Your mother always told you if you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all. Now, new research from Ohio State University (that I read in Self Magazine’s April Issue) indicates that you should stop thinking those not-so-nice things while you’re at it.

Previous studies have found that writing down negative thoughts and throwing them out can clear the undesirable things from your brain. But this one discovered that simply shaking your head no when you catch a negative thought passing through can squash the downbeat mood before it has a chance to take hold. Put on Florence and the Machine’s, “Shake it Out,” and just say no to negativity with a nod of your head.