In this post, I am going to share with you tiny habits that will help you to boost your mood naturally.
I truly believe that being in a joyful, happy and content mood is actually our natural state of being and not worry, stress, sadness and anxiety.
Of course, we all get sad and anxious from time to time, and we will inevitably have some mood swings.
That is natural too, but that is not our dominant and natural state of being.
For most parts of our day and life, our mood, our energy, and our life state must lean towards the happy kind.
And it’s not impossible at all.
There was a time in my life when I would feel constantly down and I would feel no motivation to do anything.
I would get up with no intention, no hope, no excitement, and no joy and would feel tired even as I brushed my teeth.
So much so that I would need to sit down to brush my teeth in the morning.
But I’ve come to know now that everything can change with a simple decision and determination.
So much has changed in me since then. I am not the old me.
This new me wakes up early, turns on music, dances every morning, stretches her body and feels good, hopeful and joyful for MOST parts of her day.
P.S. If you are ready to give a try at working on yourself and changing your life, I have recently created a Special challenge/Guide for you to Change your Life in 7 days.
I think you’ll love it if you give it a try for 7 days and see what’s possible for you.
Anyway, Yes, now I just enjoy living so much and through this post, I want to share with you this joy- about all the things and habits that will help you to boost your mood naturally.
All of them work because it boosts mine all the time!
But before this, here is one important thing I want to address.
The need to work on improving your mood
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If you are someone whose mood is constantly swayed by what someone said or did to you or what things in your life are going good or bad, then you need to work on improving and boosting your mood.
You need to stop depending on outside circumstances and situations to boost your mood.
If you keep waiting for some outer situation in your life to get right so that you can feel good about yourself, then you will never feel good.
And even if you do, it will never withstand for long and will occur once in a blue moon, if at all.
Why would you wait for things to get right to start feeling good when you can do so many nice things for yourself that will make you feel good on a consistent basis?
Why would you wait for other people, other things, and other situations outside of you to control your mood, when you have the power within you all the time?
Let us learn to manage our feelings, mood and emotions by doing things for ourselves to boost our mood.
We can be IN CHARGE of how we feel and what mood we choose to feel.
This is the way we are supposed to live. This is how we take our power back.
It takes practice, but with time, you will slowly stop letting other people and outer circumstances fluctuate your mood.
And then, the more you are in a joyful mood, and positive mood, and the more you feel happy, and stay in a high life state, the more you attract good things into your life that will help you boost your mood again naturally.
This is the natural cycle of joyfulness and positivity, and you have to create this cycle yourself.
Below are all the ways.
How to boost your mood naturally
1. Let in natural light and fresh air
Yes, don’t forget to stay close to the sunshine. In the morning open curtains and windows and let in natural light and fresh air.
The first thing I do each morning is to open my windows and curtains and open my balcony and it instantly makes me feel good. I let my room fill with natural light and it boosts my mood.
Let your room breathe with you. Let yourself feel nice.
2. Make your bed in the morning
After you open your eyes in the morning, get up first thing and make it a determination and habit to not use your phone first thing in the morning.
Instead, get up and make your bed. Tidy your bed and see how it instantly boosts your mood.
P.S here are other toxic habits to stop doing in the morning.
3. Let the sun kiss you
It takes less than 5 minutes to boost your mood.
Let the morning sun or setting sun kiss your face. Oh! And I also love the warm winter and autumn sun, and the sun shining on me when I am in the hills.
It helps me boost my mood instantly and I feel deep joy. I don’t think there’s anyone who doesn’t feel so.
4. Have a mindful cup of tea
You actually don’t need big things to help you boost your mood.
If you are waiting for buying the next iPhone or MacBook to boost your mood, or getting some designer bags to boost your mood, those don’t last at all.
And like I said, it only happens once in a while because you won’t constantly be buying those expensive things.
But we can definitely enjoy the little things that we do every day- like having a cup of tea.
We all drink tea, but we don’t usually give it much thought.
In the morning, give yourself time to drink a cup of tea. To be mindful is to be respectful towards the moment.
Hold your cup with two hands and be all there with your tea not looking at your phone or doing anything.
