Friday, January 02, 2009

10 WAYS TO FEEL GOOD FOR FREE

How do you cheer yourself up? New haircut? Some retail therapy? With the current financial doldrums, these strategies may not be an option, but there are ways to feel good without it costing a cent. In a recent article in Psychologies, the following were listed as ways to feel good for free.

1. For the next seven days, carry out three random acts of kindness every day. Visit www.randomactsofkindness.org for inspiration.

2. Log on to www.just-a-minute.org for free one- minute meditations and join the quest to promote personal peace.

3. Go without your cell phone, Internet, television and newspaper for a day and try living in the slow lane. Curl up with a novel, try a new recipe, or write a letter to a friend.

4. Make it your mission today to give at least five compliments and enjoy how good it feels to make someone else’s day. Visit www.complimentday.com for inspiration.

5. Spend half an hour making a gratitude list. Psychologists believe that experiencing gratitude is a core component of wellbeing.

6. For one weekend, try becoming a tourist in your own town. Most residents rarely visit the tourist attractions on their own doorstep.

7. Call and chat with one of the friends you’ve been meaning to catch up with.

8. Plan a night with your favourite funny DVDs. Psychologists have found that we can raise endorphin levels just be anticipating a good laugh.

9. Spring clean. Not only is mess a background stressor, but research suggests that we subconsciously connect cleaning with purging ourselves of guilt.

10. Sit quietly, without movement for a couple of minutes. When you are still, you become who you are beyond your everyday routine.

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