Easy Ways to Feel Better

It seems easier and easier to fall into a low mood these days. Depression and anxiety rates are now generally higher than they’ve been before and the year we’ve had really hasn’t helped.

Not having much to look forward to can really impact your mood negatively, as can a lack of variety and over-familiarity with the space you occupy. Lethargy and low mood can slowly creep in, but luckily there are some very easy, proven methods to lift yourself out of it.

1. Take Slow and Deep Breaths
Simply and easy. The way you breathe is strongly connected to how you feel.

If you find yourself stressed or in a low mood; stop what you’re doing, close your eyes, and take some long, deep, slow breaths. Push out your stomach as you breathe in and pull it in as you breathe out.

Slow, deep breathing fills your lungs with oxygen and triggers your vagus nerve; a network of nerves that span the length of your torso. The vagus nerve is associated with the parasympathetic nervous system (PSNS), which is where your body’s ‘feed & breed’ and ‘rest & digest’ modes lie.

Breathing deeply activates your PSNS through the vagus nerve and calms you on the physical level. Coupled with the extra oxygen your body and your brain get from the deep breaths, activating your PSNS calms you down and levels your mood.

In contrast, short and shallow breaths can trigger the sympathetic nervous system, which is heavily associated with stress as this is where your fight-or-flight response lies. If you find yourself stressed or low, start with some simple deep, slow breaths.

2. Move Your Body
The first thing to do when you feel down is move. Exercise is great for you from pretty much every angle, and moderate activity like walking or jogging is scientifically proven to improve your mood.

Physical activity stimulates mood-regulating chemicals like dopamine and serotonin which physically bring your mood up. Moving around gets your heart beating and your blood pumping, giving your brain and body more oxygen. Working out even stimulates BDNF, a protein that helps your brain cells grow and connect.

Exercise lifts your mood, helps you think much more clearly, and as an added bonus, even makes you smarter.

Have a look here for a few short, low-intensity movements to get your blood pumping.

3. Change Your Scenery
The space you occupy affects how you feel as well as how you think.

We’re creatures of variety; occupying the same space for too long leads to over-familiarity and a lack of novelty, which can lead to cabin fever. The same applies if you use one space for multiple purposes, like using your bedroom to sleep, work, and relax.

The multiple uses of the space and the contrasting moods you have in them get mixed up, contributing even more to the stifling familiarity and feelings of potential claustrophobia (when you feel like climbing the walls).

We’ve all experienced the feeling of sudden and surprising clear-headedness when getting some fresh air or moving to a different room to work.

A change of scenery works wonders.

4. Declutter Your Space
Being in a cluttered space can cloud your mind, partly because with clutter comes a high number of visual stimuli, which means more things in your environment competing for your attention.

Decluttering your space declutters your mind. With less chaos and a more ordered environment (it doesn’t have to be clinically ordered), your brain has fewer stimuli trying to catch its attention and more space to think. And, more importantly, more space to relax.

If you find your mood is low, or your mind is chaotic or unable to focus, the simple act of ordering will really help clear your mental haze.

5. Listen to an Energetic Song you haven’t heard in a long time
A lively song with a fast beat makes your heart beat faster and gets your blood flowing. Just like with exercise that’ll improve your circulation and deliver more oxygen, glucose, and nutrients to your body and brain. This lifts your mood on the chemical level as exercise does.

Listening to a song you like but haven’t heard in a while will give you the best of both worlds. It’ll get your heart pumping and access your memory circuits. Music is strongly connected to memory and emotion — you know the feeling of hearing an old song and being instantly transported back to that time in your life. It’s because your brain processes memories much more richly when they’re connected to emotion.

The brain uses the same pathways to encode a memory as it does to store it. Hearing an old song you like again activates that same pathway, connected to those emotions you felt then, making you feel them again. Listening to an energetic song with happy memories attached will get your blood pumping and lift your mood with positive emotions.

The best thing is to mix music and exercise for an optimal mood lifter.

6. Call a Friend you haven’t spoken to in a while
The human need for variety is strong, as is the need for social contact. We’re social by our very nature and we need others to survive.

Loneliness isn’t good for your health — social contact boosts your mood and releases feel-good chemicals in your brain. Meaningful contact with someone close to you but whom you haven’t spoken to in a while is best for mood-boosting.

The rekindled connection will feel good all around and it’s quite amazing how just talking to someone can make you feel so much better.

Just as a note, social media won’t help here. Scrolling for hours through endless posts can actually make you feel worse, not better.

In short, if you find yourself in a bit of funk; breathe, move around, declutter your space, listen to upbeat music you like, or speak to someone.

Your brain and body require variety, activity, and social contact to maintain health and optimal condition. Feed them what they need and you can kiss that low-mood goodbye.