Simply enjoy a mindful cup of tea and let it boost your mood.
5. Do things gently throughout the day
Gentleness is a practice, but we can start somewhere.
Be gentle with the way you move your body. Be gentle with the things you hold and keep. Be gentle in the way you walk.
As Thay, Thich Nhat Hanh says, “Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet”
I have come to find this year that just the simple habit of being graceful and gentle in my everyday actions, no matter how insignificant it may seem, also greatly boosts my mood.
In the beginning, find little things to be gentle with. For example- having a cup of tea with gentleness, going for a walk and walking gently, washing the dishes gently, not throwing but keeping things gently, etc.
Gentleness happens in action, but it slowly turns into a way of being.
I too am practising.
P.S On The power of graceful movement in life
6. Take a break from social media
To boost your mood, I feel it is very important to take a break from social media.
We must do more things offline. But no, you don’t have to deactivate or go without social media for a month or so, but you can keep certain rules for consuming social media.
Don’t consume it without awareness. Have some sense about how much time you are spending on it which could have been better spent on your wellbeing.
My number one piece of advice here is to not use social media first thing in the morning, but only after you finish all your priorities and create a morning routine.
And next is to uninstall or log out of social media and turn off social media notifications.
Here are 7 habits for a healthy relationship with social media
7. Turn off the TV
It is said that on average people watch 6 hours of television even after coming from work. Don’t turn on the TV until you finish taking care of yourself.
There are so many things to do to nourish yourself. Watching Tv, and constantly being glued to Netflix simply isn’t how it’s supposed to be.
Turn it off and unsubscribe if you feel it’s sabotaging your well-being.
8. Practice Mindful walking
Mindfulness is being your focus on the present moment.
Go out for a walk. Slow down your pace and walk as if there is a rhythm in your body.
Walk as if you have nowhere to reach, but simply be with the walking.
Let it all go. Release all tension and stress from the body as you slow down and do not rush.
Let your walk be a practice in not rushing. Let your walk be a practice in mindfulness.
Walk gently and gracefully. Notice your breath as you move forward and see how it boosts your mood.
9. Enjoy good music
I am so thankful for my ears for I get to enjoy music. I am so thankful for the artists who create music. They make life so much better and more interesting.
Life would be so dull without music.
This year I treat myself to Bluetooth speakers and Bluetooth headphones and I enjoyed music so much.
10. Dance in the morning
If there’s one thing that always boosts my mood and that helps me stay in alignment with the Universe on equal par with meditation or prayer, it is dancing.
Dancing boosts my mood, my energy, and my life state and it makes it easier for me to give off good vibrations in the morning.
I turn on my speakers and I dance.
Because I live alone, I can dance anytime. Sometimes I look in the mirror and dance and sometimes just like that.
Also, here are 8 things I learned since I started living alone
P.S. I am not a dancer at all, but I just like to move and dance around.
Because of BlueTooth speakers and dancing, I have ‘my moment’ so many times in the day and I feel deeply joyful.
11. Get yourself flowers
Normalize giving yourself flowers. Notice the shades, the colour, the leaf, and the design and enjoy the flowers when you look at them.
Many people say they don’t like to buy flowers because they would rather gift themselves a plant that won’t die, but I feel even buying flowers doesn’t go to waste.
The flowers will die anyway because everything is impermanent.
Those flowers are already plucked for a reason. When you buy them, you give those flowers the purpose of why they were plucked.
Not that the flowers care, for they just bloom regardless of being admired or not, but when you bring them home, the flower’s purpose gets fulfilled in making you feel nice.
So bring those flowers. Keep them in a corner or fill them in your room and boost your mood.
12. Give gratitude to your body
You are not your body. You are not your hands, your lungs, your heart, your liver, your hair, or your legs, but they are all parts of you.
And they are working for you 24/7.
If right now, you don’t have any major health issues, give gratitude for your health. And if you are sick or ill for any reason, know that it is not a misfortune to be sick.
I know we hate being sick, but to be sick is also a part of our nature of being alive.
Accept it and know that it is actually allowing you to rest.
Rest gratefully and give love to your body that is helping you fight the sickness.
