Have you ever tried to figure out how to change your mood in 60 seconds, especially when positive thinking fails? It can feel impossible to break out of a ‘sticky’ bad mood, but many have found success using simple physical triggers like breathwork and posture. Do you ever wake up in a mood, a feeling of heaviness, frustration, or sadness that you can’t even find a thought to attach to? It just lingers because your emotions are not just in your head.
Prefer to watch? I’ve put my video below or if you’re a reader simply continue reading the post.
Understanding the Chemistry of Your Moods
Your emotions are like a chemical weather system running through your entire body. This involves two different things happening inside you. First, you have your neurotransmitters. Think of these as fast, instant text messages in your system. They create quick reactions like, “Ouch, that’s hot,” “LOL,” or “That’s exciting.”
But then you have your neuropeptides. These are different. They act more like a global weather report for your body. When you feel a deep, prolonged emotion, your brain releases these neuropeptides. They don’t just stay in your head; they travel through your entire bloodstream. They lock into receptors in your heart, your gut, and even your immune cells, literally changing your body’s chemistry to match the emotion.
Why Bad Moods Feel So ‘Sticky’
This is precisely why a mood can feel so persistent and difficult to shake off. You are, in a very real sense, marinating in a chemical soup of sadness or frustration. Because the feeling is rooted in your body’s chemistry, you can’t simply think your way out of it. To shift the feeling, you must change the chemistry. You have to introduce a new physical signal to interrupt the pattern.
You’re quite literally marinating a chemical soup of sadness or frustration. You can’t really think your way out of it. You have to change the chemistry.
How to Change Your Mood in 60 Seconds with a Body Key
Here is a powerful “body key” that acts as a pattern interrupt. The fastest way to change your body’s chemistry is with your breath and your posture. The next time you feel that heavy emotion roll in, use these simple steps.
- Stop and Stand Up: Immediately stop what you are doing and get on your feet.
- Adopt a Power Pose: Pull your shoulders back and down. At the same time, lift your chin. This posture is a known power pose that helps drop cortisol levels.
- Breathe Powerfully: Now, take at least 10 fast, powerful breaths. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, like this: (sound of powerful breath).
You might feel a little dizzy while doing this, and that’s perfectly okay. It’s just a sign of the rapid change in your system.
Reclaim Your Power and Choose How to Feel
After you complete the breaths, take a moment and ask yourself, “How do I choose to feel?” You can use this affirmation to guide your intention.
I acknowledge the emotions that are present with love and gratitude for reminding me that I can choose.
You have one incredible power that only you can control, and that is how you choose to feel about anything. This isn’t about denying the present emotion. Instead, you’re using its energy to create something new, giving that energy a real purpose. Your energy is neutral until you direct it.
With this simple exercise, you’ve done two critical things. First, you’ve flooded your system with oxygen. Second, you’ve used a primal movement to signal to your body, “I am in command.” You literally just became the source of your emotions in the present, not a victim of them due to the past. The past and future don’t exist unless you give them energy through your choice of emotion. If you’d like to explore how to shift repeating patterns more deeply, you might find our training on how to break free from self-sabotage helpful. You can check the schedule for the next class at the registration page.
So, think about it. What will you choose to create?
