Couldn’t you use a little acknowledgment? A few compliments? A feel-good moment so you smile authentically from the inside out? I’ve seen this short video on several occasions and I recently came across it again. It’s worth watching for the full 15 minutes or so because I guarantee it’ll restore your faith in the fact that little things do matter and you truly should take some time today to smile, celebrate who you are and celebrate those you connect with.

Let’s face it, we all have days where things don’t go the way we’d like. Appliances break, technology glitches, inconveniences pop up, people get upset with us, or circumstances beyond our control throw the wrench in our best laid plans. Perhaps one or more of these things have put you in a bad mood. There’s nothing wrong with a brief bad mood indulgence, but sitting in your dirty diapers isn’t going to perk you up or move you forward. You can make things better, however and the best way to do that is to shift your energy. It is like changing your proverbial energetic diaper.

How do you do that? Well, depending on where you are and what you’re doing, your choices will change. The good news is that there is always something you can do.

For instance, today has had its share of hiccups for me. In fact there is one big hiccup facing me that is frustrating me because something outside of my control is not allowing me to serve a client up to my standards. Yet, technology happens and I am doing my utmost to make it all right. I can either sit here and stew or creating some breathing space for resolution to show itself and shift my energy. Therefore, I’m choosing one of my favorite tips for shifting the energy of a bad mood which I’ll put as #1 here:

Get a Change of Scenery

Literally a change of scenery can do you good. Whether that is going outside (if you’re inside), taking a drive, a walk, a paddle, getting out in nature, or any old thing that will allow you to remove yourself from the physical space in which you are experiencing feeling stuck, frustration, or a challenging problem.  You can go near or far (even just to another room for that matter), but clear out from the physical space you are in and move. Allow your senses to re-focus and re-adjust onto something different.

Get Moving

Personally I like to combine get moving with a change of scenery. Moving your physical body immediately shifts your energy.  Whether it is a gentle walk, some yoga poses, or a vigorous workout, movement gets the blood flowing, chemicals changing in your body, and a sense of control.  Moving is taking action and gives you more control over a situation. Not to mention when you’re removed from the scene and moving your body new ideas, solutions, creativity, and a sense of calmness just show up.  It is a total stress-buster.

Listen to Music

Putting on music is a great way to shift your mood and your energy. Feeling down?  Put on something upbeat.  Feeling stressed and frazzled? Listen to something calming. If you play an instrument, get it out and go to town.  Like to sing?  Belt away.  The rhythm and tonal quality of music has a physical effect on your body that will shift (or amplify) whatever you are feeling.  The release is emotional and physical.  Music is vibration, vibration is energy.

Snap Your Mind Out of the Groove it is Stuck In

If you are old enough to remember record albums (as in LPs and a needle), remember how occasionally it’d get stuck in a groove and repeat over and over? Same thing happens now with CDs and the occasional defective MP3 file.  Something skips or repeats over and over.  That’s what our mind is like when we are obsessing about a problem or bad mood.  All you need to do it whack your thinking like you would the side of the turntable.  Gently but just enough to pop it out of the groove.  Open a book, watch a TV show, sample a You Tube clip or get engaged for even 5 minutes in a hobby.  Anything at all that can shift your focus and snap your mind out of its unproductive groove.

Laugh Your A** Off

Humor is the answer.  Find a way to laugh about something. Laugh at something funny (again TV, You Tube clip, cartoon, joke, etc.). It instantly lifts your mood and shifts your energy.  Have you ever been in a serious situation and then something ridiculous happened and you burst out laughing?  Didn’t that shift your energy?  Well, you can do that when you choose as well by seeking out something funny and letting the laughter rip.

Count Your Blessings

OK this might sound a little Hallmark like, but shifting your gaze to something you are grateful for also shifts your energy.  It allows you to shift your perspective off of what is NOT working and onto what IS.  It doesn’t make the problem or bad mood vanish instantly but frees up some breathing room so you can re-center yourself.

So, if you’re having a bad day…don’t sit and stew.  DO something.  Once you shift your energy you’ll not only feel better but you’ll also be more productive. And, the more willing you are and less attached you are, the more likely a solution to your problem will show itself organically.

Quick Note Update 8/19/09:  Even if your change of scenery results in paddling your kayak frantically to get back before wicked thunderstorms…it can STILL shift your bad mood (as evidenced by my experience last night!)

Ever struggle with that elusive balance thing? Wonder how to get the whole work and life thing into sync and balance it all? Well if you’re striving, striving, striving, and feeling nothing but stress and defeat at not having achieved this feat, I have a secret for you.

If you’re finding balance elusive, try getting aligned instead. Aligning your life with your values is the ticket to ease, joy, and a more meaningful life. It makes decision-making much easier and procrastination becomes a thing of the past.

Read my recent article “Is Balance Eluding You? Try Getting Aligned Instead” to get the whole scoop.

Last weekend was a burst of summer like weather in PA. That brought all the birds out in full force to our feeders and birdbath. At one point there was a line for the birdbath. I am not kidding you. Birds were lined up on the fence watching and waiting as another bird bathed with unbridled rapture. I do not over-exaggerate here. As I watched these birds flap their wings around in the water and dip their heads into the splash I could feel their joy. Perhaps I am projecting a bit but it felt like an immersion of joy and total reckless abandon as I watched them. I thought how cool is this?

I found it worth noting how great I felt as I watched them (and their obvious enjoyment). I was reminded about how the real daily joys really are in the little things if we only take a moment to stop, look, listen, and notice. I also thought about how much fun it’d be to just let go totally myself and have that kind of crazy joy the birds seemed to be experiencing. So often as professional women we forget that we need a little of that reckless abandon and letting loose as well.

