Hi Angela,

I can relate to what you are going through and I thank you for trusting me enough to reach out. I ahve a few questions for you:

1) I would ask your psychiatrist to make sure he/she has looked into possible medical causes of depression (thyroid, vitamin B 12 and D levels etc;)

2) I would look into therapy that could explore what has changed in your life circumstances. Each decade brings certain challenges and responsibilites and joys. Exploring where you are in this journey may help.

3) Mindfulness is very useful technique to precent relapses, and studies have shown it does even better than antidepressents in thsi regard. However, do not stop your meds now, as a combination approach is bestwhen your depression feels as high as a 7/10.

4) To start, I would set aside just 10 mins a day, and connect it to another habit you already have established. Such as your morning coffee or as soon as you take a shower etc; Establishing a daily habit is most important in the beginning (than how long or how deep you meditate).

5) In terms of type of meditation, I would start with just keeping your awareness on your breath. Focus on one area of the body where you can best feel your breath, such as your abdomen or your nostrils, and keep your awareness in that spot, focuing on the sensation of the breath going in and out. When your mind wanders (which it will, thats what minds do), just gently and compassionately bring it back to your breath. Here is a link for a follow along breathing mindfulness : http://marc.ucla.edu/body.cfm?id=22

Don’t get distracted by all the other resources available on this website. Just stick with breathing and try to develope daily habit of just 10 mins for now.

6) I will be releasing a new e-book on my website in the next 1-2 days about MBCT. It’s totally free. Hopefully it will help give some more context to mindfulness for depression. It also has audio excercises by me that you can follow along to.

Take good care of yourself and do things for yourself that you would do for a loved one who is depressed.

Hugs,

Kavetha

Hi Sheila,

Yes it’s totally awesome that eastern wisdom and mindfulness is fianlly being validated by research now 🙂

What do you do Sheila? This forum is so cool that I get to meet lots of like minded people! Yay!

Thanks for the good luck wishes!

-Kavetha

Dear Angela,

Yes loneliness is such a part of modern human existence…communities are much more isolated and less involved with one another these days. I recall summer vacations at my grandma’s home (a rural village in India), we used to sit outside together with the neighbours every evening, just to chat. The cool evening breeze and the comforting smells of dinner from each home (main door were kept open from morning to dusk), kids playing with sticks and stones and elders sat arund you and talked and laughed…I haven’t been able to recreate that sense of connection in my adult life in suburbia.

Emotional flat lining may be due to the medications too, I would definitely discuss that with your psychiatrist as well.

Purpose, connections and mindfulness seem to be major ingredients of life contentment. And as you said, volunteering is a great idea. In fact, research has shown that happiness is best increased when we give of ourselves. Its’ important to not give to the point of feeling overwhelmed though.

Have a beautiful weekend,

Kavetha

HI Sheila,

I just noticed my email wasn’t displayed properly in my earlier email. I apologize! My email is kavethais@gmail.com

Are you also in the Jon Morrow course?

Take care,Kavetha

Hi Karen,

Wonderful to hear that! Yes sometimes meditation in the classic sense can be hard but you can get the same benefits form tuning in to your body and sensations in the moment AS YOU ARE going about normal activities! As you said, like brushing and walking! 😀

Congratulations!