As a woman I can affirm that there are stages in our lives where our mood changes. We don’t want this to happen but neither can we prevent it from happening. So how can we deal with our ever-changing moods, or mood-swings?
For starters we first need to be aware of what is happening, rather than allowing the mood to overcome us. Step back and breathe. Be aware of what you are feeling and why you are feeling this way. For example, I currently am going through menopause so what does that mean? Well for one, my emotions go from hot to cold in the blink of an eye, I can be calm, relaxed and happy one minute, then break out in a crying fit and screaming how I want to end it the next. Sounds nuts I know. So how do I handle it? First I find avenues that calm me down. For example I love painting, this is highly therapeutic for me, it allows me to focus only on what I am painting and all of my problems melt away.
The key here is re-directing our energy, rather than soaking in our mood and allowing it to control us; we need to find something that makes us happy. So how do we do that?
Well for one, engage in an activity that brings you joy, for example perhaps you enjoy taking a walk outdoors and connecting with nature, or taking a yoga class or watching a comedy. Laughter really is the best medicine; it makes your entire body feel good. Also an added benefit to watching a movie, comedy, drama or whatever genre you enjoy, is that it becomes a portal and it transports you into that world, and now you are part of the story, you are seeing what is happening first hand to the protagonist and you are either feeling their pain or joy. But what you are not doing is dwelling on your depression, because it has taken you out of that place and now your focus is on the Protagonist and whatever dilemma they may be faced with.
Maybe you enjoy dancing or listening to music, whatever it is that raises your vibration, do it.
What happens is, you become so focused on the activity that you are engaged in, why you began doing it to begin with that you forget that you were depressed. For example, in yoga this is literally a moving meditation which connects one mind body and spirit. How does it do that? In yoga you first stretch the get ready for the asanas.
Then you focus on your breath, inhale reach your arms over your head, exhale reach down to the ground cat cow position. So if you are focusing on your breath and on how you are supposed to move your body, then you are not depressed. Your brain can only retain so much information.
What I mean is it can retain “I need to inhale when I reach up to the sky and I exhale when I bend forward and reach down to cat cow position.” What it cannot do is say I’m depressed and I need to inhale while reaching up to the sky and on my exhale come into cat cow. Too much information, it needs to delete something, so it deletes what it cannot focus on because it’s not associated to the activity of the moment, it deletes the depression.
Music and Dance, this is another effect form to raise your energy and make you feel good. Imagine being at a party and suddenly you hear Michael Jackson’s Thriller and everyone hits the floor singing “Thriller Night!” Music takes you out of your funk and puts you into a really good mood. So does dance. It’s a known fact that religions use music and song to put their congregation in the mood. The Wiccan religion does this by first shaking tambourines and playing drums and chanting and clapping their hands, their members feel good and join in, they call it celebrating the old ways, where earth-based religions danced to celebrate God.
In the Jewish faith when we take our sit at Friday evening Shabbat, the first thing we do is open up our Siddur (Prayer Book) to the page where the cantor is singing her song. We usually join in, and sing in Hebrew. How does that affect us? It makes us happy and excited and we feel closer to God. Now we’re ready for when the Rabbi comes up to the Bina and begins to speak.
The music and song put us in the zone for celebrating Shabbat and took us out of whatever emotional or mental even physical issue we may have been experiencing prior to entering the temple.
There is a time and a place for our worries, and temple, Church or yoga class is not one of them. Leave your problems at the door, because these are sacred places, and you don’t have the right to contaminate them. This is where you cleanse, free yourself from your burdens not drag them in.
Dance raises your energetic vibration, you feel better when you are dancing and here are some reasons why: First you get a bigger release of endorphins when you dance rather than when you exercise. It also connects to the emotional centres of the brain which allows you to feel really good. Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/good-news/seven-seas/why-dancing-feels-good/
Have you ever heard a song that brought back memories and it started your feet taping then maybe you began singing along with it, next thing you know you’re dancing to the beat. Dancing elevates your mood.
Picture yourself at a rock concert, your favourite band is playing, lights are flashing music is pounding and the audience is screaming with glee, a woman throws her panties towards the stage! Hey! It happened, at a Monkees concert! Not me! I witnessed a pair of panties sail by me. Then right then you hear it, they are singing that one song you used to play non-stop as a kid and now you hear it live! WOW your heart is racing, you feel you can’t contain your excitement and start screaming with joy and dancing to the beat!
That’s what happened to me when I saw David Cassidy live, and he suddenly began singing “Rock Me Baby” I nearly lost it, because that song took me back to when I was only twelve years old. Music transports us; it takes us back through time to a happier place, a memory that we are fond of. The next time you feel sad; play a song that you love.
There are so many ways to do this now, Apple I-tunes, Amazon music, through your smartphone, through your Alexa or your Google home. How you play it doesn’t matter, it’s how you feel once you hear it that is memorable. That awesome Deja-vu feeling.
Maybe you feel better if you watch a lifetime movie or if you go out with friends, or maybe what makes you happy is reading a novel. Or studying or like me, painting and creating something. Or talking on the phone whatever it is just do it!
You’ll feel better for it and then you may even experience clarity and have a much clearer understanding of what you need to do. Life is too short to become depressed. Like the theme song of the “Partridge Family” (Come On Get Happy) I trust this gave you some valuable tips to elevate your mood and keep it high! I’ll be online Monday. Call me I’m here to help you