This is an excerpt from my upcoming book, We Get Better: 48 Treatment Options for Chronic Depression.

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Treatment option 44: Using a physical release

Many people report that their depression has an inner voice, and that voice gives reliably bad advice. It encourages them to ruminate, to avoid friends and family, to eat too much or not at all, and, of course, to stay in bed. All day.

The good news: depression’s recommendations are so reliably unreliable that taking the opposite action almost always helps. Get out of bed. Stretch. Do yoga. Vacuum. Physical activity of almost any kind can reduce depression in the short-term.

As discussed earlier, this might be in part due to the limbic system of the brain, which is responsible for emotion, memory and more. When the physical body is at rest, this system becomes more active. By moving your body, you shift your energy to the parts of the brain responsible for movement, reducing the amount of energy the limbic system receives.

Taking a walk, going for a swim, or even just cleaning the house are some examples of activities that can shift you away from mind-mode and into body-mode. For acute anxiety or panic, some experts recommend jogging around the block, doing twenty jumping jacks or using other vigorous movement to refocus the body’s energy. See When Panic Attacks by David Burns for more on how this works.

If desired, add “using a physical release” to your list of emotional coping skills. List specific activities as well.