Depression, Low Tide, and Birth

You might read the title of this blog and wonder what do depression, low tide and birth have in common?

Feeling depressed can feel like running on empty. On my walk today, seeing our local tidal river at low tide, it occurred to me that it was also empty. Nothing was flowing. The boats couldn’t go anywhere. The ducks needed to walk in their awkward, waddling way instead of gracefully paddling along.

When things feel like they aren’t flowing, could it be because you are at low tide?

When the tide is low, we know that the river will rise and flow again. When our energy is low, we may feel like life is over, everything is falling apart. It’s all too overwhelming. We want to crawl into bed and hide under the covers. Forever. It often feels like it will last forever. Nothing will ever change. What’s the point in even trying?

Does any of this feel familiar?

This is where birth comes in.

Birth Moments

Babies live in this moment. Whatever their current experience is, that is all they have available just now. As adults we can differentiate and say, “Right now I feel depressed and the sun isn’t shining, but there have been times when I have felt better. Chances are the sun will shine again.” We can learn to remember that it hasn’t always been like this and it probably won’t always be like this. We can remind ourselves, this is what is was like back then. Now it is different.

When babies come for Craniosacral therapy or prenatal and birth therapy, they readily start acting out their birth as a way to tell their story. If it was challenging for them, they can easily become lost in the challenge again, as if it is happening now. They can’t differentiate between then and now. When they remember their birth, they are again in their birth. They need us as adults to reassure them that they have already been born. “Yes, that’s how it was back then. And you made it! And now you are here with us/with mum.” They need us to help them orient to the safety, support and resource available now.

The same thing can happen when we as adults slip into a little one state. We can forget that we are now capable grown-ups with many supports and resources we didn’t have back then.

When we are trying to meet adult life challenges from a little one state, we can easily become overwhelmed. We lose touch with our grown-up skill set and resources. Without them, it is like trying to flow in low tide. We are running on empty. We may feel depressed.

Tide Rising

It can be helpful to remind ourselves that the river will rise again. Whatever is happening in this moment will change. Everything changes.

It can be helpful to remind ourselves of what supports us. For example, walking by the river is a resource for me. I love to view the ripples and stillness in the water and feel the resonance in my own fluid body. And in those low moments, the river reminds me of its rhythmic flow, that is also in me and in my life.

What supports you? In what ways are you more resourced and capable now than you were as a baby?

One way to find support may be to remember your current age and abilities and, from that place, consider what you needed back then as a little one. Is there some way you as an adult can offer that to little you?

Each of us is capable of filling our inner rivers in some way. What is your way?