September 9, 2014
There is no doubt that when you feel depressed, your motivation to do anything is below zero. However, it is important for you to get moving. It is impossible to beat depression by just staying in bed feeling sorry for yourself. Something that might help you get out of bed and moving is putting together an exercise routine.
When I was dealing with my own major depression, I was lucky enough to have had been practicing martial arts since I was 19 years old. Thus, when I was in graduate school and I started to hit rock bottom with my depression, I began to realize that whenever I went to work out, hitting and kicking the punching bag as hard as I could for at least 10 minutes was enough for me to start feeling better. Thus, I made that a routine and regardless of how down I was feeling in any specific day, going to the gym to work out is something that I pushed myself to do. I knew that there was always the reward that I would be feeling much better by the time that I left the gym. The best thing is that it never failed to make me feel better. Thus, I never thought twice about working out.
However, you don’t really have to do as rigorous of a workout as martial arts. Many studies have shown that any type of exercise will lift up your mood. In this day and age there are so many types of exercise routines that it is almost impossible not to find one appealing to you. Even a dance class or walking is considered a good option for exercise. I remember that when I lived in Fargo, North Dakota, on occasions I would feel particularly depressed late at night and I would take a walk through downtown for at least one hour and by the time I got back I was feeling far better than when I started my walk.
Putting an inventory of exercises that can help you achieve a sense of peace and satisfaction is something that can get you through another day.