Most of us have been there.

Driving to work in the cold and rain, fed up, tired through lack of sleep, wishing we could be going anywhere other than where we are headed – and then something almost magical happens.

Suddenly, on the radio, you hear a familiar tune.

Your mood lifts instantly as you find yourself singing along, huge smile on your face, energised and completely oblivious to anyone or anything else.

If it’s a song from the past you may find memories of a particular time come flooding back even though you hadn’t consciously thought of them for years.

It might be a holiday song, the first dance from your wedding or just one of those songs that you and your friends always had to dance and sing along to.

 

 

You see, our minds are amazing things.

Especially the “unconscious” part of our minds, it’s almost like a huge computer hard drive.

All our memories, everything we’ve ever seen, heard, felt or experienced are all filed away ready for when we need them.

Those memories can lie dormant for years until we hear, see or even smell something that stimulates our unconscious mind.

I was glossing a radiator this week (don’t ask!) and the smell triggered a memory of painting a model of Henry VIII with my Mum for a school history project over 25 years ago.

A bizarre memory that made me smile, I could picture every minute detail of the model.

So with that knowledge in hand, how can we use it to our advantage?

How can we give ourselves an instant mood lift when we need it most?

This week’s tip is simple and yet so effective.

Make a list of songs and/or pieces of music that either take you back to fantastically happy times or just generally make you feel good the instant you hear them.

Then gather them all together and add them to your mp3 player, make a CD or if you’re feeling really nostalgic – a tape.

Keep them with you at all times and whenever you feel like you need a change, or lift, of mood simply press “play”, turn up the volume, sing as though nobody is watching and enjoy.