Check-in, Depression Support, August 15 to 21, 2022
It's well known that physical activity can be a great help for improving our mood.
This is particularly relevant for depression.
Take a look at this very brief article by Harvard Medical School: https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/exercise-is-an-all-natural-treatment-to-fight-depression )
And this one by the Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/depression/in-depth/depression-and-exercise/art-20046495
We even have a Forum in 7 Cups that promotes "Exercise and Activity":
https://www.7cups.com/forum/HealthyLiving_141/ExerciseandActivity_825/
So I have included a few questions on physical activity in this week's check-in:
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What are your favorite physical activities? (mine is going for long walks)
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How much time do you usually spend on weekends and weekdays doing physical activities? (things like cleaning the house and walking the dog count too.)
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How much time would you like to spend doing some kind of regular exercise or physical activity? (daily or weekly)
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What prevents you from doing all the physical activity that you wish?
- How have you been feeling these days?
All questions are optional. You can add any comments you wish, as they come to your mind.
I look forward to your answers!
As a final note, if you find it interesting to join the Depression Support team, learn more about opportunities, requirements, and how to join, by clicking HERE.
I wish you all the best!
Tagging check-in subscribers: [phantom-tagged check-in taglist]
If you wish to be added (or removed) to the check-in taglist, press HERE
@HealingTalk Doing Exercise is really great, but need motivation for it. Thanks for the check in!💙
@calmmoon2104
Hello Moon!
Nice to see you again!
Thank you for checking in!
You are 100% right.
Having the motivation to get started is the crux of the matter.
Once it becomes a habit, it feels natural.
The brief articles I have linked, from Harvard Medical School and the Mayo Clinic, address head-on this chicken-and-egg problem. They give tips on how to start.
Also participating in the "Exercise and Activity" 7 Cups Forum might help. It's a safe space where you can express all your difficulties with that.
And in this SubCommunity too, of course.
In my opinion, the best strategy is to start very very small, but make it regular.
So it's much better to walk every other day around the block than to walk 10 miles one day, and then stop for ages.
Can you make it a regular commitment to walk around the block?
Sounds silly, but it's very serious business, in my opinion.
By the way, how are you doing?
Thank you again for coming here!
All the best!
Marcelo.
@HealingTalk Thank you very much for the suggestions Marcelo! I might not be able to walk around the block, but I will certainly try to do some free exercises regularly, starting from small ones. Thank you again ❤
@calmmoon2104
You are much welcome, Moon!
I am glad that you intend to start doing some exercises regularly.
By the way, there are zillions of videos on Youtube with ideas for exercising, in any imaginable way, with all degrees of intensity and durations.
I wish you the best of luck in your new exercise program! Just start small, don't overdo it at the beginning...
See you soon, Moon!
All the best!
Marcelo.
@HealingTalk Thank you very much! See you soon too ❤
@HealingTalk
What are your favorite physical activities? (mine is going for long walks)
Running, and rollerblading. Latter is the better option in my books, still.
How much time do you usually spend on weekends and weekdays doing physical activities? (things like cleaning the house and walking the dog count too.)
I work as a janitor, so I clean for a living. Yard work, walking around, all that. So, quite a few hours a day. Not much motivation to do physical activity outside of work these days.
How much time would you like to spend doing some kind of regular exercise or physical activity? (daily or weekly)
Would be nice to get back to either running or rollerblading. We'll see, I guess.
What prevents you from doing all the physical activity that you wish?
I am. Motivation is hard to find sometimes.
How have you been feeling these days?
Like crap at best.
Hope you're doing well.
Hello @OneErased !
Great to see you again here!
Thank you for checking in!
You seem to be a very active person!
It helps that your work involves a lot of physical activity. That's very healthy and might be of help to stabilize your mood every day.
On top of that, you enjoy very intense activities, like running and rollerblading. So you have what it takes to reap the benefits of exercise on your wellbeing.
I love rollerblading too. I love the sense of speed and freedom it brings. It's fun. Plus, while being intense, it's very gentle on your joints and bones, because you don't "hit" the ground but push it. Best recreational sport.
Motivation is indeed the gordian knot for exercising. I guess that the best is to start with a modest goal, like every Sunday go rollerblading for one hour.
You might try to get back to rollerblading. It will surely make you feel better.
I hope you get there soon.
And I am ok, thank you for asking!
All the best!
Marcelo.
I had a time where I got frustrated and left the site. But now I’m back and I feel compelled to tell you all of my latest events.
