How to Get in a Good Mood Fast (and Be in One Every Day)

Some mornings you wake up flat for no reason you can name. Some afternoons go grey around 3pm and stay that way. If you're searching how to get in a good mood, the quickest route runs through your body: move it, put light and sound into it, give it a jolt, then let your head catch up. Every shift below takes between five seconds and half an hour, and each one comes from a named study. Stack two or three and most grey days turn around before lunch.

How to get in a good mood fast

Put on one upbeat song and try to enjoy it

Music works better when you mean it. Yuna Ferguson and Kennon Sheldon at the University of Missouri played upbeat Aaron Copland or sombre Stravinsky to volunteers in 2013. The people who heard Copland and set out to feel happier while listening came away in a better mood. People who just listened, with no intention, reported no change. In a second experiment run over two weeks, the "try while you listen" group reported higher happiness at the end (Journal of Positive Psychology). So pick a song you like, turn it up, and go along with it on purpose.

Walk for 12 minutes, anywhere

Jeffrey Miller and Zlatan Krizan ran three experiments, published in Emotion in 2016, with 453 students in total. In the first, 232 students took a silent 12-minute tour of campus, either on foot or by watching a slideshow of the same route. The walkers reported more joy, vigour, attentiveness and self-assurance. In the second, through a dull building with an essay to present afterwards, the walkers still came out in a better mood. Students who sat or stood saw their positive mood drop.

Get outside when the sun is out

Matthew Keller's team at the University of Michigan studied more than 600 people across three studies in 2005. Spending at least 30 minutes outside in pleasant, sunny weather lifted mood and made people more open to new ideas, with the strongest effect in spring. People who stayed indoors on a nice day did worse. Mood peaked at about 72°F (22°C).

Hold a smile for five seconds

The Many Smiles Collaboration tested 3,878 people in 19 countries and published in Nature Human Behaviour in 2022. Volunteers copied a smiling face from a photo or moved their facial muscles into a smile and held it for five seconds. Both reported feeling happier, even without looking at cheerful pictures. The effect was small, and it costs five seconds, so do it while the kettle boils.

Watch something that makes you laugh out loud

In 2011 Robin Dunbar's team at Oxford showed people comedy clips (Mr. Bean, The Simpsons, Friends) or dull documentaries about golf and pet training. After laughing, people tolerated pain for longer. The documentary group showed no rise. Dunbar's team put it down to endorphins released by laughing hard (Proceedings of the Royal Society B). Keep one clip that always gets you saved on your phone.

Get into cold water

Ala Yankouskaya and colleagues at Bournemouth University put 39 adults into water at about 20°C, up to the collarbones, for five minutes in 2023. Afterwards they felt more active, alert, attentive, proud and inspired, and less nervous. Brain scans taken before and after showed more interaction between large-scale brain networks (Biology). At home, end your shower with 30 to 60 seconds of cold.

Call a friend instead of texting

Most people put off calling because they expect it to be awkward. Amit Kumar (University of Texas at Austin) and Nicholas Epley (University of Chicago) tested that in 2020 with 200 people reconnecting with an old friend. Those randomly assigned to call felt a much stronger bond than those who emailed, with no extra awkwardness, and the call took about as long as writing the email (Journal of Experimental Psychology). Pick one name and press call.

How to be in a good mood every day

The quick shifts wear off. These habits keep you starting each day from a better place:

• Write down three good things before bed, with one line on why each went well. In Martin Seligman's 2005 University of Pennsylvania study, people who did this for one week reported being happier for six months afterwards. People who kept going on their own did best.
• Walk outside every morning, even for 12 minutes. You get the walking effect and the daylight in one habit.
• Keep a short playlist of songs that lift you, and play one on purpose at the first sign of a grey afternoon.

If a grey day has dragged into a flat week, our guide on how to get out of a funk at home or at work covers that.

One spray, ten seconds, a mouth full of buzz

Every quick shift above works by jolting you out of autopilot for a moment. Dragon Breath does it from a pocket. One spray, and within about 10 seconds a bright, electric buzz spreads across your tongue and mouth. Then your mouth floods and a clean, fresh feeling hangs on for a while after.

People often laugh the first time. You can see it in our customer reaction videos. One customer's first words on camera were "Oh wow, the saliva flow." Another, moments after one spray, said "Definitely energized." People come out of those ten seconds switched on and present. Keep it for the moments you'd otherwise reach for your phone: the slow wake-up at your desk, the 3pm dip, the car park before you walk in somewhere.

The buzz comes from chilcuague (Heliopsis longipes), a root from Central Mexico also called golden root. Its main compound is affinin (also called spilanthol), measured at 6.9 to 8.5 mg per gram of root. Mexican ethnobotanists (Cilia-López and colleagues) record the root chewed, held against the gums and used as a spice. Read more about the plant in our complete guide to chilcuague.

Mara's root is wild-harvested from growth zones the Mara team selects with the help of local elders, dual-extracted in organic solutions and bottled in Miron violet glass, which keeps light off the extract and adds significant longevity to its quality and potency. The spray keeps it sealed from air, and the 50 ml bottle holds 250+ sprays and fits in a pocket. Start with one spray and go up to five once you know the feeling. The taste is earthy and a little peppery for a second, then the tingle takes over.

Dragon Breath – Chilcuague Extract

50 ml mouth spray. Wild-harvested chilcuague root, dual-extracted. 250+ sprays.

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Questions people ask

What is the fastest way to get in a good mood?

Hold a smile for five seconds, then put on an upbeat song and try to enjoy it. Both showed effects in published studies, and together they take under four minutes. Add a 12-minute walk if you have the time.

How do I get in a good mood in the morning?

Get outside within the first hour, even for a short walk, and finish your shower with 30 to 60 seconds of cold water. In the 2023 Bournemouth study, five minutes in cool water left people feeling more alert and inspired.

Does forcing a smile make you happier?

A little, yes. The Many Smiles Collaboration tested 3,878 people in 19 countries and found that a posed smile held for five seconds raised reported happiness, with a small effect.

What does Dragon Breath feel like?

Within about 10 seconds of one spray, a bright, electric buzz spreads across your tongue and mouth, your mouth waters fast and a clean, fresh feeling lingers. People often laugh at the surprise of it the first time.