“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” ~Dalai Lama
We all have moments of feeling down. Regardless of the cause it can really have a negative impact on our lives. When we are down, our vibration is low and we tend to attract more things to feel down about.
So while things in life do happen to bring us down, it is important not to linger there for too long.
Here are a few ways to bring your mood up a notch or two. Start with the easy ones and work your way up.
1. Smile
Yes, something as simple as a smile can elevate your mood. This is one of those things where you may have to feel like you are faking it, but if that is what you have to do then just do it. Smile and don’t stop. Eventually it will become real as you start to feel better and realize there truly are so many things to smile about.
2. Take a break from the news
I decided many years ago watching the news was not for me. It is not that I don’t want to know what’s going on; I am just more particular about how I find out and how I let it into my life. The worst time of day to watch the news is before bed. Newscasts show primarily bad news and going to bed with that on your mind is not healthy. If you really need a mood lift, take a holiday away from the news and only go back to it when you are feeling more resilient.
3. Go for a walk, in nature if possible
Take a walk to clear away some of the mental chatter that may be affecting your mood. If you can walk in nature even better. Exercise raises our feel-good hormones so if your mood is low, get your body moving. Your mood will make excuses as to why you can’t go for a walk, but let your desire to feel better win this battle.
4. Listen to music
At times I often forget how much listening to music can raise my mood. I remember when I had a long car commute to work how I would put on my favorite CD (yes this does age me) and sing along at the top of my lungs and just feel awesome by the end of the drive. So grab your ipod or iphone and headphones and get listening. Better yet; try this while you are walking for a double dose of feel good.
5. Hug someone in need
A hug or two (or three, or more) a day can keep the doctor away. Hugs are one of those human elixirs of life and often we fail to realize just how impactful they can be. They help both the hugger and the huggee feel better. So give a hug–we all need one more often than we like to admit.
6. Watch an inspirational feel-good movie
This is one of my favorite things to do when I am feeling blue. I have a small library of go-to movies. They either give me a good kick in the behind to snap me out of my “poor-me” mood, or they just make me smile and laugh my way to feeling better.
7. Share your feelings with someone you trust
Sometimes all we need to do is vent or share. We just need to let out what is bothering us and bringing us down. By talking about it out loud we get it out of our heads or hearts; often we can come up with a solution or realize we just needed a release. When we hold our feelings in and try to suppress them, we only make ourselves feel worse.
8. Take an Epsom Salts bath
What? A bath? Yes, a bath! We are energy beings and all day long we are giving off our own energy and taking on that of others. Believe it or not this is happening with all of your interactions with people. Sometimes our down mood is just the result of taking on another person’s bad energy. A great way to cleanse our own energy field of this negative debris is by soaking in an Epsom Salts bath for at least 20 minutes. Give it a try. Enjoy it with silence, or music, or candles.
9. Make love
Okay, before you pass judgment or negate this one keep an open mind. When we make love feel-good hormones are released and this makes us feel better. If you have a willing partner and this is within your realm of possibility, go for it and make it happen. We as humans crave connection and what better way to connect with someone you love and raise your mood at the same time?
10. Eat something healthy
Like it or not, what we eat has a direct, yes direct, impact on how we feel. If we put garbage into our bodies what we get back is garbage in our mood, our energy levels and our overall well-being. If you find yourself chronically down in mood and energy then look at what you are eating.
Remove the garbage and start eating better foods.
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