Lighten Up Your Mood With a Quick Break

There are days when we obsessively think about something that either went wrong or was going to affect us in some way and our thoughts take over, beat us down. Most thoughts are just procrastination in auto mode. Say, you were writing a report and corrected what could have been a major error at the last minute, before you turned in the reports. You know you have it right but your thoughts won’t leave you alone. They go, “What if I wasn’t thorough?” “I am always doing this.” “What if I got fired?” “My career is over!” Even when you know your manager might just ask you to correct the error, if any, while being appreciative of all the hard work you put in.

We all go through such moments, in professional as well as personal lives. This is mainly because from younger days, we have been trained to over-assess the impact or consequences of our present actions on the future. For example, as a child, you were told if you chew loudly, you’ll never make friends, and we continue making such assessments as we grow older. While it is not easy to let go of this habitual thought process because of the years of practice we have, it is not impossible. Thoughts have a direct influence on our mood and such processes may result in stress or anxiety. Therefore, it is important to learn to calm down and work our way out of these thoughts.

Ways to lighten up

Lightening up your mood can help you any time, even when you are not stressed out like when you are brainstorming your next project. Use these simple activities to take a quick 5-20 minutes break. Take a deep breath come to the present as you start and:

• Listen to music: Listen to positive, upbeat music that helps you energise. Focus on the music, enjoy and let go.

• Walk: Be it brisk or slow, walking helps. Observe the surroundings and all your senses as you walk.

• Dance: Dancing can help as a quick workout and release.

• Laugh: Laughter is a great medicine. If you can find a way to laugh, watch stand up comedy or learn to practice laughing as an exercise if that works.

• Vent: It’s always good to have a venting partner, as they can guide you to not worry and vice-versa. It can help you out of the thought flow, you are stuck in.

• Hug someone: If it is an option to hug someone, hug and smile. It helps.

• Yoga Nidra: Turn on your favourite audio guide for yoga nidra and relax.

• Solve a Puzzle: Sudoku, crossword, jigsaw or find six differences - solving puzzles help you focus, and give a break to the flow of thoughts.

• Admire nature: Admiring the nature around you helps in getting you grounded.

Many such activities can be done to take a quick break at any time of the day. They help release feel-good hormones such as dopamine, oxytocin, and serotonin. This will help you relax and get back to the task at hand refreshed.

However, if you go through more intense situations and your thoughts usually have a tendency to take over, then there are a few more things you ought to cultivate as a practice. So that, eventually, you can develop an ability to not have procrastinating thoughts on auto mode.

1. Once you feel a bit relaxed, observe how you catastrophise a situation. How did your thoughts flow and how often did your thoughts take over? Make a note of the same.

2. Challenge your thoughts, get real with yourself and question the chances of occurrences of the impact you imagine.

3. Choose not to believe in those extreme thoughts.

4. Give yourself self-talk. Try to list out positive things about yourself and remind yourself how much you succeed and motivate yourself to be positive.

5. In case it is an ongoing event, try to be kind to yourself and say you can work through the problem. Ask for help if required.

If such a thought process is quite common with you and you often find yourself under stress or anxiety, you need to bring in more behavioural changes. Make sure you sleep enough, eat healthily, practise mindfulness and find outlets for venting. For many people, the above options will work most of the time, however, sometimes you may get stuck and feel like you are not making progress. Then, seek professional help. You do not need to be alone in this journey.

“Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” —Winnie the Pooh