Break free from a Scrooge mood—stat!

Is your party schedule making you more meh than merry? Socializing depletes your brain’s stores of calming chemicals. Banish the bah-humbugs by…

Sniffing citrus

Oranges, grapefruits, limes… taking a 20-second break to enjoy the sweet-tart scent of citrus could help you feel 45% calmer, happier and more energized— even if you don’t eat the fruit, suggests research in the journal Physiology & Behavior. Explains study co-author Peter Walla, PH.D., citrus’ aromatic oils boost brain chemicals.

Sipping green tea

Most green tea contains caffeine, so how did it become the go-to brew to cultivate calm? Japanese researchers say green tea brims with a compound that is a key building block of the mood-steadying brain chemical GABA. No wonder studies show sipping three mugs of green tea daily leads to a 53% drop in stress and anxiety in just two days! Don’t love the taste of green tea? You can get the same level of Zen by taking a 500-mg. GABA supplement daily. One to try: Now Foods GABA (Now-2-u.com). Note: Check with your doctor before taking supplements.

Stretching out

Take five minutes three times daily to do relaxing stretches— like toe touches and shoulder shrugs— and you’ll boost your mood by 27% within 48 hours. Boston University researchers say stretching stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system— a branch of nerves that signals your brain to make more calming chemicals.

Enjoying Rudolph

Cue up Rudolph The Red-nosed Reindeer— the most popular holiday show of all time!—and your blah mood could disappear before the special is over. University of Pennsylvania researchers say focusing on a classic kick-starts the production of the mood-boosting hormone oxytocin. —Brenda Kearns