Oleksandr Kodman

[EN] How do you fight depression

Dealing with depression can be incredibly challenging, but there are strategies you can employ to manage your symptoms and improve your well-being. Here are some tips to consider: Set Realistic Goals: Break tasks into smaller, manageable steps. Setting achievable goals can help prevent feeling overwhelmed and provide a sense of accomplishment. Establish a Routine: Creating a daily routine can provide structure and a sense of normalcy. Try to include activities that you enjoy or find fulfilling. Stay Active: Regular exercise can boost your mood and energy levels. Even moderate activities, like walking or yoga, can make a difference. Connect with Others: Reach out to friends, family, or support groups. Social connections can provide comfort, reduce isolation, and offer different perspectives. Practice Mindfulness and Relaxation Techniques: Techniques such as deep breathing, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation can help manage stress and improve your mood. Eat a Balanced Diet: A healthy diet can impact your mood and energy levels. Try to include a variety of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains in your meals. Get Enough Sleep: Aim for regular, restorative sleep. Establish a consistent sleep schedule and create a restful environment. Limit Alcohol and Avoid Drugs: Substance use can exacerbate depression and interfere with treatment. Try to avoid alcohol and recreational drugs. Engage in Activities You Enjoy: Even if you don’t feel like it, engaging in activities you used to enjoy can help lift your mood and provide a sense of pleasure. Challenge Negative Thoughts: Practice recognizing and challenging negative or distorted thoughts. Cognitive-behavioral techniques can help shift your thinking patterns. Practice Self-Compassion: Be kind to yourself and recognize that it’s okay to have bad days. Avoid self-criticism and acknowledge your efforts and progress. Set Boundaries: If you’re feeling overwhelmed, it’s okay to say no or set limits. Protecting your mental health is important. Keep a Journal: Writing about your thoughts and feelings can help you process your emotions and identify patterns. Learn Stress Management: Identify and manage stressors in your life through techniques like time management, problem-solving, or seeking support. Remember, it’s important to be patient with yourself and recognize that managing depression is a process. If you’re struggling, don’t hesitate to reach out to a mental health professional for guidance and support. If nothing else works, seek Professional Help: A mental health professional, such as a therapist or psychiatrist, can offer support and treatment tailored to your needs. Therapy, medication, or a combination of both can be effective. (A. I.)

Total comments: 2
Oleksandr Kodman
02.08.2024 12:02

What's working for you?

Oleksandr Kodman
02.08.2024 12:02

What's working for you?

Oleksandr Kodman
08.09.2024 15:27

Simple meditation: just 15-20 minutes a day.

Sit/lay/stand comfortably with a straight back, close your eyes and think of nothing but breathing: inhale through the nose and out through the mouth. You can use both simple sighs and deep sighs. The main thing is not to think about anything.



Very often, the stress comes from inside. It's the way that we approach life. It's the way that we're thinking about the mind, the way that we're working with the mind. And if we can begin to work with the mind in a different way, changing our perspective of the thoughts and feelings that arise in our mind, there is the very real possibility that we can change. And gently close your eyes whenever you're ready. And just taking a moment to pause, to enjoy that feeling. And just enjoy that feeling of being still.


It's so easy to feel trapped or even imprisoned by our own thoughts, our self-imposed boundaries, limitations, but meditation offers us the possibility to let it all go, to find the courage to step out with a free and spacious mind in every area of life. Not just work, but to dare to go beyond and just staying with the breath just for a few moments longer. And from this miditation, hopefully, we'll find a sense of limitless potential with the intention to carry a more spacious, more peaceful quality of mind into everyday life. So there are so many different opportunities in the day to tap into that feeling of appreciation. As long as we know where they are and how to look after them, then life starts to look and feel very different, very quickly. And hopefully, we can begin that process of falling in love with life again.


Just taking some big, deep breaths, breathing in through the nose... and out through the moutn. So as you breathe in through the nose, just noticing how the lungs fill with air, the chest expanding. And as you breathe out through the moutn, just feeling the muscles in the body relax and let go. To enjoy that feeling... of having stopped, not thinking about the mind, not thinking about anything in particular, just pausing... enjoying the feeling of being still. So we're just setting the body, settling the mind. Again, if you find the mind's wandered off, just acknowledging that, letting it go, and gently coming back to the breath again. 