Life hasn’t improved. I almost cried today because of how upset I am. I started off today as hopeful and optimistic. Went to a job interview. Came home. My stepbrother passive-aggressively lectured me on my weight, and my eating as a coping mechanism. It hurt. An hour later I received a message that I wasn’t chosen for the job. I emailed my job coach, who I got through the vocational rehabilitation people as encouraged by others, and told her that I was rejected from another job. She told me she wanted to bring on ANOTHER job coach to assist me, which tells me that she truly doesn’t know how to help me at all and I should’ve broken contact with her long ago like I wanted.
it’s not even Tuesday and I’m fed up with this week.
@Server8462
Hello Server!
How nice to see you again here!
Thank you for checking in!
You are right that's a good idea to share your issues here. You are always welcome to do it.
I am sorry you feel so upset. It's unfortunate that you started the day hopeful and optimistic, and some disgusting and annoying events brought your mood down.
I congratulate you that, despite all, you keep your determination in doing job hunting. It is tough to be interviewed many times, and it brings a lot of frustration to be rejected, until you finally get a job.
It takes a lot of courage and resilience. Congratulations on that!
How rude of your stepbrother to comment on your weight and eating habits! These kinds of comments never help anything and certainly hurt.
Regarding your job coach, as you say, at least you finally get her changed for another, which is good.
It was a very intense and rough start to the week. It's understandable that you feel already fed up with it.
I wish you that at some point you get back to feeling hopeful and optimistic like when you started this day.
All the best!
Marcelo.
I would be fed up with your day too. You got lots of stuff that you didn't deserve. Your stepbrother is wrong and is just looking for power over you. But that doesn't stop it from hurting.
Looking for a job is also just plain hard, especially on your self esteem. But people's willingness to continue to try to help you means something. Maybe the other person will find you the perfect job. But I know that is hard to imagine right now.
But a bad Monday doesn't have to mean a bad week.@Server8462
@HealingTalk
What are your favorite physical activities?
Now I'm into motorcycling
How much time do you usually spend on weekends and weekdays doing physical activities?
I started my day with house cleaning for an hour, indeed I do extra house chore works on the weekend
How much time would you like to spend doing some regular exercise or physical activity?
an hour on weekdays and 6 hours on the weekend
What prevents you from doing all the physical activity that you wish?
yeah, sometimes I didn't feel like doing anything, mainly caused by a bad mood, stress, and the huge need to take "extra" rest.
@Wildarkberry
Welcome Berry!
Thank you for checking in!
Wow, motorcycling is amazing!
It certainly involves a lot of physical effort, and competitive racers go regularly through thorough physical training.
I love the sense of speed and freedom of the motorbike. At the same speed, you feel like going much much faster than in a car.
Your goal of 1 hour on weekdays and 6 hours on weekends is a sensible one, a significant effort but not unattainable.
Feeling lazy just sometimes, seems ok to me. The problem starts when it's always.
Thank you again for your coming here.
See you soon.
All the best!
Marcelo.
@HealingTalk
- What are your favorite physical activities? Yoga, Swimming, Hiking in nature
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How much time do you usually spend on weekends and weekdays doing physical activities? all my physical activity happens at work right now, I'm a Server that works 6 days a week.
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How much time would you like to spend doing some kind of regular exercise or physical activity? I would like to start making time for yoga daily at a minimum.
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What prevents you from doing all the physical activity that you wish? Time there just never seems to be enough hours in the day.
- How have you been feeling these days? disappointed and frustrated with myself.
@braveShade8118
Hello BraveShade!
Thank you for checking in!
Yoga, Swimming and Hiking are wonderful!
Swimming feels like a micro-vacation to me. The feeling of being in the water is wonderful.
I don't know much about chakras, etc., but I like Yoga exercises for stretching, which also feels great, as a lot of tension and sour feelings are stored in muscles. Stretching gets rid of those.
As for hiking, it's amazing, whenever you have the opportunity to do it. I love particularly hiking in the mountains, but can do it only from time to time. As a more frequently attainable substitute, I go for long walks in large parks nearby. Plus it's good training for "the great adventures".
In which kind of places do you like to hike?
Having physical activity built-in in into your job is a blessing, I think. Sedentarism is the plague of our times, with so many bad consequences. Take a look at this recent article by the World Health Organization: https://www.who.int/news/item/04-04-2002-physical-inactivity-a-leading-cause-of-disease-and-disability-warns-who
It seems wise that you wish to establish a regular Yoga routine, ss you already have an active lifestyle due to your job.
I guess the best strategy is to start with very small but consistent commitments. Like 5 to 15 minutes every morning or evening, for example. And avoid perfectionism and self-criticism at all costs. What you can do is good enough.
Finding enough time is always a challenge. You might stick to a short routine. It is much better to do 15 minutes of Yoga every day, than none at all.
There are many Youtube videos with short Yoga routines that might inspire you to design your own.
