Springtime can be a wonderful opportunity to seek out new activities that improve your mood. As the days get longer, winter weather fades away into mild temperatures and spring showers, providing ample opportunity to get outdoors, see new things, and make meaningful changes that can substantially improve your mental health.

Spring abounds with different healthy activities for you and your loved ones to engage in. But if you’re unsure where to start, we’ve created a list of the best spring activities to improve your mood and get you started.

Why Spring Activities Are Important

The change of season from winter to spring is filled with opportunities. As sunshine returns, people want to get out of the house and experience all the opportunities the world around them has to offer.

It’s common for people not to be in as good of a mood during the winter. This can often result in a condition known as seasonal affective disorder, which refers to a form of mild depression associated with the fall and winter seasons. The arrival of spring can often help alleviate this condition, but getting involved in spring activities can be a critical component of this change.

Even if you haven’t felt depressed during the winter, you can experience a substantial mood boost by engaging in these fun and exciting activities.

8 Mood-Boosting Spring Activities

The variety of spring activities to improve your mood is nearly endless. While the activities listed below may be a great starting point, they are by no means an exhaustive list, and finding what improves your mood is most important.

1. Visit the Local Blooms

For floral lovers, springtime is the peak season for visiting flower gardens or nurseries to see the wonders of nature spring into life. Springtime is when several different flowers bloom, including:

  • Daffodils
  • Tulips
  • Lilac
  • Primrose
  • Hyacinth
  • Roses
  • Magnolias
  • Hellebores
  • Jasmine
  • Cherry blossoms

Tulip farms, rose gardens, or local arboretums can be fantastic places to experience the blooms in spring. Alternatively, you can head outdoors to the mountains or foothills to see wild flora and maybe even pick up a bouquet for yourself or a loved one.

But can flowers really improve your mood? Scientific research seems to suggest so — with several different studies demonstrating positive mental health benefits associated with green spaces, nature walks, and natural environments. Practical experience provides another source of support for the mood-boosting benefits of flowers.

In the United States, flowers are commonly given to loved ones to show affection, to grieving friends to show support, or as a simple gift to surprise a friend. In these cases, the goal is to improve your mood, and the practice has been done for hundreds of years.

2. Get Outside

Enjoying colorful flowers isn’t the only way to enjoy yourself outside your home this spring, though. Simply getting outdoors into the fresh air and sunshine is a great way to improve your mood during springtime. Nature walks and outdoor exposure have been linked to a number of beneficial mental health effects, including:

  • Reduced anxiety
  • Better sleep
  • Improved depression symptoms
  • Greater quality of life

Spring is a great time to get outdoors and start reaping these benefits. As wet winter weather starts to fade away, your local trails start to dry up and hikes become possible once again. Ski resorts begin switching over from snow sports to mountain biking. Rivers begin to flow more heavily, making more water sports opportunities possible.

All these options and more open up as temperatures begin to rise from the winter months, and spring is the perfect time to enjoy the outdoors before the oppressive heat of summer. Even simply taking walks outside or sitting in the park watching the birds and other small animals are valuable tools for a mood boost.

3. Start an Exercise Routine

If you are an exercise enthusiast, spring can be a great time to start a new routine. The mood-boosting effects of exercise are well-founded in scientific literature, but springtime can make them even more approachable and enjoyable because of the pleasant weather and outdoor opportunities.

If you are new to exercise, start slow and steady. Taking a walk or going on a bike ride can be a simple way of getting more active, and these activities provide the same mental health benefits as weightlifting or high-intensity interval training.

However, if you are looking for a more intensive exercise routine, you may consider signing up with a personal trainer or enrolling in a group fitness program. These options provide extra accountability and structure that help you keep moving toward your fitness goals.

4. Start a Garden

Spring can be a great time to start an outdoor garden. Planting and caring for a garden can be a relaxing and enjoyable activity that provides tangible rewards in the form of vegetables, herbs, or flowers for your effort.

Like all the best hobbies, gardening takes a combination of knowledge, effort, skill, and a little luck. Each stage of gardening can help improve your mood — from learning new skills and engaging in a productive task to cultivating your skills and reaping the reward of good growth.

There are a number of vegetables, herbs, and flowers that can be planted in spring. Some of the more common options for springtime planting include:

  • Broccoli
  • Kale
  • Peas
  • Cilantro
  • Dill
  • Thyme
  • Marigold
  • Petunias
  • Cosmos

Each plant has a unique planting schedule and requirements. Before putting seeds into the soil, take some time to learn more about different gardening techniques and how to set your garden up for success.

