Turning Depression into Expression (Part 1)

Depression is one of the greatest emotional toxins we are dealing with in the 21^st Century. In fact “340 Million people suffer from depression and rising." (Answer.com). There are many levels to treating depression and depression itself can be seen along a spectrum from mild to debilitating.  For the purposes of this post I refer to deression as a "Depression/Supression of thoughts and emotions"  and look at how we can reverse the cycle of depression of emotion and turn it into expression.

Between the ages of 12- 18 I suffered from what I know today to be Depression. I refer to those years now as my dark years, the decade where I began to lose myself. It seriously has taken me aver 2 decades to realize that what I went through was depression and 2 decades to realize what depression really is. Two decades to admit to myself what I went through and 2 decades to realize how I can break the cycle of emotional distress.

Firstly let’s look at what emotion is.  Here is a simple formula:

THOUGHTS + FEELINGS = EMOTIONS

We have a thought and then attach a meaning to that thought which creates a feeling within. The feeling we attach to that thought creates our reality. For example if we have a thought and we attach anger to it, it makes us feel angry. That feeling in turn has certain Energy about it (as we know everything is made up of energy, especially our feelings) Therefore we can see that emotion is the ENERGY we attach to a feeling. Or simply put emotion = ENERGY IN MOTION. And if we can chose the feeling we attach to a thought then we can create lighter more positive energy and therefore create positive emotions within.

Here is the key…Energy has to be channeled and directed somewhere, so what happens when we suppress or DEPRESS our thoughts? We are a society which has been conditioned to suppress emotions. Most people cannot embrace the pain around feeling, as Freud said, we are a society who would do more to avoid pain then seek pleasure. So rather than feeling and dealing with emotions  we PUSH all that energy down into our selves- that energy gets locked within our bodies on a cellular level- it gets stuck in our cells.

So what happens to that energy? Here is a “scientific” answer, The energy stays stored as potential energy until it is discharged into another form of energy.” Read more:  If we are not dealing with and feeling that energy, if we are blocking that energy, it turns into the negative emotion we label as anxiety or depression. That energy turns into a feeling of restlessness, anxiousness, nervousness. It leads to erratic thought and scattered energy with no focus and direction. It is like an explosion of energy rather than “EMOTIONAL CONTROL.”

So now that we see that ALL we are dealing with is energy management we can begin to do something to CHANNEL this energy OUT of our systems. We need something that can reverse the suppression and depression of energy(emotion). So therefore to reverse the cycle of depression the answer is to

TURN DEPRESSION INTO EXPRESSION

EXpression can be seen as the channel to allow emotion (energy) to EXIT the body. This expressive energy can now be called our CREATIVE ENERGY and we can chose many ways to express this creative energy. Creative energy is powerful, dynamic and is the source behind artistic genius. This Creative energy and creative potential exists in ALL OF US! Especially when we learn to turn that negative suppressed energy into creative expression.  The Amazing Dan Millman in his book “The Life You Were Born to Live” explains this so well. He says,

“The most basic choice we have in life is whether to expand or contract, whether to bring our creative and expressive energies out into the world in positive or negative ways. No matter what our circumstances, we have the power to choose our directions.”

Here are some easy, attainable suggestions for EXPRESSION:
     1.      Have those critical conversations you are sitting on. If you are not talking about what is on your mind, you are DEPRESSING it down and as discussed before that suppression of energy will cause restless, anxious energy, so have the courage to speak your truth!
2.    MOVE MORE- get your “you know what” off the couch and move that energy. A 30 minute Walk can transform even the darkest of energy. You can even get up right now and jump up and down and shake out your body- notice the energy shift.

3.    DANCE or SING. Music has power to shift emotion. So go out and have some fun with music.

4.    WRITE. Expressing your feelings on paper also helps EXRRESS emotion out of your mind and out of the body. Start a daily journal, send a message to a  friend or even write yourself a letter.

5.    EMBRACE PLAYFULNESS. Learn to play again- with your kids, with your friends with your partners. Express yourself through play- ASK THE KIDS TO HELP- they are the experts in this field. J

6.    FIND A CREATIVE OUTLET- painting, drawing, dancing, singing, writing, martial arts- express that emotion creatively- don’t worry about how it look or sounds, don’t worry about the judgment- as Madonna says, "Express yourself!"

These are only a few suggestions please leave a comment below with any more suggestions you have for EXPRESSION.

Wishing you an awesome week and I look forward to hearing about how you broke the cycle of depression and negative thinking by turning that depression into expression.

Look out for Part 2 next week!

Lots of love,

Cheryne Blom

THE SELF LOVE MENTOR

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