How are you feeling today? If you can identify with feelings of overwhelm, stress, fear, anxiety, pressure, sadness or hopelessness you’re not alone. As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, many people across the world have had to make huge shifts in their everyday routines and with change can come uncertainty. We are here to remind you that darkness passes and there are things you can do for yourself to help boost your mood.
Everyone is unique and the secret is to figure out what works for you and to remember to use it.
Smile & Laugh: Smiling even when you are feeling low can trick your body into boosting your mood. Laughing is a key ingredient for every day, what or who made you laugh today?
Exercise: We all know the benefits of exercise, boosting your energy and overall mood is the main one. Find a form of exercise that you find fun, it doesn’t have to be hours at the gym.
Kindness & Compassion: Random acts of kindness are more important than ever right now. Lift someone else’s mood today and you will lift your own.
Quality sleep: Go to bed and get up at the same time, minimise screens two hours before bed, have a bath, read a book & drift off peacefully to sleep meditation. These are some of the ways take may help you.
Water: Drink lots of it, 2 Litres a day ideally.
Eat mood-enhancing foods: Fresh fruit, raw vegetables, nuts, seeds and coconut. More about this here
Meditate: Some science-based benefits of meditation, reduces stress, anxiety, promotes emotional health, enhances self-awareness, lengthens attention span, improves sleep, can improve memory function, generate kindness and decrease blood pressure.
Practice mindfulness: Stay in the present moment and get out of your head, all we have is this moment right now.
Celebrate your successes every week: Sometimes we are so focused on the next goal that we don’t realise when we have achieved the ones, we set ourselves a year ago.
Gratitude: Every day give thanks and show gratitude for what you do have. If you find this difficult to do, think about what the implications would be on your life if you didn’t have certain things you hold in high importance. How would you feel if you didn’t have them?
Perspective: Whilst we have all had to adjust the way we live in the short term. Most of us still have the basic things in life, clean running water, a warm bed to sleep in at night & food. There are many children & adults out there that don’t have these basics.
Online fun with friends, colleagues & family: If you can’t physically see friends and family, use one of the many Apps to stay connected.
Positive Mindset: In every situation, there are positives if you make the decision to look for them.
Surround yourself with positive people: Have you ever felt totally drained after speaking to someone who was so negative, well they have transferred their energy onto you. Be aware of who these people are and limit exposure to them when you are not feeling up to supporting them.
Get Inspired: Entrepreneurial people, motivational books, podcasts, movies are all good sources.
Make time to be quiet: With all the calls and video conferencing going on, sometimes we can just get peopled out. Find some quiet time to be alone without noise.
Get outside in nature: Boost your vitamin D and serotonin levels, that’s the happiness hormone! Go for a walk or do some gardening.
Animals can be great healers: If you don’t have a pet just go to your window and listen to the birds, watch them fly in the blue, cloud scattered skyline. This always gives me a sense of freedom from my thoughts.
Go offline for a day: Take a break from social media your brain needs it.
Stay clear of drama: Not so easy at the time of writing this blog. There are ways though, keeping press coverage to a minimum will help you. This includes gossip, it impacts our energy centres and creates stress and anxiety.
How could you make a commitment to yourself to boost your mood today?
For more tips and guidance, please do reach out to any of us at Block Recruit. We’re in this together!
Written by Alice Cadfan-Lewis, Managing Director
A Community that CARES