If you missed part one, you’ll find it here: part one.
If you missed part two, you’ll find it here: part two.

In this mini-series we’re bringing you 3 ways you can lift your mood in less than 60 seconds, which has got to be worth a try, hasn’t it?
In part three, we’re bringing you one of my favourit mood lifters. Are you ready yet?

No. 3: Feeling Grateful

There’s something about feeling grumpy about everything that’s going wrong that drags our mood down instantly.

But turning our perspective around – and consciously choosing to think of things we feel happy about or grateful for – is one of the most effective ways to reprogramme our thought habits.

So how do you do it?

• Grab a piece of paper and a pen. This works better if you write it, rather than type it, because it gets your creative brain running.
• Make a list of 10 things you feel graeful for, right now. This might feel tough, if you’re feeling down. But there will be ten things. No matter how bad things might seem, you’re still breathing…
• Now, one at a time, go through the items on your list and focus on each of them. Give the item your full attention, really feeling the emotion of gratitude, as you work through the list.
• Now let go of the practice and notice what you notice.

How much better are you feeling now?
Are more things to feel grateful about suddenly coming to mind?
Are you ready to kick the habit of feeling grumpy about what’s missing – choosing, instead, to feel grateful about what’s already here?

Here’s How To Easily Create This New Habit

Do one of these lists every day. It works really well, first thing in the morning, before you get out of bed. Many people find it helps to have a special notebook or journal, to write these lists in.

Some days it feels easy, other days it’s more of a challenge. But either way, it sets the tone for your day and gives a clear instruction to your unconscious mind that it’s job is to find more things to feel good about.

Just imagine the difference that will make!

You could even find your favourite things to feel good about and write them on small pieces of paper, sticking them in a jar, so you can pull one out at random, whenever you need a mood lift.

There are so many ways to apply this technique and it forms the basis for going Beyond Alchemy and starting to live the life you have been dreaming of.

How did you get on with these techniques? We’d love to hear your thoughts via the comments box!

No. 2: Smiling

Smiling at someone – or even yourself in the mirror, if there’s no one else around, is an incredible way to lift your mood.

Want to test it out?

• Sit down for a moment and slouch. Really get that slopping seating position where your head is verging on a nodding dog. Yes… that’s it. Now frown. Look really grumpy. Notice how you’re feeling?

Ready for the contrast?

• Sit up as straight as is comfortable for you, lift your chin slightly and scrunch up your eyes tightly for 3 seconds before opening them again – that releases the tension around our eyes, which we need to do before the next bit.
• Now: gently allow the corners of your mouth to turn upwards, ever-so-slightly, then a little bit more. You are now smiling. Not a lame little smirk. We’re talking full-on smiles – teeth and all, if that’s your thing. Smile with your eyes, smile with your mouth. Feel the lift as you do it for a full 60 seconds.
• Now let it go and notice what you notice.

Chances are, you’ll be feeling better. Your face should feel more relaxed, your mood should have lifted and you should be aware that you are generally feeling more positive.

Why Does Smiling Help?

Smiling is fab! It triggers the release of the body’s happy chemicals, which cheer us up. And the great thing is that our body doesn’t care whether it’s a real smile or a fake one. If we do it for 30-60 seconds, the hormones get flooding round the body and the happier feeling grows, so the smile becomes real!
So if you want an instant mood lift, get smiling.

Find someone to smile at! It doesn’t care whether you know them or not – or even whether you like them or not. Smile at them! Make it genuine. And they’ll probably smile back – double whammie of mood lifting!

And if you feel uncomfortable grinning at someone, you can do an invisible smile by making eye contact and thinking about a smile – this makes your eyes smile, without you having to consciously do anything… all the time sending happier hormones running through your body!

In part two, we’ll be covering the second sure-fire technique to give your day an instant lift. And that is….
3 Sure-Fire Techniques To Give Your Day An Instant Lift – Part Three

The thing is that this can quickly become a downward spiral. It can be tough to drag ourselves out of it and by the end of the day we’re feeling really miserable.

So what?

Once in a while, it’s ok to do that. But, when times are tough, this kind of cycle can easily become a habit. The risk is that feeling miserable can end up as our “usual” mood and we become more negative. This affects our relationships, our health, our job and every other area of our life.
Is that what we really want?
Unlikely. So what’s the alternative?

What’s The Alternative?

It’s unrealistic to move from misery to joy overnight – at least not sustainably.
If we’re used to spending all our time looking at what might go wrong and how bad things are, it requires quite a shift of thought processes to start seeing what’s going well and what we can feel good about.

But the good news is that we can get there – quite quickly – by taking baby steps, rather than one massive leap.
And every step up the ladder helps us feel better.

All it takes is a decision – a commitment to aim for thinking stuff that makes you feel better.

And, whenever you catch yourself thinking about stuff that makes you feel bad, there’s no need to beat yourself up. You can simply choose that your next thought will feel slightly better.

Want To Get Started?

Here is the first of our 3 sure-fire techniques to give your day an instant lift.

No. 1: Sunshine

Sunshine cheers up pretty much everyone. Going for a walk in the sunshine, even if it’s cold, is an instant mood-lifter.
However, if like me you’re in a country where the sun can’t always be relied upon to shine when we most need it, there’s another solution and it only takes a minute!

• Sit somewhere that you won’t be disturbed.
• Close your eyes (it helps to engage the creative part of your brain). Go back to a memory of a really happy, sunny time. Yes, we do all have one!
• Really see that memory clearly in your mind, stepping into the event, feeling the warmth of the sun, hearing the sounds that were around you, getting back into the feelings you had in that sunny memory. Allow yourself to sink into those happy feelings until you feel your mood lift.
• And, when you’re ready, come back to the here and now, bringing those happier feelings back with you.
• And any time you need to get back to that happy memory, you can return there in an instant, by closing your eyes. Or perhaps, if you have a photo or momento from that time, you could keep it on your desk at work / windowsill at home, so it reminds you to feel happier, whenever you see it?

In part two, we’ll be covering the second sure-fire technique to give your day an instant lift. And that is….
3 Sure-Fire Techniques To Give Your Day An Instant Lift – Part Two

I’d love to hear your thoughts via the comments box.

Thanks!
Clare