Here we share eight simple, fulfilling, mood boosting activities for you to try. You might notice you feel less stressed, calmer, sleep better and more energetic. Overtime, a good mood and joy can boost your immune system, keep you healthy and even extend your life!
Plan a picnic
Spending time in nature, in the fresh air, enjoying home prepared food with friends or family is a simple, affordable way to relieve stress and improve the mood. The activity helps improve communication and relationships too, plus it grants time for self reflection.
Perfect for your next picnic is U-Konserve's range of stainless steel and silicone containers.
Pop them into a festive Holiday jute bag, and don't forget the ShooFly eco food cover to keep pesky flies away!
Send some love with an Earth Greetings card
Writing a note to family and friends on a beautiful greeting card is one of the simplest ways to send some love. Not only will it make the recipient feel good, giving them a burst of excitement as they read your caring words, this kind act will make you feel good about yourself too. Letter writing promotes mindfulness, self-reflection and and creativity, and is a great feel good activity at any age.
Earth Greetings eco friendly greeting cards are a Biome community favourite. These fun, colourful cards feature the work of Australian artists which are sure to bring a smile to anyone's face.
Go for a walk
Whether it's a stroll around the block, a walk through a park or a hike up a mountain, a walk can do wonders for your mood.
Besides the physical health benefits, one of the best things about walking is its mental health benefits, and the fact it will give you a considerable sense of wellbeing. A moderate 30 minute walk each day will improve energy levels, help you sleep better at night, reduce stress and relieve tension in the body, help you maintain a sharp memory, and thanks to the endorphin release, will leave you feeling more relaxed and positive.
Looking for new places to walk around Brisbane, Australia? Our Family Bushwalks in South East Queensland is a great resource featuring a comprehensive list of all the bushwalks in South East Queensland that are suitable for families. It includes colour reference photos, maps and a rundown of the Flora & Fauna you can keep an eye out for specific to each walk.
View our range of Travel and Adventure books for more similar hiking guides and view our collection of hiking clothes to keep you dry and warm!
Get crafting or do a puzzle
Crafting, such as embroidery, knitting, quilting and woodworking, has been proven to promote relaxation, provide relief from stress, increase happiness, reduce anxiety enhance confidence, and improve overall mood.
Not into crafting? Why not try a puzzle. Our Twigg Jigsaw Puzzles will surprise puzzle lovers with endless joy. The puzzle pieces that make up the Ernst Haeckel piece of art above are all based around flora, fauna and gardening. They will keep keen nature lovers finding spades, geckos, flowers, birds and everything nature inspired.
Discover more puzzles here.
Practice yoga
When practiced properly, yoga can make you really happy, raising serotonin, oxytocin and GABA levels in your body. The postures combined with the deep, focused breathing facilitate relaxation, combat stress, reduce blood pressure and improves the mood.
The Perfect Potion Chakra Balancing Pulse Point is a beautiful blend to reach for to enhance your yoga or meditation practice. A blend of 25 pure essential oils that are grounding and elevating, it will help pull your energy back into alignment when you are feeling stressed and scattered.
Grow something
Gardening reminds us of our connection to nature and helps us to set goals and focus on the bigger picture, which does wonders for a positive mood. Plus, the physical aspect of gardening releases chemicals in our brain that make us feel good, such as serotonin and dopamine.
You'll be growing food and flowers all over the place in no time with our range of seeds. No matter what size space you have, there is an UrbanGreens grow kit, windowsill kit or seed pack for you.
Not sure where to start? The latest book from Little Veggie Patch offers inspiration and instruction to help you Grow. Food. Anywhere.
Go for a body surf
Surfing and spending time in the ocean has been known to promote calmness, reduce stress and boost the mood, and its zen effect helps to clear the mind and balance emotions.
Whether you're a keen surfer, body surfer, or completely new to the idea, our WAW handplanes are a fun way to spend time in the ocean and reap the mood boosting benefits it brings.
Made using sustainable, recycled and reclaimed materials, including FSC sourced white cedar and no virgin plastic at all, WAW handplanes feature a large surface area for speed and lift, and are suited to most surfing conditions.
WAW pride themselves on making products that have a positive impact on our planet. The entire product range is created with both performance and sustainability in mind, allowing customers to catch more waves whilst leaving nothing but cleaner oceans and healthier forests in their path.
Don't forget the sunscreen. Sun & Earth is a great option that is palm oil free and comes packaged plastic free too.
Cook a meal
Cooking is an act of patience, mindfulness and can even be an outlet for creative expression, and the act of cooking for others can make you feel good. Plus, meals that have been prepared at home using fresh ingredients are often more nutritious, which is incredibly beneficial to mood.
Combining the mood boosting benefits of cooking and the earth loving benefits of decreased energy demand is the EasyOven, a practical and clever heat retention bag, allowing you to slow-cook food with less energy.
Featuring a specially developed inner padding that retains heat; start on the stove, gas burner or open fire and set to rest to complete the cooking process without the use of additional energy, sealing in flavour and nutrition.
See our post How to Save Energy, Carbon Emissions & Money with an EasyOven for more details about the EasyOven and a delicious, wholesome recipe.
And find lots of vegetarian and vegan cookbooks here.
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Further reading
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.4276/030802213X13603244419077 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17439760.2016.1257049 https://www.happyfeed.co/research/4-brain-chemicals-make-you-happy
