True Recovery

Balance Sleep -Sleep is a biggie.  About 50% of all adults have had, or still have problems sleeping.  A good night sleep means getting enough (6 - 9 hours for healthy adults), high quality sleep (staying asleep the whole time), regular times (getting to bed and waking up about the same time each day).  Dr. Richard Bootzin developed the stimulus-control treatment for insomnia.  He recommends conditioning yourself to associate your bed with rest.  Avoid other activities such as study, reading, television, eating in your bed; teach yourself the purpose of your bed is to sleep.  Don't force yourself to sleep, allow yourself to sleep.  Maintain consistent bedtimes and wake up times.

Get Exercise - Rigorus exercise can stimulate neurotransmitters in the brain, and act as an antidepressent.  With regular rigorous exercise (20 - 30 minutes each day), our bodies process nutrition better giving us better access to necessary vitamins and minerals, we use calories more efficiently keeping our weight down, and improves the quality of our sleep.

Build MASTERy - Who says ego is a bad thing?  When we do things we're good at, we feel better about ourselves.  Many of us, unfortunately, spend much of our time doing things we need to do, rather than those things we have mastered or feel good doing.  Personally, I love to write, cook, learn and debate issues.  The more of this I do, the higher my self-esteem goes and the more satisfied I feel.  If you don't feel you're particularly good at anything, pick something and learn to master it.  Even the process of improving through practice can help build self-esteem.  Regardless of whether you're a master at something, or developing some skills, do at least one of those things each day to remind yourself how great you really are.

Review

During this section, we discussed how structure in our lives can improve our overall mood, and decrease our susceptibility to emotion mind.  Specifically:

• Treat Physical Illness
• Balance Eating
• Avoid mood-altering substances
• Balance sleep
• Get Rigorous Exercise
• Build or practice MASTERy