Let me ask you something. When was the last time you couldn’t seem to shake the cloud hanging over you and the world seemed heavy on your shoulders?
The truth is most of us are constantly bombarded with stress, bad news, and endless to do lists. Never more so than when you’re also dealing with a medical condition like pulmonary hypertension. But here’s the good news. Boosting your mood doesn’t require a therapist, a yoga retreat, or a five-day juice cleanse. Fortunately, there are simple everyday tweaks that can lift your spirits in just minutes. And I’m going to share 10 of the easiest and hopefully more novel ones.
So, let’s start.
1. Recent research shows that the sound of bird singing does more than just brighten your day. It’s actually good for your mind and body. Scientists from King’s College London and Germany’s Max Planck Institute discovered that listening to bird song can reduce stress, lift your mood, and even ease anxiety and paranoia. And here’s the best part. You don’t need to be outdoors to enjoy the benefits. Recordings work just as well, meaning you can bring a little nature into your life anytime, anywhere. Birdsong can restore your mental energy, sharpen your focus, and offer a natural antidote to stress and fatigue. The effects from just a few seconds of bird song can last for up to eight hours.
2. Laughter is one of the most powerful mood pieces we have, and it’s completely free. When you laugh, your brain releases a cocktail of feel-good chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, and endorphins. These not only lift your mood, but also lower stress hormones like cortisol. In fact, research shows that just a few minutes of genuine laughter can reduce anxiety, improve focus, and even strengthen your immune system. But here’s the best part. Your brain doesn’t always know the difference between real and fake laughter. That means that even forcing a chuckle can sometimes kickstart the same positive effects. So catch up on your favorite comedy show. Download a comedy sketch or check out Laughter Guru Madden Qataria’s laughter yoga videos to warm you up.
3.Mark Waldman proclaims yawning to be the fastest way to lower mental stress and anxiety. Olympic athletes yawn before they race. Musicians yawn before performing. Snipers are trained to yawn before they pull the trigger. And nearly 400 studies show yawning slows excessive neural activity associated with psychological problems. Yawning has a similar effect to coffee, helping you wake up and stay alert during stressful days. It helps your brain shift into restful states that enhance creative problem solving and memory recall. So how do you yawn mourn mindfully? Simply fake it four or five times. Take a slow, deep breath and yawn, making an ah sound during exhalation. Real yawns usually follow by the fourth or fifth try. Since yawning is contagious, it may also benefit others around you.
4. Are you an animal lover? Owning a pet can mean slower cognitive decline in older adults and significantly lower cardiovascular disease mortality. There’s a reason we call them man’s best friend. Stroking a dog for 10 minutes can lower your stress hormones, slow your heart rate and blood pressure, and release feel good chemicals in your brain. Gazing into a dog’s eyes increases oxytocin by 300%. It’s like nature’s an instant antidepressant with no side effects. So, when life feels overwhelming, find a furry friend and give them a fuss. Science says it’s good for both of you.
5. A month ago, I was circling the hospital car park, feeling growing anxiety about being late for my checkup. Every free space I spotted was taken by someone else. Just as I was about to give up, someone tapped on my windscreen to offer me their parking space. It was such a small gesture, but it felt massive. I walked to my appointment relieved and did the exact same thing for someone else when leaving. There’s science behind this. Acts of kindness trigger a release of dopamine and oxytocin. Our brains, happiness chemicals, lowering stress, and even improving heart health. But beyond the biology, kindness shifts something inside us. When we lift someone else, we rise too. That’s the quiet power of kindness. In helping others, we end up healing ourselves.
6. If you haven’t yet come across J. McGonigal and “Superbetter”, I massively recommend her book or audiobook. At the heart of Superbetter is the Live Gamefully Method, a framework that brings the psychological strengths and mindset of gameplay to real life. Magonagle uses several modalities to build resilience and improve mental health. And two of my favorites are collect and activate power ups and recruit your allies. Superbetter introduces the concept of power ups, small, easily accessible activities that boost your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing. These can range from simple actions like taking a stretch or singing along to your favorite song to more involved activities, like going for a walk in nature or solving a puzzle. Janet Finley develops this idea further, suggesting filling a up jar with your favorite power ups on lollipop sticks. Even using color coding for quicker or longer power ups. Whenever you need a power up, just pull one out and do it. Guaranteed to give a positivity boost in just a few seconds or minutes.
7. Recognizing the importance of social support, Superbetter encourages users to build a network of allies. These are the people who support us in our journey, providing encouragement, resources, and assistance. Actively recruiting and nurturing these relationships is crucial for our resilience and success. Having a strong network of allies not only provides practical support, but also enhances our emotional wellbeing and motivation. Feeling connected to others is strongly linked to greater happiness. So how can we cultivate allies? By sharing your goals and challenges with trusted friends and family, offering support to others, joining pulmonary hypertension communities or associations, or by expressing gratitude regularly to those who support you.
8. Many of us know gratitude’s benefits. It shifts attention to positives, fostering optimism and reducing stress. Expressing thanks deepens connections and builds trust. Psychologically and biologically, gratitude powerfully boosts mood and mental wellbeing. Remarkably, the brain struggles to feel stressed and grateful at once. So focusing on what’s going right naturally calms the mind. If you’re struggling to feel inspired in your gratitude practice, Kutz Blackson offers us seven prompts to get you started. Gratitude for what I have. Gratitude for what happened. Gratitude for what didn’t happen. Gratitude for what I learned. Gratitude for who I am. Gratitude for the people in my life and gratitude for the blessings yet to come. Start by picking just one and coming up with a few things to be grateful for. Even better, write them down in a journal.
9. The English language is full of beautiful words. Words that don’t just carry meaning, but convey feeling just by saying them. Whether they soothe, inspire, or simply sound delightful, these words remind us just how rich and expressive the English language can be. And sometimes all it takes is a single beautiful word to brighten your day. Did you know that to quiddle means to busy oneself with trivial tasks as a way of avoiding the important ones? I’m an expert at this. Or that resipiscence means coming back to our senses, usually by drinking alcohol. And here are some of my favorite sounding words, sumptuous, quintessence, effervescent, loquacious, gossamer, mellifluous, eloquence, and serendipity. Just the feeling of them rolling off my tongue is pleasing. Why don’t you explore your own native language and see what fabulous new words you can find to brighten your day?
10. I’m going to end with one of my favorite quick mood enhancers, a Tellington Tea Touch Heart Hug. The Heart Hug is a great tool to use to help you pause and come into heart’s coherence, synchronizing the heart’s rhythm with the breath and the brain’s activity. This alignment promotes relaxation, reduces stress and anxiety, and enhances cognitive function. This simple technique helps you ground and calm yourself. So why don’t you try one along with me? Simply place one hand over the other on your heart. As you slowly inhale, use your hands to move the skin in a circle and a quarter from six o’clock all the way around and back up to nine. Pause there as you exhale, taking the skin back down a quarter circle to six o’clock. Let’s try another one together.
Thank you so much for listening and enjoy trying out some of these quick and simple mood busters.
Please feel free to let me know in the YouTube comments, which one of these is your favorite go-to pick