How to Improve Your Mood (8 Simple Ways)

In this article, you’ll discover how to improve your mood instantly in 8 simple ways so that you can restore your happiness, well-being and get on with your life.

Happiness and joy come from inside.

If you know how to be happy:

• Happy you feel no matter what you have or don’t have;
• Happy you are finding peace and serenity within yourself;
• Happy you are creating the life of your dreams.

However, sometimes we all need a bit of TLC (tender love and care), a “pick me up” to stay on our chosen life path.

For those moments, here you have eight ways on how to improve your mood instantly:

1. Smile

Smiling is a good way to let go of negative emotions, get back to your happy self, stop depression in its tracks, overcome difficult situations or embarrassing moments.

You could say that, when you feel down, the last thing on your mind, it’s smiling. Yet, (you see?) you get all the benefits of smiling even if, in the beginning, it’s a forced or fake smile. When your facial muscles are contracting with a smile, your brain chemistry changes instantly, releasing endorphins.

There is a simple and inexpensive prop to use when you just can’t make yourself to slime: a pencil. Keep it in your mouth to force your facial muscles to mimic a smile. Depending on how down you feel, this exercise improves your mental state in an instance, or it could take few minutes.

Use this exercise to lift your mood when you feel down or when you anticipate a stressful situation.

For example:

• A job interview,
• A meeting with difficult people or people you want to impress (if you’re a bit shy),
• An exam or other challenges.

2. Help others

Altruism is borderline to being selfish because it can give you feelings of satisfaction, joy, being useful, belonging, the sense that you can make a difference in other people’s lives.

One of the essential secrets of happiness it’s to feel connected to others. Helping others is a contributory factor in building long-lasting and meaningful relationships. Thus, give a helping hand to those in need and feel better instantly.

Altruism can give you double effect on how happy you feel:

• One, for being the person you want to be (which is to be a good person)
• And two, for seeing the people you’re helping overcome their issues.

3. Spend time with loved ones

Could you see yourself more beautiful and amazing as you feel when you look at yourself through the eyes of those who love you?

The story of a teenager: “Yesterday, we had no electricity. So, I was forced to leave the computer and spend time with my family. Funny, even though they don’t resemble at all to my favorite game characters, I’ve discovered they are good people. Imagine that! And they live in my house…”

Those who love you might not always be your obvious choice to get out of a bad mood, but they are (after you)the heroes of your life. Is it not?

4. Take a quick cold bath

Cold (room temperature) water is shocking your system. You can’t think of all most anything else other than how to get faster out of it.

In few short minutes, your mind clears up of what is bothering you and then, distancing yourself from the problem, you can easily find a solution.

Note that a quick cold bath is not for everyone (medical conditions like heart or kidney problems, for example) and for that reason, consult your doctor before taking the plunge in cold water.

5. Dance

As long as the sound of music makes you want to dance, you can easily lift up your mood instantly by dancing.

Dance is one of those things that cost nothing but makes a big difference because it involves moving so many of your muscles.

Dancing is that important for how we feel that many cultures have integrated it into their rituals (religious or secular), celebrations, and processions.

Dancing makes you feel euphoric and clears your mind of worries. Plus, because the movement involves both your brain’s hemispheres, alleviates anxiety.

Do you feel down today? Start dancing! To lift your mood when you feel down, don’t try to do it right, but wild.

If you have certain medical conditions that prevent you from standing up or doing strenuous physical exercise, use a chair and do your wild dance by making slow ample movements with your limbs.

6. Stand up and look at the sky

Metaphorically, speaking, standing up means to be assertive, to say what you want, to say an intended “yes” and a decisive “no”.

However, did you know that taking this expression (stand up tall) literally, it gets you out of a bad mood instantly? When you stand up and look at the sky (or ceiling), your mind can’t “produce” negative thoughts or emotions.

People who try this simple exercise are astonished by the results and try it, again and again, to test if it doesn’t lose its power over time. But, come back to the same effect each time – no negative thoughts or emotions.

To amplify the effect of this exercise, you can also:

• Make a fist and with your fist closed, put your hands on your waist (like Superman or Wonder Woman);
• With your palms open, raise your hands in the victory sign and say loudly: yes!

You might believe that we learn from seeing others these two ways of expressing our contentment. Yet, studies show that even blind people who are born unable to see, are doing them to celebrate victory or to feel more powerful.

These two body posture sends a strong message to your brain:

• “I am powerful.”
• “I am confident and capable of overcoming whatever life puts in front of me.”
• “I am the hero of my life.”
• “I am looking forward.”
• “I care about myself.”
• “I am/ I’ll be victorious.”

7. Take a short fast walk

Most times when you feel down, what makes you feel that way are (not the events in your life but) the perspective from which you look at things.

Every event or situation in your life has positive things about it; you just have to see, notice, and acknowledge that part of things, learn from it and then, move on.

Because your thoughts make you feel bad, changing how you feel it’s not only a matter of changing the environment but, mostly changing your mind.

When you’re walking, you think less; your mind quiets down, and you have a moment of relaxation and peace.

Did you notice that most people, when fast walking can’t follow their train of thought without stopping from time to time?

When you move fast, your mind runs better because it’s selecting the important things carefully, and separates them for the less significant or those thoughts detrimental to you.

8. Stop watching and reading news

In the most peaceful days, you’re living in a war zone (right in your living room in your pajamas) as soon as you switch on the television or read the paper.

If you don’t believe me, allow me to ask you this: when was the last time when you lived a day without seeing a gun or find out about people (with no connection to you) dying somewhere very far from you?

I’m not suggesting to become insensitive to the pains and needs of others. However, stop the war in your living room; bad news reaches you no matter where you are or what you do. Therefore, limit the bad news to the “unavoidable” ones which are plenty!

It can be your business if someone is suffering and you can do something about it; if not, that suffering just made another victim: you!

You see? Most times to lift up your mood needs to be proactive but also needs to stop certain things, and the news updates are one of the things you should stop coming uninvited into your life.

If you feel down today and need a “lift me up” remember that is in your hands to get out of a bad mood:

• Smile and
• laugh with your loved ones,
• help others,
• dance or take a short walk,
• stay away from the news and create the environment you what to live in.

Considering that your mood (sometimes) is influenced by the mood of those around you, share and inspire others with your newfound ideas on how to lift your mood when you feel down.