Positivity: Mood Changers

Lots of different things can change your mood.

As such, there are countless options to build more and greater positivity.

I find that if I wake up stiff or sore, if the clouds in the sky feel oppressive, or if posts across social media are getting me down, I have a lot of different options to change my mood and to alter my feelings.

What works for me might not work the same for you, but I think there are a number of basic ideas like attitude shifters that can help us reclaim a positive attitude. These are some other mood changers I try to employ:

Music. There is nothing quite like music to alter how I am feeling. I find that when I am writing I love to listen to movie scores and Russian classical works. On a road trip I sing along to something. There is nothing like the power of music to change how you feel. One note of caution – music can also bring you down, so mind what you choose when you are trying to generate positivity.

Light. I am addicted to sunlight. I crave it like a plant. I love the warmth of the sun on my skin, it makes me feel happy and connected to the world. Sometimes just having lights or candles lit can really go a long ways towards making me feel good, so I need to remember there is no need to be in a dim space. But the converse to that is:

Dark. Sometimes there is nothing more comforting than finding a dark space in which to be alone. In the dark as I close my eyes to meditate I can better focus on manifestation, on my heart beat, on clearing away random thoughts that are obscuring my path. This is not the murky light in a room on a cloudy or rainy day, this is almost sensor-depriving darkness I am giving voice to here. In a literal void you can choose to find and experience much positivity.

Water. Some people love to soak in the tub. Swimming can be liberating, as you nearly fly through the water. Standing beneath a steaming shower can free your muscles and relieve aches and stiff joints. Zen practices often use the idea of flowing water for how life moves, and it is rather apropos, because the unseen energy that everything is made of at its core flows like water, too. Water can be an incredible restorative, and a great positivity conductor.

Touch. Even adults need security blankets of some kind or other. Touch can seriously alter your mood. The sensation of soft fabrics on your skin, the cooling breeze of a fan, a hug, a caress, a kiss. Touch can be a powerful mood changer, and we all need contact from time to time to reassure us, to connect us to the rest of humanity.

These are just a couple ideas we can all use to change our moods. Changing our moods away from negativity to positivity can go a longs ways to finding happiness.

Finding positivity is not hard, it just requires action. Knowing that there are things we can do to change our moods, we can work with this to help us feel good when we are not. When we actively work on changing the mood we are in, we empower ourselves. When we feel empowered, we often spread that feeling to others around us, and as such can build more positive feelings. We can use the positive feelings this generates to dissolve negative feelings. When we take away negative feelings, we open up space to let in positive feelings, and that is something we can be grateful for. Gratitude leads to happiness. Happiness is the ultimate positive attitude. Positive attitude begets positive energy, and that is always a good thing.

This is the eighty-seventh entry of my Positivity series.  It is my hope these weekly messages might help spread positive energies for everyone.  Feel free to share, re-blog and spread the positivity.