How to Lift Your Mood When You Feel Down

There are times when our emotions or feelings get the best of us. Learn how to lift your mood with these 5 quick ways to feel better fast.

May 2024 Update: When I first wrote this, I was in a stage of my life where I was chasing feeling good. I believed that feeling down was a bad thing that had to be immediately alleviated.

At that time, a lot of the self-help literature was telling us that feeling positive was a way to manage life. 

Yet, at this stage of my life, with many years of training and experience working with women, I know without any doubt that we don’t have to chase feeling bad away.

In fact, it is way more helpful to actually gain awareness into our negative feelings, feel them in our body, and use the wisdom we can gain from them to develop resilience and understanding.

Also, feeling down chronically or because of trauma may require professional help to navigate. 

In the spirit of the original post, I’m going to still offer some ways to feel better. Sometimes a quick fix can increase your sense of wellbing and lessen your worries.

What do I Mean By Feeling Down?

Even the most upbeat person sometimes feels down. 

Below is a graphic of different emotions that we can feel. This is a very general list and our the number of emotions that we can feel is actually much longer!

When I think of feeling down, I think of the feelings that just don’t feel good.

• discouraged
• depressed
• frustrated
• sad
• lonely
• disappointed

These feelings can cause life to feel less than optimum. Sometimes we can be tempted to turn to alcohol, watching too much TV, scrolling on your phone, or other behaviors that numb the sensations but don’t really help.

Why Are Our Feelings Important?

Your feelings exist not just in your mind but in your body. I believe that your feelings are the way your body communicates with you.

We are often tempted to push away our feelings because we believe that they will overcome us or cause us some kind of harm.

Yet feelings can truly offer information and wisdom when we learn to feel them and process them. 

When there are times when you want a gentle way to feel better, here are some ideas to increase your sense of wellbeing and release some tension. 

How Boost Your Mood

If we feel anger or sadness and we get bogged down, it can be more difficult to make good decisions and you might miss some great opportunities. 

I have known people that stay angry or sad, not for days but for years.

Learning to boost my mood when I feel down has played an important part in my life. I work hard to actually FEEL better. And in return, the quality of my life and my emotions has steadily improved over the years.

And if you are feeling temporary overwhelm from being too busy, click here for Self-care ideas for when life gets too busy. to find some tips for dealing with that.

One thing to note. You don’t have to go from feeling heartbroken to feeling joyful or from furious to playful.

Think instead, sad to hopeful. Angry to optimistic. Above is a list of feelings. There is a huge range and even going up a little bit can give you some relief.Here is My Think Big Life’s Feeling and Energy Scale. You can use this to help you reach for feelings that are better at any time!

This chart shows you a range of feelings. None are “bad” but some definitely feel better. Any improvement will help you feel better!

Lift Your Feelings a Bit

It’s more important to just lift your feelings a bit and give yourself some breathing room. In a place where you have room to breathe and feel a little better; you have access to more choices and opportunities.

I’ve found that different things work at different times. However, I’ve used all of these to lift my spirits.

Even if it doesn’t initially seem to help—the intention to feel better seems to set something in motion.

So, let’s set something in motion for you. Here are my favorite QUICK ways to lift your mood when you feel down.

I’ve included links to the original blog posts if you want more detail. However, I’m giving you enough detail here to get the gist of feeling good–right this minute!

How to Lift Your Mood with Gratitude

One of my favorite ways is to find things to be thankful for and in addition to a gratitude journal you can incorporate gratitude into your daily life. 

However, a good gratitude session can give you some immediate relief. And over time, it becomes a whole new way of seeing the world!

You don’t even have to have a formal practice to do this. Sometimes when I’m commuting to work, I’ll start listing in my head, all the things I’m thankful for. Often at night in bed, I’ll do the same thing.

Several years ago, I used gratitude as a self-care practice to turn my life around. I went from hopelessness to gaining a new perspective about my life.

Or if something seems to have gone wrong, I will look for something in it to be thankful for. A gratitude practice can truly be a way of life!

The Five-Minute Gratitude Practice That Will Change Your Life

How to Boost Your Mood by Finding Things to Look Forward To

I discovered this next one by accident. It was about a year ago and I was looking towards the holiday season feeling a little blue, I decided to make a list of fun things to do over the next month.

My thinking was that if I had something pleasant planned for each day—then the holiday season would be enjoyable as well.

To my absolute surprise, simply making this list skyrocketed my mood. 

I felt almost blissful at the end of writing out my list. Not only that—but I felt better for quite a while. Looking forward to things is incredibly powerful.

The bonus was that I had a list of thing to do that were also fun and uplifting in the doing.

How to Feel Happy Fast

My mom who is 91 swears by this. If she has something planned such as a visit from one of her children or grandchildren, she loves anticipating this as much as the actual event.

Use Love to Lift Your Mood

This next process came to me courtesy of my granddaughter. My daughter told me that she starts her day by listing all the things she loves.

I tried it myself and it felt deliciously wonderful. No matter who we are, we have things/people that we love. Listing them out loud all at once is super effective at improving your mood.

This is similar to a gratitude list but it’s not quite the same. Sometimes when I’m down, it’s hard to find gratitude. However, when I think about certain people or even pets, I can feel love. Love is powerful folks!

How to Supercharge Your Day

I use music for this too. I listen to my favorite songs, which are often about love and this helps lift my mood.

How to Lift Your Mood With Forgiveness

Learning to forgive has probably been the most effective process for helping me let go of painful thoughts and feelings. A dear friend, a therapist and coach, helped me create a guided meditation.

I have used this meditation often to help me move on from any person or situation that is painful to think about. 

Over the year since, once I really began to get serious about forgiving, I’ve experienced more balance, contentment, and happiness than I can ever remember feeling.

And honestly, I forgive myself for things as well. 

If you have something that seems hard to forgive, the first step is to intend to forgive. If you are dealing with something traumatic, it may be best to process that with a mental health professional.

The majority of things that bug us or we feel irritated about, can really clear up when we process and forgive.

The Gift of Forgiveness

How to Forgive When You Don’t Feel Like It

Lift Your Mood With Walking

Walking is another of my secret weapons to improving my mood. Walking is so powerful, not just as an exercise but as a mood improver and overall health booster.

Walking gets us moving, increases blood flow, and gets us into natural sunlight. 

Many exercise fads come and go but walking has never lost its universal appeal.

There’s a reason most doctors highly recommend walking. Walking not only provides a way to keep you weight healthy but it provides a way to relax your body, mind, and spirit.

I’ve read that walking outside is that it is a natural way to get some EMDR therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing. Walking is not a substitute for professional help  but EMDR was discovered through the walking experience of the creator of this therapy.

Why Walking is the Ultimate Exercise

Lifting Your Mood Can Change Your Life!

These practices have not only lifted my mood and spirits; they have changed my life for the better. 

By paying attention to my mood and how I feel, I have improved my life in all areas: physically, spiritually, and mentaly.

When I feel better; I do better.

I’ve found that consistent and intentional practices make a big difference in my life over time. 

Small incremental changes add up!