DreamsJUDGE

1. Mindfulness

In the Neuroanatomy of Mood Disorders study ^[1] it was pointed out that the decrease in activity in the frontal cortex is proportional to the intensity of bad mood and sadness/depression. One of the ways to improve this brain activity is by doing mindfulness . One of the ways to do this is through breathing.

• Stop for a moment of the day and go to a place without much noise or movement of people;
• Sit down, if necessary lean your back;
• Focus on the inhalation and exhalation movement of the breath;
• Whenever you breathe in, think “Inward”;
• When exhaling, think “Out”.

2. Physical Exercises

Constant physical activity acts in an active and preventive way in the treatment of psychological problems, so it is a great way to get a good mood. In Brazil, on average, only 13% of adults perform physical activities for at least 30 minutes every day ^[2] .

The main reason why physical activities are also super important in maintaining a good mood is the release of endorphins (hormone already present in the body) – they are known to be one of the hormones that bring feelings of pleasure and happiness.

It is extremely important to exercise at least 3 times a week for approximately 45 minutes. If you’re not used to it, start slowly – once a week and then work your way up. Don’t look for brutal overnight changes.

3. Contemplate your friendships

How to have a good mood? Individuals who are not socially isolated are less likely to have depressive moods. Being with people who are important to you is essential for maintaining a good mood.

Sometimes we spend a lot of time contemplating our thoughts inside our head and forget about the world out here. And many moments are negative and intense thoughts that put us in a bad mood.

I’m not telling you to always run away from your head and those bad thoughts. I’m talking about you looking to be present “out here” longer than “inside your head”. Your friends, family and colleagues can even help you to see these situations more lightly – as people have different points of view and maybe this will help you.

4. Get rid of invalidating friendships

In Dialectical Behavior Therapy we work a lot with the idea of ​​an invalidating environment. Basically it is a place, people or moments where your emotions are not accepted , supported or simply validated.

When we live in environments or with people who constantly invalidate us, it can put us in a bad mood. Often we don’t even know why this happens.

5. Self-efficacy

One of the reasons we are constantly in a bad mood may be our belief that “I’m not good enough.” With this, we can understand the importance of practicing self-efficacy.

Self-efficacy is part of cognitive theories, basically it is an individual’s ability to accomplish what is necessary to achieve a goal.

With that, think for a moment: what do you like to do? Or, think of something you do well. Once you have reflected on this, try to do more of these things to feel better about yourself – this will increase your self- esteem and self-concept.

Usually when we wake up in a bad mood we should think about how our previous night was. Sometimes the day that passed was extremely tiring and you couldn’t sleep well. While there will be other times when you can’t even sleep.

Part of waking up in a good mood is appreciating the end of our previous day. That is, ask yourself:

• “How was yesterday at bedtime?”
• “What did I do yesterday that might have interfered with a good night’s sleep?”
• “How was the environment where I slept?”

If you see that something has gone wrong in your ritual, you can improve it, so that you wake up in a good mood.

6. Progressive muscle relaxation

Many people cannot sleep at night as they are still very connected to their day. At times the day was extremely exhausting and harrowing. Knowing this, we need to relax – and I’m not just talking about relaxing with deep breaths.

It is extremely important that we do some meditation to relax our muscles and mind before bed. After all, a good night’s sleep will help keep you in a good mood. Learn how to do progressive muscle relaxation in this other Psychology-Online article.

7. Avoid noise

There are times when we are so tired that we don’t even notice if the bedroom light is on or if there is some loud music or other background noise. There are some studies that talk about the importance of a place with little noise , since when we sleep in noisy environments – some of our functions are impaired, such as:

• Memory;
• Concentration;
• Learning.

Now that we have an idea of ​​how much noise affects our good night’s sleep and, consequently, our mood, before going to sleep, try to make the place very quiet.

8. Low light

Just as sounds affect our sleep – light can also cause harm and prevent a good night’s sleep. And as you may have already understood, a bad night’s sleep can cause a bad mood for the next day.

Did you know that over 80% of what we perceive comes from our vision? So if you’re sleeping with an extremely bright light right above your bed – do you really believe you’ll be able to reach the deepest states of sleep and wake up in a good mood?

9. Seek help

Constant bad mood can be a symptom of a psychological disorder such as depression or a mood disorder – it is essential to seek help from a psychologist, therapist and / or psychiatrist.

10. Learn to deal with stress

I could just tell you “put the stress aside”, but we know that’s not how it works. We also know that there are people who live or work in naturally stressful environments, such as hospitals, newsrooms, etc. With that in mind, it is much wiser for me to show you some techniques to better deal with constant bad moods due to stress:

• mindfulness techniques;
• Relaxations ;
• Breathing techniques.

Try some of them and you will see how to improve your mood.

11. Troubleshooting

Problem solving is a technique used in Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, where we must:

• Specify the problem (in this case it would be the constant bad mood);
• Define possible solutions;
• Seek to put into practice the solutions to understand which are feasible.

If you want to know a little more about it, also read our article on Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy .

12. Put it all into practice

It is often difficult to change our habits, so time is our best friend. This last topic is a guide on how you should put these ways into practice to have more sense of humor in your life.

The first way you should start catching up on are sleep, sleep better to start feeling your good mood coming over the days before taking the other initiatives.

After putting the sleep ways into practice for at least a week, follow this order to implement the mood-enhancing ways:

1. Regulate sleep;
2. Mindfulness/mindfulness before bed;
3. Physical exercises;
4. Self-efficacy;
5. Review your friendships.