Healthy Ways to Turn a Bad Mood Around, Part 5: Move Your Body

As a recap, I’ve written about 4 other healthy ways to turn a bad mood around: 1. Deep breathing, 2. Take a big picture perspective, 3. Identify the trigger and plan for the next similar situation, and 4. Say thank you (gratitude).

It’s so easy to stew in our bad mood. Did you know that our thoughts create our emotions and our emotions cause our various glands to produce chemicals that impact our body, including our brain?

But our bodies can also cause our various glands to produce other chemicals and we can use that fact to help us get out of a bad mood.

“You’ve probably heard of endorphins, which are among the body’s natural opioids and circulate in greater numbers during exercise. In addition to endorphins, the exercising brain enjoys higher levels of endocannabinoids (which act on the same receptors as the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana), neurotransmitters and other feel-good chemicals.” — Scott Douglas, Washington Post (2/12/19)

I personally love going to the gym, putting on a great playlist, and going on the treadmill. To me, a great playlist in itself is a mood lifter. But a great playlist makes my time on the treadmill seem like a dance party (cue: “Dancin’ with Myself by Billy Idol).

But what if you hate the gym or the treadmill? Then don’t do those.

Identify what types of physical activity that you really love to do. Sports, cycling, hiking, dancing in the living room by yourself, golfing, weight lifting, yoga? It doesn’t matter as long as you really enjoy doing it.

You may need to do some “self-coach-talk” to get yourself up off that couch or bed, but you will not regret the decision to get up and move your body.

Share with me what your favorite way is to move your body!