This is episode number 104: Three ways to lift your mood (instantly).

Welcome to the mindset for life podcast. This is Bethanie Hansen, your coach. And I'm here to talk about three ways to lift your mood. Why would you want to lift your mood?

Well, there might be a reason; maybe you're going into a difficult meeting or conversation. Or maybe you're just trying to get through the work day and you can tell that your mood is low. Whatever the reason, lifting your mood is going to help you to perform better, and the things you do in work and in life. It'll help you show up in your relationships positively. And it will even help you feel great about yourself.

Whatever is happening in your life, in your work or in the world at large. Lifting your mood can have beneficial outcomes for you.
Strike a "Power Pose"
So the first way to lift your mood is simply to stand tall, raise your arms in the air, like you're making a Superman shape, or even the why and the YMCA song and breathe deeply. You can stretch your body out in this way. And you can feel all your muscles stretching, and you can get some oxygen flowing to your brain.

And that will help you to just move things along in your body and your mind. Breathing deeply stretching your arms out is an instant mood elevator. In fact, I believe it was Amy Cuddy, who did some research on this. And it's called a power pose.

When you put your arms in this large Y shape or V shape, like putting them out in their full extended strength, it makes you larger, it also helps you to feel power. Physically, it tells your brain that you're in charge.

And it can lift your mood instantly. If you're going into a job interview, or a difficult meeting, and you have a restroom or a bathroom, you could go into if there are people around, you could do this in private.

And you could just breathe deeply while you have that going with your arms. And you've already taken it up a level. So you've lifted your mood with just one simple action called a power pose.

Now, if you want a variation for that, one way I like to do this is to put my hands up in the air, my arms are straight, and I'm walking through a doorway. Because I'm five foot seven, I can touch that doorway easily. And I will just push my arms backwards just a tiny bit to even stretch them more. And it makes me feel alive and amazing. It's invigorating. And it also elevates my mood a little bit more. So there's your tip number one, lift your mood by stretching your arms all the way out and breathing deeply.
Listen to Energetic Music
The second way to lift your mood is probably my favorite number one way is music. Music can lift your mood and weighs almost nothing else can. Unless you choose not to listen to music, right again, do that because it's not reaching you anywhere. The the best kind of music, in my opinion, is 1980s Pop. And that just tells you what your I love.

So certain 1980s pop songs I can put on and they bring energy to me no matter where I am or what I'm doing because of the beat. And because of the message in the music, so they're happy. And even if they're breaking up with someone or they're singing about a negative subject 1980s Pop generally has a positive vibe to it. So the beat is a certain tempo that enlivens your soul and just brings energy to you. You know, the beat of the music really does have something to do with the energy that you get from that music.

You have a heartbeat that might be around 80 or 90 beats per minute during low activity levels or something like that. And if you start to exercise, maybe your heart, heart rates gonna go up to 120 Beats Per Minute 130. If you get music in that zone, and you just start listening to it, pretty soon you're moving faster, because it's pushing you to increase your physical activity. And it's helping you increase your heart rate just a little bit which of course brings you a sense of having more energy.