5 Ways to Boost your Mood

It’s 7.15 am and I am just waking up. Today, I am feeling sluggish and sleepy... 30 minutes later my energy has shifted and I find myself dancing, singing, and smiling in the kitchen.

Of course, every day is different. Some days, we might wake up feeling a little on the cloudy side, maybe a little more negative. The wonderful thing is that YOU have the power to change your mood.

I am sharing below five mood boosters that I like to use as a way of tricking my mind into feeling and being in a more positive and energetic state.

Dance

Moving your body helps to change your state of mind by changing the physical and chemical signaling that is happening between the body and the mind.

Emotions are linked to and can be seen in our bodies. For example, you can read in people’s body language if they are happy, sad, angry, etc. By changing our posture we send a signal to our brain, which can change the way we feel. For this reason, you will never see a sad person walking upright.

Dancing is in our nature, baby’s naturally move and dance, when they hear music. The desire to move and feel good is naturally in us!

Dancing releases endorphins in the brain and it's a form of meditation, when you become one with the movement, you silence your mind and shift your focus to the present.

Just close your eyes, put your favorite music on and dance. Dance however you feel like, it doesn’t matter how you look. Feel free and have fun!

Sing

Have you ever sat in your car singing your favorite song? If yes, you know much fun it is and how releasing it feels.

It doesn’t matter if you feel like you can sing or not, singing is like dancing, it releases endorphins and can make us feel energized and uplifted.

In Yogic tradition, people chant mantras (“man” means “mind” and “tra” means “instrument” or “freedom.” It helps to release stress, to focus the mind, to heal the body and to become more present.

Put your favorite song on, let go and feel free. Singing combined with dancing is even more fun!

5 minutes mirror self-love practice

Often we look in the mirror and almost immediately we criticize ourselves. What if you look in the mirror and instead of criticizing yourself, you count your blessing? How would it make you feel?

TRY THIS: Just stand in front of the mirror and put a timer on for five minutes. Speak out loud the things you love about yourself it can be inner or outer like “I love my eyes,“ “I love my lips,“ “I love my curiosity,“ etc. If you don’t know what to say anymore just repeat the compliments you have already said.

The exercise can help to change the way you look and feel about yourself. It can help to strengthen self-love and the practice of self-compassion, which has a positive impact on your mood.

It might feel awkward at first, that’s normal because we aren’t used to talking to ourselves like this.

Try it out and see how you feel!

Journal

It’s a great practice to start your day with journaling!

If you’ve never journaled before, start by listing things that you are grateful for. The practice of gratitude can positively affect your mood for the entire day!

Apart from gratitude, you can write everything that comes to your mind. Let the pen move over the blank page and flow, without editing or judging yourself.

Journaling in the morning is about releasing what’s in your heart and on your mind.

After releasing all unwanted thoughts, you can write empowering affirmations, things you like about yourself, or things that you did great. The intention of these “exercises “ are to shift the focus from the negative (flaws and struggles) to the positive.

You can also Journal at any other time of the day. It’s powerful to see your thoughts written down, which gives you the power to realize the ‘unimportance’ of them.

These are just suggestions, write whatever feels good to you.

Meditation

A stressful day can leave you feeling anxious, drained, and in a poor mood. Beside all the stress, you deserve time for yourself to nurture your well-being.

Meditation is a powerful tool to enhance your mood.

Apps like Headspace and Insight timer or YouTube videos, offer a range of guided meditations which can help to shift your state.

It doesn’t matter if you meditate for three, five or ten minutes, just close your eyes and be with yourself.

You can’t pour anything out of an empty cup, so take time to replenish your energy - take care of yourself first!

A Balinese healer told me once: “Don’t worry, be happy“... he was right, life is too short. We should enjoy it!