Sleep, exercise, and socialisation are the three most important things that you can do to maintain your wellbeing. Research tells us that there are some other things that you can do to change your mood when are feeling down. These are not techniques that are common but they work;
- Hugs - This produces oxytocin (the love drug), lifts mood, increases serotonin, helps the immune system, and lots more.
- Positives diary - Don't write down the bad things that happened during the day so that you can avoid the situation in the future, write down the good things so that you can remember them and look for more of them.
- Look for positives in the morning - Your brain is hard-wired to worry and it starts this as soon as you wake up. Immediately look for positive things that are coming up each day.
- Do the opposite - When we feel down all we want to do is curl into a ball, the foetal position. Stretch out straight and breathe slowly to get the oxygenated blood circulating properly.
- Use self-talk - Talk to that person inside your head and tell it how good you feel.
- Fix the small stuff - Small stuff becomes big stuff if you don't do something about it.
- Procrastination - Leaving something unfinished plays on your mind, get on with it and 'just do it'.
- Laughter - Watch lots of comedic shows, joke with friends, even smiling will change your mood.
- Positive people - Hang out with positive people, not those who are always negative, talk disparagingly about others or who spread gossip.
- Be gentle - To yourself and to others. We all make mistakes, none of us are perfect (sorry about that). Forgive yourself and those around you.