Look, imagine that you're sitting on the side of the road. Now all you have to do is to just sit there and wathc the cars. The cars are your thoughts. Sounds easy, right? But what usually happens is that we feel a bit unsettled by the movement of the traffic. So we run out into the road, and we try and stop the cars. Or maybe we even find ourselves chasing after a few... forgetting that the idea was to just sit there. Now obviously, all of this running around only adds to the feeling of restlessness in our mind. So training the mind is about changing our relationship with those passing thoughts and feelings. Learning how to view them with a little more perspective, and when we do this, we naturally find a place of calm.


And for most of us, right, our minds are quite busy most of the time, almost like a little sort of monkey jumping around, never really stopping, never taking the time to rest. And I thin because of that, we tend to feel quite tired. We often feel overwhelmed. We don't necessarily know how to experience a sense of rest and relaxation. So what we usually do in that situation is to try and think our way out of the problem. So we're essentially using the monkey to try and control the monkey. And so we need to find a way of letting go not only by creating the conditions around us in life that are conducive to relaxation but also internally understanding how we can find relaxation in the mind. (Headspace: Guide to Meditation, 8 videos up to 20 minutes.)


Oleksandr Kodman
08.09.2024 15:27

Simple meditation: just 15-20 minutes a day.

Sit/lay/stand comfortably with a straight back, close your eyes and think of nothing but breathing: inhale through the nose and out through the mouth. You can use both simple sighs and deep sighs. The main thing is not to think about anything.



Very often, the stress comes from inside. It's the way that we approach life. It's the way that we're thinking about the mind, the way that we're working with the mind. And if we can begin to work with the mind in a different way, changing our perspective of the thoughts and feelings that arise in our mind, there is the very real possibility that we can change. And gently close your eyes whenever you're ready. And just taking a moment to pause, to enjoy that feeling. And just enjoy that feeling of being still.


It's so easy to feel trapped or even imprisoned by our own thoughts, our self-imposed boundaries, limitations, but meditation offers us the possibility to let it all go, to find the courage to step out with a free and spacious mind in every area of life. Not just work, but to dare to go beyond and just staying with the breath just for a few moments longer. And from this miditation, hopefully, we'll find a sense of limitless potential with the intention to carry a more spacious, more peaceful quality of mind into everyday life. So there are so many different opportunities in the day to tap into that feeling of appreciation. As long as we know where they are and how to look after them, then life starts to look and feel very different, very quickly. And hopefully, we can begin that process of falling in love with life again.


Just taking some big, deep breaths, breathing in through the nose... and out through the moutn. So as you breathe in through the nose, just noticing how the lungs fill with air, the chest expanding. And as you breathe out through the moutn, just feeling the muscles in the body relax and let go. To enjoy that feeling... of having stopped, not thinking about the mind, not thinking about anything in particular, just pausing... enjoying the feeling of being still. So we're just setting the body, settling the mind. Again, if you find the mind's wandered off, just acknowledging that, letting it go, and gently coming back to the breath again. 


Look, imagine that you're sitting on the side of the road. Now all you have to do is to just sit there and wathc the cars. The cars are your thoughts. Sounds easy, right? But what usually happens is that we feel a bit unsettled by the movement of the traffic. So we run out into the road, and we try and stop the cars. Or maybe we even find ourselves chasing after a few... forgetting that the idea was to just sit there. Now obviously, all of this running around only adds to the feeling of restlessness in our mind. So training the mind is about changing our relationship with those passing thoughts and feelings. Learning how to view them with a little more perspective, and when we do this, we naturally find a place of calm.


And for most of us, right, our minds are quite busy most of the time, almost like a little sort of monkey jumping around, never really stopping, never taking the time to rest. And I thin because of that, we tend to feel quite tired. We often feel overwhelmed. We don't necessarily know how to experience a sense of rest and relaxation. So what we usually do in that situation is to try and think our way out of the problem. So we're essentially using the monkey to try and control the monkey. And so we need to find a way of letting go not only by creating the conditions around us in life that are conducive to relaxation but also internally understanding how we can find relaxation in the mind. (Headspace: Guide to Meditation, 8 videos up to 20 minutes.)