In this episode, we discuss the importance of activity in coping with depression. I’m really pleased to have talked to Anat Shabi this week about depression and how activity helped her.
Anat is an experienced business trainer and coach and combines all her management sales experience from the corporate world into her actions. As most of you who listen or read regularly will know, creativity is something I promote both as an activity but also for our mental health so it’s going to be really interesting to hear how Anat has managed that.
A lot of people listening as well have either experienced bouts of depression or they know somebody who has. Like many, Anat felt the trigger for her depression was around the pandemic and lockdown as she had been travelling a lot, working with wonderful trainers and facilitators, and delivering workshops around the world, and all of a sudden, she was grounded like everybody else. A further factor was that her main network of people wasn’t local, so she suddenly realised that she didn’t really know anybody where she lived and she lived with her elderly mother so was shielding which minimised contact further.
Many of us have ways of coping with low mood, seeing friends, going out, socialising etc and when that is missing, it affects our wellbeing negatively, and sometimes significantly. For many of us, activity has always been a part of our life in some way, shape or form and during the pandemic, we couldn’t do that anymore and we couldn’t even get together with friends to complain about how much we missed it!
What helped Anat was she started going to the local lido, an open-air, 61-metre-long pool, a big mass of water – but not heated – and while in the summer she was able to get timed slots and the water was lovely and warm She started feeling that she was moving and getting a little bit unstuck in terms of how she felt physically and mentally. The movement and flow that you can get in the water was very, very good for her and although different people will feel at their best and will get that flow somewhere else, for her it was definitely an activity with movement and specifically being in the water.
This concept of flow is important, that state of just being so absorbed in what you’re doing, and water is a lovely place for that to happen, because there’s safety in the pressure of the water on you helps to keep you feel secure and you feel safe and the movements are repetitive and almost hypnotic. So along comes the winter and this is an unheated pool but while it did start to get harder as the temperatures dropped, what kept Anat going was that inner need to move and that understanding that this was something that was really good for her well-being and mental health.
What helped was to break down the activity into tiny little pieces. Anat would say to herself, “Right, this is an amazing mass of water. It’s blue, and it’s in the middle of Hampstead Heath, so it’s beautiful and just getting there during the winter, that 30-minute walk to the Lido and just having a look at it, you’re going to feel amazing. So even if you just do that, that’s fine.” Then she would have a cold shower then get in gradually in the shallow end and walk for half a length and then walk back just to acclimatize. These tiny steps helped her to feel okay about it and it meant more often than not she got her swim in and felt the benefits throughout the day.
Anat goes on to say that when you are swimming in cold water, you can’t think about anything else. You’re just thinking about your breathing. That’s it. Because it is really… Your body is going into shock. And she recommends for anyone reading or listening, you don’t go from zero to hero. Every degree does make a huge difference. So start now, but go gradually as the temperature drops. Keep going because you can’t just jump into cold water.
The sense of the depression easing was gradual, it was certainly having swum, but when you’re depressed, you’re depressed. There’s no, it’s not going to be like a magic wand, but she genuinely does feel better in water. However, for the longer-term effect, you need to continue going so it isn’t an instant kind of panacea, it’s recognizing that there is some sort of feeling of well-being and just continuing to do something that helps you a little bit.
I just love Anat’s quote “I can do more now in my day than I could before because the worst thing has already happened.”
Depression can stop you from doing a lot of things. And it’s quite an insidious thing so overcoming depression or even managing depression, depends on how severe it is. Sometimes it’s about promoting well-being as well because even if you can overcome or manage depression, you may still be quite flat, whereas promoting our mental well-being means that you gradually start to experience a bit more joy, a bit more restfulness, a bit more appreciation, and that’s something to remember, we talk about overcoming depression but we don’t then talk about boosting well-being after that and that’s so important.
Conclusion
Whatever you choose to do, start with a small step, even if that is standing outside your back door and taking ten deep breaths before you even think about going for a walk. Build up gradually and choose activities where you get into that flow state as that pushes other thoughts aside.
So get out, get moving and let’s get healthier!
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