5. Outdoor Dining

Whether it’s in the backyard at home or your favorite restaurant in town, the warmer temperatures of spring are a great time for dining outdoors. As simple as it may sound, eating outside can turn a routine experience into an enjoyable and mood-boosting event.

Outdoor dining isn’t just about enjoying the longer days of spring — it’s also about breaking up routines and creating new and memorable experiences. After a full winter of eating indoors, breaking out the patio set or dining outdoors can help restore the social connection and enjoyment that eating with friends and loved ones can bring.

6. Spend Time With Friends and Family

One of the best parts of springtime is that there’s often a shared experience of wanting to find new activities, get outside, and enjoy the beautiful weather. After months of being cooped up inside, people want to connect and socialize.

Take advantage of this moment by reaching out to your friends and family and plan an afternoon or evening together with them. Maybe see if they’re interested in some of the activities on this list.

Spending time socializing with your loved ones yields perhaps the strongest mood-boosting effect you can reap during springtime. Decades of research have shown the value of social connection in improving your mood, and there’s no better time to reconnect with those closest to you than the spring.

7. Concerts and Performances

Spring is the start of concert season, and it’s a great time to go see your favorite artists or local bands. Of course, there’s a wide range of performances you can see besides music, including outdoor theater, dance recitals, film screenings, and much more.

These events can spark lifetime memories and positive experiences that have many positive mood effects. They’re not only something to look forward to but create memories you can look back upon with fondness and share with the people you care about.

8. Rafting or Kayaking

Spring is the best time of year for rafting or kayaking. As the winter ice and snow begin to melt on the mountains, rivers begin to flow steadily and strongly, providing the ideal conditions for kayaking or white-water rafting.

As intimidating as these sports may seem, there are several approachable options for beginners. You can sign up for a kayaking class or get your friends and family together for a guided whitewater rafting trip.

Kayaking and rafting combine several of the mood-boosting activities in this guide. It helps you get outdoors, provides a fun form of exercise, and offers an opportunity to spend time with friends or loved ones in a shared experience.

What to Do if Your Mood Isn’t Improving

If you’ve tried several of these mood-boosting activities, and you’re still dealing with a perpetually low mood, it could be a sign of an underlying mental health condition or an unaddressed emotional issue. If you find this to be the case, the best choice might be to seek professional treatment from a mental health expert.

Chronic low mood can be a symptom of several mental health disorders. But rather than jumping straight into treatment, it’s often beneficial to meet with a mental health expert to receive an accurate assessment and diagnosis.

Any effective mental health intervention starts with an accurate diagnosis. Since low mood can be caused by genetic, environmental, or psychological factors, getting an effective diagnosis is the first step in identifying which treatment works best for you. With a diagnosis in hand, you have several mental health treatment options available to you.

Individual Therapy

Individual therapy means working one-on-one with a therapist to uncover the root causes of low mood and provide you with effective strategies to overcome them.

Therapists use a wide variety of tools and strategies to help people recover from chronic low mood. These tools include cognitive-behavioral therapies, eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing, and more.

Group Therapy

Group therapy uses the same evidence-based techniques as found in individual therapy but pairs people with a group of peers who have a similar experience. This communal approach to mental health recovery can be incredibly powerful and provides a stable source of social support and connection.

Deep Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation

Deep transcranial magnetic stimulation is a cutting-edge technique that stimulates underactive regions of the brain. Using a specialized cap that sends targeted electrical impulses deep into the brain, this completely non-invasive treatment can rapidly boost mood, treat many mental health conditions, and start you on the path to recovery.

Lifestyle Psychiatry

Lifestyle psychiatry combines traditional psychiatric interventions — such as medication — with targeted lifestyle changes to improve mood. The pairing of traditional and holistic approaches further increases your chances of success and gives you tools for recovery to last a lifetime.

Start Treatment at Plus by APN

At Plus by APN, our team of multidisciplinary mental health experts has all the tools you need to achieve a lasting and worthwhile recovery. Call our team today at 424.644.6486 to learn more about our traditional and innovative treatment options or fill out our online contact form for more information.

References

  • Bowler, D.E., Buyung-Ali, L.M., Knight, T.M. et al. A systematic review of evidence for the added benefits to health of exposure to natural environments. BMC Public Health 10, 456 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2458-10-456
  • Gourgouvelis, Joanne et al. “Exercise Leads to Better Clinical Outcomes in Those Receiving Medication Plus Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Major Depressive Disorder.” Frontiers in psychiatry vol. 9 37. 6 Mar. 2018, doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2018.00037