Changing the way you walk has a direct affect on your mood, according to a new study.
Researchers from Queen's University in Canada conducted the study by asking 39 undergraduate students to impersonate the walks of happy or depressed people.
While the students were walking they were shown a list of positive and negative words. Those who were mimicking a depressed person recalled more negative words from the list and vice versa, TIME reported.
The study suggests that if you walk in a positive manner (head high with your shoulders pushed back) your mood will be overall happier.
"If you can break that self-perpetuating cycle, you might have a strong therapeutic tool to work with depressive patients," Nikolaus Troje, study co-author, said in a statement.
The study will be published in the Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry in March 2015.
