In This Fascinating New Book, Nationally Known Psychologist Robert E. Thayer Serves As An Expert Guide Through The Latest Research Into Moods And Mood Management, Offering Proven Techniques For Putting Today's Most Important Breakthroughs To Work In Our Day-to-day Lives. Thayer Evaluates The Hard Scientific Evidence As He Reveals Which Behaviors Energize And Empower Us, And Which Sabotage Our Best Interests. (just Five Or Ten Minutes Of Walking, For Example, Can Enhance Mood For An Hour Or More, While Sugar Snacking, Thayer Shows, Causes More Tension Than It Reduces.) Thayer Argues That When We Learn To See Moods As Vital Barometers Of Our Whole Psychology And Physiology, Rather Than Mysterious, Purely Mental Reactions To Events Around Us, We Not Only Understand Ourselves Better, We Have The Opportunity To Substantially Improve Our Personal Effectiveness, Both Mentally And Physically. Thayer Offers Compelling Evidence That Our Moods - Particularly Feelings Of Energy And Tension - Are Closely Tied To The Rhythms Of Our Evolutionary Past. They Are Directly Affected By Our Health, The Food We Eat, The Amount Of Sleep We Get, Exercise (or Lack Of It), And The Time Of Day. We Learn Why Problems Seem More Serious Late At Night, And Why A Simple Disagreement With A Co-worker Or Spouse Is More Apt To Turn Into An Emotional Flare-up At Certain Times Of Day. We Investigate Key Differences In The Most Common Ways Men And Women Deal With Bad Moods, And Probe The Implications Of These Findings On Our Understanding Of Alcoholism And Depression. 1. Mood And Its Meanings -- 2. A Theory Of Mood -- 3. Moods As Barometers Of Well-being -- 4. The Relationship Between Mood And Thoughts -- 5. Energy And Tension Changes With Pms, Drugs, Social Interaction, Weather, And Life Events -- 6. How Energy And Tension Interact -- 7. The Evolutionary Biology Of Moods -- 8. The Physiology And Anatomy Of Mood -- 9. Self-regulation: Why, How, And How Effective? -- 10. Individual Differences In Mood-regulating Strategies -- 11. Mood Substitution: Different Ways Of Achieving The Same Mood -- 12. Rational Mood Substitution: Exercise More And Indulge Less -- 13. The Practical Psychology Of Self-regulation -- 14. Overcoming Tense-tiredness By Increasing Energy -- 15. Reducing Tension To Overcome Tense-tiredness -- 16. Moods At Different Times Of Day -- 17. Systematic Self-observation: The First Step In Mood Change -- 18. A Review Of The Origin And Self-regulation Of Everyday Moods -- Appendix: Beyond Stress Management To Calm-energy. Robert E. Thayer. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [235]-264) And Index.