I must confess that the phase when I was going through an awful low was indeed the worst phase of my life. I had lost the will to fight, to be happy and to even live on. My life was a mess, I was in between jobs, there had been a medical emergency in the family and none of my pet projects were taking off. I felt like I was living through my worst nightmare. I was lonely, sad and angry. Yet, I did not know that I was suffering from an ailment.

Yes! The first thing you must do is to acknowledge that there is a problem. That is the key to setting things right. So, after much postponing and ignoring the problem, I finally contacted my family doctor. He set the ball rolling by congratulating me for having recognized that I needed professional help. After that, things started picking up. He decided that I had not yet hit rock bottom and that I would not need to take anti-depressants.

During our second meeting, he suggested that I take off to the nearby hills for a couple of days. He strongly believed that a change of scene would do me good. But I could not just leave everything behind and escape. So, he tried his alternative therapy.

He would make me do deep breathing exercises for about 20 minutes every morning and walk for about half an hour every evening. He encouraged me to join dance classes once in a week because I really enjoyed dancing. I also picked up the initiative to start playing the guitar again.

Finally, he introduced me to the great concept of yoga. According to one of the methods of good living in this kind of approach to life, one is asked to ``work on’’ without expecting results. We are motivated to think positive and continue doing our duties without waiting for something great to happen. It is also called the method of ``detached involvement’’, which was difficult to understand at first. But by and by, I got the hang of that.

We were asked to hold no grudges; banish negative thoughts and try to enjoy whatever we have. Rancor and depression cause imbalance of the brain chemicals and provoke harmful internal changes.

By the third week, I had begun re-focusing my energies; I had started socializing a lot more; I had successfully fought off self-pity and self-doubt and was feeling completely rejuvenated. The trip was hard but then, I had something to live for.