4197: [Part 2] Prescription For a Bad Mood by Eric Teplitz on Mental Wellbeing

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[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_01] This is Optimal Living Daily, Prescription for a Bad Mood, Part 2 by Eric Teplitz of ericteplitz.com. And I'm Justin Malik. Welcome to OLD where I simply read articles to you with permission from the authors. But today being a continuation from yesterday, so I'd recommend listening to yesterday's episode first. But if you're all caught up, let's get right to Part 2 and continue optimizing your life.

[00:01:38] [SPEAKER_01] Prescription for a Bad Mood, Part 2 by Eric Teplitz of ericteplitz.com. Guidelines for your menu. Here are some general recommendations for things to include on your menu. Number one, take care of the basics, nutrition and sleep. Sometimes something as simple as eating well, hydrating, or getting sufficient sleep is all that is required to subjugate irritability. Be sure to make regular self-care a top priority.

[00:02:08] [SPEAKER_01] Number two, exercise or move your body. Just begin. Your mood will likely change for the better before you're even aware of it. As for specifics, find what you like. Experiment. It could be yoga stretches, stair climbing, dancing, weightlifting, gymnastics, or just getting outside and going for a walk. In my opinion, exercise is the easiest, quickest, and most surefire way to overcome a bad mood, assuming number one has been addressed.

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_01] It's something you can do alone, with a partner, or in a group setting. Best have a bunch of options on your menu from this category to suit every conceivable occasion, such as access or lack thereof to workout equipment, other people or classes, varying weather conditions, etc. In a mere 20 minutes, a miracle can sometimes transpire mood-wise. Number three, connect. We hominids are social creatures. We crave connection.

[00:03:08] [SPEAKER_01] So, connect. Call a friend. Visit a friend. Exercise with a friend. Talk to someone new and make a friend. There are few gifts in life like friendship. A friendship need not be lifelong either. A day-long or even shorter kinship created solely through shared circumstance can be immensely valuable. Also, connections need not be limited to other hominids. Connect with a pet, yours or someone else's. Visit an animal shelter.

[00:03:37] [SPEAKER_01] Befriend a member of another species. If only for an hour. Let your mood be transformed through beneficent interaction. Number four, lift someone else. One of the most effective things on my personal menu for overcoming a bad mood is to volunteer. Specifically, I play music for hospital patients, man their families and friends, hospital staff, etc. It's an awesome gig and privilege. I don't even have to adhere to a schedule.

[00:04:05] [SPEAKER_01] I can pretty much just show up with my guitar and do my thing, wandering from room to room as I please. And of course, as people are receptive. The hardest part, hands down, is getting my ass into the car and getting myself there. But each and every time I do this, I end up having a fantastic time. By brightening someone else's day, not to mention playing and singing, which in and of themselves are mood bolstering. I feel better. It's a win-win scenario.

[00:04:33] [SPEAKER_01] There are countless ways to lift other people, limited only by your imagination. If you're at a loss for ideas, Google random acts of kindness. Number five, spend some time in nature. This is self-explanatory. Just do it. Number six, lighten up and laugh. Laughter alters your body chemistry. It feels good. Norman Cousins claimed to have actually healed himself from illness through, in large part, laughter therapy.

[00:05:02] [SPEAKER_01] Watch Groundhog Day or The Big Lebowski or go to YouTube and find videos. Suited to your particular funny bone. Number seven, listen to music while doing nothing else. I have a distinct memory from my teenage years of being utterly miserable over who knows what. Okay, I have many such distinct memories, but I'm thinking of one in particular. I was in my room and I sat up on my bed wearing a pair of headphones and put on the Beatles' White Album, probably at a pretty high volume.

[00:05:32] [SPEAKER_01] By the time the first side of the vinyl record was over, I was cured. It felt like I had taken some kind of miracle drug. I'm not sure why this particular listening experience was so powerful, but it probably has something to do with the quality of my attention. Man, the fact that it was the White Album couldn't have hurt. The music wasn't simply on in the background though. I was immersed in it. I remember feeling invigorated by the sheer creativity, exuberance, inventiveness, and spirit

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_01] of these ridiculously talented lads from Liverpool. I'd gone from a one to a ten mood-wise in almost no time. Great music has, over the years, moved me so deeply on so many occasions. It is perhaps the ultimate means of human expression and communication. Without question, it has healing properties. It's powerful, powerful stuff. Number eight, write something.

[00:06:26] [SPEAKER_01] It could be a journal entry, a poem, a song, a letter, or a blog post. Sort out your thoughts. Redirect your attention towards solving some kind of problem or tackling some creative challenge. Alternatively, bake something, draw something, paint something, repair something, or organize something. And number nine, get some perspective. To paraphrase something a friend said to me recently,

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_01] we're on a rock circling a ball of fire that doesn't even register as visible if you get far enough away from it, not far really by the scale of outer space, and which itself is only here for a short while in the bigger scheme of things. In other words, relax, let go, and enjoy the ride. I am by no means infallible at putting all of this into practice, but I find that the more experiences I accumulate doing these kinds of things and feeling better as a result,

[00:07:23] [SPEAKER_01] the more likely I am able to use them as self-prescribed interventions when I'm grumpy or ornery. And of course, a bad mood is not a prerequisite for doing any of these things. Make your own menu items staples of your life, and you might drastically reduce the frequency of bad moods to begin with. As Ben Franklin famously put it, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Conclusion Nothing I've mentioned is all that revolutionary.

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_01] You probably already know all of this stuff. But sometimes a reminder is helpful. That is the whole point of having a readily accessible menu. The mere power of suggestion is often our tipping point into action. Advertisers count on this fact, so why not use the same psychology on yourself, but in your own best interest? In short, by attending to your body and refocusing your attention, you can improve your mood, sometimes rapidly, and sometimes profoundly.

[00:08:25] [SPEAKER_01] You just listened to part two of the post titled, Prescription for a Bad Mood, by Eric Teplitz of ericteplitz.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary. The hot weather lately has been a reminder that little habits matter. We spend so much time looking for ways to improve, and sometimes it starts with paying more attention to the basics, like hydration. And that's what I love about instant hydration.

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[00:10:17] [SPEAKER_01] Thank you again to Eric for the post. I'm sure this is fairly obvious, but I'll say it anyway. We're all going to have different things on our menus. For some, exercising could make your mood worse, at least in the beginning, if it's exercise that you don't particularly enjoy, but are just doing it because it's good for you. That's like eating your least favorite food just because it's healthy when you're in a bad mood probably won't have the result you're looking for. But if there's a specific exercise you truly love

[00:10:47] [SPEAKER_01] and you always feel accomplished after doing it, that could be a great strategy for you and something to include on your menu. Same with lifting someone else up. Maybe you're a huge introvert and being around people is actually draining for you. Yes, I believe that acts of kindness are great for mood, but depending on your state of mind and personality, it might not be the best fit for you depending where you are. So as with all of the articles that I share here, we have to do a little digging

[00:11:15] [SPEAKER_01] to figure out what it means for us personally. For me, taking care of the basics and possibly instead of listening to music, actually playing it like Eric, except alone for me, that could help. Same with things like journaling, brain dump style. I'd suggest as you go about this week, think about the activities you're doing and which really give you that boost in mood, then simply add it to your list. Let me know what works best for you. If there's anything missing

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_01] or if one from the list always helps you out, it's definitely helpful to hear your side. Thank you for doing that and for being here every day. Have a great rest of your day and I'll see you tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.