depression is like the dungeon of your mind, dark, gloomy, filled with cobwebs. It is a frightening place to be and it often seems that you cant find the way out by yourself. Anti-depressants may help, but they are not the complete solution, more often than not. What you want is to feel like your old self, to feel good again, to have that reason for living. Here are five steps you can take to get out of the dungeon of depression, naturally.

1. Take action. Action forces the mind to start thinking about the future which breaks you out of that depressive cycle of thinking. Too often sufferers of depression are caught in a cycle of thinking about the past. Action gets you moving forward and thinking about the future. Action also implies movement, and a healthy mind needs a healthy body, and healthy bodies move! Take small actions, which lead to more small actions, which will lead to larger actions. Remember, a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.

2. Get your sleep, and make sure it is good quality sleep. When you are depressed, you may find that you sleep more than usual, or less than usual. Either one will contribute to your depressive mood pattern. Set a schedule for sleep and stick with it. Go to bed when you did when you weren't depressed, and set you alarm to get up with your usual number of hours of sleep. Even though it feels "wrong," forcing yourself into a normal sleep pattern will help you move out of the depressive cycle.

3. Get good nutrition. Eat properly to keep your blood sugar balanced throughout the day. Take good nutritional supplements as there are a number of vitamin and mineral deficiencies that affect mood and can lead to depression. Men especially, make sure you are getting enough selenium.

4. Get more exercise. Study after study has shown that moving the body in intense, sustained exercise daily reduces depression. Why? Because intense, sustained exercise creates production of feel-good chemicals in the brain such as serotonin and beta-endorphins. Out of shape? Start where you are, and always check with your doctor before beginning an exercise routing.

5. Try an alternative therapy for depression, such as brainwave entrainment. You can create the optimum brain state for healing depression by using brainwave entrainment recordings specifically designed to address depression, and for reaching deep meditative states. Brainwave entrainment recordings have been scientifically proven effective through decades of research, and using the right combination of protocols will train your brain to create the pattern of a non-depressed person, quickly, naturally, and without drugs.

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