5 Life Coaching Tools To Help Overcome Your Depression and Anxiety.
Posted on September 19, 2017 by Darrin Bridge, One of Thousands of Executive Coaches on Noomii.
Find out how hundreds of people have shifted their mindset to be free of depression and anxiety...
Yeah, I know.
You have heard all the usual advice about treating your depression and anxiety – eating the right foods, getting plenty of sleep, regular exercise, fresh air, and sunshine. You know to call a friend, write in your journal, express your feelings – and let it all out. You’ve tried to think positively, taken on ‘Just do It’ as your life’s motto, and surrounded yourself by people who inspire you.
And, it’s not working.
Well, okay, it works for a little while and before you know it – you are right back where you started.
It’s a pattern, a cycle – a relationship.
To be clear, I’m not talking mental illness, clinical depression or panic-disorder level anxiety. I am talking about fear, feelings, and invisible patterns that have you unconsciously choosing the anxiety-riddled thoughts, beliefs and actions – that lead to more feelings of anxiety and depression. It’s a trap, and I get it – it feels really real.
In counseling, you may have had the opportunity to explore your anxiety and your depression – as if it were something outside of you, that you have no power or control over. You believe that if you understand why it’s happening ‘to you’, then you will magically be different – and live happily ever after. Anxiety and depression free.
It doesn’t work, and here’s why…
It’s a relief, and merely interesting to understand something about ourselves, our humanity. Okay, I admit that I am a complete ‘awareness junkie’. Self-awareness to me, is fascinating, complex and delicious! And, in relation to the bigger picture, it’s simply more understanding of a pattern that you do not need any more practice at. You have perfected the pattern and yielded the same results over, and over, and over again. Maybe even for years.
It’s a trap, and now you know it’s a trap – so now what? You still don’t know how to get out of it. You are still stuck.
Did it ever occur to you that you are choosing your anxiety? Or your depression? Sounds judgy, right? And ridiculous too.
Think about it…
You are unconsciously choosing the same thing over and over – creating a specific relationship to anxiety and depression. You are a human after all, and for the most part, human beings choose what they know – so as to be safe and comfortable.
Who doesn’t want to be all cozy, or at the very least in familiar territory – most of the time? It’s where most of us feel our best, our most confident. Smack dab in the middle of our comfort zones!
The cool thing about a pattern or a cycle is – once it becomes known and visible – is that you now have choice. Now you can choose outside of it and create new and empowering results.
Have you ever thought about working with a coach, to shift your relationship to depression and anxiety?
Say what? What can a coach do for me?
Coaching is all about your relationship to (anything) – you fill in the blank. Consider working with a coach to identify the beliefs that are leading to your anxiety-riddled thoughts, driving the disempowered actions, and producing feelings of anxiety and depression.
Then, choose new beliefs that empower you. Why not? You made up the old beliefs, or someone did – why not make up new ones?!
The cool thing about a pattern or a cycle is – once it becomes known and visible – we have choice. Now we can choose outside of it and create new and empowering results.
Here are 5 things you can do right now to overcome your anxiety and depression:
1)Write out ‘what’s wrong’ in your space, right now. What are you feelings, judgments and truths? Remember they are your interpretations, and not real. There is what’s so, and you’re interpretation of what’s so – that’ it.
2)Meditate for 5-20 minutes. Get out of your head, and into your body.
3)Elevate out of your feelings. Notice them, and allow them – without attaching meaning or significance to them.
4)Choose what’s next from your commitments, not your feelings. Get support when your feelings get in the way.
5)Identify the belief that is driving you. Determine the cost and benefits of having this belief. Make up a new one!
