Happiness is more important for humans than we would care to admit. Happiness is not just a fleeting feeling, it runs deeper to our minds and hearts. And to be more happy, it is not necessary that we find it in displays of grandeur and luxury. Happiness is usually hidden in the little things.

Here are some ways you can elevate your mood instantly, and feel happier in your life:

Get regular exercise :

Get moving and running if you want to feel happier and younger for longer. Its various health benefits aside, exercise is a sure shot way of instantly lifting up your mood. A study showed that people reported feeling happier with only ten minutes of exercise in a week. Choose the kind of physical activity that makes you most joyful. It could be dancing, zumba, yoga, aerobics or jump rope.

Brownyn Janse/Unsplash. Spending time with plants and soil will instantly make you happy and make you sleep better.

Connect with nature :

Interacting with nature, plants and soil is the best way to keep yourself grounded. A morning cup of coffee with a leisurely barefoot stroll in your garden is one of the best ways to begin your day. Grounding, also called earthing, is when you make direct skin contact with the earth surface, with your bare hands and feet. This is the best way for improving sleep, taking away pain and controlling stress levels.

Jamie Street/Unsplash. Keeping your furry friends close can instantly lift up your mood.

Pet your dog or cat:

These furry friends and their cute antics are an instant mood lifter for most. According to a study from Washington State university, petting your dog or cat has numerous health benefits, and relieving stress under ten minutes is one of them.

Womanizer Toys/Unsplash. Getting busy under the sheets helps immensely in improving your mood and long term happiness.

Have sex:

This is one of the most obvious ways to get happy, relieve tension and pent up frustrations. A study spanning theee years, conducted by the London School of Economics, found that nost people reported sex as their biggest source of happiness. Having sex improves your mood by 14%. Many other studies have found links between high sex frequency and happiness.

Have some chocolate :

Dark chocolate is clinically proven to have phenylethylamine, a substance which stimulates the body and lifts up mood. People who ate dark chocolate in a 24 hour period were studied to have significantly less depressive symptoms as compared to those who didn’t have any dark chocolate.