How Walking Can Help You Break A Bout of Depression
Depression shrinks your universe until it’s just you and your pain.
It’s as though you are locked in a cramped, opaque sphere of sadness. You are the centre of everything but “everything” is a small darkened world ruled by hurt.
You may still manage to interact with the world and do what needs to be done. And even talk and smile if it seems required of you. But the sphere of sadness encloses you as you travel through your day. The view through the sphere is hazy and muted. Colours are faded. Shapes are distorted, and things outside the sphere are not quite in focus.
During a bout of depression, this tiny sphere and your central position within it can become all there is.
Depression makes you feel isolated and alone. The universe shrinks to just you. The beauty and grandeur of the universe get shunted aside and replaced with the mundane and the dismal.
When you are in this hard place, taking action can be difficult. But, if you can force yourself to get outside and walk for a while, the benefits can be immediate. You might need to push against an overwhelming lethargy. You might need to bully yourself up from the chair or off the bed. Perhaps you’ll need to make a bargain with yourself.
