We’ve all been there. Feeling tired? Unmotivated? Unenthusiastic about life? Want to make changes but don’t know where to start? You’re not alone in your desire to feel better. Starting simply, one change at a time, can set you on the path to feeling great. It doesn’t have to be difficult, time-consuming or overwhelming. One day, you wake up and decide that you will make one change. If you crash and burn, just get back up and start again. Soon your change will become a habit, and it will come naturally. Then you might think about making another change. The path to good health and feeling better is simply one step at a time. When you have mastered one, move on to the next one. Try these easy ways to feel better, and notice the difference within a few days or weeks.
Exercise
We’ve heard it many times before: exercise is good for you. There are countless ways of exercising. And countless reasons not to! But if you want to feel better, exercise really is a top way to do it. If you haven’t exercised for a while, carefully ease into it. Choose an exercise that you find fun or motivating. And remember, any exercise is better than none – even a ten-minute walk can lift your spirits and make you feel better physically.
Do you know what happens to your brain when you exercise? Your brain recognizes exercise as a form of stress, and to deal with the stress, it releases a protein called BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor). BDNF is designed to repair and restore the body after stress – which is why you often hear people say they are exercising to “clear my head”. The post-workout chemicals released by the brain help us to feel happier and more at ease, as well as having a clearer mind. You don’t have to do a killer workout, either: twenty minutes of moderate exercise is enough to get the feel-good effect. Pretty cool, hey?
Water
There is endless debate about the benefits of drinking water to stay healthy. And there is no doubt about it: water is good for you. But did you know it can actually make you feel better? Even mild dehydration can slow brain and body functions, making you feel tired and lethargic, and unable to perform at your best mentally. So when you’re having that afternoon slump, and you’re tempted to reach for a sugary pick – me – up, try a glass of water instead. Chances are, it’s all your body really needs to help you feel better. Studies have shown that even dehydration levels of less than 2% can lead to feelings of anxiety and fatigue, and low mood.
Water is vital for good joint health, too. So if you’re experiencing backaches or other aches and pains, be proactive about staying hydrated and see if it helps you to feel better. Your skin will thank you, too – it needs water to stay clear and supple. Drinking more water is an easy way to feel better – if you don’t like the taste, try making a fruit infusion or adding some lemon or lime for flavour.
Raw Foods & Juices
Your body craves raw foods for optimum performance. Unfortunately, it’s the last thing many of us give our bodies. The liver is the filter of the body, cleansing the blood from chemicals and impurities that come from diet and the environment. When it has raw foods and juices, it is able to perform its task much better. Raw foods and juices reduce liver inflammation, enabling it to work efficiently – and helping you to feel better and lose weight. A healthy liver and healthy weight go hand in hand.
If you’re not sure how to go about getting more raw foods in your diet, set yourself a small goal. This might be to include some raw food in one meal per day. Or to have a raw juice before breakfast. Or to replace cooked veggies with a salad for one meal. There are countless websites and recipe books available, so it’s just a matter of experimenting with what you like and what works for you. Once you get going with it, you’ll be surprised at how much better you feel, and how much more energy you have.
Sunshine
Those of us who live in Australia hear all the time about how we should stay out of the sun. And it’s true: too much sun can be harmful. But so is not enough, and particularly in the winter months, many of us fall into the “not enough” category.
Through a complicated process, the body produces Vitamin D when skin is exposed to the sunshine. Vitamin D is used in the production of serotonin, a hormone that helps to regulate mood and makes us feel good. So if you’re feeling down and don’t know why, check the amount of time you have spent outside in the sun lately. Ten minutes is enough for a fair skinned person: after that, the risk of burning and skin cancer increases. People who get a tan and don’t burn can safely do up to twenty minutes. As a general rule of thumb, the darker your skin, the longer you will need to spend in the sun to achieve the same effect (up to six times more).
Spending time out in the sun also helps you to stay well over the winter months – Vitamin D boosts your immunity, and going out in the sun can help you to feel better after an illness. So what are you waiting for? (A sunny day?!) Get out there and enjoy some sunshine!
Sleep
Sleep is an obvious necessity for feeling good. If you have ever spent a restless night, woken up in the night and been unable to go back to sleep, or find it hard to get to sleep, you’ll know the feeling the next morning: you drag yourself through the next day, feeling tired and lethargic. Worse still, many of us choose to stay awake into the wee hours of the morning, completing chores or pursuing pastimes that we enjoy but pay for the next day when we don’t feel great.
