develop by JP Muller; one of the most influential health minds and decorated athlete of Denmark.

It combines exercise, deep breathing, self massage and your daily shower to help relax and strengthen your body inside and out.

No equipment is needed either.

Besides giving tremendous results on your body, each aspect is meant to lift your mood and clear your mind; making feelings of depression almost impossible.

There is a six week training course inspired by My System that will bring any beginner to advanced and make learning this powerful routine simple and easy; its benefits are endless.

Let’s briefly look at each step and its benefits.

The exercises:

• Gives you muscular strength
• Improves muscle tone and core
• Improves flexibility
• Improves coordination

The Deep Breathing:

• Improves lung function and metabolism (gives you more energy).
• Gives you confidence (anxious people breath shallowly)
• Clears your mind and slows your breathing (every time you are anxious you are breathing rapidly)
• Lifts your mood
• Increases ability to relax
• Helps with anxiety and stress

Self Massage:

• Improves the function of your skin. Your skin is important to your overall health and helps protect your body from germs and bacteria. It also helps remove toxins and waste from your body.
• Protects against early wrinkling and skin sagging
• Improves blood flow and complexion
• Improves the function of your internal organs by massaging the digestive system, kidney, liver and all the other organs that are extremely important to health.
• It feels amazing and relaxes your entire body.

Daily Shower:

• Teaches you how to safely and painlessly take cold showers which are better better for your nerves, mood, skin and hair.
• Keeps your body clean and prevents sickness
• Helps keeps your mind clear.

There’s nothing superficial about this workout.

You will have a hard time treating depression or being happy without health. My System will truly give you health in every important part of your body. It will not only strengthen you but deeply relax you; which can be the difference between depression and happiness.

This IS NOT Positive Thinking

This is seeing things the way they are. Only when you see things in their true nature can you be happy and conquer depression.

These are all positive actions that will lead to positive thinking, naturally. You won’t have to force yourself to think about good things or try tricking yourself into thinking things that aren’t true.

You will think positive things because you will genuinely believe in yourself and will genuinely feel confident. Your mind will be clear and sharp, your body strong and relaxed and your spirit joyous from high beliefs and values.

Your mind, body and spirit will be impenetrable. Feelings of depression and anxiety simply can’t exists in these conditions.

Know the difference between right and wrong, good and evil too. Be able to spot it in yourself and others so you prevent yourself from getting involved in bad situations (think of this as a fourth exercise).

Eventually all this will be instinct and won’t require a lot of thought or effort. You will gracefully be able to navigate life’s obstacles and be happy; even in difficult times. You just need to put in the effort now and have faith in yourself.

How Do You Feel?

I hope you  learned something new and feel excited aboutt your future. If you already knew this information I hope you found it reaffirming.

Please comment below any thoughts or opinions you have and I’ll make sure to respond. Also, share with friends and family on social media.

Make sure to explore this website too. There’s a ton of valuable information to improve your health and mood.

Thanks for reading!