Gray wintry days seem to generate their own style of sluggish feelings, as if our moods want to match the skies.
Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) accompanied with depression is the most severe form of such winter blues.
It may feel fine just to cuddle up with a good book on a gray day, but most of us also want to be able to find brighter emotions and participate in community life.
This can be difficult when a low mood lingers on like a dark cloud.
Here are seven proven ways from the new field of Energy Psychology to shift your body's energies and your mood: 1)    Look around your house at all the beauty there is.
It may be the shiny leaf of a plant, a picture of a flower, a photo of a loved one.
2)   Give thanks for what you have and for what works in your life.
Make a list of the positives that come your way each day.
3)   Tap on the thymus gland area located below the sternum in your upper mid-chest.
This area relates to the master gland, the thymus, of the immune system.
Allow yourself to laugh out loud while tapping with the sound "Ha Ha Ha!" 4)   Face the area where the sun would be at a given time of day by standing at a window or outside.
Even though you may not be able to see it, the sun is always there.
5)    Bring in the energy of the sun to your heart center by stretching back as far as you comfortably can and then bring armloads of sunlight energy to the chest.
6)   Imagine beams of sunlight in your internal core from head to toe.
Note how you can create your own inner light.
7)    Affirm, "I feel my sunlight...
I create my light with my intentions.
" Skip, dance, move to music that you can hear within.
Bless the day!