Q: Dear Todd, the more awareness I have, the more I see the resistance towards the situation, the people, the work, and the place. I meditated and changed my attitude case by case, bit by bit. Recently my depression is coming back, and I can’t even sit still to meditate. Just started the medication. Any advice?

TODD ANSWERS: First off, that’s incredible that you were able to do that and see that much change before! I would only recommend that you make peace with your depression. Accept it without fear or frustration. Notice it is there. Don’t fight it, but instead work with it. Depression is not so depressing when we are totally OK with it. So that’s step 1.

Step 2, if meditation is too difficult, try to replace it with some other healthy activity that can lessen depression, such as yoga and exercise, or time in nature. Keep trying to meditate, however much you can, and keep trying to build your time back up. But go easy, be patient, and be kind to yourself. Remember that we all go in cycles, ups and downs.

If we remain centered and present, then we become like the center of a wheel — balanced and stable despite the bumps in the road.