7 Things To Do When Feeling Depressed (and they only take a minute!)

Mar 11

Between missing hugs, family, friends, travel and well, normality, this time during Covid-19 can get you down. A study came out last week that 25% of the American population is depressed. That’s 3x the numbers reported before the pandemic. Everyone’s going through it!

Here are some easy mood-lifters that are guaranteed to get you quickly out of a funk:

1. Dance

Put on a fabulous song, one you love and just start dancing. Yea, my kids are now at the age that they make fun of my dancing, but I don’t care, it makes me happy to bust a move. They make fun of my music choices, too, but putting on music and dancing cheers me up instantly. Dancing releases endorphins which stimulates positive energy and good vibrations to feel happier quickly. So dancing is a quick cure for happiness.

2. Get Outside

Everything (or so it seems) is virtual right now, so the number of hours online multiplied manyfold these days. Hours and hours go by before I even move sometimes. My leg actually fell asleep the other day. Not my foot, my whole leg! I needed to get outside. To feel the sun on my face for a minute. Some vitamin D and to see trees, a flower, anything growing alive, real. “Spending time outdoors, especially in green spaces, is one of the fastest ways to improve your health and happiness. It lowers stress, blood pressure and heart rate, while encouraging physical activity and buoying mood and mental health.” says Alyssa Ravasio studying Dr Yoshifumi Miyazaki of Chiba University in Japan who has done extensive studies on the medical benefits of being outside. It only takes a minute to go outside and elevate your mood and mental health!

3. Talk

Call a friend (not text) and talk. Call a hotline. Talk to a parent, child, therapist, social worker, anyone. Texting is not the same. Human contact of some kind sorts through the messiness of feelings and emotions when we aren’t our best. It just takes a minute to make a phone call and talk to someone. To hear a voice instead of looking at a screen is huge. It is the human experience. Human contact, connection and community has proven to be the number one life satisfaction predictor. In the areas of the world studied for longevity and happiness, community predicts happiness every time. So call someone. Most likely you’ll make them happy, too!

4. Gratitude

Write a gratitude list. Just write a list of what you’re grateful for right now. Do you have a place to live, sleep, food in your fridge? A shower? A computer, a phone? Write it all down. They say to handwrite your list — that way it’s coming straight from your heart. Write an exhaustive list — put it all on there. Put at least 20 items down there. I give those examples because we can take simple things for granted (gas in my car, I have a car!). Two legs. You get the idea. Gratitude has been shown to make us vibrate at a very high frequency which means we are instantly very happy.

5. Give a compliment

Tell someone they’re fabulous. I’m serious. Giving a compliment will make you feel better instantly. Telling people how great their work is (and mean it) expands your energy field and allows you to grow exponentially. Tell people you’re secretly jealous of for bonus points! You’re gonna feel great — try it — happiness guaranteed.

6. Smile

It doesn’t get any easier than this. Just smile. It’s proven that simply putting a smile on your face improves your mood. Even a fake smile makes you happier! Stress-Busting Smiles — WSJ Smiling (even fake-smiling) is good for you!

7. Meditate

Meditation feels great as well as calming the mind and body quickly. There are so many free apps these days, from Calm https://www.calm.com/ to Deepak Chopra’s 21-day meditation https://chopracentermeditation.com/ . I love Unplug Meditation’s choices, but that’s just me. They have really quick energy clearing and 3, 5, and 8-minute choices and I can pick what teacher I want and what type, with a huge variety https://www.unplug.com/ (this one has a fee). Deepak Chopra’s 21-day are great for getting back into the practice or for beginners to meditation.

The best thing I was ever taught about meditation is that there’s no wrong way — you aren’t doing anything wrong even if your head is going the entire time. Just focus on the in and out of your breath. That’s it. Start with a 3-minute timer and just focus on the “in” breath then on the “out” breath. If 3-minutes is too much time to sit, start with two-minutes. Be gentle with yourself. After a few days increase by another minute. That’s it. Instant happiness emerges!

These are all super simple ways to feel better quickly. Also check and make sure you’ve eaten, are sleeping enough — you know — the basics! Hungry and tired are huge mood influencers and we have to be watchdogs of ourselves, super vigilant during these months.

Take it a day at a time and dance, smile, be grateful, get outside, talk to other humans and ask how they’re doing, compliment them along the way and find yourself quickly happy.