8 Ways to Uplift Your Mood
Wherever you are, I hope you are doing well and being safe.
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Regardless of where you live or where you’re from, I trust that you are as baffled as anyone in the world right now by the COVID-19 pandemic situation we’re in. I believe even the world’s most prepared person would’ve never been able to be ready for this.
I live in New York City and the state now has the highest number of confirmed cases — over 66K as of March 30, 2020 — in the United States, more than most of the other countries with confirmed cases. It’s been nearly 3 weeks since I stayed home except for going out to get groceries. As someone who generally works from home — and someone who has experienced SARS in Taiwan back in 2003 — I thought it would be very easy for me to make the adjustments to stay quarantined. Turned out, I overestimated myself.
It was my junior year in high school at an international school in Taiwan when SARS happened; but back then, all I cared about was prom being cancelled. I felt safe likely because I was less aware of the situation and my parents had everything take cared of for us. Fast forward 17 years later, my husband and I are on our own in New York. I used to go out for coffee meetings, see people, attend events and go to barre or yoga classes, and I didn’t realize what a difference that would all make to my overall wellbeing until now.
I think it was 10 days in since things started to escalate really fast in New York when I started getting confused by my own mood — I would be laughing at a meme, crying from watching the news, and then feeling angry for no specific reasons all within a span of 10 minutes. At times, I believed I was experiencing minor panic attacks, too. When I shared with others, everyone told me it’s understandable because of what we’re all going through.
And I do know there are a lot of people who are in worse situations than I am — at least I have a roof over my head, I’m not living alone, I have food, my friends and family are well, and I still have my job. And this is exactly why I also felt bad about what I was experiencing — I felt like I had no right to “complain” about what I’m going through.
I have a tremendous amount of love and support from loved ones, too; they would remind me to “relax” and try to comfort me in various ways.
But then I realized: only by really doing something for myself can I truly manage my emotions and anxiety. Your body and mind is your own, and for a minute there, I forgot that it is my own responsibility to take extra care of myself!
After personally trying several methods to feel better — some suggested by people I know and others by Google — here are 8 ways that I found effective and have really uplifted my mood (and allowed me to stay in a good mood).
Have a good cry
This might sound like the opposite of what we’re trying to achieve but this actually worked really well for me.
I would put my headphones on, listen to a few of my favorite songs and just let myself cry as hard as I possibly could. Afterward, I would wipe my tears, wash my face, and take a few deep breaths. And honestly, that made me felt like I’ve let go some weight on my shoulders!
If you’re living with someone and don’t want to make it awkward, do it in the bathroom! That’s what I did because I live with my husband in a small 1-bedroom apartment in Manhattan. Sometimes we all need alone time to hit the reset button.
However, I do suggest letting your loved ones know what you’re doing so they wouldn’t be worried about you. During this challenging time, communication is key; it helps others understand what you’re going through and know how to help you when needed.
Sing out loud
I’m a strong believer that music has the power to heal. I’m not a great singer but I did used to be in choir in school and I remembered enjoying being in every single class. I lived in Taiwan most of my teenage year, so having a karaoke night out with friends was also a very common leisure activity.
Ask your loved ones to join you for a song you both love, or consider doing a virtual karaoke happy hour with friends! If you’re not big on actual singing, humming along to a song you love also works really well. And maybe you can even secretly dance to the tune, too!
Meditate
This was a newer one for me. The most meditation I used to do was at the NYC-based nail salon called sundays studio, where I would listen to a meditation session on the headphones while getting a manicure done. But with non-essential businesses currently closed, I no longer have access to it. Plus, we need to practice #socialdistancing.
So I downloaded apps for guided meditations instead. I started with 3-minute mini sessions which eased me into the process and allowed me to familiarize myself with how the whole thing works. Eventually I was able to do longer sessions.
My favorite app so far is Headspace, but there are a lot of other ones you can try, too. Go for whatever works for you!
Actively practice gratitude
I’m thankful for many things in life but I’ve never actively looked for things to appreciate. This activity though, is probably my favorite out of the 8 I’m sharing here.
