The slightest thing can throw off your mood. Whether its dealing with a rude customer, not doing well on a school project, or even just someone cutting you off in traffic. We all know the things that get under our skin and ruin our attitude for the whole day.
So how do you recover? Being responsible and intentional about the ways you get your mood back up is important in developing healthy, sustainable self-care habits.
Here are 5 ways you can naturally improve your mood:
1. Get outside
Chances are, you probably aren’t getting enough vitamin D. Vitamin D helps your lungs, heart, and other functions that affect how you’re feeling physically and mentally. In the colder months of late fall and winter, you probably get less vitamin D from being indoors more.
Going outside for a walk, a picnic, or just sitting on your porch for 10-30 minutes per day can help give your body some very valuable vitamin D! Also, breathing in some fresh air and fresh oxygen can boost your mood without you even realizing.
Oh, and don’t forget to wear sunscreen!
2. Eat and hydrate
Have you ever been so irritated with everyone and everything and you couldn’t figure out why? You were probably hangry—yes, that’s a real thing! Some people are more prone to being hangry because of other anger issues, but being hangry is a response your body has when its blood sugar is low. It’s also possible you don’t realize how long it’s been since you ate food or drank water, so the hangry feeling can creep up on you.
Drink a nice big glass of ice water, get some food in your system, and chill out a bit. Your mood is bound to improve, even if just a little.
3. Eat some CBD gummies
CBD is a great way to boost your mood and start feeling better! Taking CBD has a plethora of benefits, because it works with your endocannabinoid system to basically help all your body’s systems function better. This includes chronic pain relief, stress relief, and relief from some anxiety and depression symptoms.
CBD doesn’t give you any psychoactive effects like THC does, so you can take it before work, or whenever and not be worried about ‘feeling high’ and not being able to function. PLUS, the bit of sugar in the gummies can help if your blood sugar is low and give you a bit of energy!
4. Meditate or workout
Meditation can be an extremely helpful way to boost your mood if stress, anxiety, and depression is the reason you’re not feeling the best. Taking time to focus on breathing, emptying your mind, and calming your body can be very beneficial (even if you are in a good mood). Lots of that stress can come from being overwhelmed by things we can’t control, mistakes we’ve made, and worry for the future.
There’s tons of different meditation exercises that you can do before bed that help you fall asleep, but also calm your mind and help you recenter.
Working out is also a good way to get a boost of dopamine! When you work out, endorphins, dopamine, adrenaline and other similar chemicals get released. Those chemicals are related to how your brain makes serotonin (your body’s mood stabilizer). This might not be an enjoyable activity for everyone, but going for a fast walk or a longer hike counts.
However you can get your heart rate up and get your blood moving will do just the trick for making you feel better.
5. Spend time with friends/family
Introvert or not, we all need to spend time with other humans who care about us. Hanging out with friends and family can help boost your mood in a couple different ways:
- Getting trustworthy advice for your situation and how to get through it
- Laughing, having fun and making memories
- Nostalgia and remember other enjoyable times with them
- Forgetting, for a moment, about the things stressing you out and upsetting you
Taking time to be around and socialize with people who care about you is a great way to stay grounded and remember your worth, despite what you’re feeling and what’s happening in your life. Also, being connected to others helps to feel less lonely and improves your cognitive functions (making your brain more active).
So call up some friends for a game night, or facetime that family member you haven’t spoken to in awhile to reconnect and start feeling like yourself again!
