- Follow positivity on Twitter. We all know the saying that if you want to be successful you surround yourself with successful people. The same thing goes with positivity. In order to stay positive, surround yourself with positive thoughts. A couple of my favourite mood uplifters on Twitter are Tiny Buddha and Inspirational Quotes. Please feel free to share any others you find. We can never have enough joy!
- Dance. Put on some bouncy music and get moving. If you have young kids, dance around the room with them. Dance like no-one is watching. Better yet, dance when no-one is watching. Guaranteed, no matter how silly it feels, you'll be getting exercise and by the end of the song you'll feel great.
- Breathe! When we get stressed, our breathing becomes shallow. This is natural fight-or-flight behaviour, but the scary thing is that it's a vicious cycle. In our busy, modern lives our bodies are constantly under stress and shallow breathing becomes the norm. Only after my cranio-sacral therapist (don't ask what that is because I don't know - except that it works!) pointed out that I need to concentrate on breathing, did I realise how badly I breathe. When you start to feel stressed, breathe deeply from your stomach. Just three breaths and you'll start to feel less stressed. Guaranteed. I use it it now as a de-stress technique in traffic. I have a short fuse and am a road rage candidate, so the fact that I now handle the morning commute without wielding a baseball bat is proof that focussing on breathing in deeply can make a massive difference.
And just in case you need a little more than music and fresh air to feel happier, maybe this will help. This was my view throughout the long weekend we've just had in South Africa: