Dancing with serotonin: simple practices to boost your mood

Boost Your Mood: Tips and Tricks for a Better You

Are your emotions getting the better of you? Do you care about your mental health? If your answer is yes, then the following article is for you.

Mental health is an essential aspect of our overall well-being, and there are various natural ways to boost it without the use of antidepressant drugs and stimulants and the side effects associated with them.

Having a bad mood once a month is entirely normal. Still, suppose you find yourself in a lousy mood daily or weekly. In that case, it may negatively affect your health by potentially bringing on illness, increasing your blood pressure and blood sugar, and interrupting your sleep.

Join us as we look at the following tips and tricks with ways to boost your mood, live healthier, and improve your mental well-being.

Sip on Herbal Tea

Incorporating herbal tea into your daily routine is one simple and effective method to boost your mood.

Herbal teas such as chamomile, lavender, green tea, and lemon balm are known for their calming effects and other health benefits, which will significantly reduce stress and anxiety. Not only will it give you a clear mindset to get through your everyday challenges, but it also has the benefit of decreasing insomnia and headaches. It can also improve your heart health, reduce your risk for diabetes, improve digestion, and increase your sleep quality. All it takes is just one cup per night.

Take a Walk

Another way to improve mental health is to make sure you are getting enough exercise, and I don't mean expensive gyms; the answer lies in walking.

Not only does it release endorphins, which help produce positive feelings, but it also increases your heart rate and blood pressure, which will provide more oxygen to your brain and vital organs. It also offers the opportunity to clear your mind and connect with nature, making your mind as fresh as the smell and feel of a sea breeze.

Walking is a simple and free exercise. Whether you are a stay-at-home mother or an office worker, make time for walking. You will almost immediately feel a difference in your mood and energy levels throughout the day.

Add Simple Office Exercises To Your Routine

Sitting in your office chair and staring at a screen, meetings all day, and endless emails can cause a significant drop in your mood. Taking 5 minutes to sneak in these simple exercises can improve your mood and make you feel "lighter."

• Replace your office chair with a stability ball - You will get a low-intensity abdominal workout whenever you sit down.
• Stretch the body - Stretches like torso twists, leg extensions, and wrist stretches can be beneficial and help eliminate those aches and pains and increase your alertness.
• Run in place while sitting - You can pretend to run if you cannot stand up from your desk. Move your legs back and forth while moving your arms as you would like running. It will get the blood flowing again.

Take the First Step to Mental and Emotional Freedom

Let's look at emotions, how they influence your mental health, and how you can boost them.

Emotions are essential in our lives. Not only do they play a crucial role by informing us of who we are, our relationships with others, and how to behave in various situations, but they also shape our personality, which brings us to journaling.

Keep a Journal

Journaling is another powerful tool for promoting mental health and boosting mood. Taking just three minutes each day to write down your thoughts and feelings will help you process your emotions and gain a new outlook on your life.

Everyone has a unique pattern of thinking, expressing feelings, and behaving; by putting pen to paper, you can "let go" of negative thoughts and emotions.

It is essential to express your emotions through journaling. It allows you to communicate information to others about your feelings and intentions. If we did not have emotions, we could not make rapid decisions concerning whether to attack, defend, or care for others.

Journaling helps you connect with your emotions and clearly understand how you feel and think, even if it is personal or writing a letter to someone. Your mental health needs to give a voice to your emotions.

Taking charge of your mental health by incorporating these simple habits into your daily routine can boost your cognitive performance and mood, improving your overall well-being.

Creating Good Habits

Your entire life is a sum of your habits. Most of these habits are healthy, while others are not. Make a change today and take the following 66 days to form a healthy habit. See what works for you and how to incorporate all these in your daily life. It all starts with you.

Food for Thought

How do you feel about the old saying "you are what you eat"? Let's dive in for a summary of some brilliant "mind" foods that will help you boost that mood:

• Eat Your Veggies - Remember how your grandmother always said, "Eat your veggies"? Well, that is true. Good old fruit and veg contain mood-boosting serotonin and dopamine, and let's remember the all-important vitamins.
• Enjoy Healthy Protein - Lean meats are a great energy source and isn't that what we all want?
• Low-fat is Good - Who said low-fat dairy can't be delicious? Next time in the supermarket, swap that full-cream dairy product for a low-fat/fat-free alternative.

Keep in mind that no single food or type of food is a cure at all. If the occasional "blue Monday" disrupts your life, consider what you've been eating and make changes.

In conclusion, walking, journaling, drinking herbal tea, changing habits, and diet can greatly boost your mood. Incorporating these activities into your daily routine can help reduce stress, anxiety, and depression. The question remains: Are you ready for change?