Are you one of 30% who are sensitive to negative ions?

Am I lucky, or what! Not only do I live in a house with running water, I live close to the ocean (Pacific to be exact). There's evidence that some people are especially sensitive to the effects of water and even feel their mood lifted by fresh, humid air.

I am one of the 30%. Even a humid breeze lifts my spirits. I remember getting off a plane in Hawaii, breathing in the fresh, humid breeze and instantly feeling my mood elevate. Perhaps it's not only the incredible beauty of islands that attracts but the humidity that lifts the spirits?

Roughly one-third of the population seems to be particularly sensitive to negative-ion depletion . . . can lead to feeling "down" at best and depressed at worst.

“Columbia University studies of people with winter and chronic depression show that negative ion generators relieve depression as much as antidepressants.”

The atmosphere we breathe, normally is full of positive and negative ions. However, air conditioning, lack of ventilation, and long dry spells remove negative ions from the air. The proportion of negative ions is highest around moving water - storms, oceans, rivers, waterfalls. No wonder I feel so energized at the beach.

The best ratios of negative to positive ions are associated with waterfalls and the time before, during, and after storms. The worst are found in windowless rooms and closed, moving vehicles. Air purifiers typically work by emitting negative ions, which purify room air by attaching to impurities and sinking them.

Marian Diamond, professor of neuroanatomy, University of California, Berkeley, found that levels of negative ions are inversely related to levels of serotonin in the brain. Negative ions suppress serotonin levels in much the same way that natural sunlight suppresses melatonin.

Deplete the air of negative ions and you experience an increase in serotonin and its attendant drowsiness and relaxation—not what you want when mental agility is demanded.

Feeling a bit down right now? Go take a shower . . . or move to Hawaii . . .

(PA) #liftmood

Source: Robert E. Thayer, Biopsychology of Mood and Arousal

Read Falling Water raises your Spirit for more ions

How to trick your brain into thinking you are happy.

Yes, you can fake out your own brain.

Smiling fools your brain into thinking you are happy, then this creates actual happiness. A smile spurs a chemical reaction in the brain, releasing certain hormones including dopamine and serotonin*. Now here's the fake-out: Our brain isn't good at telling the difference between a smile because you are happy and a fake smile.

[caption id="attachment_9403" align="aligncenter" width="446"] Smiles by Peggy[/caption] But wait . . . there's more “A study performed by a group at the University of Cardiff in Wales found that people who could not frown due to botox injections were happier on average than those who could frown.” "And there are plenty more studies out there: Researchers at the University of Kansas published findings that smiling helps reduce the body’s response to stress and lower heart rate in tense situations; another study linked smiling to lower blood pressure, while yet another suggests that smiling leads to longevity." Smiling enhances our Immune system "More than happiness is at stake. Dr. Murray Grossan, an ENT-otolaryngologist looks at the study of how the brain is connected to the immune system. He asserts that it has been found “over and over again” that depression weakens your immune system, while happiness boosts your immune system." “What’s crazy is that just the physical act of smiling can make a difference in building your immunity,” says Dr. Grossan. “When you smile, the brain sees the muscle [activity] and assumes that humor is happening.”

Smiles are contagious “This is because we have mirror neurons that fire when we see action,” says Dr. Eva Ritzo, As its name suggests, mirror neurons enable us to copy or reflect the behavior we observe in others and have been linked to the capacity for empathy." "Try smiling into the mirror. Dr. Ritzo recommends smiling at yourself in the mirror, an act she says not only triggers our mirror neurons, but can also help us calm down and re-center if we’re feeling low or anxious." So SMILE and pass on a dose of neurochemical happy *Dopamine increases our feelings of happiness. Serotonin release is associated with reduced stress. Low levels of serotonin are associated with depression and aggression. Low levels of dopamine are also associated with depression. https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-17/html/container.html

https://dataviz.nbcnews.com/projects/calendar-newyear-resolutions/

Maui can teach you to lift your mood in just 10 minutes.

Maui had a yellow ball

"Maui's Mini Tail"

Maui had a yellow ball.

Maui loved to chase a small yellow ball around the house. He would grab it with his paws and throw it up in the air, or bat it across the floor! He loved playing with the yellow ball, constantly chasing it around the house and batting it across the room.

I should have learned a thing about feeling good from Maui but it took a book to teach me what Maui knew.

Peggy had a beach ball

When I was working with patients with major mental health problems (Schizophrenia, severe depression, manic depression), I read The Biopsychology of Mood & Arousal by Richard Thayer. I was surprised to learn that if you do a brisk activity for only 10 min, your mood goes up and stays up for 4 hours. It sounded almost too easy. I found a beach ball to put it to the test.

At the beginning of the next patient's group therapy session I asked everyone to rate their current mood on a scale of 1 to 10. One = horrible/awful/terrible/bad. Ten = wonderful/elated/ joyful/good.

I tossed the beach ball in the air and everyone joined in batting the ball to each other. Sometimes we missed, sometimes we got hit in the head, but everyone swung at the ball, waved their hands around and had a little exercise. AFTER 10 MINUTES we stopped and rated mood again.

Take a look at the chart below showing how each patient rated their mood at the beginning of the session, in blue, and where each patient rated their mood after tossing the ball for 10 minutes, in green.

Would the mood elevation last? After 3 1/2 hours, everyone rated their mood again. All moods were still up with one exception. It had worked making my own mood elevated.

The chart below shows each patients mood before the ball toss started, in blue, and where each patient rated their mood after 3 1/2 hours, in purple.

The average improvement in mood was 30%! In TEN MINUTES.

Of course, negative events can bring mood down again. (as happened to the one patient - letter i - in the group) but this is one of my favorite "tricks" to stay happy.

Maui always knew . . . playing ball is good for you.

THE SCIENCE

In his 1989 book The Biopsychology of Mood and Arousal, Robert E. Thayer discusses how 10 minutes of brisk exercise improves mood for four hours. He describes how each of us has a daily biorhythm of ups and downs in energy (There's a chart in the book on how to figure out your own biorhythm).

Exercise is shown to boost endorphins and the neurotransmitter norepinephrine both of which improve mood.

Not only does exercise grow your muscles, it also grows neurons in your brain. Such neuron growth is associated with improved mood. Research shows:

Regular exercise can relieve depression just as well as medication over a 4 month period, and even better after 6 months.

I personally use this concept to get and keep my own mood up. Ten minutes of activity is a cheap price for creating 4 hours of feeling good (or at the very least, feeling ok).

(PA)

How do you elevate your mood? Let us know in the comments.

Click here for Time article It’s All in the Nerves: How to Really Treat Depression by Maia Szalavitz