Happy Chemicals And You!
Did you ever ask yourself what makes you happy? Often, we end up thinking the possessions, circumstances, or people in our lives. However, in reality, happiness is largely a chemical experience. Your experience of the journey through life boils down to the happy chemicals in your brain. Sad, mad, happy, anxious, you name it and it can all be traced to what is going on inside your head. It is a chemical soup produced by your brain which directs your behavior. Instinctually always encouraging you to seek pleasure as well as avoid pain to ensure your survival. When you’ve success you get rewarded with happy!
There are four pivotal neurochemicals, neurotransmitters, and hormones generated in the brain that is fundamentally responsible for creating the emotions and sensations we have come to associate with happiness. This is actually great news! This means even when the things in our lives aren’t exactly as we would like them to be, there are easy ways to which we can increase our happy chemicals and alter our moods.
It’s Not Magic, It’s Science!
The chemicals that influence our happiness are
- Dopamine
- Oxytocin
- Serotonin
- Endorphins
Dopamine – Motivation And Pleasure
As said, Dopamine motivates you to take action and it encourages the persistence required to meet your needs, approaches a goal or seeks rewards. No matter what, be it a college degree, a sugar fix, money to pay the bills or be it the next level in a video game. The anticipation of the reward is what triggers a dopamine actually – good feeling in your brain that causes it to release the energy you need to move ahead to get the reward. Then, you get one more pleasure hit when you successfully meet your need.
Oxytocin – The Love Hormone
Well, there is a possibility that you might be familiar with oxytocin already, which is sometimes referred as the cuddle neurochemical. This hormone is released through the closeness with another person and also it helps to create trust and intimacy, that builds healthy relationships. To put it in a simple way, skin-to-skin contact releases oxytocin, for instance, a person gets a hit during orgasm and the mothers do during childbirth as well as breastfeeding. The cultivation of oxytocin increases allegiance and it is essential for creating as well as improved social interactions and maintaining strong bonds.
Serotonin – The Mood Controller
Serotonin plays numerous roles in your body that it is really tough to nail it down. However, it can be thought of as the confidence molecule that flows when you feel important or significant and controls your overall mood. If you are in a good mood, you have got serotonin to thank. And if you are in a bad mood, you have got serotonin to blame!
You usually enjoy the good feeling of serotonin when you feel respected and loved by others. Your brain seeks more of that good feeling just by repeating the same behaviors that triggered it in your past. So, the respect you got in your youth paved neural pathways which tell your brain how to get respect now as well as in the future.
Endorphins – Make You Happy
Endorphins have a chemical structure which is as same as opiates to mask pain or discomfort. Also, they are associated with the fight or say the flight response. Endorphins give you the energy to help you power through any situation either good or bad.
The word endorphin means self-produced morphine literally! Conversely, to what you might think, the pain actually causes endorphins to be released. Like morphine, they act as a sedative and analgesic, diminishing your perception of pain!
How To Gamify Your Happy Chemicals?
Sleep
8 hours sleep per day and with the help of regular exercise you can keep dopamine in balance. Remember, the brain releases a little bit of dopamine when you succeed or achieve. One way to get dopamine regularly is to break down the big goals into smaller goals, the more easily achievable chunks. So you can achieve a lot and continue making feel good process!
Exercise
This is one of the best ways to increase Endorphins in our body. Make it fun, so that you can increase it at the same time. Research shows that the people who exercise regularly have added protection against depression and deal with anxiety in a better way as well as they get better sleep!
Healthy Diet
Your healthy diet is the key for creating neurotransmitters. Nutrient dense foods can improve how you feel and think. All protein sources like chicken, milk, cheese, fish and egg release Serotonin. Seeds, nuts, beans are the great plant sources of amino acids that increase Serotonin as well. Antioxidants like foods like leafy greens, citrus, berries, broccoli, and healthy fat like coconut oil can increase your happy chemicals!
Laugh More
Laughter is a quick fix to feel better instantly. Laughter releases Endorphins as well as it is linked to increasing your pain tolerance.
Incorporate Fragrance
Simply smelling something that reminds you of comforting time such as smelling freshly baked cookies has been linked to release of Endorphins. Also, eating dark chocolate can also make you feel calmer and almost instantly.
Learn Something New
Dopamine is involved in stimulus-reward learning. So it can help you learn positive behavior and stay motivated. Learning something new, traveling to a new location, making progress in your hobby or work will also increase your happy chemicals!
Start incorporating these ways to increase happy chemicals in your body. Do something different and new. When you experience something really new it stimulates and transforms your brain. Do not get stuck in a rut repeating the same old things. This is the only way to change the structure of your brain to explore, try and experiment something new to realize how you use your brainpower. Challenge yourself regularly and don’t shy away from taking on difficult tasks
