Elevate Your Mood

It’s natural to find ourselves in a low-energy space once in a while. Sometimes we may want to honor that feeling and explore its roots and effects upon us, other times we just want to shift it. To support you, here are 9 ways to help shift your mood from low to high gear in no time.

Focus on the positive things. It sounds obvious, but we often forget to do this when things aren’t going our way. Seek out the positive in your day. Look for kindness (someone holding the elevator for you), gifts (your checkout line moving the quickest), miracles (getting a late start but making it on time anyway), smiling faces around you, laughter in the air…anything positive. What we focus on grows, so if you want to elevate your positivity, then it will benefit you to focus on positive things!

Add “but” to negative statements to turn things around. If you’re having a hard time seeing the positive, you can still give yourself a boost by adding “but” to any negative thought, followed by a hopeful statement. For example: I can’t seem to do anything right today BUT I know this will pass as it always has in the past and I’ll be feeling better soon. What comes after but is what you might say to a friend when they’re feeling down. You acknowledge their emotional state, and you remind them that they won’t be feeling that way forever. Be a friend to yourself!

Compliment someone. Without any expectation that it will be acknowledged: giving another a compliment often makes both people feel good.

Go to your happy place. In your mind that is, and if you don’t have one, you can easily come up with a place—real or imagined—where all your troubles and stress melt away. Imagine your surroundings (weather, sounds, smells, sights) and what you would be doing in this safe peaceful place. Making your happy place as vivid as possible will add energy to your day and it can help you feel as if you’ve taken a mini vacation.

Make a gratitude list. When things seem to not be going your way, it’s helpful to gain perspective. Find a few things you are grateful for—even if it’s as simple as a pair of comfortable shoes or a sunny day. Then make a list of gratitudes and write them down. Next time you are feeling that way, read your list and notice how you feel better.

Be the energy of Happy. How would you speak, act, and look if you were happy in this moment? What things would you be doing? What would you be thinking? Act ‘as if’ you are happy NOW and notice that happy will quickly become an authentic state of mind.

Listen to music that puts pep in your step. Or better yet, makes you want to dance! It’s a good idea to create a playlist of songs ahead of time for just this purpose. When blue, turn on your chosen upbeat tunes, become energized and watch your mood shift

Laugh out loud. Pick anything in your mind or life or current news and just laugh until it feels genuine. This is a form of Laughter Yoga.

Just SMILE! The act of smiling, even if it is forced, will lift your mood as endorphins are released when you smile that will make you feel better.