Change Your Thoughts, Change Your Mood

I just finished one of Jennifer Weiner's books, Who Do You Love.

In it, Andy, one of the main characters of the story, handles his moments of extreme frustration by running.  It allows him to cut out all of the negative internal chattering going on in his head by focusing all his attention on how he feels as he runs.

I, too, have found that I can use certain physical activities, like golfing, to distract me from thoughts that I don't think are benefiting me at that moment either because they increase my stress levels or they darken my mood.

Also, in this novel, a therapist suggested a strategy to Andy - to change your mood, change your setting.  Something as simple as getting up from what you are doing to have a cup of tea can be enough in most situations to brake the momentum of negative thought patterns.

We all have techniques or tools we use to manage our moods.  What do you do?