Yesterday, I wrote about gratitude and the practice of counting our blessings as a way of dealing with a ‘bad’ day.   We can’t change what had happened, but we could certainly change the way we feel about it.   And how we feel, our emotions, and mood, are functions  of two elements – the Mind and the Body. Altering any one of the two will necessarily alter how we feel. The logic is that simple.

The good news is … it’s often a lot simpler and quicker to change our body. By that, I don’t mean losing weight or looking more beautiful, but simply through changing our body posture and movement. For instance, when you are feeling down, sad, or even depressed,  try biting a pencil between your teeth, opening your arms and chess widely, dropping or relaxing your shoulders, hold your chin high, stand tall, and breathe deeply and gently, etc. Never mind if you look silly …  try it out and experience the effect on how you feel, and how your mind will naturally begin to function differently.  Keep experimenting, and find your favourite way to alter your mood as and when called for.  Personally, I find running and deep breathing tremendously useful.

Life isn’t a bed of roses always … there are good days, and there are bad days.  But the bad days  need not last longer than necessary. Try changing your body, and watch how easy it is to change your mood by simply doing that.

Love,

Your Experimenting Dad