If you think you can’t stop and enjoy little daily joys like watching these birds because maybe you live in the city, are stuck in a cubicle all day, or are too busy with the serious business of running a business to take the time…I am here to challenge you to ask “Is that really so?”

Perhaps you won’t get much nature at your disposal while in a brain-death-causing cubicle, but you can enjoy the smile of a co-worker you enjoy. Relish a walk around the building outside on a glorious day. Take 10 minutes to have coffee with a fellow employee you admire or would like to get to know. There can be great joy in being fully present with a client and simply enjoying the opportunity to serve them. If you find your clients draining you dry, perhaps you need a little work aligning your business with more ideal clients, but even that can be a fun process if you allow it to be.

So, I leave you with the vision of these birds gloriously doing their thing and the question – How can you bask in the joy that is around you today?

Photo Credit: Flickr

A while ago I wrote about the profoundly inspiring story of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor and her speech at the Ted conference entitled “My Stroke of Insight”.  While I have watched and listened to many interviews on Oprah and elsewhere it wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I actually got to sit down and read her book in its entirety.  I highly recommend taking the time to read it.

In her book, My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist’s Personal Journey, Dr. Bolte Taylor shares her personal story of what it was like to experience a massive stroke and live to tell about it. Because she was a brain scientist her perspective is extremely scientific yet immensely personal and human.  The book is very accessible and will not only provide you much insight into the workings of the brain but even more importantly into the experience of what it means to be fully human even when faced with the inability to relate to people.  What does it mean to be alive and having a human experience when you are unable to relate to the context of the world we live in and the people around you?  She shares her amazing experience as she lived the answer to this question.

There are several points made in the book that I think hold a huge amount of relevance to any of us wishing to live our lives fully, experience great joy, and make the most of our moments.

The Importance of Feelings

In the “Simple Science” chapter of her book, Bolte Taylor shares this powerful insight:

Although many of us may think of ourselves as thinking creatures that feel, biologically we are feeling creatures that think.

What this means is scientifically our minds interpret sensory information first through our limbic or “feeling” system and then the message passes through our higher thinking center (cerebral cortex).  That means feelings come first.  All those emotions that we tend to discount because we hold them in lower esteem than our thoughts are not only more primal to our being-ness but also show that a level of higher cognition can be found in the right hemisphere of the brain.  If that sounds complicated (like it did to me at first) – the takeaway is that our feelings hold tremendous value, perhaps far more than the output of our thinking.  When we discount our feelings and emotions, we are shutting ourselves off to perhaps the most critical information we need to inform our choices and experiences.

Inner Peace and Compassion is Already Within Us

As Dr. Bolte Taylor talks about one part of her process of recovery she shares about her desire to have more say about which character (right or left hemisphere) dominates her perspective at any given time.  On page 134 she shares:

…the most fundamental traits of my right hemisphere personality are deep inner peace and loving compassion. I believe the more time we spend running our inner peace/compassion circuitry, then the more peace/compassion we will project into the world and ultimately the more peace/compassion we will have on the planet.

I have personally experienced the power of this shift when I attended the Shadow Process and subsequently when I was being trained as a coach by Debbie Ford.  In the course of a weekend I (and most attendees) had a fundamental shift from being weighed down with our judgments, woes, and inner beliefs (left brain) to that of large amounts of joy, being fully present, and feeling great compassion for ourselves and others (right brain).  So, what changed?  Did the external circumstances of our lives change while we were out of town at the seminar?  Not really, what happened was an internal shift with how we perceived ourselves and the world.  A shift from a purely ego driven thinking state to a feeling state and one filled with much more inner peace, compassion, and happiness.  In Dr. Bolte Taylor’s book she calls this “stepping to the right side of the brain”.

Find the Balance

Finding the balance between noticing our feelings and engaging in them is key to success.  While it is important to feel and acknowledge them, it is also important to be able to engage that left hemisphere when we make our choices.  For instance, while feeling your rage is important if you are in an inappropriate work situation, freaking out and throwing chairs at a board meeting is frowned upon (LOL).  However, you do need to notice what your inner wisdom is telling you or you’ll find yourself rationalizing and staying stuck in situations that don’t serve you.

90 Seconds to Response-Ability

Dr. Bolte Taylor shares that while passionate emotional reactions may be triggered automatically, it takes less than 90 seconds for one of these programs to be triggered, surge through our body, and then be completely flushed out of our bloodstream (page 146).  This is good news.  For anyone like myself who has gotten a huge surge of emotion and then reacted rather than responded, it means that if you can wait a little longer (that 90 seconds) you have far more power to make a conscious and response-able choice.  After that emotional (and physical) surge you get to choose what to hook into – impulse reaction or conscious choice.  Imagine the amazing power to shift that is contained in just 90 seconds.

How often do you acknowledge yourself for the great and unique person you are?  Do you take the time to savor your successes or are you always onto the next thing?  Are you letting baggage from your past drag you down in the present?

These are all powerful questions worth considering.  One of my favorite ongoing ways to delve into the deeper questions and have fun at the same time is by watching great movies.  One way I have been doing that for the last few years is by subscribing to the Spiritual Cinema Circle.  I get great movies every month that let me laugh at myself, open my mind to new perspectives, ask the deeper questions, and get conversation started between my partner and I.

Recently I received an email from them with a link to a short-film special gift to share with family and friends. The short film is called “Validation” and it is truly worth the 16 minutes to watch it regardless of whether you choose to subscribe or not.   Give yourself the gift of a smile today, and hop on over to watch the film.

Would love to hear what you thought of it in the comments below…