I was interested to hear Nadia Hussain the Bake off winner talking to Jonathon Ross openly about her personal demons, or as she aptly named it the monster! Nadia described how the monster would come in varying degrees from being mild when she could put it in her pocket, other times it tapped her on the shoulder and at its most severe it was so in her face that it almost rendered her incapable. In other words meltdown.
It doesn’t matter what name you give it. Many of us myself included know only too well how debilitating, frightening and devastating its presence can have on your day to day living and like any monster it turns up when you least expect it.
I would like to share one of the things that worked for me when I was in the grips of depression and the monster plagued my every waking hour.
Washing up YES washing up!
My then teacher and still now more than 18 years later explained, how putting myself 100% carefully into the activity of washing up would help me feel calmer and able to deal with the monster. To begin with I thought he’d gone mad, wash up is he having a laugh? But no he wasn’t.
So I persevered and encouraged by my teacher began the process of washing up after meals quietly and carefully without the TV or radio on. I quickly learned that putting myself 100% carefully into the activity of washing up was actually therapeutic, but it was much more than that. I realised this simple yet effective strategy had me so engrossed in that task I completely forgot about the monster, and when it did make its presence known by tapping me on the shoulder I was equipped with the tools to completely ignore it and continue with the job at hand.
For me this was a revelation a miracle even as the monster had zero power over me anymore.
If have your own monster dominating your life please try a tip that really works. Remember not to hold anything back and put yourself 100% into washing up. You won’t just have sparkling dishes but a way of having a peaceful, quiet mind, which brings lasting peace without any monsters!
Give it a try then please leave me your comments.
