10 Happiness Hacks & Natural Mood Boosters You Can Do Everyday
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In this bustling world of ours, juggling countless tasks and responsibilities can sometimes cause us to lose focus on taking care of our mental well-being.
But wouldn’t it be great if there were simple ways to inject happiness into our daily routine? As a matter of fact, there are!
This article reveals ten hacks that are not only easy to implement but can naturally boost your mood and re-energise your spirits.
From setting achievable self-care goals to simply changing your playlist, these tips will change the way you navigate through life’s highs and lows.
Not only will they help you repel negativity and stress, but they’ll also significantly contribute to your pursuit of overall happiness and becoming the best version of yourself.
1. Create a ‘Mood-Booster’ Playlist
Music can have a great effect on our mood. In fact, a study shows it’s a form of therapy, it reduces stress! But that also depends on the song. Listening to Adele crooning about lost love is not going to lift your spirits!
Happy music can have the opposite effect. Pull together a playlist of bright, happy and energetic singalong songs you can turn to whenever you need a mood boost.
If you are heading to work and dreading the day ahead, put on the playlist and sing along as you drive, with this happiness hack you're bound to feel at least a little lighter as you pull into the car park.
2. Go Outside for a Gentle Walk
Even if you are feeling lethargic and the idea of moving just one metre seems beyond you, forcing yourself up and going outside can have great benefits. When you step outside take some deep, long breaths before you begin and let the fresh air wash over you.
As you start walking you’ll experience a boost in endorphins, your body’s natural mood boosters. You'll also be exposing yourself to Vitamin D from the sun, which will help you fight off bad moods and depression.
3. Become More Mindful
If you are working in a busy, noisy and stressful environment, it can be easy for you to get caught up in the chaos completely to the point that you begin to feel overwhelmed.
Take a few minutes to engage in some mindfulness exercises, which could be breathing exercises or meditation to feel grounded and put whatever your stressors are in proper context.
Take five minutes to step out, slow down and focus on the base elements of your body and your surroundings. This will put whatever work crisis is currently happening in perspective and leave you feeling a lot more capable of handling it.
4. Have A Laugh
Just sitting back and laughing can have instant mood-boosting effects - even if you don’t find anything funny!
By the simple act of laughing, your body releases natural mood boosters called endorphins which lower your blood pressure and release tension.
So put on a clip of your favourite stand-up on YouTube or scroll through some funny TikToks. Or else just start laughing - you may feel silly but engaging in the physical act itself has been shown to have amazing results.
5. Catch Up With a Friend
If you are feeling down, feelings of loneliness and isolation will only push you further into a downward spiral.
So, remind yourself that you are loved and supported by having a quick chat with a friend or family member.
Talking to someone you love will allow you to vent about whatever is bothering you at the moment, laugh about shared memories or get excited about a big event coming up for the both of you in the future. So, pick up the phone and give your bestie a quick buzz.
6. Think of The Good Times
When you are feeling sad and depressed it is easy for this emotion to cloud your whole view of the world, so that everything seems grey, cold, and unfriendly.
Think back through your past and concentrate on the good times, great nights out, fantastic trips, and special family moments.
You can even get out your phone and scroll through your favourite photos of friends and families. Remind yourself that life isn't all bad and even if today isn't going well, you have more great experiences to look forward to in the future.
7. Add Some Flowers to Your Day
There are no hard and fast rules that say you have to wait for someone to buy flowers for you!
So treat yourself by spending money on a beautiful bright bouquet to be delivered to your home or office. Being able to turn to some beautiful blooms throughout your day is bound to improve your happiness levels.
And, there has been a study published which shows that smelling lovely fragrances such as those from flowers can trigger endorphins (that all-important happy hormone we talked about earlier!)
8. Do Some Quick Yoga or Meditation
You don’t have to pull out the yoga mat and commit to a full session, but try to find somewhere quiet and take five minutes to do some gentle yoga, breathing, and meditation exercises.
You can stay on your feet and engage in gentle prolonged stretches while concentrating on your breathing and releasing tension in your body. You then step back into the world with a lighter mood and a new sense of purpose.
9. Take a Break From Social Media (You CAN Do It!)
When we feel stressed, unhappy, and down in the dumps, turning to social media as a distraction is an obvious go-to. But exposing yourself to a feed of glossy, heavily edited, and carefully selected presentations of other people's lives may make you feel even more unhappy.
You may experience some resentment, disappointment and jealousy as you compare yourself and the way you currently feel to the extensively edited and curated lives of celebrities and influencers.
The constant cancelling, feuding, and negativity that blights some apps may only bring you down further. So take a social media break and you'll be amazed at how much your mood can pick up!
10. Don't Pressure Yourself
If you've worked your way through the rest of our list and are still feeling blue, then don't worry. You can't force yourself to be happy and feeling sad sometimes is perfectly natural, whether you can pinpoint a reason or not.
So don't make your mood worse by stressing about it or trying to force a mood change that just won't happen. Just concentrate on being as kind to yourself as you can and remind yourself that tomorrow is another day.
Pro Tip - Remember to favourite this page so you can easily head over here whenever you’re in need of some instantaneous happiness hacks you can do every day to boost your mood.
