How To Beat Seasonal Depression

I spent Saturday night and Sunday am watching a romantic comedy marathon while sobbing like a 3 year old. After that wasn’t enough I decided to watch inspirational American idol/X factor auditions. Sometime I like to veg out and do this kinda thing.

I reached out to a few friends during the day and asked, “Maybe I am depressed? What do you think is wrong with me? Is it NYC and the winter? Is it because it is that time of the month? I mean I have a great life…I am so blessed where is all this sadness coming from?”

Then while watching an episode of a young boy signing his heart out on American Idol, while his family cried tears of joy from backstage…it HIT ME!

I am crying watching these films where the actors are expressing deep emotions,  singers belting out angelic sounds…they are touching the human spirit! They are  facing their deepest fears, conquering them and putting themselves out there.

It occurred to me that maybe I need to become more vulnerable in  my life.  Maybe I need to go after those dreams of mine and push myself out of my comfort zone.After my “AHA” moment..I was still  feeling weak and didn’t want to work out but I pushed and took my butt down to the gym for 15 min of cardio to break a sweat. Sometimes all you need is a dose of serotonin to help curb those low vibing thoughts.

I started to feel better and I looked up a few dance classes and scheduled them in my calendar for the week. Dancing is where I feel the most free.  I also called up my acting teacher to see if I can jump into his class after the holiday to work out my acting muscles. Acting is cathartic for me….it’s like therapy.

Then I joined my best friends for a home cooked dinner and followed up with a late night worship service at Hillsong.

So the point of me telling you this is that when you are feeling down you have the choice to take action to change your mood. Taking one little action step, as I did by hitting the gym for 15 min completely changed the course of my day.

I also realized that I have so much inside of me that needs to be expressed through acting, singing and dance and I took action steps to make sure that I hold myself accountable.

During the winter months I am aware that I need to take extra self-care actions steps to make sure I am feeling healthy and happy. If you struggle with seasonal depression as well, I would love to hear your story. Please comment below and thank you for letting me share. It is my first step to becoming more vulnerable.