Also by doing different asanas each day of the week, you might have a very complete weekly practice even with a few minutes a day.
Why do you feel disappointed and frustrated with yourself? is it about accomplishing these kinds of goals, or something else?
Thank you again for checking in, BraveShade!
You are much welcome here!
I wish you all the best!
See you soon!
Marcelo.
Thank you so much for your response, I usually Hike at state parks etc... I have an app called All Trails that tells you about local trails in your area I love to use it when I'm somewhere new to discover new places etc....
I've been disappointed and frustrated with myself for just simply not doing the things I know I need to be doing. Procrastination has been I big problem for me that I'm working through.
Thanks again for your time and energy 😁
@braveShade8118
Thank you for your prompt answer!
How nice to have state parks nearby! Protected natural areas are the best for hiking.
I have checked the All Trails website, and they show many trails relatively near my city, Buenos Aires, which surprised me, since it's an American company, with mostly an American audience. I will include it in my planning toolbox from now on.
Against procrastination, I strongly recommend the classic book "The Now Habit".
It goes beyond "Just do it", delving into the deep roots of procrastination, and promotes a gentle, self-forgiving, compassionate approach as a requisite to deal with this issue. It also incorporates "scheduling fun" as a main tool of the program.
It helped me a lot.
You can find it by clicking HERE, or HERE, and in online bookstores.
Some other great resources: HERE
Thank you again for your active participation!
I hope to see you soon again around her.
All the best!
Marcelo.
I don't have any favorite physical activities as I'm not allowed to leave my home at all, whether it be an emergency or not. maybe it's just watching some kdramas or series it's a great distraction for me.
I'd love to to cycling 🚲 and swimming (but im not allowed)
my parents (prevent)
feeling? um i have very high fever so I don't feel great at all.
@resourcefulLand9340
Hello ResourcefulLand!
Thank you for checking in!
There are many indoor exercises you can do at home.
Search "Workout" in Youtube and zillions of options will pop up.
From standard gymnastics to bodyweight strength training, dancing workouts, punch-and-kick ones, Tai Chi and Yoga... You name it!
See a list of short indoor workouts by clicking HERE
If you can afford a stationary bicycle, second hand stationary bicycles are dirt cheap on Ebay, and other sources, because many people buy them but never use them so they sell them for nothing just to get rid of them.
There are some fun videos that simulate you actually cycling on a beautiful road.
So you cycle with your stationary bike, while looking at the screen, and it feels like going through wonderful landscapes.
Take a look at these Youtube channels by clicking HERE and HERE
I hope your fever goes down soon, so you feel better.
I leave you with one of those virtual cycling videos at the bottom of this post.
Thank you again for checking in!
I wish you all the best!
See you soon!
Marcelo.
I am new here. But I am slowly learning how to participate in this. I enjoy going on hikes with my dog mostly. She loves to swim. So usually try to hike places she can. Although I haven't very much gotten to lately, but thats my favorite physical activity. Thank you for the check in.
@Potatoloverr
Hi!
Thank you for coming here!
How great that you have joined this Community, and became active immediately after entering 7 Cups!
Congratulations on that!
Participating in the Forums is a great way to meet other people, both by getting and by receiving support. You can tell your things, and read about those of others.
Please don't hesitate to PM me if you have any questions about how to navigate 7 Cups and take full advantage of all it has to offer.
You can message me from here: https://www.7cups.com/@HealingTalk
You can also ask me questions by answering this post.
Regarding your preferred activity, hiking might be the best one, in my opinion.
Hiking is a spiritual experience to me, on top of being very pleasant and a great physical activity.
And going with your dog makes it even better. Walking with your dog is wonderful in itself, so hiking with her must be a very complete and enjoyable adventure.
How cute that she likes to swim! That's a lot of fun and of exercise for a dog. I bet she returns happy and exhausted after those walks.
Thank you again for checking in!
I look forward to seeing you here again soon.
All the best!
Marcelo.
Today wasn’t very good either. Went and got my drug test for a potential job, heading home soon to figure out some of that. But I finally cut ties with my job coach because I was fed up. Eight months of working with her and the only job I ever found was because of my own effort. If this is what government assistance is for the disabled then it makes sense why so many mentally ill and disabled become school shooters. With eight months wasted on getting help from the vocational rehab people, I finally quit with them. It feels good to cut unnecessary ties, but I’m angry that I reached out for government help, got connected with someone that didn’t help at all -‘d wasted eight months with them before finally ending contact.
It sounds like it will be good to find a way to move forward in a new direction. You can't make up that lost time anyway so thinking about it doesn't help. You are continuing to look and that is all that matters.@Server8462
