How are you feeling? As we descend into Autumn and the days get a little shorter, it’s common to feel those Summer-fuelled endorphins begin to wane. If you tend to suffer from low mood levels throughout the darker months, this time of year can be challenging, but thankfully, there’s an abundance of practices we can adopt to help ourselves through. From the way we breathe to the way we eat, and even the way we think, everything we engage with throughout the day can have a huge impact on our mood levels. Whether you want to raise your mood levels to support your wellbeing throughout Autumn and Winter, or if you simply want to optimise your happiness, read on for five ways to boost your mood today! What controls our mood levels? Before we dive in, it’s useful to consider exactly what it is that controls how we feel. Of course, this isn’t medical advice at all, and if you do suffer from severe depression or anxiety, it’s important to reach out and get support from a healthcare professional. If you’re curious as to what might be influencing your mood on a daily basis however, there are three key players; norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin. The delicate balance of these three neurotransmitters is what helps us feel energised, happy and calm. If any of these chemical messengers is a little lost, we can experience fluctuations in our mood or anxiety levels. Knowing that these three aspects are key to a balanced mood can give us a clearer idea of how to boost mood levels by simply asking; ‘What can I do to boost dopamine?’; ‘What helps raise serotonin?’; or ‘How can I enhance my norepinephrine?’ The answer? With simple daily practices and easy self-care methods, read on to discover them: Ways to get more light exposure and sunshine There’s a reason we often feel uplifted in Summer, and much of it has to do with the amount of sunlight we’re exposed to. Most of us tend to assume that sunlight gives us vitamin D and a bit of a tan…. But the truth is that sunlight does SO much more for us, including helping us metabolise carbohydrates more efficiently, as well as having a huge impact on mood levels. The key to using sunlight to help your mood is getting a big dose of it in the morning, soon after waking … Continue reading 5 ways to boost your mood this Autumn