Grumpy? 12 easy + doable ways to lift your mood today

By Kim Wessels, Naturopath + Medical Herbalist

 

There are lots of simple techniques to help lift your mood naturally. Here are 12 tips to help you do this. Try 1 - 2 ideas at a time for success. This way you’ll find the ones that suit you the most and can mix and match them.

 

1. Smile even when you don’t need to

Smiling when taking a walk or doing something mundane can have a really powerful effect on lifting a low mood. If you’re not sure, fluctuate between not smiling and smiling and see how you feel. You might be surprised at how well this works.

2. Back to nature

Take a bush or park walk and leave your melancholy behind when you leave. Smelling, touching, and really looking at your surroundings allows you to be in the moment leaving no space for thinking about how you feel. Nature has a good way of letting you exchange one mood for another if you let it.

3. Water ways

The inside scoop - Making sure you’re well hydrated is important for good mood balance and nervous system health. Water is needed for your body to function, be alert, and help with electrical signaling between the brain and the body.

The outside scoop - Water has been used for centuries to cleanse and purify. The sensation of water on your skin is a very effective way of distracting you from your mood - taking you out of your head and into your body. Water also has the effect of equalising intense emotions. Whether it’s listening to or watching a flowing river, the lapping waves, or a trickling fountain, moving water, and its blue-green colours are known to increase feelings of peace and calm.

4. Mindfulness + Meditation

These 2 simple practices have become very popular and can give you a whole lot of return on your investment. Often more than you expected. All you need to do is give it a try and keep going. Not only do these practices help to lift your mood, but they also help to improve sleep quality. #winning!

5. Journalling

Journalling is another way to be mindful and meditative. Journalling to express and put things down on paper can help to organise and get your feelings and thoughts. People say that this is often how they find answers and solutions to questions they have.

6. Avoid the news

News stories are designed to grab your attention and as humans, we are designed instinctively to be attracted to negative news stories. It's estimated that 90% of all news headlines are negative. Avoid the news for 1 week and see what it feels like in your mind. Does watching or reading the news reduce the clutter in your brain and enhance your mood? You probably already know the answer.

7. Community

Find a community that you resonate with. Join a club that’s fun and friendly. There’s Laughter and Laughter Yoga clubs where laughter is practiced and encouraged. Singing and dancing clubs are also really great at lifting mood, and if you like to sing and dance it's virtually impossible to do it without smiling and feeling happier.

8. Gratitude mindset

Gratitude practice is not always easy to do and can take some effort when your mood is low. But it can be very effective in helping you create a happier mindset that leaves increasingly less room for low mood to dominate. If your low mood had been prolonged it can become your default setting without trying. Gratitude practice helps to reprogram your mood to a more positive default setting.

9. Animal connection

If you’re an animal lover, you’ll already know how animal connection can lift your mood and make everything seem alright. Tactile contact with animals is well known for easing feelings of anxiety, depression, PTSD, lowering stress levels (and cortisol), and increasing happy hormones like serotonin.

10. Create

If you’re a creative creature being engrossed in the art of creating has the benefit of taking your mind off your mood and doing something you enjoy. If you enjoy painting, crafts, or cooking, you might even have something to gift, eat, or share afterwards.

11. Eat chocolate

Raw and dark chocolate contain phytochemicals that play a role in lifting mood. These include theobromine, anandamide, caffeine, and phenylethylamine, which are known to stimulate brain function and pleasure centres in the brain, positively affecting your mood. 85% dark chocolate or higher is what you want. If you can’t go that high, start on 70% dark chocolate and work your way to 85%. Chocolate lower than 85% is higher in sugar and will give you a very short-lived happy mood followed by a craving for more sugar. If you prefer you can eat cacao in all its forms, beans, nibs, powder, and paste.

12. Try Quick Calm + Magnesium Sleep Switch

You can also get help with a supplement that can support your mood balance and help your body cope with stress and worry. Quick Calm contains scientifically researched Bluenesse® - a unique blend of Lemon Balm extract and Ashwagandha –designed to support you with healthy function of your nervous system and mental focus. It supports your body’s response to feelings of stress and worry, along with your mental focus and clarity. Magnesium Sleep Switch contains an optimal blend of Magnesium, Lemon Balm and Magnolia, that encourages mind and body relaxation to support a deep restorative sleep, that’s non-drowsy, and helps you to wake feeling refreshed.

Quick Calm

Magnesium Sleep Switch

 

Finally, if you’re having ongoing challenges with mood swings consult your healthcare professional to discuss this further and get the support you need.

Need to talk? Free call or text 1737 any time for support from a trained counsellor

Lifeline – 0800 543 354 (0800 LIFELINE) or free text 4357 (HELP)