You're reading 7 Little Changes that Will Make a Big Difference with Your Mood, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Picture this: it’s early in the morning. You start waking up slowly. Before you become aware of your physical surroundings, you sort of come back into your body, from the haze of wherever you went while you were sleeping. Perhaps there was a dream that faded behind you – and you can’t remember details, only that it was not a very good one. As you become more and more aware of yourself, your problems start kicking in. It’s not even that they are so pressing… it’s just that you are used to ruminating about them. Not those particular ones… just… problems in general. So maybe you think about your boss and the incredible workload that you have. You think about that nasty woman across the desk from you, who seems to be frowning all the time. You cringe when you suddenly get the idea that you have to call your father-in-law to find out when he will do you the honor of receiving you, your children and your spouse for his birthday party… You are off and running. What kind of day do you think it will be? Yeah, I didn’t think you’d say “happy”. But you try to make it. You try to push through, you carry these thoughts with you while you get up, brush your teeth, take a shower and get ready for the day. Your life force, your “sap”, as I call it, is pulsing in your veins though – a very strong current of well-being, of joy and of happiness. It is so strong, in fact, that you have to make considerable efforts to diminish it and slow it down. If you are plagued by anxiety, or even depression, or any other life-sucking current, your moods are not great… just to state the obvious. I was just like that until a few years ago. Drowning in bad moods and unable to shake them off. I tried everything I knew… Reiki, cranio-sacral therapy, talk therapy, massage, energy therapy… the list is long. They all did work. But somehow, my moods had a way of snapping back to “bad”, after the original “honeymoon phase” of a new healing modality. In the meantime though, with more life experience and two incredible reasons to motivate me to find my way to mental health (my boy and my girl), I found out some solutions that have stuck. I would like to share with you seven little changes that will make a big difference in your mood.
Mood Shifter #1 Stretch your mouth into a smile every morning – even if you don’t really feel it. The old “fake it till you make it” thing? Sort of… It will probably make you mad, at first. You might even cry. And then… there will come a day when you will start laughing, because it’s “stupid”.
Mood Shifter #2 Make one small healthy change in your diet. Perhaps you can add one piece of fruit, or a veggie that you like. And by one piece I really mean a piece – in the beginning. It will start flowing into your life, I’m telling you!
Mood Shifter #3 Do one small thing that AMUSES you, every single day. It doesn’t matter what it is and nobody needs to know. Maybe you like to look at bugs in the garden, like you used to do when you were a child. Just go for it.
Mood Shifter #4 Cultivate CURIOSITY. Even in my darkest hour, there was always, always something that sent a tingle of curiosity down my spine. That is life-giving. Perhaps you have an urge to find out who won the World Cup. Or what your heroine in your latest (secret pleasure of a trashy) novel did with that bad boy. Again, don’t judge yourself and nobody needs to know.
Mood Shifter #5 Make your nights as pleasant as possible. I’m not saying “get a good night’s sleep”, because if you are having mood problems, chances are you are not sleeping well. But you can try to make the best of it – until the solution arrives. If you are tossing and turning, at least try to get yourself a good pillow. Or stop the torment and just watch a movie. A good night’s sleep will go a long way to put you in a good mood. And sleepless nights don’t necessarily have to be bad.
Mood Shifter #6 Connect with people. I am very aware of the fact that some of us are very lonely. Some of us are lonely while being in relationships! Good relationships, however, will improve your life more than anything else – except one thing, which I will write about in #7. Don’t go for the “big guns” and don’t try to fix. Just get some “people energy” in your system and connect, so you can express your lovely energy with them. You might do that with a nice waitress at the restaurant. Or the parking valet. It doesn’t matter that you don’t know them. Connections are powerful.
Mood Shifter #7 Cultivate self-kindness. For a lot of us suffering from bad moods, self-love is a tall order. We know we should do it. But the self-hatred we have is why we are suffering from bad moods to begin with. But KINDNESS can be done. Pour yourself a cup of coffee or tea. Take yourself for a walk. Gift yourself a movie you’ve been wanting to see. Be a little more patient with yourself – and a little nicer. So now, if I were to ask you “Good morning! What kind of day will this be?” – what will you say?
CHRISTINE ELLIS is a former teacher who discovered, after being diagnosed with depression and PTSD, a lasting way to transform her life each and every day: focusing on good feelings. She now writes books and designs online courses about good feelings and feeling good. Christine lives in Brussels, Belgium with her husband, her son, her daughter and some very cute squirrels. All of her stories have a happy ending. She is the author of "The Happiness Switch" and can be found at www.findgoodfeelings.wordpress.com.
You've read 7 Little Changes that Will Make a Big Difference with Your Mood, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you've enjoyed this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
Source: pickthebrain.com
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