The goal isn’t to force a high-intensity session when you’re at your limit, but to use movement as a strategic intervention to interrupt the loop of negative thinking. By focusing on the physical sensation of movement, you can shift your brain.
Mindfulness involves observing your thoughts without judgment. Instead of identifying with a thought like I am a failure, you learn to identify it as I am having the thought that I am a failure. This slight shift creates the necessary distance.
Depression often tricks you into waiting until you feel like it to move, but movement frequently generates the motivation, not the other way around. Adjusting your physical activity intensity to match your energy level is a strategy.