21 ways to lift your mood

Here’s a few of my favourite ways to beat the blues. Pick the ones that chime with you:

• Phone a friend – catch up and have a gossip. Or better still arrange to meet. Spending time with good friends is very good for you.
• Just dance! In the kitchen, in your bedroom…wherever. Put on some music and move to the rhythm.
• Reach out and touch someone – a hug or a held hand is calming and comforting.
• Do a favour – helping someone else, or supporting a good cause makes you feel good too.
• Eat (a little) chocolate – the N-acyclethanoloamines in chocolate stimulate the brain to release endorphins.
• Try therapy – increased self-awareness and insight help you to understand your feelings and make the right changes.
• Have a laugh– the old saying laughter is the best medicine is still true today. Your prescription? A DVD box set of the TV series that makes you howl with laughter.
• Be scentsational – indulge your senses with your favourite fragrances – on your self and in your home.
• Go for a walk – under some trees, over a field, up a hill, beside a brook. Nature’s little healers are good for the soul.
• Receive a smile back – smile at a stranger and enjoy their reaction.
• Sing your heart out – in the shower or in a choir. Look what it did for the military wives.
• Create something – whether you bake, sew, draw, paint or write, making something new and unique is therapeutic.
• Say it with flowers – add a splash of colour, a hint of scent and a touch of nature in your home with a few fresh blooms.
• Pamper yourself – have a spa experience at home. Put on a face mask, shape your eyebrows, paint your nails and slather yourself in smellies.
• Take regular exercise – 20 minutes, three times a week is good for mind and spirit, as well as the body.
• Bathe – a good old soak in a bubbly bath is a great way to cleanse, wind down and relax.
• Count your blessings – before you go to sleep, count up all the good things about the day just gone.
• Make some me-time – give yourself an hour, two or three times a week to do exactly what you want. Put it in the diary to make sure it happens.
• Have a clearout – whether you just sort your sock drawer or re-do a whole room, you’ll feel much better for being a bit more sorted.
• Prioritise yourself sometimes – if you don’t, no-one else will.
• Smile! Did you know that if you put a smile on your face by moving your lips into a wide smile shape, it makes you feel happy by getting the neural pathways firing? Go on, try it now…