How to Hack Your Hormones for Heaping Helpings of Happiness
Some people never seem to be able to frown. Every time you see them, they are smiling. What’s wrong with them? Should you be a little wary of these people? Not necessarily. After all, everybody has time occasionally, right? They might have a perpetual smile but encounter negative life experiences just like you.
That may be true. Even so, some people choose to be happy despite anything negative that might be going on in their lives. What a truly wonderful ability that is. You could argue that choosing to embrace happiness and joy even when times are bad might be the greatest superpower of all.
It doesn’t allow you to let negativity invade your space. You still recognize that something bad has happened to you or someone else, but it doesn’t change your outlook. You may respond to address the negativity. If something bad happens to a friend, you are concerned and rush to help.
Even while you are addressing the problem at hand, you still have an upbeat outlook.
The people that constantly do this are either consciously or unconsciously hacking their happiness hormones. They are telling their brain to crank out keeping big helpings of feel-good chemicals, whether they know it or not.
Your brain commands the production of certain chemicals and hormones. What’s going on around you can affect what chemicals are produced. If you are in a very stressful situation, then levels of cortisol are going to skyrocket.
This is called the stress hormone. It’s linked to several physiological processes, including your survival instinct. If any of your five senses perceive a threat, your fight-or-flight instinct is triggered.
Your heart starts racing. Your circulation improves, as does your respiratory rate. All of your senses are on high alert. You might find yourself adopting a combative physical posture if the threat is seen to be severe. Your entire body tries to reach its physical best because you have initiated a process that will either let you fight a threat or run away from it.
When you perceive positive things, your brain starts pumping out dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. These are your happy hormones. They instantly make you feel happier, more joyful, and more content. You trade in stress for feelings of peace and calm. What can you do to hijack these hormones for more happiness?
Here are a few suggestions.
Exercise.
Spend time with people that make you laugh and smile.
Clean up a mess that’s been bothering you.
Play with your pets, children, or grandchildren.
Take a trip down memory lane to remind yourself of the happiest times you’ve experienced.
Express gratitude for the simple things in your life.
Stop spending time with people who bring you down.
Perform random acts of kindness.
You probably notice a theme here. When you do things that make you feel good, your brain automatically rewards you with hormones that promote happiness and pleasure. At the same time, levels of cortisol drop. This means that if you want more contentment and delight in your life, do things that make you smile.
This is what habitually happy people do. It keeps them smiling and thinking positively, even when times get tough.