How to shift your mood, instantly

If you ever find yourself feeling a bit stressed or negative or emotionally flat, there’s one thing you can do that will change it in an instant.

Get up and move your butt!

Seriously, get out of your seat and shake things up and you’ll literally change your physiology, which changes the experience you’re having of yourself.

A few days ago I gave you the Wonderwoman power pose, which has been shown to change your biochemistry.  But let’s face it, you don’t need a bunch of scientific research to know how different you feel when you move your body.

Okay, humour me for a moment.  If I were to ask you to show me (without saying anything) what it looks like to feel sad or depressed, what would you do? (If you can, please practice a sad or depressed position right now).

I’m going to hazard a guess that you slumped a bit in your chair.  You hunched forward and dropped your shoulders.  Perhaps your head dropped down.  Maybe you stopped smiling and the corners of your mouth fell.  Am I on the money?

Now how about showing me a massive burst of excitement?  Again, if you can, get up now and practice what it feels like when you’re excited!

My guess is that at the very least you’re upright and alert.  Your eyes are wide open and if you’re not bouncing up and down in your chair, it’s because you’re bouncing up and down on your feet, maybe with a big grin on your face.  Perhaps you’ve even thrown your hands in the air and your head up, and you might even be letting that excitement come out in a squeal or a roar.

Pretty cool, huh?

If you did humour me and actually got into sad and then excited mode, you’ll instantly feel the difference.  (If you didn’t try it out, please give it a go next time nobody’s around, and notice what happens).

Shifting your body has an instant impact on your mood. When someone tells you to shake it off, you can, quite literally.

Next time you notice yourself feeling less than energised, or a bit lacklustre, or downright sad, get out of your chair and make some moves.  Anything will do, from plastering on your biggest grin to a series of 20 star jumps or a quick shimmy to a feel-good song.

You don’t even have to feel happy or excited or energised in the first place to start to feel differently in your body.  As long as you change your body and bring some energy and movement to yourself, you’ll notice a shift. 

And you can even do this without getting up.  If you’re driving, simply start smiling. You’ll fool yourself into feeling better when you do it, and then you will start to feel better.  It’s that easy!

Experiment with this and notice what works best for you.  How can you start to incorporate this into your day as a matter of course, without having to wait until you feel flat?

I’d love to hear how you use this and what you notice!

Go well,

Ruth