I want to share my journey out of depression on the way to a happier life via the Law of Attraction.
I was already well on the road to recovery from severe depression when I started to look deeper into the ideas surrounding the Law of Attraction and to practise a more intense form of meditation and self-control of my thinking.
Whether they realize it or not, many mental health services in the UK have already recognized the value of the Law of Attraction and are using it in their therapies. Some are organizing meditation groups, others are using WRAP – Wellness Recovery Action Plan and similar programs, some are doing both.
Many ancient and more modern thinkers and philosophers have recognized the value of this system of thinking.
“The mind is everything. What you think you become.” – this saying, ascribed to the Buddha, has been echoed by Gandhi and the Dalai Llama, Napoleon Hill and many others. Some Buddhist scholars continue to argue about what was actually meant based on varying translations, but they agree that there is much value in the intention of the words.
More modern self-help authors have taken the idea and used it to demonstrate what happens when you think negatively – it doesn’t feel good!
The first stage of the ‘therapy’ is fairly easy to master and after a while it really does become second nature.
I had done some meditation in my teens and 20s and now I was encouraged to return to it. I set aside at least half an hour every day when I would not be disturbed and started to re-train my thinking. If negative or troubling thoughts rose to the surface during my meditation, I simply pushed them aside and re-concentrated on literally emptying my mind of anything except the ‘white light’ between my eyes, or the picture I had chosen as the focus of my thoughts that day. You might choose a rose, a work of art you love, a beautiful landscape like a beach or a lake or mountains. Little by little, my half an hour a day began to pervade my whole way of thinking.
My own situation is that I had been physically ill with a thyroid problem that had partially contributed to my depression. I also had a form of M.E. which had its roots in a severe virus illness. On top of this, I lost my mother quite suddenly in 2003, I had problems finding work, partially due to age related discrimination (which legislation has done little to prevent) and then my marriage broke down. Each setback helped to destroy my self-esteem and ability to cope with day to day living until eventually I became suicidal.
Initially my doctor was of no help whatsoever. I was prescribed a series of anti-depressants all of which seemed to make me feel worse by amplifying the feelings or making me feel ‘zombie-fied’. I was initially denied any help from NHS Adult Mental Health Services at all. My life was falling apart because I couldn’t deal with anything head on. When eventually I did get a referral I was offered the chance to do a WRAP course which was really the start of my recovery. I also changed my GP! I am still taking a mild anti-depressant (Mirtazapine) but it is becoming less essential.
WRAP taught me actively to examine what I was thinking. It helps you to identify where you are on a spectrum of depression and self destructive negative thought every day, and gives you ideas for coping mechanisms that you can put together yourself.
It was to be another two or three years before I encountered the Law of Attraction in a different guise. This time I was introduced to the idea of the Universe being a vibrational place and everything in it being vibrational. It continues to teach that if you align yourself vibrationally with something that feels good rather than something that feels bad, the good will come to you.
You might dismiss that as naiive and unrealistic but if you actually start to apply it, it really does work. Why would any human being want to FEEL bad about their life or anything in it. There are always positives in a situation although it they may not be immediately obvious. Sometimes it takes the assistance of a friend, a psychiatrist or counsellor or something you read, to help you to see through the fog of depression and identify the good things in your life.
Another start point is physically writing down all the things you are thankful for. This can be as varied as having the ability to see, hear, walk, talk to having access to the internet, books to read, food in your cupboard and fridge, warm clothes for the winter, a companion animal etc. I was at a pretty low ebb when I started this process and it was hard not to let my mind rail against my difficult financial situation and all the effects that had on my life. Part of my personal process was to break that down and be thankful for what I COULD afford.
Later on, I started to go on journeys of visualization of what it would be like if I had more money in my life. I’m not a lot better off now in real financial terms, but I find that small things happen quite regularly to help my finances along. I learned very quickly that thinking about the LACK of things or money felt BAD and thinking about what I did have felt GOOD.
One of the ideas I came across both in WRAP and in later reading was the vision board. The best way to do this is to create an actual pinboard, and cover it with the things and experiences and places that you want in your life. It might seem a bit ‘kindergarten’ to go about cutting things out of magazines, writing things on sticky notes and putting them on your vision board but do it because it helps. If you are the techie type, you can create a vision board on your PC. Make it your wallpaper, put it on your smartphone and look at it every day. Update it whenever you come across something that YOU want in your life.
Maybe the first question to ask yourself is do you WANT change in your world. Do you WANT that horrible dragging feeling that depression causes to persist? Why would you want that? It is hard to sum up in a few words how these concepts can help you. You really do have to want to get well and make the first steps to your own recovery.
NB – medical help and support refer to UK National Health Services. What is available varies in your area. Government are supposed to be committed to improving mental health services, particularly acute support. We shall see what happens in the future.
The UK mental health charity MIND may also provide some support in your area so check out their services.
This is the link to my local Mind Group in East Hampshire
For self-help, some reading and an online weekday guided meditation.
The Morning Motivator – Monday to Friday 10am Eastern, currently 2pm UK (As of March 17th – most of the year 3pm UK) – check world time differences
This uses Esther and Jerry’s guided meditations which you will also find on YouTube – here is one of them
Wellness Recovery Action Plan – Mary Ellen Copeland – Amazon UK link
