'The other day I was feeling down – pretty far down actually – and it is so unlike who I am now, that it was a bit of a blow. Now that it’s over, I thought I would share my thoughts on what I’ve realised about it and some of the best ways to move on up!
Firstly, (now I don’t know whether it’s being a guy, or whether it’s my law of attraction beliefs that stop me from talking to anyone about it when I am there) I don’t talk about it to anyone – even if they ask. A couple of friends contacted me (one by phone and the other by email) and I just told them I felt more down than I have felt for years and didn’t want to discuss it (because there was nothing essentially any more wrong than the day or two before, so, apart from not wanting to give it more than 16 secs of thought, I didn’t know what to say).
This is an important point friends. If you start ‘sharing’ and attempting to get to the bottom of it through traditional counselling (which worked brilliantly for me 10 years ago, so this is no criticism) and psychotherapy, most will probably seek to get you to see that things aren’t so bad – but first they want to know more of the depression itself so they know what they are dealing with. Friends will usually be sympathetic and encouraging (unless they’re some of my male friends 
).
Well, that’s all well and good – but do you want to spend any more time there than you need to? NO! Can you see that any engagement with this ‘feeling down’ may keep it going?
I thought I’d start with some ideas to help you re-frame your thinking so you can tune into well-being again faster, then I’ll go on to why I believe it happened, and finally on to some quick steps for coming out of it.
What goes up must come down!
When you’ve been living a fabulously joyful life experience without any cares about money or health or love, it’s just a matter of time until society will creep in and remind you that we are in a deep economic crisis, people all about us are falling victim to terrible diseases and life can be a lonely place without that special one to share it with. (Turn off the TV and Radio and avoid newspapers – I beseech thee! I don’t really talk like this, it just seemed more emphatic….)
You have just experienced a contrast, and you have to know how bad things can be so you can send out more rockets of desire to get back on the good foot (thank you James Brown). If you aren’t aware of the term in this context I’ll explain. If you are unwell, you wish to be well. If you are poor you’d like to be rich. These are contrasts and they usually work in the way that the more of the ‘un’ you have, the more of the thing you want.
I have an analogy of waves to explain life. Surfing down the face of a beautifully formed wave in the gorgeous sunshine on a fabulous beach is almost as good as it gets – and the bigger the wave (within reason) the more exhilarating. But get dumped by that wave and you’ll be tumbling about underwater, running out of air, salt water up your nose (and in your stomach), not knowing which way is up, and with sand going into places sand should never go. Not pleasant at all – and sometimes too much for some people.
Do I go out for another wave? Hell yeah! To me it’s all part of the life experience to be exhilarated. Life ebbs and flows – it must be.
Now, just before you think I’m a surfer of any kind – I am talking body surfing or belly board stuff here. I’ve not had the devotion to board surf – yet.
Esther Hicks talks of a trampoline analogy to explain life which ties in with my title (although we go ‘down’ the face of a wave and come ‘up’ for air, so mine isn’t too bad) and goes on to explain how to tune yourself into an improved ‘down’ experience,
So – what is it?
I’ve worked out it’s simply a huge attack of resistance. If you are reading this you probably accept that we are vibrational beings that mainly run on electricity, and you may have heard of the little things in electronics called resistors. These create a graduated reduction (with some other characteristics) to a flow of energy. We’re much the same. Whenever we feel a little bad that is a little resistance – some old programming is ‘resisting’ the improved you that you’ve asked the universe to allow you to be. When we feel big bad it is big resistance – life resistance…..
I worked out (once I was up) that I wasn’t totally living the life I had sent so many rockets of desire out for me to be. I’d forgotten basic things that define my physical experience – my values. My breathing exercises hadn’t been done for some time. I wasn’t meditating daily. Apart from dancing, I was doing no physical exercise. I wasn’t making time for my hobbies. I was re-engaging with some old bad habits. Even though I was operating well in so many areas, I had lost my way a little.
I WAS NO LONGER A VIBRATIONAL MATCH TO THE ME I HAD LONG SINCE DECIDED WAS THE ME I WANTED TO BE!
And that is what made me feel so bad. The stuff in my life that wasn’t working was just stuff. I was resisting myself!
So, how to come out of it quickly. (I have written about this before from more of an NLP angle – so if you want some mind technology read it here.)
- Go for a long walk with your head up (important) and your MP3 player plugged in (playing your favourite songs)
- Recognise that the down is the yang to the yin and is part of the same thing. (Won’t it be great when I’m back up…..)
- Sing those favourite songs at the top of your lungs (even the sad ones – crying is healthy if its not constant)
- Do deep (diaphragmatic) breathing. This stimulates Chi energy and subsequent well-being
- Do not criticise yourself for being down. It is meant to be – you can’t always be riding the wave, but as you get better at it, you’ll stay on the wave longer.
Remember, it is the meaning you give feeling down that will usually dictate how long you stay there and how soon until you move on up!'
