Meditation & Depression vs Sadness
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I was very moved by how many people have been in touch since my post on meditation and depression to let me know that they too struggle with depression.
One thing that makes depression so difficult is that you feel trapped by it. It reduces the world to something very small and claustrophobic. It seems that you have no options. But if you look just below the surface of depression, what you find is sadness which is raw and tender and workable.
However, we live in a world that rejects sadness as an indication of failure. When you reach your arms out to hold your own sadness, what you will find is not a brick wall of bleakness and dejection, but the secret gateway to genuineness, soulfulness, and the ability to love and be loved. That is how important sadness is.
Meditation is the gateway for embracing sadness and rejecting depression.
Please sign up for the Open Heart Project to receive meditation instruction.
25 comments
thank you susan,
i love you for your generous offerings through your open heart.
the depression thing is real and situational. so often it comes and goes sometimes with in and out breath. to be reborn in a situation of love must be a wonderful thing i can only imagine.
again, thank you for just being there and reaching out so often.
i want to think it gets better. xo peg
Peg, it does get better. Then it gets worse and then it gets better. But over time, the better seems to last way longer…
thank you once again for sharing your wisdom. I love the analogy of of our thoughts as clouds in the vast limitless sky of our minds – perfectly beautiful. have a wonderful day x
Thank you, Kathleen!
Dear Susan,
My heart is filled and with gratitude for you and your generosity of heart. Thank you so much for birthing the Open Heart Project. I started less than a week ago (10/30) and I noticed a difference right away – my spirit and soul were indeed in a new soil – which has been cultivated by meditating with you each day (sometimes 2x/day). I am calmer, more focused – (the impulse to multi-task and “jump to attention” as new thoughts pop in my head – has lessened tremendously. Just like you teach us to notice the thought and let it fall away the way we would open our hand and let a pebble fall away – my heart and soul are doing it automatically! – and it becomes strengthened every day. So, now I inhabit the present moment more fully because my heart and soul have bloomed more into this new soil that my meditation practice has cultivated…thanks to you. Thank you, thank you, thank you! — Wondrous blessings and gratitude to you, always… ~Cheryl P.S. I look forward to any retreats or classes you might do in the Chicago area.
Cheryl, I’m so thrilled you are deriving benefit from the OHP. I know that I am. It is wonderful to walk the path together.
No plans to be in Chicago at the moment…
By the way, Susan…
I never knew meditation could be so easy and so powerful. Bless you!!!
thank you!!!!
thank you!!!
oops – srry for the repeat postings, lol.
You are welcome, welcome, welcome!
Wow. I so needed to hear this today! Thank you Thank you Thank you!!
[...] From this Blog! [...]
I felt real recognition at the description of the difference between sadness and depression. Thinking back to my own most recent experience of everything-is-meaningful sadness, it was while I was supporting and helping care for a dying family member. I got a lot of support and encouragement myself during this time, and people around me understood why I was sad. I think those were important pieces of what was good about that sad situation. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to feel so supported as we work through other, less visible sources of sadness or depression?
Sspo, yes, it would be wonderful to feel this much support in all we encounter. From your experience, that heightened sensitivity to others will always be there. So, thanking you in advance on behalf of all beings. With love, S
Wow – just lovely to hear that. Thank you.
You are majorly welcome.
ditto Lisa from 11:36 am post.
Ditto.
I suffer from depression, sometimes. What I have never understood is how all things in life can be really good…health, hearth, financially secure, great children, good husband and I can still feel very blue/depressed. It is very frustrating for me. I know I have every reason not to be depressed. I just discovered your Open Heart Project through a tweet @starshyne so I am interested in seeing how mediatation works in my life. Thanks.
I understand this frustration, Susie. These things are very mysterious which in some ways gives me solace.
Please keep me posted about your meditation practice. Wishing you all the blessings of this path, Susan
Hi Susan,
I’m still clingin on a relationship for ten years,he has a new relationship now but he gives me the chance to win his heart back.This is very frustrating for me,I miss the person I was..do u think meditation wuold help me out?if it so,please help me.
Hi there. This sounds like a real roller coaster ride. Although meditation won’t take any pain or confusion away, it can help you work with it all. I wish you all the best! Susan
susan, while i think it’s great that you’re dealing with this topic proactively and honestly, however imo this topic can’t be helped by meditation alone (and i haven’t read the blogs entirely so if i missed something sorry)…ie you’re only as strong as your weakest link…goes for any illness….as with depression, too…meditation won’t be as significant an aid if other things are off balance (hence weak links) ie financial worries/problems, poor nutrition/eating habits (lack of proper vitamins/minerals etc), lacking social support, etc.
I agree–all avenues for healing ought to be explored. I would not suggest that meditation alone is an answer.