We often think of a bad mood as something we need to \u201csnap out of\u201d. Dark clouds of despair, malaise or melancholy are to be surmounted by any means necessary. The good mood, though, the days where you get out on the right side of bed, are to be celebrated and embraced. We\u2019re conditioned to avoid negative emotions, but what if all moods \u2014 the good, the bad and the hangry \u2014 can help us understand ourselves better?<\/p>\n
Lauren Martin, author of The Book of Moods<\/em> and founder of online community Words of Women, believes in the power of moods. \u201cIf you look at your mood as something to analyse, rather than something to be scared of or freaked out about, and instead start documenting it, it really changes how you see yourself and how you appreciate your emotions,\u201d she explains. This is the premise of Lauren\u2019s new book, which documents her journey from \u201cthe moody woman\u201d to harnessing her emotions for the positive force they are.<\/p>\n Before embarking on the book, Lauren was often struck down by a bad case of the blues. She would stew for hours over a single rude encounter and become overtly infuriated over a delayed flight. Her natural moodiness was as inclination she disliked about herself but found unavoidable. \u201cI found myself saying over and over again, \u2018sorry, I’m in a mood\u2019, like it was my catchphrase,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen you realise you’re saying something like that all the time, it must mean something.\u201d Tired of life\u2019s stressors taking a disproportionate toll, Lauren decided to find out what her feelings were trying to tell her.<\/p>\n What she discovered was that moods are not random, but an exaggerated emotional response. And while everyone experiences them, women are particularly susceptible due to the physiological functions that inform the female intuition. Through the lens of neuroscience, psychology and cognitive therapy, Lauren presents ways in which we can better understand our moods. Her message is one of self-empowerment \u2014 an empathetic analysis shared through her own personal experiences. We don\u2019t have to be ruled by our negative emotions, she says, we can take charge of those spirals, or better, curb them from the offset. Crucially, though, we must learn what triggers certain feelings in the first place.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n