Recent ideas, articles and learnings

How to Lift Your Mood When Life Feels Heavy

You know how it is – some days are better than others. You slowly open your eyes and as you wake you see the dawn and then comes the dawning. Is it a good day? Is there dread? A low level unplaceable fear or a zing that makes you want to leap out of bed, high leg kick and kiss the sky?

We all have emotional weather, and sometimes the forecast is unexpectedly grim. Positive mood manipulation is not about denying your feelings, but about recognising that emotions shift, patterns change and small intentional actions can help lift your mood. Even when life feels beyond your control, there is power in how you choose to respond.

The great American writer Ann Tyler appearing on Woman’s Hour recently said “we are all enduring something” and who can’t relate to that?

Some days it can take me three hours to turn around my mood from floor to soar. At the start of the day it sometimes seems an impossibility. Then after some deep work I am swanning, floating and coping.

But oh the woe is weighty, the body heavy and the shoulder doesn’t want to meet the boulder of the day ahead. The duvet seems like a good retreat but it’s not an option. So what do we need to know when dread is ahead and the mood is lower than a dachshund’s tum?

Remember. This Feeling Is Not Forever

The most important thing is to remember this situation is temporary. Even though it feels like it’s tattooed on the soul after some night you wished to forget if you could only remember it in the first place. Moods are mutable and moveable and things can and will get better.

If it’s a particularly dark time then radical self care is needed, saying “no”, giving yourself time and being kind to yourself as you heal.

On a day to day basis try to think of three things ahead, before you get out of bed, that you want to happen or you can create and look forward to. A coffee on your favourite park bench, listening to music or an inspiring audible book or a lovely evening meal.

Use Nature, Nourishment and Radical Self Care to Reset

Nature contains its own Prozac so get out and let the wind and sun on your face put life in perspective, mindfully listen to the birds, stop to look at and smell the flowers. Know what will make you happy and top yourself up with both hands and with responsible selfishness.

This is where radical self care becomes less of a buzzword and more of a survival strategy. Protecting your energy, choosing your people wisely, practising accountability and taking responsibility for your emotional wellbeing can all affect how quickly you move from overwhelm to steadiness. Emotion regulation is often built in tiny moments, not grand gestures.

Practical Mood Manipulation Tools to Turn Gloom into Zoom

• Journaling – even if you don’t know what to write jot down how you are feeling to name and tame those negative emotions. Draw a picture of them.
• Write down things you are truly grateful for. Keep a blessings book.
• When we are in sadness we are looking backwards. When we are anxious we look forward. Be in the NOW. There is peace in the now. Let it be and settle into the day.
• Put your trust in something higher. God, Spirit, The Universe, Natural Rhythms, Gaia, a Greater Conscience that has your back, is dealing with your pain (a sort of Cosmic Customer Services) and is working it all out for the best for you. Trust it.
• Be patient. Patience is a super power and delivers its own answers.
• Most of us are going through it. It does pass.
• You don’t always have to take action. Let things unfold.
• Be super gentle with yourself. Avoid “barbs” – annoying people/ stressful situations and find a safe place to relax and retreat.
• Do a nice deed for someone then enjoy the karmic kickback.
• Daydream about the things that really light you up and take one step towards it. Repeat often.
• You have everything within you to have the love, success and health you desire. You are MORE than good enough
• Remember the tide will roll in, hit the rocks and roll out again. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming 🙂
• You are not alone

You Have More Control Than You Think

Your feelings matter, but they do not always have to lead. With empathy for yourself, better communication and a healthier relationship with your own needs, you can begin to reshape the pattern.

Sometimes positive mood manipulation is simply remembering that while you cannot control everything, you do have more influence than you think.

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