It doesn’t take much to change your day. While bad traffic or a coffee spill on your shirt can get things off to a bad start, there are quite a few small things you can do to turn your day around and boost your mood. Let’s look at three of them.
1. Breathe
The last thing you want to hear when you’re stressed is for someone to tell you to breathe, but it’s actually good advice. When we’re stressed, we tend to take shallow, quick breaths from the area of our chest. This leads to further shortness of breath and panic, because you’re not getting the oxygen you need. Breathing in deep breaths from your belly allows you to get as much oxygen as possible. Breath regulates everything else, so when you can breathe easy, you will be happy.
2. Smile
It might sound silly that smiling can make you happy and not the other way around, but it’s true. Not only has this been shown in studies, but you can see it in your everyday life as well. We’ve all had those days where a single person smiling at us made everything better, and you can actually do this for yourself.
3. Work With Your Hands
Whether you like gardening, sculpting, knitting, or cooking, these activities do a great job at grounding you in the physical environment. While anxiety keeps you locked in your head, grounding activities keep you present in your physical body.
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Photo: Bruce Mars
