Hacking happy hormones production

Oh, how easy it would’ve been to choose to be happy on command. To just press a button and POOF! You just feel better.

 

Well, that’s just a dream. You can’t really get a hold of your mood that easily.

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But there’s something you could do to control and increase your happiness! It might take a bit longer than just pressing a button, but it’s the closest thing to it.

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And that’s doing activities that boost your happy hormones!

 

So, there are 4 hormones that you could choose to boost:

• Dopamine – The reward chemical

• Serotonin – The mood stabilizer

• Oxytocin – The LOVE hormone

• Endorphins – The pain killer

 

Which one do you feel like you need right now?

Hacking the production of this hormones is really easy. Happiness is within reach!

 

 

Here’s how to do it:

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Dopamine – The reward chemical

It’s related to pleasurable sensations, learning, memory, motor system function, and more.

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• Complete a task – even small ones count. Clean your room, make that appointment you’ve been postponing, wash your hair, do you daily Duolingo lesson, anything!

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• Eat good healthy and tasty food – order your fav food or even cook it yourself to double the dopamine intake with this combo: complete a task AND eat great food.

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• Self-care – do nice things for yourself just like you would do for your crush or bf. Indulge yourself in some “me-time”.

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• Help someone – walk your neighbor’s dog, help someone carry their heavy groceries home (trust me they’ll really REALLY appreciate it), wipe a friend’s windows, etc.

 

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Serotonin – The mood stabilizer

The OG happy hormone is responsible for your well-being. It regulates your sleep, appetite, digestion, learning ability, memory and decreases worries and concerns.

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• Take care of your diet – no fast food, more prebiotic foods, like apples, citrus, mushrooms, barley, cold potato, oats, beetroot, cranberries, onions, berries, garlic, rye, blackberries, wheat, chicory, legumes, pasta.

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• Exercise daily – take at least 15 mins of your day to go on YouTube, search “15” mins workout (or whatever time you’d like to invest in your happiness and good body shape) and just follow it. Don’t feel like it? No worries. Bamboozle your brain with this minihabits trick and you won’t need motivation to do it anymore. Do 1 push-up and 1 sit-up at least.

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• Meditate – Relax, do breathing exercises, practice manifestation. Find your own way of meditating and regain control over your mind.

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• Sun exposure – Feel the warmth of the sunrays on your face while enjoying the vitamin D activation

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Oxytocin – The LOVE hormone

The cuddle chemical is related to bonding, trust, generosity and is increased by physical touch. It’s related to life satisfaction levels, being more important to women’s psyche than men’s.

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• Play and pet an animal – even if you don’t own one, I’m sure if you take a stroll around the block you’ll encounter a few people walking their dogs. Otherwise, you can go to the dog park or visit a friend who has pets.

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• Give compliments – you think your work colleague has nice nail design? Or maybe you were always astonished by her work speed but never got to tell her. Just say it. It’s guaranteed it’ll put a smile on both of your faces. Plus, there’s a chance you’ll get a compliment in return.

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• Tightly hug your friends – Show your friends a token of appreciation for all the time spent together, all the laughter and forgiveness or the help you gave each other.

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• Kiss and cuddle your SO – for a mix of happy hormones, pair oxytocin release with endorphins by having sex with someone you love or care about. Top it with some dopamine released during orgasm. Happy hormones cocktail!

 

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Endorphins – The pain killer

They are body’s natural pain relievers, being produced in response to pain or discomfort. They induce a brief euphoria that covers the pain.

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• Go for a run – “runner’s high” combined with dopamine makes people “addicted” to running.

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• Sex – ever got bruises after good sex, but don’t remember how exactly you got them? That’s because endorphins prevented you from noticing, and let you focus on what felt good. This chemical is the reason people can withstand biting, scratching, spanking, tight grips that they normally wouldn’t.

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• Get a massage – just make an appointment. Trust me. Thank me later.

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• Eat dark chocolate or spicy food – cook yourself some Pasta Arrabiata. It’s really fast and easy and you also get a rush of dopamine.

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• Laugh – call your bf and ask him to come over and hang-out. You can be your goofy self around them. All your inside jokes will do the job.

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• Stretch – it keeps your body healthy and young

 

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Now that you know how to hack your happiness, go choose one activity and see how you feel after.

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Try to observe yourself and keep track of how this chemicals make you feel when you do activities that realease them in you daily life.

Remember the ones that made you feel best.

 

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P.S.: I can already feel a rush of dopamine taking over me from finishing this article. Yay!

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