Start With Loving Yourself

There isn’t an adult I know who doesn’t experience the blahs every once in a while, if not, on a regular basis.  As I have been helping others get through those rough periods, I have been making notes on the most effective methods for improving the mood and it gives me great pleasure to now share those methods with you!

First of all, moods start with your emotions. If you are sad, angry or frustrated with something or someone in your life, it is likely that your mood is dampened, if not ruined.  If this happens occasionally, that is completely understandable.  If this happens regularly in your life, you need to learn to work on yourself so that you no longer attract the negative.  The key to inner happiness is loving yourself.  If you love yourself, your whole world will brighten and everything will go more smoothly for you each and every day because your love of yourself will be mirrored by all those around you!  And the more love you show yourself, the more love you will want to share with those around you.

Just a few ideas for learning to love yourself:

• Start saying ‘no’ to invitations that you are not truly excited about
• Start putting your own needs before others occasionally
• Set boundaries with those that take advantage of you
• Spend more of your time doing things that you love (see below for ideas)
• Set simple goals for yourself and achieve them

Now, say you are not ready to love yourself.  Maybe you feel guilty or haven’t forgiven yourself for things you have done in the past.  Maybe you are not happy in your current situation i.e. relationship, job, living arrangements, raising young children without help.  There are things you can do to make yourself feel better until you are ready to make the big changes in your life.

Just a few ideas for improving your mood nutritionally:

• To regulate your blood sugar and improve your mood, eat protein four times a day, preferably combined with a starch, unless you have digestive issues.  Instead of reaching for a cookie in the mid afternoon, reach for a protein source or a green drink. You can read more about using proteins and starches to regulate your moods in my earlier blog post.
• Drink at least 8 glasses (8 ounces each) of water, herbal tea and/or a green drink daily.
• Take Vitamin D and lots of it, especially if you are living in Canada! People don’t understand how it can brighten your mood, within 2 days of starting to take 5000 – 10,000 IU’s a day.  It’s an inexpensive vitamin – how rare!  See prior blog post for more on this.
• Reduce your dairy, wheat and sugar consumption – the biggest cravings yet the biggest causes of fatigue and other symptoms.
• Reduce your alcohol consumption – the highs are really high but the lows are far longer lasting.
• Do a cleanse – Renew Life makes some great ones.
• Eat more natural, unprocessed foods.
• Find out the foods you are reacting to and eliminate them from your diet – they can be huge culprits for irritability, moodiness, insomnia, fatigue and more.
• Add fish oils to your regime – more than you would think necessary.

Just a few other ideas for improving your mood (this is the fun stuff):

• If you are living in Canada, maybe try embracing the snow, as opposed to looking out your window and waiting for it to go away i.e. Toboggan, ski, snowboard, skate, build a snowman (it can be the size of your forearm!), try nordic pole walking or just go for a walk on a sunny day, maybe in the trees!
• Dance by yourself, when one is watching or encourage them to join in if they catch you
• Read a good book and leave your housework until later – it will always be there.
• See a psychic or a healer
• Catch up with a friend you haven’t talked to in way too long or surprise a friend you just spoke to yesterday
• Plan a girls’ or guys’ weekend
• Buy a rebounder (mini trampoline) and jump on it for 10 minutes, maybe even while you listen to music or watch t.v.
• Play a board game – you are never too old
• Have a bath in the dark with lit candles surrounding you
• Plan a vacation but you don’t need to be told to do that now do you?
• Just be…..sit and listen to the sound of your own breathing for 10 minutes

Well, I certainly improved my mood, simply by writing this.  For me, writing is one of the ways I beat the blahs.  How do you beat the blahs?  Add to my list here on my blog!  Pass your wisdom onto others.

Until next time,

Meredith