Whistle a happy tune

When days are bad and you’re feeling really down...force yourself to whistle or sing a happy tune. Find a song that you like very much and which is catchy and fun, memorize it and whenever you need to give yourself a lift, just whistle or sing it.

Try some midi music:
http://notendur.centrum.is/~sih/midi/

There are also many happy children’s songs that might do the trick for you, so find one of those:
http://bussongs.com/animal_songs.php

Music therapy

Certain music can do wonders for depression and all that goes with it. Personally, I just love the music of Kitaro. For me it is soothing, relaxing and uplifting.

Here are the links to a few of my favorite pieces of his, from his live shows.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ulc51ZOGQk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2FFDDWz3R0&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfVntSicF8Q&NR=1

Music Therapy

We all have our favorite types of music. Stress, anxiety and depression are greatly soothed by the quiet, relaxing, and more calmer music.

If I can do something, anything, that will take my mind away from the sad, melancholy thoughts, and have it wash over me like a healing balm....music is just such a therapy.

This time of year we have such beautiful Christmas music with its powerful uplifting words and melody. Do we REALLY listen and ponder the words? Do we let the words of the song permeate our soul with hope and peace?

I have a good friend just recently tell me to try not to give in to the depression...to fight it off. Yes, I know sometimes it is more easily said, than done. But her statement is true, so true. So, play some of your favorite Christmas music or other type of relaxing music, lay on the couch with a soft pillow and warm blanket, close and rest your eyes for a bit, relax the muscles of your body, and just float along with the music. Such therapy!

Can't Sleep?

When I am depressed I sometimes do and sometimes don’t have trouble falling asleep....once I get to bed, that is. There are some people I know that DO constantly have somewhat chronic trouble sleeping. And it sometimes is because of the depression medications they are on. On top of all those medications, now they have to take another one to help them to sleep.

Then maybe we can’t sleep because we are wound tighter than a drum from all the heavy stress we are under. And when we lay there trying to fall off to sleep our mind will just not calm down long enough…it keeps thinking and thinking about this, that, and the other.

We need to find a way to relax the body enough (along with the mind) to enable us to drift off. I have tried many different herbal products to relax my nerves and they have all helped somewhat. But this one product beats them all. I don’t know if I will get in trouble or not for mentioning the brand. But the name of the product is “Knock-out” by Schiff. I bought it at a health food store. It has Valerian, B vitamins and L-Theanine to help calm and relax the body so it can drift off to sleep….then it has Melatonin (made by the brain) to maintain normal sleep patterns. Once we can get our sleep patterns back to normal, we can stop taking Knock-out. Then if we should fall into the same non-sleep problems again….we just start taking the Knock-out again. A friend of mine was truly amazed at how well the tablets worked for her the first night she took them!

Another thing that helps me is to play some "sleep music" and leave it playing all night long. You can find special sleep music CD's that promote sleep by using Delta Waves to create prolonged states of tranquility. Delta Waves emulate brain waves in deep sleep, and can assist those who have trouble falling asleep. This kind of music is "different" but very, very effective.