We all sometimes have hard mornings. You wake up from the loud sound of an alarm clock and become angry because you cannot stay in bed longer. You get confused in the sheets, come back for your wallet and everything threatens to turn your whole day into a catastrophe.
Even normally happy people have to make an effort to stay positive in the morning. A recent study found that happy people are more productive and life becomes easier when you feel good. Before you go out the door, try these seven tactics to enhance your morning mood:
1. Exercise
Exercise makes you more energetic due to the release of endorphins, chemicals in the brain associated with improving mood. Do you think that you don’t have time for this? There is no need to exercise for hours and to exhaust yourself. This on the opposite can lead to depletion and chronic back pain. A small set of exercises for 15 minutes will be enough. A light jog or several asanas will help produce endorphins for a better mood.
2. Take a moment to meditate
Meditation works to relieve stress. Take a break to meditate when getting ready for the day. The University of California has found that awareness during meditation helps reduce the production of the stress hormone cortisol. You can pray, read a mantra, or just sit in silence. Such pauses must be taken when you are in a hurry to calm down and look at the new day with a smile.
3. Smile
Even a simulated smile positively affects our emotions and reduces the level of perceived stress. According to the hypothesis of communication with the face, the brain interprets the bending of the facial muscles necessary for a smile as a positive expression of emotions. The researchers found that the participants in experiments reported happy thoughts when they were actively smiling. So smile to break the morning longing.
4. Smell vanilla
Several studies that test the influence of odor on an emotional state have shown that vanilla soothes and relaxes. Put a vanilla candle on the bedside table or purchase a vanilla shower gel to wake up happy every morning.
5. Look at the photos of loved ones
Studies at South Hampton University have uncovered a connection between nostalgia and positive emotions. Memories about moments when you experienced love make the brain reproduce these emotions. To remember happy times, create a separate gallery for photos on your phone and drop your children’s photos or silly selfies with friends there.
6. Eat carbohydrates and sweets
Sweets are not the most wholesome product to eat in the morning. But it will help to cheer up quickly. Eating sweets in the morning is much better than doing it in the evening and the endorphins that you get eating such a breakfast will help you easily survive a difficult day.
Eating good carbohydrates increases levels of serotonin, a mood transmitter. Eat foods high in tryptophan: bananas, milk, yogurt, wheat, eggs, turkey and nuts.
7. Wake up earlier
Often the cause of poor mood in the morning is rush and bustle, which constantly accompanies this time of the day and has already begun to be perceived as something inevitable. To make the morning more pleasant, it’s worth making a habit of waking up 15-20 minutes earlier and spend this time for a quiet and joyful activity such as drinking a cup of coffee in the company of an interesting book.
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