In order to practice gratitude, I set a goal for myself to find 10 things to be grateful for every single day. I write them down on my planner on the actual day to make sure I hit my target on a daily basis. On March 25, for instance, I had:
Tasty homemade coffee, thanks to mom’s care package.
Sunshine.
Living near 3 supermarkets.
Living near the river for walks.
Netflix & Hulu.
Parents doing well and staying healthy.
My friend who FaceTimed me out of no where.
Electricity (because my phone died).
Being able to work from home.
Funny videos on Tiktok!
Being truly grateful is more powerful than it sounds. I believe the sense of gratitude has been the main force in keeping my positive vibes strong. If you only want to choose one thing to try, please try this.
Be in the sun
Even just sitting by the window where the sun comes in can make a difference on how I feel. But of course, this depends on the weather and whether your apartment allows it.
I’m very fortunate to have large windows in my place with a lot of sunlight coming in throughout the day. My husband and I are also very grateful for living in a building with rooftop access that allows us to be out without actually being out, or even set up a “picnic” with our own blankets in a little corner.
In a way, I think because we took being out and about in the sun for granted, now it seems so precious and I really cherish it a lot more. And perhaps that shift in perspective also helped uplift my mood, too.
FaceTime a loved one
I regularly speak to my parents (they are in Taiwan now) but since the outbreak of COVID-19, we’ve been talking more frequently on a daily basis. The phone calls allow me to feel comforted because speaking to them calms me and makes me feel safe.
In fact, I believe the phone calls also allow my parents to feel better knowing how my husband and I are doing in New York every day.
I went to an international school and attended college and graduate school in the United Kingdom, so my friends live all over the world. Generally, we keep in touch via WhatsApp or text. But since everyone’s been in lockdown mode, there have been more phone calls and video chats, and those have really been making my days. How everyone copes with the situation is different and sometimes hearing about them from a close friend helps get you thinking about the same situation differently, too.
Learn something new
Initially, I signed up for a few online classes just to kill time. The classes are a mix of things that I’ve been wanting to learn and those I think would help with my skills at work. But gradually, I find myself enjoying them, feeling good about being able to learn new skills, and looking forward to the next session. Of course, some classes are better and more fun for me than others, but in general, they took my mind off of what’s going on.
We also don’t regularly get as many opportunities to sit down and do an online class by choice anymore; especially in New York, where everyone is always so busy with something. I didn’t notice how many classes I wanted to take before this.
I’ve also been learning more about newer social media apps like TikTok! In fact, I’ve been having so much fun on the app — it motivates me to create content and sometimes give me something to look forward to, too.
Help someone in need
Although everyone is going through a tough time right now, whether mentally, psychically or financially, some are doing better than others, and some have a better chance at surviving this pandemic than others. Yes, as a freelancer, my income has been impacted. But fortunately, my husband and I have enough savings to cover rent for a while. Plus, my husband’s job hasn’t been affected and he’s still working from home.
In the first week, we focused on taking care of ourselves and making sure we have everything we needed to stay quarantined. And as the days go by, we started to learn about what sort of assistance the city needs or how we can possibly do to help.
We don’t have thousands of dollars to donate but we made small donations to a few organizations. For those around us who knows someone working in the medical field, we’ve decided to mail them all the N95 masks we’ve previously purchased since they need the masks more than we do. We simply kept some of the regular medical masks at home for our own usage when we leave the house. It isn’t much, but I felt happy when we mailed out the N95 masks.
Every little helps and although we’re not doctors or nurses, we can try our best to do what we can do together get through this “storm”. Many have told us — staying home is really the most helpful thing you can do now, so we’re encouraging everyone we know to really follow that rule!
Perhaps that’s also why I wanted to write this blog post, which is different from the usual content I share. Because if you’re going through something similar to what I was going through, I hope what I’m sharing will be of some help to you.
Wash your hands, stay in, and practice social distancing — but be reminded to never forget to stop being kind and caring to others. Focus on taking care of yourself and come back stronger when this is over.
Thank you for stopping by my blog. Let me know what you’re doing to uplift your mood by leaving a comment below! I’d love to learn from you guys, too.
xoxo,
Tricia