You may sit for some time in silence to simply notice your body. Then give gratitude to every part of your body, especially to the part that is sick.
Or you may give gratitude as you go about your day.
For example, when you’re walking, give gratitude to your legs.
When you’re driving, give gratitude to your eyes
When you’re doing laundry, give gratitude to your hands
When you’re looking in the mirror, give gratitude to your skin and the like.
13. Wear nice house clothes
When you’re in your home are you guilty of not putting any effort into how you look and dress upward like a homeless person?
I used to do this, but during the pandemic, I changed this habit and started wearing nice house clothes.
It automatically boosted my mood. I noticed that when I put a little effort to look nice even at home and made myself tidy, it immediately made me feel nice and boosted.
14. Love an animal
Go pet an animal and make yourself feel nice.
Animals thrive in loving and being loved, and so are we.
Hug your cat or your dog. Spend some quality time with your pet and boost your mood.
Even if you don’t have a pet, you can always love a street dog. There are so many in India. You can give them biscuits, love them and make the dog and yourself feel good.
I always find myself living in the present moment fully happy and enjoying whenever I am loving an animal. They put me in such a happy mood instantly, it’s awesome!
15. Stretch and exercise
Boosting our mood actually just takes a matter of minutes.
Even just 10 minutes of stretch makes me feel so good. I never miss my workouts in the mornings because I love to feel good and boosted.
I don’t wait for motivation to exercise. I exercise to get motivated.
I love Mady Morrison’s stretching and yoga videos and I bet you will love them too.
16. Tidy up your room
We stay in our room for most of the time. It is where we are living our real selves. It is where we feel most things.
Our surrounding impacts our life state and our mood greatly. If your room is messy and cluttered, it will naturally reflect your mood.
Give yourself some time to tidy your room. Declutter and make space to feel nice.
P.S Here is a post on why I enjoy cleaning my home and not dread it
17. Take a mindful bath
Don’t be lazy to take a bath. Take a warm water bath and take a bath without any rush, without any hurry.
Leave everything behind. Don’t think of your to-dos and what you are supposed to do. Simply be with the water and your body.
Thank the water and be mindful of it touching your Body.
Rub your skin with body wash slowly, elaborately and mindfully. Relax and enjoy a mindful bath and boost your mood.
18. Make your room smell nice
Try aroma therapy and make your room smell nice. You can light incense with fragrance or spray perfume for the room.
These are little things that will help boost your mood.
19. Light a candle.
After you have finished everything- tidied your room, taken a bath, and made your room make you feel nice, you can turn off the LED lights and instead light a candle and play some music.
This is a part of my evening routine and I love it.
The feeling is awesome and it greatly boosts my mood.
20. Practice mindful skincare
In the morning and in the evening before going to sleep, get into the habit of practising mindful skincare and body care.
Apply cream and moisturize your face and body gently and mindfully.
I know sometimes we feel so lazy and we neglect our bodies so much. But just pass through the initial resistance and mindfully take care of your skin.
These are some daily habits that are a part of everyday life and just doing them slowly without rushing and giving all our attention to it can greatly boost our mood.
21. Let it all out in your diary
Do you have a journal? If you don’t then you must make one.
It will be a legacy of your memories and learnings even if nobody sees it.
Let it out in your diary. Write down what you want to write. Write what you feel and everything that is in your mind.
It is greatly freeing and boosting. .
P.S. I have created a 21-Day Journaling Guide for Self-discovery, growth and healing.
If you haven’t taken any other challenge of mine, you can join this challenge.
You will receive journal prompts and guidance from me for the next 21 days to inspire you every day.
P.S. Please don’t subscribe to two of my challenges at a time. 🙂
22. Smile in front of the mirror
Go in front of the mirror. Look deeply into your eyes and smile. It is that easy to boost your mood.
I smile to myself looking in the mirror as a daily habit when I apply my serum and face moisturiser in the morning.
I smile as I rub the cream on my face and it makes me happy.
Sometimes, I read somewhere that happiness is not the reason for our smile, but a smile can be a reason for our happiness, and it’s so true.
23. Do a hobby
Hobbies are important for a happy life. We find life boring and uninteresting because we have lost all joys we had as a kid.
