They say that health is wealth, and self-care is health care. As we live in a day and age where anxiety and stress about just getting through the day is a pervasive part of the lives of three out of four Americans, mood-boosting activities can help us preserve our health. It is not just a cliché. Mood-enhancing activities can significantly improve the overall quality of your life.
Mood-enhancing activities are all about bringing the zen in and pushing the stress out. You can enjoy a good mood booster for depression, anxiety, and even insomnia. Many people are trying to find the best life mood just to get through the day, and you can too by bringing it into your life. Learn more about how to get an instant mood booster in your every day with these five weird but awesome mood-boosting activities.
“Laugh Yoga Underwater”
Laugh yoga underwater is a thing, and it is exactly what it sounds like. Laugh yoga is the starting point here, with an underwater component being added to it. Laugh yoga is yoga where chanting and breathing in basic yoga poses incorporate an underwater element to make the yoga even more fun and enchanting. With laugh yoga, exercises that make you laugh bring out those endorphins that relax you even further than standard yoga exercises.
Yoga is well known to provide immune system support and to also provide generalized stress relief. It also has the added benefit of providing physical benefits to your core, which is your abdomen and your spinal cord and muscles. Laughter is always going to be the best medicine for almost anything, and it has a way of making you forget everything else in the day. And a water element in your exercise life adds a layer of relaxation and satisfaction to your workout routine.
With laugh yoga, you start with basic yoga poses and are given laughing material throughout your session. Take this to the next level by going underwater with your yoga partners, and you’ve got a multidisciplinary system that will make you laugh, feel good, and look good. In addition to cardiovascular benefits, you improve your memory, blood sugar levels, and cognitive function. You’ll also suffer from less depression and anxiety the more you do it.
Steps to laugh yoga underwater include being mindful of your breathing, an additional challenge when you are underwater. But you are not underwater the whole time. You’ll infuse oxygen into your system when you come up for air. You’ll start with a warmup routine and basic stretches, spend time in your yoga poses in a low-impact underwater method, and finish with grounding exercises that help you bring the entire routine full circle. You can use a mirror or a partner to make sure you are doing it right.
“Glow-in-the-Dark Meditation”
Meditation is a kind of mindfulness where you focus on your breathing and one thing in the room or around you, and breathe in and breathe out and try to think of nothing. This mood-enhancing activity is meant to lift your life mood and is an instant mood booster if you need to clear your head of the day’s clutter. You don’t have to be a spiritualist to add this to your list of favorite mood-boosting activities. Glow-in-the-dark meditation helps you control the lighting around you to create a sensory-deprived state of mind that makes it easier for you to focus on nothing.
In meditation, you breathe in and breathe out and try to clear your mind. It takes practice. When you are new to it, you get distracted by phones, people, windows, and life. This is why glow-in-the-dark meditation helps you to darken every distraction and helps you to only focus on the light.
You can implement tools that are glow-in-the-dark at home, or join a glow-in-the-dark meditation group. Shut off all the lights in your room, activate a lava lamp or a glow-in-the-dark candle, and close your eyes. Breathe in, breathe out, and get into the practice of just focusing on that. You may want to keep your eyes open and focus only on your glow-in-the-dark tools, as it may make it easier to clear your mind of all the stressful clutter.
The benefits of meditation are that it will help you to feel more calm, and more peaceful in your life. You will look at life a new way the more you do it, or at least your day a new way the more you do it. You’ll find a calmer and more renewed way to handle challenges and will be able to build skills to manage your stress levels. Additionally, you’ll find you have fewer negative thoughts and more good ones.
“Bubble Wrap Therapy”
Bubble wrap therapy is a way to release both physical and mental tension, and is on our list of mood-boosting activities because it can be a lot of fun. This kind of mood enhancer will help you to burst some of your pent-up stress by popping bubbles and feeling better about the tactile sensations that will bring. Bubble wrap therapy is easy, cheap, and fun.
To get bubble wrap therapy, you only need to get some bubble wrap, and then pop it. Lighten the mood by adding some music, maybe a glass of wine, and just pop through the bubbles as much as you want. If you have tense muscles, or if you are feeling stressed, you can unleash some of that stress into your bubble popping. It will also give you something to focus on so that you do not worry about what is right in front of you so much.
“Dance Like No One’s Watching in Public Spaces”
The dance like no one is watching mood-enhancing activity is exactly what it sounds like. Dance like nobody’s watching. Do it in a way that makes you feel good and uninhibited, and allows you to tap into that inner person of yours that has freedom wherever and whenever you want to. There are many psychological and health benefits to dancing like nobody’s watching, and it is an instant mood booster that anyone of any age can do.
Many studies show the tremendous psychological benefits of dance. It has the known benefit of working on people’s trauma and helping patients to escape the trauma that they are dealing with internally. When you dance, your body releases happy endorphins that help you to feel good internally and physically. You’ll also feel good about yourself.
Dance therapy typically also has a component of mental wellness, even if you are not dealing with past traumas. Your breathing gets better, your overall balance and grace improve, and you have fun. It can be an instant mood booster for depression or a simple mood-enhancing activity for your day. When you have a high-stress day, plan a dance session by yourself after work or before bed to uplift your spirit every day.
Get into the habit of making this amazing instant mood booster part of your everyday life. Crank up the music, put on your headphones, and get as silly as you want to. Dance the way nobody will ever know you dance. Have fun, that is the point, and you will find that the more you do this, the more you will enjoy your life.
“Forest Bathing in Urban Settings”
Forest bathing is not what it sounds like. This is a mood-enhancing activity for people who live in the city or urban setting and need to get away from it all. If you live in the city and have traveled to the country just once, never wanting to go home, then you know what forest bathing is already. Forest bathing is about getting into the forest and letting Mother Nature envelop your every sense.
For people who live in urban settings, this is an especially helpful mood-enhancing activity as they will experience a new sensory experience with all of their senses for the first time ever. You won’t want to leave if you do it right. There is an instant sense of calm when you enter a forest or green space. You can take this sense of calm with you when you go.
At the same time, it is an excellent activity that helps you with your breathing and your overall health. The air is cleaner to inhale and exhale, and you will also physically feel better when you enter a forest or green space. Find your location, turn off your phone, sit down, and see, smell, and touch the forest around you. You won’t want to leave.
If you are going into a genuine forest, you will want to be sure that you prepare from a practical standpoint as well. Bring bug spray and sunscreen, a flashlight with extra batteries and a first aid kit, a nice mat or blanket to sit on, and some snacks or drinks for the day. You’ll also want to dress comfortably and appropriately for the weather. If you are new to forest mood enhancement, you’ll want to be sure that you have an appropriate emergency and safety plan in the event of an emergency.
Do not overplan this. You aren’t supposed to be getting upset while you prepare for this. Back a backpack once, and add fresh snacks when you need to. Plan to enjoy the experience and not the itinerary.
Dance, Breathe, Pop, Laugh, Repeat
Use this list of mood-enhancing activities when you need to lift your mood, get an instant mood booster, or just want to have a better day. Not all of these activities are for everyone, but at least one of them will help you to enjoy your life a little more. When we live in a society where 75 percent of the people are struggling with a mood issue, dancing will never make for a bad day, nor will laughing. Bring these elements into your every day and you will find your mood, and your days improve.
