How to Improve your Mood in 12 Minutes

Due to the diverse factors that can alter the way our minds work, it's common to experience negative states of mind at times. Or on the contrary, we can go through moments of euphoria. Do you want to know how to improve your mood in just a few minutes? In this article we'll give you some tips to achieve just that.

Without a doubt, our mind plays a dominant role in our daily life and all of the things we do. Our state of mind can often affect our performance positively or negatively. How can you improve your mood in just a few minutes?

Our mind, a creative engineer

We can define mood as the attitude or emotional disposition of a person. The way we feel can vary or evolve in a matter of minutes, depending on the situations that are going on around us. Our own perception about what other people think and the consequences of this can also influence our inner world.

We must differentiate between moods (such as feeling active or depressed) and temporary emotions (such as feeling scared, surprised or furious).

We must also take into account the innate personal characteristics of every individual, such as naturally being optimistic or brave. These characteristics are not the same as fleeting moods. In the following paragraphs, we’ll explain how to improve your thoughts so that you always feel ready to take on the world, no matter how hard the circumstances are.

Our thoughts condition our actions

All of us have received negative news that made us feel overwhelmed. On the contrary, we’ve also faced other news that made us feel euphoric or filled with happiness. These two situations repeat constantly throughout our life.

Said ‘moments’ promote positive or negative attitudes in human beings. These attitudes condition our subsequent actions, which can impact the quality of our behavior towards ourselves and the world around us.

Ways to improve your mood

Different ideas about how to face life in a positive and feisty way are not modern concepts. People have been looking into various fields of knowledge such as philosophy, ethics, meditation, and sports for centuries. The goal is to find a balance between the chemical components of the brain to achieve an exemplary conduct.

There are several mechanisms to condition the way we look at depressive and sad states of mind. Society will most likely describe new ones as time goes by. Some of them are:

1. Philosophical reasoning about our moods

In ancient Greece, Plato had already talked about the virtues of the mind, the world of forms (or ideas) and the proper conduct to achieve excellence. One of the methods that he proposed is meditation, which is based on controlling the harmful extremes in conduct.

It’s also important to pursue self-control and introspection. You must try to debate all of the problems that come your way with consolidated foundations. Establish a pattern to accept all of the things that you can’t solve, solve everything you can and above all, be happy with whatever you have.

Improve your mood in 12 minutes by setting a few minutes aside to relax in a calm environment. Weigh out all the problems that trouble you. This will help you to resolve them gradually, while you reach conclusions that strengthen your conduct.

2. Sports practice

When we do physical activities, out body benefits from a chemical brain component that we know as dopamine. This helps us to improve our understanding of reality.

Sports are very effective to counteract the levels of serotonin in our brains. This neurotransmitter, along with others, is in charge of controlling our mood.

Improve your mood in 12 minutes by performing an intense workout. Exercise will help you relax after a few hours, which will, in turn, allow you to continue with your activities in a better mood.

3. Give your body the nutrition it needs to improve your mood

Including a wide variety of foods in your everyday diet promotes optimal functioning for your brain. An example of this is phenylalanine, a substance that’s present in foods with high protein content.

It’s a precious component to improve your mood along with other foods such as cocoa, which contains flavonoids and polyphenols. Both of those substances contribute positively to the way you feel. Moderate consumption of coffee can also be a good idea to activate your neural networks.

Improve your mood in 12 minutes by eating a healthy meal with essential nutrients, vitamins, and minerals. Your state of mind will undoubtedly get better.

4. Meditation to improve your mood

A lot of the times we can’t improve our mood because we haven’t analyzed our perception of the environment and its problems with calm and serenity. Therefore, it’s advisable to take a break, breathe deeply and practice disciplines that target meditation and control over your body.

Some of the disciplines that stand out are music and artistic activities. Both options help us to put our problems to the side and focus on a pleasurable and creative activity instead.

Improve your mood in 12 minutes by going through a quick session of mindfulness, yoga or meditation. You’ll be able to feel how your emotions become balanced.

Other important recommendations

If you feel that your mood isn’t the best for a long period of time, it’s convenient to visit a specialist and explain your symptoms to them. You may need a psychology professional to guide you on the journey towards mental health.

If the situation you’re going through didn’t only depend on behavioral guidelines, you can also go to a professional in psychiatry in case you need temporary treatment. However, medicine isn’t foolproof when it comes to mental health issues. You’ll need support from the other aspects we mentioned like doing sports, meditating and relaxing.

Lastly, we must emphasize how important it is to live a healthy lifestyle without consuming toxic products. These substances may help people look at life with joy and happiness, but once they get used to the effect, two problems may arise: addiction and an aggravation of their already existing problems.