You know those days when you feel in a funk and you just have no idea how to snap out it? Yes, we all have them, but what we may not have is the luxury to wait for the sad disempowering feelings to fade away so that we can go through our day in peace.
In other words when you’re in a negative emotional state and you want to feel a lot better, you must learn how to change your emotional state to something more positive.
You can switch your emotional state from the state of dejection to a state of empowerment. The good news is that it’s a lot easier to change your emotional state than you think.
To shift your emotional state you have to change your physiology. That’s it! Your posture and even your breathing have a strong effect on your emotions. The trick is to learn just the right techniques to achieve the emotional state you desire.
But how does it work?
There is a close connection between your emotions and your physiology. The actions you take with your body create a chemical reaction in your brain. Hormones that influence your mood are then released and instantly you feel a shift in your emotions. The kind of emotions you feel depends on the way you position your body or parts of your body.
In this article you’ll learn the right steps to take and what you need to do with your body to change your emotional state from zero to hero within seconds.
1. Raise your head and look up
If you’ve ever observed a depressed person before, you’d probably have noticed that they stand with their backs hunched, slouched shoulders and their gaze is always to the ground. Maybe if you’ve been depressed or sad, you’ve probably caught yourself in the same pose too.
The simple act of raising your head instantly shifts you to a more empowered state. The depressing feeling clears and the pressure you previously felt lightens.
Why? Because when you raise your head and you look up, your body expands, thus sending a signal to your brain to release testosterone.
Testosterone is the hormone responsible for dominance. And let’s face it, it’s impossible to be depressed, sad or in despair and yet have that air of dominance, strength and confidence.
2. Crack a smile
Don’t underestimate the power of a smile. Just simply cracking a smile tricks your mind into being happier. When you smile a chemical reaction is sent your brain which triggers the release of feel-good hormones like serotonin and dopamine. Dopamine increases the feeling of happiness, while serotonin reduces the level of stress.
You don’t have to wait for something to make you smile before you change your emotional state. Just put the biggest smile you can muster and in a flash, you’re able to switch your emotional state and feel a lot better. So smile, even if you don’t feel like it. The feel-good emotions will follow.
3. Pose like wonder woman
A study was conducted on the impact of low power poses and high power poses. It was discovered that high power poses like the wonder woman pose increases the dominance hormone, testosterone, by 20 percent while it decreases the stress hormone, cortisol, by 25 percent. At those levels the two hormones elevate your mood.
The wonder woman pose is done by standing straight, head held high with your arms at an akimbo. This pose will make you feel empowered and it injects in you the can-do attitude. You may like to add a cape to the pose for effect – if you’re up for it.
4. Move your body
A negative emotional state will keep you from engaging in little or no physical activity. You may end up cowered up in bed or slouched on the sofa watching Netflix. Energized movement immediately jars you to be alert and raises your mood.
Whenever you feel sad or lethargic, jump out of your bed or couch and go for a run. Research shows that physical exercise can boost one’s mood. In fact, one can expect a 26 percent decrease in the odd of becoming depressed so long as they engage in physical activity.
Another way to get some movement in your body is to dance – the livelier the dance, the better. Worried that you’re terrible at dancing? It doesn’t matter whether you’re great at dancing or you’re two left feet. Just put on some energetic music and dance like crazy. Instantly, you’d feel a drastic shift in your emotional state.
5. Burst into Laughter
Ever heard the saying “Laughter is the best medicine”? Well, they weren’t wrong! Laughter has both mental and physical health benefits such strengthening the immune system, promoting healthy heart function and an overall improvement in your mood.
When you laugh you release the hormone called endorphins. Endorphins helps to you relax your muscles and ease tension and stress. It can also temporarily relieve pain. In that relaxed state your mind starts seeing things with a better and more optimistic perspective.
So laugh to your heart’s content. Or watch a good comedy to make it easier for you to get into laughing mode.
Now it’s your turn!
There you have it! You no longer have to go through your day carrying a lousy mood. Instead, you can change your emotional state, in an instant, into something more positive and upbeat just by changing your physiology.
How you move your body can directly affect how you feel. So if you take any of the 5 actions mentioned in this article, you’ll watch your emotional state transform in a flash.
Throughout the article we spoke about how to change your emotional state from bad to good, however, the converse applies too. So you need to be conscious of your emotional state and do the right physical movements or poses that will give you the state you desire.
Don’t you feel a lot more in control knowing that you can change your emotional state from bad to good with such ease?
