INSCMagazine: Get Social!

By Annie Lizstan

Do you ever feel “blue”? Frankly, all of us feel like that from time to time, and there’s nothing wrong about it.

Although we’d like to feel happy and cheerful at all times, sometimes you do feel like everyone’s against you, nothing goes right that day, and you just want to go home and sleep. The good thing is, there are many things you can do to perk up your day and feel better.

Interested? This article will show you how to cheer up instantly.

1. Exercise

Feeling grumpy and want to feel better immediately? Then get up and start exercising. Physical activity improves your heart health and fends off various diseases. Let’s not forget it’s essential for your waistline as well. But, did you know it can make you feel happier?

Researchers from the Penn State University found in their study that people who are physically active were more likely to report feelings of excitement and enthusiasm, compared to people with a sedentary lifestyle. Results, published in the Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, showed that exercise stimulates the release of endorphins, feel-good chemicals, thus promoting happiness.

Since physical activity is necessary for overall health and wellbeing, now you can consider happiness as an additional reason to start moving. Exercise will perk up your day!

2. Relax

The stress hormone cortisol is one of the biggest enemies of happiness. Maybe you’re feeling blue because of accumulated stress at work or home. Or maybe you’re stressed out because you’re spending too much time around people who don’t manage their stress.

Believe it or not, stress is contagious.

A study from Germany found that even being around a stressed person, loved one or a complete stranger, has the power to make you feel that way as well. Glozine lifestyle is all about healthy habits that help make you feel better and finding a unique way to reduce, or manage stress is one of them. Let’s face it; we’d all like to avoid stress and stressful situations, but that’s not always possible.

Think about your life, passions, and hobbies and determine what makes you feel relaxed the most. Is it reading or writing? You can also exercise, take a walk, do yoga or meditate. Painting, doing crosswords, and other activities can be practical as well. Here, the choice is yours.

Whenever you feel stressed, do something that makes you feel calm, you’ll be happier after that.

3. Eat mood-boosting foods

Certain foods can stimulate parts of your brain responsible for feelings of happiness and general calmness. For example, a study from the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that eating dark chocolate can promote joy. Participants who drank a polyphenol-rich chocolate drink (equals to 1.5 ounces of dark chocolate) one a day reported feeling calmer and more content.

Cocoa boosts brain serotonin which is particularly impressive if you bear in mind that every antidepressant on the market aims to enhance serotonin. Due to the massive amount of antioxidants and a multitude of health benefits, dark chocolate is considered a superfood.

The best diet plan to follow is the one that includes multiple food groups and different items and nutrients to provide numerous benefits, and the inclusion of mood-boosting foods is always practical. Besides dark chocolate, you can also include the following foods in your diet:

 

· Fruits and vegetables

· Fish

· Saffron

· Coconut

· Black, green, and oolong tea

· Asparagus

 

4. Instant mood boosts with fragrance

Something is calming about a great fragrance. You use perfumes and fragrances on a daily basis, and you’ve probably thought how relaxing it is to sense the harmony of different scents in a single drop of perfume. Good smell triggers positive reactions in your brain and you feel happier instantly.

Stress goes away, and you feel calmness flowing through your body. You can simply rub some perfume onto your wrists, cup your hands over the nose and take a few deep breaths. If you’re home, make yourself a nice bubble bath and add a few drops of your favorite essential oil.

4. Socialize

Most people feel better immediately when they’re surrounded with people they care about. You can easily perk up when hanging out with your friends, visiting your mom, and go out to a day with your significant other. Happy moments you have with the loved ones can give you the instant boost of happiness that will follow you throughout a day.

If can’t see them, use the perks of technology to make a video call.

5. Do something nice

You don’t have to focus solely on your needs to perk up, doing something nice for someone else can help you feel better as well. In this article, you found out that stress is contagious, but you have already known that happiness is contagious as well.

Help out a friend, buy something nice to your mom, volunteer, donate, ways to do something nice for other people are numerous.

6. Have sex

Sex works similarly to the exercise; it stimulates the release of feel-good chemicals that make you feel happy. For example, a study that was published in the National Bureau of Economic Research showed that the more sex people have, the happier they are.

It’s needless to mention sex brings you closer to your significant other which is yet another mood boost that perks up your day. Speaking of sex, one study found that pregnant women can relieve morning sickness by swallowing the sperm after oral sex.

If you’re pregnant at this point, you already know that sickness in the morning can make you feel blue the entire day. Research, presented at the 2012 Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society also shows this practice would prevent sickness in subsequent pregnancies.

Conclusion

It’s not unusual to feel sad or that everything is against you from time to time. What matters is how you respond to it. There is no rule which states you have to feel grumpy or cranky the entire day. This article presented just some of many things you can do for an instant mood boost. The choice is yours.

References

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/02/09/exercise-happy-enthusiasm-excitement_n_1263345.html

http://time.com/84080/stress-contagious/

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/11/26/health/upwave-food-mood/

Author Bio: Annie Lizstan works as a health and beauty consultant for on-line websites and an independent researcher by profession. She had completed her studies from the University of Arizona and currently lives in Wasilla, Alaska. Recently she had the opportunity to review JointFlex.  You can also connect with her on Facebook and Twitter.

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