13 Quick Ways To Boost Your Mood Today
If you’re looking for quick ways to boost your mood today, this post will help you find new ways to change your state both quickly and mindfully.
(First Published April, 2021. Updated January 2023 with added resources)
Psychologists and coaches use the word state to refer to your state of being in any given moment. It’s made up of how you’re thinking and what you’re believing. How you’re feeling emotionally with your mood and physically in your body. All of these things together contribute to your overall state in any given moment.
You can think of your state like the surface of the ocean which is very flowing and changeable. There can be big waves, pretty little waves, no waves, sunshine and storms etc.
If you pause to reflect on your state you’ll likely find that similar to the surface of the ocean, it can be quite changeable. On some days you could feel motivated and cheerful one minute and flat and despondent the next. On other days you might find your state (or mood) to be quite steady and balanced. And of course, like many of us you may feel you’re somewhere in between.
But what causes these shifting tides?
Understanding And Managing Your State
Many things contribute to your state in any given moment, what are some influences you can think of?
Here are a few influences that come to my mind.
- The weather
- What you’re thinking + your self talk
- What you are believing about life, yourself and other people
- Your self concept (the ideas you have about yourself / how you see yourself)
- What you’ve been eating, drinking or consuming
- Your health
- Any medication
- How you have moved your body or exercised recently
- A variety of chemical and electrical events within the body or indeed surrounding the body such as radio waves
- Images, ideas, words and sounds received through any kind of media above or below conscious perception
- Exposure to music, nature, art, temperature, poetry or fragrance
- Interactions with other people
- Any other beliefs such as astrology or religion (‘I feel like this because Mercury is retrograde, and the moon is full’)
- Other unknown factors… what can you think of?
12 Ways To Boost Your Mood
It can be handy to have a good awareness of your current state because when you’re aware of how you feel you’re in a position of self knowledge and you can choose to do something to boost your mood if you want to.
Shifting your mood by doing something simple like a yoga pose might not address the root cause of your mood. For example, if you feel flat because you’ve been made redundant, then shifting into a happier state via the downward dog yoga pose probably won’t get you a new job in and of itself. But what it might do is shift your perspective (state) in such a way that you become a little less stressed and a little more inspired and resourceful while you are in the process of finding a new job.
(There’s no judgement here as to how you’re feeling. However you feel is valid for you at the moment and sometimes feeling flat is part of a process and leads to its own realisations. But that’s a larger topic for discussion another day…)
Mood Boosting Inspiration
Here are 11 of the best-loved state changers I have come across in my classes. Everyone is different and these might not all suit you, but I hope they inspire you to find state changers that work perfectly for you, and your unique body-mind.
- Cold shower or hot/cold/hot/cold/ blasts in the shower à la Wim Hoff
- A walk in nature/fresh air
- 20 mins of cardio exercise. I.E running, cycling, swimming, skipping
- A short session of meditation
- Strike a yoga pose. Maybe the forward bend stretch or a shoulder stand, if those are suit your body.
- Phone a friend or family member to say hello
- Help someone else or do a random act of kindness. If you can’t physically help someone you can close your eyes and imagine sending someone good wishes
- Listen to an uplifting song
- Surround yourself with a lovely perfume or fragrance
- Sing, chant or dance
- Spend time looking after plants, flowers or animals
- Make a health giving snack
- Take a nap. If you’re not tired why lay down and have 20 minutes of non sleep, deep rest
So, what do you think of my list of state changers and other ways to boost your mood?
Which have you used and which others haven’t I mentioned yet?
It’s nice to have a few healthy state changes in your toolkit. When challenges pop up, as they inevitably do, you’ll have some tools at hand to help you feel a bit better. A cold shower and a forward bend won’t create world peace, but every little helps. Once you change your state – by however much- you’ll be standing in a new position. And from the new vantage point things may look a little different and new actions might arise.
I don’t know who said it but there is a saying I like:
If you change the way you look at things the things you look at change.
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