Have you ever been in a bad mood and plummeted into an even worse mood once you realized what a bad mood you were in? It’s toxic. Fortunately, the mind is an incredibly powerful machine that, with the right tools, can override virtually any state of mind.

With these four tips, you can learn how to improve your mood in just minutes and relieve yourself of the angst and stress that comes with it.

1. Smile

It seems silly, right? To just smile when the last thing you feel like doing is smiling? But according to a study done by researchers at the University of Kansas, smiling can actually alter your response in difficult situations.There are generally two types of smiles: the standard smile, which uses surrounding mouth muscles, and the genuine smile that uses muscles around the mouth as well as the eyes. The study found that both types of smiles can actually reduce our body’s response to stress and improve your feelings of happiness.

2. Get Hands-on

Studies show that by being hands-on with creative projects like baking a cake, doing a home improvement project, working in the garden, or making a scrapbook helps to foster pride and satisfaction. Research shows that when we deeply invest ourselves in an hands-on task, we are also able to decrease stress, relieve anxiety, and modify depression. If you find yourself in a bad mood that you just can’t shake, try to find a quick hands-on project that evokes creativity like origami, sketching, coloring, or cooking.   

3. Exercise

One of the most effective ways of reversing a bad mood is to work out. While the physical benefits of exercise are obvious, getting your heart rate up also helps trigger your brain’s release of endorphins, adrenaline, serotonin and dopamine – all chemicals that help boost your mood and make you feel happy. And while getting a good, sweaty workout is ideal for extinguishing a bad mood, you don’t have to hit the gym for an hour to benefit from exercise. Whether you choose to take a brisk walk around your office building, do squats at your desk, or find an area to do jumping jacks, the key is to get your heart rate up. In combination with healthy meal alternatives such as shakes from Xyngular, a weight loss company, you’ll feel better just knowing that you’re trying you best to get your body in shape.

4. Muscle Testing

As one of the most effective ways to naturally boost your mood, energy healing through muscle testing is a quick and easy way to tap into your subconscious and eliminate the emotional barriers that are preventing you from feeling joy, love, and happiness. Because our bodies live and function on principles of biomagnetic energy, our subconscious mind is hypersensitive, making it highly responsive to positive energy and highly resistant to negative energy. Muscle testing allows you to test these responses and determine what the root cause of your physical, mental, and emotional-well being really is.

By Skyler West

Piper Skyler West: Piper, a sports medicine expert, shares advice on injury prevention, athletic performance, and sports health tips.