Exercise

Exercise is a way to improve yourself both mentally and physically. If you don’t want to cough up the money for a gym membership, personal trainer, or expensive in-home weight set, try this simple full-body workout by performing these exercises:

• Push ups
• Crunches
• Squats

You can find a plethora of free workouts and workout tips online. For instance, don’t have dumbbells? Use cans of soup, or a few old milk cartons filled with water.

Go to the Library

The library is a great resource that is often under utilized – and its free! The library has books, CDs, tapes, DVDs, and free access to computers. Picking up a book is a great way to entertain yourself and also tune up your reading skills. Your local library holds a vast amount of knowledge just waiting to be acquired!

Meditate

This is one thing that everyone should do to improve his or her quality of life. Meditation is often thought of as relaxation, which it is, but one can also gain insight into their lives by just sitting quietly and thinking. If you don’t want to think about anything, just sit there silently and count your breaths – this will help you immensely as well. Sometimes thinking about nothing can accomplish as much or more than having your mind full of thoughts.

Take a Walk

A walk can be a great way to relieve stress. Even if you are just going once around the block, taking a walk does wonders for your mood. You can walk to a place you need to go, or just walk with no destination in mind. The latter is often more relaxing.

Smile

Just the act of smiling will put you in a better mood. No matter what is going on in your life, you will feel at least a little better just by letting yourself smile.

Give Something Away

Generally, we all have too much stuff, and it can be overwhelming. Decide what you don’t need anymore, and give it away either to charity or a friend.

Volunteer

Volunteering doesn’t only improve your life, but also the lives of others. There are lots of ways to volunteer, you could do so on a regular basis with an organization or group you support, or simply stop into a place and donate a few hours of your time. Great examples of this are going in to the humane society to walk the dogs or signing up to help serve a meal at a homeless shelter.

Organize

Organize your living space – your desk, office, room, backpack, briefcase, kitchen, bathroom, closet, etc. Keeping things in order helps keep your life in order. A chaotic house leads to a chaotic mood when coming home at the end of the day, so take the extra time to keep things organized.

Ride Your Bike

Not only is this good exercise, but with the price of gasoline, taking your bike for those short trips can end up saving you a good deal of money. Riding a bike is also much less stressful than driving through traffic.

Hug Someone

Just hugging someone can immediately make your life better. We live in an age where contact with fellow humans is often avoided, but giving/getting a hug can instantly boost your mood by releasing good endorphins. Touch is a good thing.

Yoga

Practice yoga outdoors or in a large space in your own home. If you don’t know how to do yoga, you don’t need to sign up for an expensive class. Your local library should have books on yoga, or even DVDs to get you started. Yoga builds strength, flexibility, mental alertness, and also calms the mind, leaving you relaxed and fulfilled after a session.

Stop Procrastinating – Finish Something!

Do something you have been putting off for a while. It always feels good to get something over with, and finishing something you have been putting off is usually a good idea in general. As many wise people have said, “don’t put off till tomorrow what you could do today.”

Go Outside

Just taking a break from being in doors can change your mood in a positive way. Especially if it is a nice day out, go outside and read a book, watch the clouds, have a cup of tea, or just sit and enjoy being outside. Even if its raining you can have a good time – grab a friend, family member, or loved one, throw your inhibitions to the wind and go run around and dance in the rain!

Challenge Your Brain

Sudoku, logic puzzles, and crossword puzzles can be great ways to stimulate your brain. You also feel satisfied when completing them.

Write

Start journaling and write down your thoughts. Sometimes, getting your thoughts down on paper lets you analyze them more clearly, and worry about them less. If you are feeling creative, write a poem, or a short story, or just put your pen to paper and see what comes out. Drawing and painting can also be a great outlet. Even if you aren’t a spectacular artist, it feels good to doodle or create something of your own. Writing, drawing, and painting can be relaxing, and also give you a sense of accomplishment when you create something you really like.