Serotonin - the 'happy' hormone

Our mood is influenced by many factors, including sleep, exercise, nutrition and the amount of natural light we receive. While we can't always control the weather, we can take simple steps to support our emotional wellbeing. Understanding how serotonin, daylight and positive visualisation affect the mind can help us create healthier habits and improve the way we feel throughout the year.

Serotonin – the happy hormone.

Serotonin in the brain is known to affect our happiness and moods and is stimulated by natural bright light – so it makes sense we are happier when it's sunny and the days are longer.

In mid-winter, the days are hardly eight hours long, but in mid-summer, it rises over 16 hours!

And what is most important is if you work in an office or shop - to make sure you get out during your breaks and after work to take advantage of the natural light as artificial light in offices does not help maintain serotonin levels and can be disruptive to sleep patterns.

There are other ways you can pick your mood up – by creating ‘inner light’ and ‘inner colour’ to lift you and bring the sunshine inside.

There is a very strong link between our minds and our bodies, and just by changing our thoughts and images in our minds, we can stimulate and cause happy feelings into ourselves.

I am sure if you think of bad memories, they are ‘dark ’, but happy ones are ‘bright’ light colours. And colour has a more profound effect on our lives than most realise. There is a reason we use sayings such as ‘feeling blue’ (meaning feeling down in the dumps).

So how about trying to imagine a bright yellow sphere like the sun over your chest and expand it so you are surrounded in beautiful bright yellow light… and then see how you feel.

You can learn how to change how you feel in an instant.