Insomnia and staying awake late are known to contribute to depression and anxiety, and researchers have found that not being well rested contributes to a negative mental state. And it seems that even more important than the quantity of sleep is the quality and timing of that sleep. The best quality sleep is achieved early in the night rather than later – our circadian rhythm is wired to be awake during the day and asleep at night.
If you want to feel better, make it a priority to go to bed earlier and get that quality sleep. If you have problems with insomnia, start “winding down” earlier in the evening so you are in a more relaxed state. Turn off electronic devices (they are known to stimulate the brain, keeping you awake), darken the room, and avoid stimulants such as coffee and chocolate in the evening. You could also try taking melatonin, the sleep hormone – available at pharmacies and health food shops.
Ditch The Junk
We’ve heard it all before: get rid of garbage out of your diet. It’s not good for you. And that’s true: it’s not. But when you want to feel better, can you afford to keep eating and drinking things that are preventing you from feeling good?
All the usual suspects are on the list: sugar, high fructose products, refined flours and other refined carbohydrates – these clog up your liver and in large amounts can lead to weight gain, diabetes and metabolic syndrome because a clogged up liver is not in a fit state to deal with them efficiently. Also on the list are altered or highly processed fats, sugary drinks, and even too much fruit juice. Coffee, alcohol and caffeinated drinks are other culprits.
What can you eliminate or cut back on in order to feel better? Is there something you are consuming regularly that you can relegate to an occasional treat? Is there something you can cut out entirely? Of course, you will need to replace those things with something else, so look around for healthy alternatives. Get into the habit of reading labels, and reject anything highly processed or full of sugar. Opt for healthy snacks and treats instead of processed ones. Every small change you make is one step closer to feeling better. And if you fall off the wagon – don’t beat yourself up. Just get back on and try again.
Get Fat – Naturally!
No, that doesn’t mean to pig out and get fat! But your body does need the right kind of fat if you want to feel better. It craves healthy, unaltered, natural fats, such as those found in nuts and seeds, avocados and oily fish. Studies seem to suggest a link between low levels of Omega 3 and depression. Other studies have shown that a large percentage of the population is deficient in Omega 3, in particular. And Omega 3 is a crucial element in the production of dopamine, one of the feel-good hormones.
So if you want to feel better, get some healthy fats into your diet. A good rule of thumb is that if nature made it that way, it’s good for you! Question any fat that has been altered or processed, as processing can damage the molecular structure, turning it into something that is not beneficial, or even harmful.
Feel Better With Positive Relationships
Humans are social creatures. We don’t do very well when we are lonely or isolated. We need a positive social network to thrive. Interestingly, each of us is born with an electromagnetic field – our hearts and brains emit electromagnetic energy, which is influenced by our emotions. Although we are usually unaware of it, we can pick up the electromagnetic energy radiated by others – positive and negative.
Surrounding ourselves with positive relationships makes us feel better. Choose to spend time with people who make you feel better rather than the ones who drag you down. Positive relationships help you cope with stress, and studies have shown that people in positive or loving relationships have higher levels of oxytocin, a crucial element in forming dopamine, a pleasure hormone. People experiencing positive relationships also have better immunity and less illness.
Get Some Downtime 
Never before in history have we been so busy or so stressed. Never before has downtime been seen as a luxury the way it is now. The reality is, it’s not a luxury: it’s essential. If we want to be able to cope with stress, enjoy our lives, and be more productive, downtime is vital.
It begins by acknowledging the need to switch off for a while – hopefully before illness or burnout forces us to! If you’re wondering how to do that, ask yourself what you can rearrange in your life to make it happen. What can you give up or say no to? Very often we think that busier is more productive, but plenty of studies and anecdotal evidence has disproven that theory. Your brain needs downtime to function at its best, and you need it to feel better, feel more relaxed and at ease, and to be more productive in the long run.
Have Faith
No matter how you choose to see it, having faith and spirituality are important aspects of feeling good. Having faith is a belief or trust in God, while spirituality is an attachment to religious values. Either way, believing in something or someone outside of ourselves is good for us. It provides us with a framework for our worldview and enables us to cope better with stress.
While you might think that faith and spirituality are just rituals that believers find comfort in, there is actual scientific research that proves that a person with faith enjoys better health, a reduction in stress levels, improved mental health, enriched relationships with others, a more optimistic outlook, better support systems, and a greater quality of life. If you want to feel better, faith works!
And there you have it. Ten easy ways you can improve your health, your mood, and feel better!