Just Six Minutes of Reading Will Reduce Your Stress by Two-Thirds (Be Happy While Sad)
1. Write Down Your Feelings (Be Happy While Sad)
Consider getting a diary to use just to write down your feelings and thoughts.
Writing down how you usually feel about your sadness will help you understand these feelings better.
This will help you “align” with yourself and understand yourself better.
2. Laugh and Smile
According to studies, the act of smiling can raise your mood and make you feel happier.
Laughing also releases endorphins, brain chemicals that elevate your mood.
3. Just Cry
Although you don’t want to cry because you want to feel better and be happy again, crying can sometimes improve your mood.
If you feel the need to cry, instead of holding back your tears, relax and cry if you have to.
The act of crying can help you feel better and relax because the act of washing away your tears can make you feel like you’re “ripping out” the sadness inside you.
4. Try To See The Big Picture
What are the other things that make your life livable?
Try to think of other things you value in your life, such as your friends, family, and health.
Even if you don’t feel very happy and grateful at the moment, you will find that you have more to be happy and grateful for in life.
Many studies have shown that gratitude is deeply connected with happiness.
5. Focus On Other Things
When we are sad sometimes it is very difficult to think of anything else. But clinging to sadness actually does more harm than good and can increase feelings of helplessness and powerlessness.
Distractions help you focus on things other than your sadness and reduce your stress.
Scientists call this “emotion flow”
You don’t run away from your problems but instead, engage in activities to forget about time and space.
6. Read
Either lose yourself in other realms or in the past.
Books often take us to places we’ve never been, and those places are far more adventurous and romantic than the places we’ve actually been in.
Whether the book you’re reading is a historical novel or a sensual emotional novel, going to other places will help you relax and focus on other things.
Just six minutes of reading will reduce your stress by two-thirds.
