Get Relief from Depression with Rumi

Using antidepressants are not the only way give relief from depression.  Dr. Weil has four suggestions, I’ve written about 10 that could help with mild to moderate depression.  Here’s how a little walk with Rumi can help relieve the blues.

BEFORE I go amend a post I wrote a while back suggesting some actions to help get relief from depression (or the moody blues), I want to more fully explore a simple but wonderful act with you right here.

Late last November, I wrote a post I named,  A Little Depressed? 10 Actions That Help Me. As I wrote it, I knew that over time I’d keep adding to it as new “acts” arose in my life that I found were worthwhile behaviors that can clearly shifts one’s (or at least my) mind set.

It all began with finding the iPod that I thought was lost forever.  Not one to listen much to music on iPods, I was, nevertheless, so pleased to find it that I affixed the ear plugs, grabbed my walking shoes and went for a jaunt.

I wasn’t in a foul mood at all, but it soon occurred to me that the walking combined with the music – a particular kind (in fact, not music per se at all) – carried me to a place that cradled me with sweet endorphins that swept all my cares away.

Now, readers of my various posts on depression, such as Dr. Weil’s Four Alternatives to Antidepressant Drugs (great pod cast interview there with Dr. Weil) know that I believe (as does Dr. Weil) that many people with mild to moderate depression may be able to control it without antidepressants . (Go to the above link for more on this).

Dr. Weil has his “four alternatives” and I have my “10 (now 11) actions”, and if you throw them in a shaker jar and shake, shake, shake… just maybe those antidepressant pills can be shaken from the pill box into the garbage.

 

A Musical Recommendation? (not quite)

Yeah, whatever moves you, whatever can shift you to a better mental state… that’s the recommendation. But for me today, the music itself was a minor, background harp plucking here and there.  What was front and center, and largely responsible for my shift in consciousness, was Rumi.

For those of you who don’t know, Jalāl ad-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī was a brilliant and revolutionary Persian Sufi, mystic, poet and philosopher of the 13th Century.  He’s considered one of the best poets of all time.

It was Rumi’s poetry, as translated and spoken by the wonderfully erudite Coleman Barks, that made that walk great, and inspired this post.

Check it out.  Go here and you can listen to the Coleman Barks album, What Was Said to the Rose. Start with the first selection, What Was Told and keep going till you’re mesmerized.  For your own happy walk, download What Was Said to the Rose on whatever device will play it and go outside and take a walk, particularly the next time you’re blue.

P.S.  I’d really enjoy it if you’d share your favorite poem in the Comments section below.

 

Last Updated on March 6, 2018 by Joe Garma

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Joe Garma
 

I help people live with more vitality and strength. I'm a big believer in sustainability, and am a bit nutty about optimizing my diet, supplements, hormones and exercise. To get exclusive Updates, tips and be on your way to a stronger, more youthful body, join my weekly Newsletter. You can also find me on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.

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