Additional tip to improve your mood

In the last blog I wrote (3 Tips To Improve Your Mood) I covered 3 things you can do to assist in improving your mood. These included:

  1. Engage in a pleasant activity (e.g., go for a walk)
  2. Engage in an activity that will give you a sense of mastery or achievement (e.g., do a load of washing, make your bed)
  3. Connect socially with others (e.g., go for a coffee with a friend)

I wanted to add to this and give you an additional tip. If you are feeling down you may find that when you engage in one of the 3 things listed above you are simultaneously caught in your head, potentially in negative thoughts. These negative thoughts may be contributing to and maintaining your low mood. As such, I suggest you bring Mindfulness into play when you are engaging in one of the 3 activities above. What I mean by this is to use your 5 senses to help bring you into the present moment while you’re engaged in the activity. Notice the smells, sights, sounds, tastes, sensations in or on your body.

For example, if you go for a walk by the ocean: What do you smell? What can you hear? What can you see? Can you feel a slight breeze or warm sunshine on your skin?

Doing this will help create some much needed space from those thoughts that you’ve been getting caught up in. Given that it can be getting caught in these thoughts that might be contributing to your low mood, creating space from them can improve your mood.

Give it a go and see what you notice!

Dr Danielle McCarthy (Clinical Psychologist)

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