How to Improve Mood: 8 Natural Ways

We all go through times when we’re not feeling ourselves, and that’s okay. It’s impossible to be a cheerful ray of bleeping sunshine all the time, although we might want to and try really hard to. Feeling low takes up time and energy, and ain’t nobody got time for that.

It can be frustrating when you’re going through a lot but need to be productive and chipper because life has this tendency to not stop. So, to help you get into a better mood and on to a positive day, here are things that you can do to boost your mood.

There’s a reason why being “hangry” is a thing. Have you ever drank water and felt that it has never tasted as good as at that moment? That’s because your body was waving you down so you would hydrate. The human body will make you really uncomfortable to signal to the driver (aka you) that it needs fuel, and probably better fuel than it’s getting.

In fact, if you keep up a poor diet long enough, you’ll start to not only feel emotionally low and flooded with negative emotions, but it can escalate to terrible headaches, increased risk of depression, nausea for days, getting sick a lot due to a low immune system and more. These are signs your body isn’t getting what it needs and your mood is suffering because of it.

Therefore, treating yourself to some self-care by eating good foods definitely helps you feel better and happier. While any healthy food can help you feel better, there are some special foods that can help to improve mood.

Eating these foods can make you happier:

Many of us underestimate the effect clutter has on our mental health. It’s been scientifically proven that clutter can trigger the stress hormone cortisol, which can bring about anxiety and put you in a bad mood. Luckily, decluttering isn’t that tough to do and the positive effects of decluttering happen as you go and increase the more you do. Be careful though, you don’t want to end up with a completely empty home. Unless that’s the vibe you prefer.

Start decluttering with things that bring up negative emotions. It’s surprising how much we hang on to for no particular reason. Sometimes it’s a gift from someone that was a great friend… at the time. You might’ve ended the friendship since but forgot about the little nick-nacks from over the years. Every time you see those little things, you might not always notice it, but you might find yourself, understandably, griping over how that person did you wrong.

Bag and box all the junk that set you off on half-hour monologues over the terrible, terrible, things this person did. If the item is just too big for you to take get rid of or you don’t know how to properly dispose of it, you can call a junk removal company like LoadUp to remove and dispose of clutter and even the biggest items.

More Decluttering Tips from the Trash Talk Blog:

• Getting Rid of Emotional Baggage? We Can Take It!
• The 40 Bags in 40 Days Decluttering Challenge
• How to Get Rid of Garage Clutter
• 29 Ways to Get Rid of Household Clutter
• Why ‘Tidying Up with Marie Kondo’ Is About More Than Decluttering

Sometimes your old activities are just that — old. They clearly aren’t bringing the excitement, joy, and all the other positive emotions that they used to produce, so pick up something new. It helps to bring a friend along if you’re not one to go out on the town all alone, but even then! There’s plenty of people out there that are in your exact same shoes. If only they’d still go out, and you would go out and then boom, you’re both alone together in this new activity.

Sometimes your life is falling through your fingertips and you can’t help feeling bad and like you’re all alone fighting this uphill battle. Maybe you’re thinking about stuff you wish could be different or any regrets you have. Do you know what people never regret? Helping others.

Volunteering makes you feel better and boosts your mood because it actually releases endorphins. These come from feeling like you’re connecting with a community, bringing about the helper’s high. It’s real and sometimes addicting. You can literally walk into a soup kitchen and ask “where do you need me” and you’ve got your dealer for a healthy addiction.

Donating to charities and local thrift stores things like clothes, electronics, toys and more, is another way to feel like you’re helping the community. Helping others has been shown to lead to greater life satisfaction at the moment, and in the long term.

For the larger things like pool tables and entertainment centers that you can’t bring to the donation center, call LoadUp since we strive to get rid of things as often as we can through donations, recycling, or the next best available option.

Want to help both the environment and communities? Check out this viral #TrashTag challenge!

We’re talking about things that have made you inspired and joyous. For some, it’s re-reading the first Harry Potter book as it throws their mind back to the magical wonder it was when they read it the very first time. For others, it’s playing a musical piece that was difficult to master. Whatever makes you feel full and forget about the stresses of life, try it now.

Even if the activity doesn’t sound appealing or like it’s going to make you feel better, chances are if an old movie, listening to music, going out, whatever has made you feel happy in the past, it’s likely one will work now as well.

While it might not be the morning right now, being proactive for your mood for tomorrow is a good idea. Starting your day with exercise reduces stress from the get-go and improves your mood at work, giving you the chance to bring wokeuplikethis to your mood and not only your looks. Exercise helps not just because of the exercise, but because your brain gets time to breathe and relax before you go and give those brains to someone else.

Rushing out with a piece of toast in your mouth, burning coffee spilling onto your hand, and raggedy hair that you’ll brush on the way gets you to where you’re going, but it’s stressful.

Instead of stressing yourself out before you even sit down at your desk, spending time in the morning to go for a walk, swim, hike, run, yoga, etc. reduces depression and helps to keep you at a steady state of contentedness throughout the day. This also gives you more time to feed your body that good fuel we talked about.

Another way to feel better is by getting out of the house. We find walking in nature lifts spirits best, but even just sitting in your backyard (if you have one) can help. If the weather isn’t so great, you can also go walk around the mall, go for a drive, sit at a coffee shop, or pick a random spot on Yelp to try out.

Are you putting off errands like cleaning up your home, doing laundry, getting an oil change, etc? We don’t have to tell you, but we will anyway. Taking care of those things will take a huge load off your shoulders. Just go do them and you’ll instantly feel better to the point where you’ll wonder why you ever let yourself procrastinate it in the first place.

No one just knows how to be happy all the time, but taking care of your health is a core aspect of feeling happy in the long run. Everyone needs help, and it’s very important to acknowledge when those moments arise to be comprehensive in our journey of self-love.

As we’ve said, your body can make you pretty miserable to signal something is wrong. If you can’t shake the negative emotions, it’s time for a medical diagnosis. Uncontrolled health conditions like ones that affect your lungs, cardiovascular system, and thyroid can make you have severe mood swings. Mental health conditions like bipolar, cyclothymic, major depressive disorders, dysthymia, and other mood disorders also cause severe shifts.

It certainly isn’t always easy, but reaching out to a relative, a friend, your doctor, or a helpline makes a difference. If you’re currently in a crisis, or considering self-harm or suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24/7 at 1-800-273-8255.

Go Easy on Yourself and Be Realistic

Sometimes you just needed a walk outside and a little self-care to feel instantly better, and other times it does nothing. Don’t beat yourself up and spray blame everywhere. You need to keep trying other activities and be patient with the process to achieve greater happiness.

As long as you’re not just watching paint dry, you’re on the right track to feeling good. If you just sit and stare, your mind is free to go into the darkest little corners. Keep it busy and away from wandering into the nooks and crannies of negative thoughts.

Life has its ups and downs, and pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional. Feel those feelings but remember to look up and be grateful for everything good in your life, too. There is so much to celebrate on earth, but sometimes it can be hard to see if you’re not actively looking.