5 Keys To Unlock Joy In January By Jill Wigmore-Welsh

Have you ever found that after all the December festivities and excitement are over you hit an emotional low in January? Well, you’re not alone because a lot of people have some fluctuating mood problems and what goes up usually comes down.  

Typically, emotions vary day to day, minute by minute as your thoughts come and flow. Research shows that the best predictor of whether you’ll swing into a low mood in the future is if you’ve swayed into one in the past. So, try putting these practical tips into action as a safeguard to unlock a healthy joyful start to 2021.

Jill Wigmore-Welsh is a Psychotherapist, Physiotherapist and Coach. She specialised in women’s wellbeing in business. She uses mindfulness-based methods in her work, and we asked her to share her wisdom. She gave us 5 natural solutions to help you lift your energy, raise your spirits, and feel more joyful as you move into 2021.

Acceptance & Action

Accepting real life just as it is, is the only place real change can come from. Acceptance allows you to move on from worrying and get on with life. Sometimes seemingly big problems have solutions. Look around and gather up your papers and pens. Map out an action plan or create a vision board of pictures and inspiring quotes on where you want to go. Making plans will help you identify the best first step and puts you on track to feel joyful.

Gratitude Journal

Start a morning ritual of writing a gratitude list in your journal. Simple actions of rejoicing, gratitude, counting your blessings, all help you lift your mood. Thinking about all the big and small good things you have in your life puts you in the driver’s seat of your mind. Within a couple of weeks, you’ll have a great list of entries. On days when your mood dips reading back through past entries helps you remember happy thoughts which will raise your spirits and keep you smiling.

Dancing and Play 

Everyone has a favourite tune that gets them up on the dance floor. It may be the beat or the sweet memories associated with what you were doing when you first heard it. Create a playlist of mood-lifting dance-inducing favourites. Whenever you have a few moments, wherever you are, pop on your headphones and dance and play as if no one is watching. Moving to music makes a significant shift in your physiology and gets your happy hormones flowing.

Tune into Sleep

It’s hard to be joyful when you’re tired, so look after yourself. Consider buying a beautiful bed cover, throw or cushions, to make your bedroom an inviting, comfortable, relaxing space. Plan to make a routine and get eight hours sleep. Have a warm bath at temperature 104 degrees Fahrenheit:40 degrees Centigrade, about an hour before you go to bed. Wind down by listening to some calming music or reading inspiring poetry. That way you’ll encourage your whole system to be triggered into night-time re-energising mode and wake raring to go.

Laughter and Joking

Sometimes, when life is busy, we forget to laugh. However, the simple truth is that wholehearted laughter and sharing jokes is excellent for your heart and beneficial exercise. Twenty minutes of laughter is a powerful and highly effective aerobic work-out. Play and faking a laugh has the same impact as natural spontaneous laughter and practised in a group, often leads to irresistible laughter. To make your day more joyful put aside time every day for some silliness and fun.