Having a Bad Day? Try NLP for Mood Rescue

Have you ever had one of those days? You know, the kind where you snooze the alarm too many times, spill coffee on your shirt, and hit every red light on the way to work, and it’s only 9am, way more badlucks to come. We’ve all been there, and on days like this, it can feel like the universe is personally out to get you. But what if, for example, there was some way to reset, to turn your day back around again?

Enter NLP, or Neuro-Linguistic Programming. NLP can help you toof handle those bad days. It’s no magic and no quick cure, but it does deliver some rather effective ways of raising the mood. We shall now discuss some practical NLP techniques that may help you reset a bad day. So grab a cup of coffee, hopefully spill-free this time, and let’s get started!

Why NLP for a Better Mood?

NLP is a set of techniques that function based on how we think, feel, and behave. It’s about understanding patterns in our mind and fine tuning them to improve us. In terms of mood, NLP could be used to help you achieve greater control over your feelings so that instead of feeling stuck, you can steer yourself towards a better state.

Here’s how you can leverage NLP to change your mood, one easy technique at a time:

Pattern Interrupt

A bad day sometimes causes our minds to get stuck in a loop of negative thoughts. Pattern interrupt is an NLP technique that does just what its name suggests, it interrupts this loop and allows you to take control of your mindset.

How to Use a Pattern Interrupt:

1. When you get stuck in a bad thought cycle, do something unexpected. You can clap your hands, stand up, shake your arms, or even blurt out something ridiculous out loud, like, “I’m hitting reset!”
2. It breaks the negative thought stream, and you’re able to refocus again.
3. Once you’ve broken that pattern, then shift your thoughts to something more neutral or even positive, like the things you are thankful for or something good about your day.

Pattern interruption works because it shocks your mind out of autopilot, breaking the flow of negativity. And it is very helpful if you catch yourself spiraling into “everything’s terrible” territory.

Visualization

This can be a nice way to get out of a tension filled moment and recharge yourself. It is like an internal mini vacation for your brain. While you envision yourself in some calm, peaceful place, or while revisiting that happy memory, you come back and break the cycle of stress.

To Visualize:

1. Find a quiet space, close your eyes, and envision a place that feels peaceful to you, a beach, a forest, your favorite vacation spot.
2. Imagine all the details, the sounds, smells, colors, and feelings of being in that place.
3. Spend a few minutes “in” your peaceful place, breathing deeply and soaking up the calmness.

Whenever you feel stressed, try visualizing a relaxing location to calm your body and mind. Visualization helps to give the brain a mental break to then re-engage your day in a positive attitude.

Change Your Physiology

Ever noticed how slumping in a chair or dragging your feet can make you feel worse? In NLP, there is a very real connection between how you feel and how you move. If you want to lift your mood, first start by changing your posture and breathing.

Try This

1. Stand up straight and take a few deep breaths and lift your shoulders.
2. Put a smile on your face, yes, even if you don’t want to! Smiling induces the release of neurotransmitters in the brain which prompt a “feel good” response.
3. Get up, get moving around and possibly stretch or do an unexpected little dance. It doesn’t matter whether these moves are just tiny, negative energy can often leave. Energy can sometimes make as much as it can absorb.

On tough days, a simple shift in your body language will shift how you feel. So, pretend till you find, as the old saying goes!

The Swish Pattern

Sometimes, a bad day gets worse through those annoying, nagging thoughts that won’t shut up. You might replay an embarrassing encounter or envision the worst possible outcome of a given situation. NLP offers the Swish Pattern, a technique to interrupt these annoying thoughts and replace them with something better.

How Swish Pattern Works

1. You visualize the unwanted thought, an image of yourself looking hassled or concerned.
2. Create a new, positive picture of yourself feeling calm, confident, and in control. Color it bright.
3. Mentally “swish” the old, negative image away by replacing it with the new one. Envision the negative picture becoming smaller and dimmer while the positive picture grows brighter and larger.
4. Repeat a few times. The trick is to teach your brain to link the old thought to the new, positive picture.

It does help break the negative cycle and reinforce a more positive mental image, helping to come back stronger with fewer setbacks.

Self-Talk

The words we use on ourselves can strongly affect our moods and motivations. Simply imagine for a moment, if someone were having the worst day, would you tell him, “This is a disaster!” or “I’ll never make it out of this place alive”? Of course, not! Most of the time we talk to ourselves really abrasively, which tends to worsen the situations we find ourselves in.

Hints to Talk Better:

1. Notice negative self-talk and replace it. Replace the phrase “I just can’t handle this” with “I’m doing the best I can, and that’s enough.”
2. Use positive and friendly language as if you’re talking to a friend. Tell yourself, “I can do better than this because I’ve done it before.”
3. Use a little humor. If you catch yourself thinking, “This day is a disaster!” shoot back with “Well, at least I’m alive to witness it!

At first, it would feel really unnatural to encourage yourself. Over time though, this helps to transform your brain in terms of how you might react to problems and stressful situations.

Bad days are simply part of everyday life. Yet, NLP offers several simple ideas that will soften the jolt, swing your mind, and make it manageable to be optimistic and still find ways to be optimal. Stopping negative thoughts in their tracks, mentally escaping to a peaceful place, or talking kindly to yourself, all of these techniques are there waiting to be called upon when things are going bad.

Remember, next time you’re struggling with one of “those days”, that you’ve got the power to turn it around. Maybe the universe isn’t cooperating, but you can at least. And sometimes, that’s just what it takes to end the day on a better note.