11 Tips to Uplift your Mood & Feel Better Now
Me in a dress that makes me feel happy!
It can be difficult at times to shift a bad mood once it has set in, we can feel stuck, unable to break the stubbornness of it. Our entire lives can seem grey and gloomy as the mood colours our perception of everything. We have been in lockdown in the UK for almost two months now and all of us have at times struggled with the monotony, restrictions on our freedom, uncertainty for the future, and nostalgia for normal life. We do, however, have the power to change our thinking and return to enjoying our day-to-day experiences again, I hope to inspire you.
Here’s my 11 tips to lift your mood, feel hopeful, and encourage fresh, empowered thinking:
1 First of all calmly acknowledge the unpleasant feelings as pushing them away can harm our health in so many ways in the long term. Great learning about yourself can arise out of a little time to explore and express unhappy feelings that come from challenges, resulting in more self-love as we cultivate a new habit to embrace ourselves no matter the mental weather condition – stormy or sunny.
2 Make a list of things you enjoy doing that have helped to shrug off a bad mood in the past, that you can do at home. And resolve to do one, two or more of them each day.
Wear colourful clothes you love - don’t save the best for best
3 Make your day brighter by wearing colourful clothes and jewellery that make you feel good, maybe that you normally only wear when you are going out. I have found this to be really helpful to also motivate me and set an intention to have a good, productive day. Likewise why not use your favourite, most colourful crockery every day – don’t save things for best, let the best be now. Perhaps you have been saving a beautiful scented candle, or a special tea – it’s time to use it!
4 Learn or do something new that you’ve wanted to do but haven’t got round to yet. I’m doing an online jazz dance course, which I love and keeps me from being in my head too much. I’m also using an adult colouring-in book with pencils – something I loved to do as a child. Or maybe pick up unfinished home projects and enjoy bringing them to completion.
5 Get inspired by speeches from positive thinking celebrities, Oprah Winfrey and Will Smith come to mind, while biologist Bruce Lipton who talks about the influence of beliefs on our bodies, Joe Dispenza who is interested in neuroplasticity and re-programming the brain and spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle entice people to become more open-minded and remind us of our vast potential. I also recommend Jason Stephenson for his positive affirmations, meditations and visualisations on YouTube.
6 Have something to look forward to. Make a date with those you are living with; yourself, your loved one or family to have something special for dinner, maybe from a recipe. You could also arrange a date with a friend over Skype, Zoom or the phone.
7 Show your love to others, even if it’s just sending a funny meme or link to video clips of cats being silly to a friend it boosts those feel-good hormones in both you and them. Or maybe you’d like to send a card in the post to let loved ones know you are thinking of them – we don’t really do this any more so would be special for both of you, and a lovely surprise for him/her. Helping an elderly or vulnerable neighbour with shopping is another excellent one.
Go on a ‘new habit’ adventure for a week
8 Adopt a different habit for a week – you could try veganism, vegetarianism, cooking with a certain vegetable you might not have tried before. How about having a detox from TV or social media for a week? You could eat all your dinners in the garden, or increase your water intake so you are having two or three litres a day and see what the difference is when the week is up. All in the spirit of adventure and potential to create new healthy habits.
9 Keep mainstream news watching and reading to a minimum, we might not realise the impact of some of our day-to-day habits on our state of mind. I like the Positive News website for more heartening news stories worldwide.
10 Think of the positives the lockdown is bringing - more time with family, more time to have a sort out at home and more cooking and baking. Time to reflect, and think about what you really want in life. The planet, the skies and oceans are getting a rare chance to clean up and heal itself from the toxic effects of man-made technologies. What are positives could you add to this list?
11 Finally I’ll leave you with a different approach focusing on bringing ease and peace of mind when distressed in ‘The Way Toward Health’ book by Jane Roberts & Seth.
Step 1: become aware of all that you can experience in the moment – look around you, what do you hear, smell, feel physically – the contact of your body on the chair or ground, the sensation of clothes against your skin. It takes your attention away from your object of concern, and eases the pressure.
Step 2: Decide not to worry – you can tell yourself you can worry as much as you want to tomorrow or at another time but not right now.
Step 3: If/when you find yourself thinking of the worry, decide to change your focus and think about the best possible outcome instead. Rather than focus on how it can happen, just see or feel it as done, depending on whether you are more of a visual or feelings-based person.
Please do share with me in the comments below if you have any other suggestions for how to lift a bad mood