I woke up this morning in an awful mood. It was raining out, I was tired and I didn't want to slog through another day. I kept thinking about how, if I were in Boston, I could have asked a friend for a ride to work or at least lived closer. But I live 25 miles from my office, and had to walk to Caltrain to begin my hour and a half commute. And, when I got to the train station, there was a mentally ill person harassing people to the point that we had to call the police. At one point in my life this could have been enough to ruin my entire day. But I was able to use some tools to turn around my experience.
- Be present and acknowledge how I was feeling. Instead of trying to stuff down that I was in a bad mood or try to force myself out of it, I acknowledged that I was in a bad mood.
- Practice ego eradicator meditation. As soon as I noticed that I was in a bad mood, instead of doing my usual morning meditation practice, I did ego eradicator, a Kundalini meditation to let go of emotions.
- Notice the good. When the mentally ill guy started harassing another person at the train station, instead of getting scared of what he would do next or angry that society let this guy down, I focused on the good. I noticed that everyone in the area came together to defend the woman who was being harassed. I often think of the Mr. Rogers quote to "Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
Now, I am on my way to work with a much more positive frame of mind and am ready to start my day. How do you change your mood? Hope that this is helpful!