Physical ways to feel good
Sometimes positive thinking just doesn’t shift a negative mood. It’s as if the negative mood has such a grip that stronger stuff is needed.
And that’s exactly what’s happening.
Mind and body are feeding one another in a negative cycle and you need to break this cycle physically. And if you’ve been in a negative mood for a few hours or days … well, you can think yourself back into a good mood – just about – but it’s a lot easier if you first do something about your ‘physicals’!
Because changing your physiology is the quickest way to change your mood.
And if you’re already feeling fine and just want to feel even better follow the ‘physical’ route, too.
The main physical routes
The key pieces to change are your
- Posture – upright rather than slumped
- Facial expression – smiling changes your mood
- Eyes – blink more to avoid dry, stressed-out eyes
- Breathing – slow it calm yourself, speed up slightly to alert yourself
You can change these to shake off a down mood or to ratchet up a good mood so you feel even better.
5 Physical ways to feel good
The first of these is for shaking off a negative mood. The other four are for feeling better more of the time.
- Loosen up: your body maintains and deepens negative moods. Before you try to change your mood by thinking differently it’s best to physically loosen the grip of the mood. Move about, shake it off, walk around for a few minutes, swing your arms, stand rather than sit. Once you’ve got things moving in this way it’s a lot easier to use thinking techniques to produce more lasting mood change.
- Sit less, move more: Get out of the chair and move about for a couple of minutes every hour to loosen up your posture – and make up for the inactivity outside working hours. Stand more than sit if possible.
- Walk like a child! Healthy children walk with a spring or a bounce in their step, swinging arms, legs moving from the hips and with head up and looking around them. Try this for a few days.
- Sing – aloud! Yes, I know…. but it does work really well. You can sing aloud when driving or cycling. Or softly while out for a walk. And humming isn’t too noticeable. Or you can sing a song in your head – pick a song for the day that evokes good feelings.
- Smile with your eyes. This one is quite subtle. It’s easier to demonstrate than explain verbally but there are ‘how to’ steps on the main article page.
The body affects the mind
These physical techniques change moods because the mind and body are interconnected – and each plays a role in your mood.
Change one of these and it affects the other.
Give the methods a test drive for a week or two and notice the difference. They can be integrated into your daily life because you don’t have to stop what you’re doing to use them. And there is a more in-depth article on this month’s Pegasus NLP Newsletter