Note: I updated this post in December 2018 for clarity and additional resources.

When was the last time you were in a bad mood? I’m willing to bet it wasn’t very long ago.

I know I can get yanked out of that peaceful, happy, centered place pretty easily. And life moves so fast that it can take a while to even notice.

Tweet: Sometimes the best method to get out of our own way is to be of service to someone else #spiritjunkie @gabbybernstein

It’s possible that whenever you’re in a bad mood you feel extra bad thanks to that sneaky little thing we call guilt. After all, you’re on a spiritual path and you seek out those happy vibes and work miracles. You’re supposed to feel awesome 24/7, right?

Wrong.

I’ve got news for you: NO ONE is immune to crappy moods.

Even the most Zenned-out person in the world sometimes wakes up on the wrong side of the bed and then stubs their toe and burns their sprouted toast and it’s raining and cold instead of sunny and warm…

See where I’m going with this?

But I have good news. There are a few foolproof ways to get out of a bad mood FAST. And I’m sharing them today.

3 ways to snap out of a bad mood fast

You can watch the video below or keep reading for my tips! Put these techniques into practice the next time you’re in a bad mood, and work a miracle.

1. Stop, drop and meditate

Meditation doesn’t have to take long. You can meditate in just a couple of minutes using some simple practices. One I call Peace Is in Your Pulse.

Peace Is in Your Pulse meditation

Here’s how it works: Sit comfortably in a quiet place. Take the four fingers of your right hand and lay them on your left wrist. Pay attention and notice when you feel your pulse. (It’s okay if it takes a while to feel it. You will.)

On each beat of your pulse, mentally repeat the mantra, “Sat nam.” This means Truth identified or Truth is my name.

You can practice this for 1 to 3 minutes. Having a single point of focus for a few minutes each day is very grounding and calming, and will quickly shift your mood!

The 1-minute breath

Here’s another simple type of meditation that takes just a minute:

Inhale for a count of 5 seconds.
Hold your breath for 5 seconds.
Exhale for 5 seconds.

Repeat for about 1 minute. Connecting to your breath calms you down and changes your mood really quickly.

2. Be of service to somebody else

This is something I actually learned when I was early in my 12-step recovery. I remember calling my sponsor when I was early in my recovery, and I would be like, “I’m upset about this, and I’ve got this problem.” She’d be like, “Get over yourself. Get over yourself and call someone else.” At the time, I had other people that I sponsored, so she’d say, “Call your sponsee and get out of your own way.”

So, in your own life, you’ve got friends that you can support, or a family member or other loved one. You can just check in. Pick up the phone and say, “What’s up? How can I help you?”

Within minutes, you will get out of that bad mood because you’re no longer focusing on you, your own ego, all the things that you think you need. Instead, you redirect your focus on how you can be of service to somebody else.

3. Reframe your thoughts

In any given moment you can choose to see a situation beyond what’s currently happening. Whenever we’re in a bad mood, a lot of that mood is created by the stories we tell ourselves, the belief systems that we hold on to, the resentments, the attack thoughts, the judgment and the separation.

In that moment, we can choose to go deeper down that road, or we can choose to redirect. So, our work in order to stay spiritually aligned, to stay in a high-vibe feeling, and to stay connected to a good thought and a good mood, is to choose it.

In that moment when you see yourself caught up in that crazy, chaotic story, choose again. Simply say to yourself an affirmation such as:

• I choose to see peace instead of this.
• I choose to feel better now.
• I choose to let go of this resentment and set myself free.

Any type of affirmation that uses the word “choose” empowers you because it reminds you that you have the power to choose your own happiness, and that your happiness is a choice that you make in any given moment.

Get more tools to feel good every day

I want to support you on your spiritual path so that you always feel supported and always have tools to help you stay connected, aligned and joyful! That’s why I created my Miracle Membership.

Every month as a Miracle Member, you get brand-new content, including:

• • A new members-only podcast episode
  • A new guided meditation
  • One of my Gabby’s Greatest Hits talks
  • A beautiful monthly mantra and meditation calendar

Plus there’s a private Facebook community, four live online trainings with me each year and much more!

Check out the Miracle Membership here.

The world needs you and your light. So, stop, drop, and meditate. Choose that happiness. Be of service to another person. Get out of that bad mood. We need you in a high-vibe mood because that’s how we change the world: one loving, empowered thought at a time.