Studies have shown that exercise, even in small amounts can elevate our mood. Psychologist Kelly McGonigal designed a workout that would specifically make people happy. The workout she designed is eight and a half minutes long and is a series of movements, which usually would not feature in a conventional workout.
“To design a happiness workout, I turned to the research I leverage in those classes, to maximize the joy people get from moving their bodies,” McGonigal writes in the New York Times. One of the movements is fans erupting with joy when their team wins the game-- jumping up and down in joy.
Other movements include swaying side to side like concert-goers do and taking space or spinning with hands spread out as dancers do. Then there's bouncing to a beat.“When people in several small studies were instructed to perform these kinds of movements, they reported more positive emotions, she wrote.
