Dr. Violetta Anninou,Ph.D.
Your good feelings come from these 4 neurotransmitters:
Dopamine, Oxytocin,Serotonin and Endorphins.
All of your feelings and emotions are a result of neurochemical reactions that take place in your body.
By learning to train yourself and increase your awareness and knowledge you can activate your 4 important neurotransmitters that can increase your motivation, happiness and productivity
Dopamine
Dopamine motivates us to take action toward goals, desires, and needs, and gives a surge of reinforcing pleasure when achieving them. Procrastination, self-doubt, and lack of enthusiasm are linked with low levels of dopamine
Break big goals down into little pieces so we can create a series of little finish lines which releases dopamine every time
Creating new goals before achieving your current one. That ensures a continual flow for experiencing dopamine
That is why dopamine also plays a big role in maintaining a healthy weight. When you have adequate levels of dopamine in your system you eat less, make wiser choices, and are more focused. Low levels dopamine is linked to depression, procrastination, and feelings of self-doubt. Ways to increase your dopamine levels: Set daily or monthly goals, since they give you something to strive towards.
• Set exercise goals, since dopamine increases in tandem with serotonin and endorphins when you exercise. Setting goals will increase the production of dopamine even more.
Oxytocin
Your brain’s hypothalamus produces a hormone called oxytocin that is also a neurotransmitter. It is popularly referred to as the “cuddle” or “love” hormone. It has been proven to inspire feelings of trust, love, relaxation, and calm mood by lowering the effects of stress. Hugs, laughter, dancing, holding hands, listening to music you love, and being with people who make you happy all stimulate your internal production. Another incredible trigger that increases oxytocin by 10-50% is reading a book or watching a movie that makes you cry.
Other Ways to increase your oxytocin levels: Get a massage, since it relaxes your muscles and the prolonged physical contact triggers the release of oxytocin.
• Show your friends and family that you love them by touching them affectionately. You can hug your parents, throw an arm around a friend or cuddle up with your partner. Even giving someone a gift makes your oxytocin rise
Serotonin
It may come as a surprise to learn that the majority of the feel good neurotransmitter serotonin is manufactured and resides in your gut. This compound is responsible for mood, appetite, quality of sleep, feelings of sexual desire, and high-level brain function such as memory and learning. When you don’t have enough serotonin, you have a greater risk of depression and other mood disorders as well as high-risk behavior.
To increase this brain chemical, reflect on past achievements and practice gratitude. Not only will you feel significant from what you’ve achieved, but by practicing gratitude, you will realize that there is much to be valued in life.
Serotonin flows when you feel significant or important. Loneliness and depression appears when serotonin is absent.
Natural ways to boost serotonin without drugs are safe exposure to sunlight – 10-15 minutes a day to produce Vitamin D, quality sleep, regular exercise, and limiting your consumption of “white” foods such as sugar, rice, flour, and pasta. Instead, add cottage cheese, eggs, nuts, turkey, avocado, bananas and fatty fish as examples to your daily eating plan.
Other Ways to increase your serotonin levels: Think happy thoughts, since your brain produces serotonin when you remember happy memories or think about things that make you happy.
Do a low-intensity workout, since your body produces serotonin when it is performing aerobic exercise, as opposed to the endorphins it produces during anaerobic exercise.
Endorphins
Endorphins are neurotransmitters that are produced in the pituitary gland and central nervous system. They are in charge of many functions that relate to overall feelings of happiness and wellbeing. These hormones are your body’s first line of defense against pain, provide an opiate effect (similar to morphine) after exercise or trauma, and basically make you feel pretty fantastic. They can be stimulated by foods such as cacao (dark chocolate), nuts, fatty fish, Greek yogurt, turkey, and bananas. The best natural methods of creating these high-powered happy chemicals are sex, laughter, exercise, and delicious or spicy food.
In summary, research has indicated that your brain is capable of neuroplastic change at any age. You can evolve your brain by training brain waves and neurotransmitters with Quantum Biofeedback the latest development in Computerized Integrative Quantum Medicine to help you implement new happy habits with repetition and consistency. This way you will start to shift the neurochemical balance in your brain. Over time, your new happy habits will feel as natural to you as your old ones.