Research shows that a growing number of people are turning to meditation to help manage depression because it can help interrupt recurring negative thoughts. Even practicing simple meditation techniques could improve a negative mood and reduce stress. A 2009 study conducted by scientists at the University of Oxford in England found that people with severe and recurring depression benefit from incorporating mindfulness-based cognitive therapy.

Best known for its flexibility-enhancing benefits, yoga also works as a complementary treatment for depression. Although researchers are still looking into how and why yoga helps ease depression symptoms, a study published in the journal Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine in 2007 found that yoga could benefit people taking antidepressants who are in partial remission.

For people managing depression, gardening can be a simple way to interrupt negative thoughts. A study of 28 clinically depressed adults who participated in a 12-week therapeutic horticulture program revealed that the activity could help reduce the severity of depression. The research, published in the Journal of Advanced Nursing in 2010, noted that the effectiveness of the program was linked to how interested the participants became in gardening.