Everyone gets a little down sometimes and that’s totally normal as a human being! Here’s some helpful tips whenever you’re feeling like you need them.

Journal what you’re grateful for 

Gratitude helps you appreciate the little things in life that you are thankful for. In my experience, gratitude has reduced feelings of stress and anxiety. The brain is incapable of responding to anxiety and gratitude at once. Therefore, we can either focus on the negative feelings or we can think and feel grateful, which will bring up positive emotions instead. Hopefully this will help you to control how you respond to feelings of anxiety or sadness. 

Watch a show 

Watching tv can be effective at relieving stress and feelings of worry because it helps to distract your mind and can even make you laugh or smile. Specifically, rewatching a show can be best because your brain can feel comforted by something you have seen before. Some of my favorite mood lifting shows are: New Girl, Friends, Gilmore Girls and This Is Us. 

Retail therapy 

Lucky for you, this is your sign to buy that thing you’ve been wanting. Retail therapy can immediately make you feel a little bit better. It’s definitely not a good idea for you or your bank account to do this all the time, but every once in a while is a great way to treat yourself. You deserve it! 

Exercise

Any form of movement will be helpful! This could mean putting on your favorite song and dancing, playing with a pet or going on a walk and listening to your favorite music or a mood lifting podcast. Being in nature surrounded by trees and fresh air could be just what you needed to feel better.

Connect with a friend or family member

Humans rely on human connection to feel our best. Sometimes when I know I could use some cheering up, I’ll be sure to call my mom or a friend from home. Some forms of social connections could be writing a letter to someone, planning to hang out with friends, baking something for a neighbor or even simply saying hi to someone on the way to class.

Read some quotes

Some quotes you find online may be cheesy, but there can be some that are very wise and can give you a good perspective on things that are happening in your life. There are so many of them on Pinterest. I have an album of my favorite ones that I go to when I feel like I could use some perspective. Reading quotes always helps to positively alter my mood and lift my spirits. 

Clean your space

Your physical space has a big impact on your mental space. If you have clothes piling up in your room, an unmade bed, unwashed dishes in the sink or a dusty floor, think about taking 15 minutes to clean up a bit. This will give you a new clean and refreshing environment. 

I hope that you found this article helpful and you take some of my advice. And remember, if you need a little more help, it’s completely ok to ask for help from a friend, family member or a professional. You’ve got this!