As kids, we loved to do things without any intention of praise, money, status or fame. We’d just play and do things for pure fun.
Adult life can be fun too. The missing piece is finding a hobby you love.
I find my mood automatically boosted when I am painting something, when I am writing in my diary when I am drawing, or when I am gardening and taking care of my plants.
They all nourish me and support me in my well-being. I believe they can nourish and support everyone.
Here are 60 hobby ideas for inspiration
24. Practice gratitude journaling
Try gratitude journaling and see how it helps you in improving your mood.
Gratitude is the most important thing required in shifting your life. But just thinking about things you are grateful for is not enough. You need to feel what you are thinking.
And here, gratitude journaling helps tremendously.
If you want to try gratitude journaling, here are 100 gratitude journal prompts for 100 days. You are going to love it.
25. Dress up and go out
Yes, life is too short to not dress nice.
How we dress up and how we look has a great impact on how we feel.
If you feel beautiful, you look beautiful and if you look beautiful, you feel beautiful.
Even if you’re living alone and have no friends in your city, just go on solo dates with yourself. Wear a nice outfit just as you would if you were meeting a date.
You meet YOU all the time. Explore the city and feel nice.
26. Create and sit in your happy space
I love making new happy spaces. I feel decorating one’s home is close to decorating one’s life.
Our home is our sanctuary. Let it be a sanctuary of peace. Let it not be something you want to run away and escape from.
Even if there is tension in your home, or things are not going well at your home, let your one room, or even one small space be the space of peace for you.
Let it be the space you would love to return to and feel calm in. And let peace extend from there- from that one space and room of yours.
Slowly it will.
27. Meditate
A simple 10-minute meditation can also boost our mood.
We just need to recognize our resistance and sit. Silence is nourishing and healing. It is from where our heart speaks to us.
If we are constantly filled with noise, our hearts won’t be able to guide us.
We need to deliberately create space for our hearts. Sitting for 10 minutes every day is how we can slowly connect to our heart centre.
I use the plum village app for meditation and mindfulness practices and resources.
And here is a channel I am currently following for meditation.
28. Listen to positive affirmations
In life, it is not just important to learn, but also important it is that we unlearn a lot of things.
We have held so many false beliefs about ourselves, about money, health, happiness, and life that we keep on affirming them unconsciously in our speech, our actions, our thoughts, and also in the things we casually share on social media.
These are hard to break unless we deliberately seek the truth and try to change our life.
However, listening to positive affirmations every day can be a great start.
It does not just change and loosens up our false narrative, but also at the end of every affirmation we feel greatly inspired, hopeful and boosted.
29. Enjoy good food
They say we eat to live. But I also believe, we live to eat.
Foods make us happy. So cook good food or go out and eat in a nice restaurant every once in a while.
30. Take rest
Lastly, simply take a rest. Recognise when your body needs a rest. It is a wonderful way to boost our mood.
And when you rest, rest guilt-free knowing that you are listening to your body.
So these are all the ways to boost your mood.
Final thoughts on how to boost your mood
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Incorporate a few of them into your daily lifestyle. Be deliberate in changing and bettering your life. The time you spend on yourself and your well-being is never wasted.
Sometimes it might feel that no matter how much effort you put into yourself, it is going nowhere and you keep getting swayed by outer situations.
But you must remember to be kind and as stable as a mountain and as consistent as a river that is keen on reaching the sea.
Keep nourishing yourself.
You must know that when you boost your mood and you make yourself feel nice, you don’t only keep it with you but also spread it and impact everyone else around you.
If a person in a bad mood can drain your energy, so can a person in a good mood fill up and brighten another person’s energy.
Let us become people who know how to lift ourselves up with the support of all these tiny habits so that we may lift others up whenever they come across our journey.
And when others ask you, “How do you have so much glow?”, you can give them all of these reasons too.
This much for today.
Wish you a happy and cheerful mood for most parts of the day!
Related posts you might love
- 101 quick 5-minute self-care activities to lift you up
- Why thankfulness is mindfulness
- 40 different ways to make someone happy
- 20 things to do in your 20s instead of finding love
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