Your body produces 4 types of hormones that make you feel happy.
#biology #hormones #happiness
Dopamine is the “feel good” neurotransmitter that drives your brain’s reward system,
making you feel focused and motivated.
Stimulate dopamine with:
– Exercise
– Protein-rich foods
– Getting good sleep
– Completing tasks
Oxytocin is the bonding hormone that is released when we feel connected to people.
It can boost feelings of love, contentment, security and trust.
Stimulate oxytocin with:
– Physical intimacy
– Acts of kindness
– Petting an animal
– Yoga
Serotonin is an important mood stabilizer, influencing everything from
sleep, appetite, reward, learning and memory.
Stimulate serotonin with:
– Tryptophan-rich foods
– Exercise
– Sunlight
– Walks in nature
Endorphins are the brain’s natural painkillers,
helping relieve pain, reduce stress and improve your sense of well-being.
Stimulate endorphins with:
– Meditation
– Exercise
– Acupuncture
– Spicy food
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Discover your happy brain power in seconds! Help others discover their power over their dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphin. Here’s a fun way to start making peace with your inner mammal.
The big picture is explained in Dr. Breuning’s books, starting with: Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphin levels https://www.amazon.com/dp/1440590508 (Available in Spanish, Russian, French, German and Turkish.)
The brain chemicals that make us feel good are inherited from earlier mammals. They evolved to do a job, not to make you feel good all the time. When you know their job in the state of nature, your ups and downs make sense. More important, you can rewire yourself to enjoy more dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin in sustainable ways. You can reduce cortisol too!
It’s not easy, alas. Happy chemicals only flow when you take steps that promote survival. But our brain defines survival in a quirky way: it cares about the survival of your genes, and it relies on neural pathways built in youth. To make life harder still, happy chemicals are quickly metabolized, and our brain habituates to the rewards it has. So you always have to do more to get more happy chemicals. That’s why we often have a treadmill feeling. It’s not easy being a mammal!
When you know how your brain works, you can find healthier ways to enjoy happy chemicals and relieve unhappy chemicals. You can build new neural pathways by feeding your brain new experiences. But you have to design the new experience carefully and repeat it a lot!
The Inner Mammal Institute has free resources to help you make peace with your inner mammal: videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s many books illuminate the big picture and help you plot your course. You can feel good in new ways, no matter where you are right now.
FREE ACTION GUIDE: https://innermammalinstitute.org/actionguide/
BOOKS: https://innermammalinstitute.org/books/
PODCAST: https://www.mentalhealthnewsradionetwork.com/our-shows/the-happy-brain/
Find more resources for making peace with your inner mammal at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/
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#happychemicals #brain #brainanatomy #brainchemical #dopamine #serotonin #oxytocin #endorphin #InnerMammalInstitute
