Stress and anxiety from daily mental tasks can take a toll on mental well-being. Recent studies have shown that taking time out of your day to focus on your mood can be beneficial to lowering anxiety and greater overall happiness.
5 Instant Mood Boosters
- Wish others well. A recent study in the Journal of Happiness found that people who spend as little as 12 minutes wishing others well are happier people with lower stress levels. The act of wishing someone else well doesn’t have to be verbal. You can sit in a park and think of well wishes about people passing by. The technique works because it reminds you that you are among others and a part of society. Odds are everyone in this day and age experiences some stress, so the practice of wishing them well and wishing them happiness actually helps you feel connected and lowers your own stress.
- Listen to music. We all know certain songs that can quickly elevate our mood. In fact, musical therapy is an established form of mental relief. Music can lower stress and levels of depression. While listening to music is a great start, take it to the next level by picking up and learning an instrument or getting back into the groove with a former hobby.
- Seek heat. Drinking a hot cup of tea or coffee and taking hot baths and showers can actually soothe your mental state and boost your mood. Physical warmth may help provide affection and emotional warmth, while acting as a substitute for social warmth. While the science is still in development, it’s hard to argue against feeling better after a hot bath or shower.
- Get active. Exercise produces endorphins, which are known to increase your mood and lower stress. When feeling a mid-day or mid-week slump, exercising is a great way to give your mind a break. Any moderate activity will do the trick such as a lunch break walk, after work jog, yoga class, swimming, or cycling. Even standing up and stretching every so often can help relieve stress.
- Take a power nap. When you are feeling mentally rundown, try taking a short power nap. Strive for 20 to 30 minutes, so your brain has a chance to turn off and reset, but it’s not too long to make your groggy. The idea is to give yourself just enough time, without reaching a deeper state of sleeping. If it works in toddlers, there must be something to it, right? If you can’t quite reach a sleeping state, even the act of shutting your eyes in a quiet place has restorative benefits.
Sources:
https://www.today.com/series/one-small-thing/how-reduce-anxiety-stress-improve-your-mood-12-minutes-t154859
https://www.everydayhealth.com/emotional-health-pictures/instant-mood-boosters.aspx