A Practical Guide to Happy Hormones in Daily Life

Happiness Experience Three

 

Happy Hormones
Chapter 23 (8.56 min)
8:55
 

Happy Hormones are the second-best thing I mastered to become happy. Negative Thought Bugs were the first things I mastered, because I realized that with negative thoughts lingering in my head, I could never have a happy life. As crucial as removing negativity is, learning to be joyful is also essential. Most people understand happiness as feelings of joy, the ones you get from Happy Hormones. And there are only four Happy Hormones for you to know to make your life consciously joyful. Happy Hormones are also called “feel-good hormones.”

For example, you can go out to drink with friends and be happy. What happens within you is that your body triggers two types of Happy Hormones, oxytocin, and dopamine, which make you feel joy as follows:

• Being with friends means you feel love, bonds, and trust, so your body produces oxytocin, which translates to feeling joy.

• Drinking alcohol responsibly gives you pleasure, and your body produces dopamine. You feel joy with that experience.

Another example is having a dog. You have heard the saying that a dog is man’s best friend. Dogs bond with their owners and the owner produces oxytocin, making them happy.

Happiness is a mind and body function. Once you understand Happy Hormones, you can consciously design your activities so that you produce them in every activity. Make activities experiences that make up your joyful day.

Human Happiness Design Is the Same for Everyone

Another critical point is that Happy Hormones are common to people worldwide, irrespective of what country or culture you belong to. Nevertheless, what you do to trigger Happy Hormones could differ based on your environment and culture. The fundamentals of happiness are common to everyone in this world. For example, you become happier when you meet a friend you love. It is common for any person in the world. Each of us has different friends, and the fundamentals of happiness are the same. Another typical example is having a dog. Irrespective of culture and country, having a dog with love and bond makes humans happy.

Fundamentals of Human Happiness

I went to school for thirteen years of my life. I went to university for another four years and completed a degree. I did all the steps to get a good job and be happy—yet I did not study enough about Happy Hormones and how they can help day-to-day to design a joyful life. A solid understanding of Happy Hormones is the key to a happy and healthy life. With this knowledge, you can improve your relationships, work situation, and health, and everything else in your life.

Joy in life comes as a result of your daily DOSE of Happy Hormones:

1. Dopamine: drive, motivation, and pleasure

2. Oxytocin: bonding, trust, and love

3. Serotonin: elevated mood and self-esteem

4. Endorphins: healing and well-being

It is essential to enjoy all four types of Happy Hormones to become joyful in a balanced manner. For example, if you focus only on one area, like a dopamine-based workaholic life, your life feels joyful but you are not balanced, and you cannot experience life to the fullest.

How To Apply the Happiness DOSE

DOSE: Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, Endorphines

Allow me to share one of my happy daily-life templates so you can understand how I apply this awareness. Like any other successful person I have a schedule for each day, but I call mine a “Happiness Schedule,” not a task or meeting list. That is a distinction you should make as a Happiness Mountain climber.

 

5:00–5:30 a.m.: Morning routine

My wake-up routine is drinking a glass of warm water, light yoga, walking outside the house, feeling the morning freshness, and spending a quiet moment with nature around me. These will give me serotonin and put me in a good mood. I read my affirmations and visualize the life I want to create with Happiness Schedule. Then I get ready with a few goals for the day. Affirmations and daily goals provide the drive for the day by activating dopamine in my system. I get inspired about my day ahead.

 

5:30–7:00 a.m.: Creative time

I am an author. I write. I love writing. Before sitting down to write, I do ten minutes of meditation. Meditation and mindfully writing enhance the mood through the release of serotonin and endorphins.

 

7:00–8:00 a.m.: Connect with nature

Nature is the best healer for the mind and body. I do physical activity as much as possible, connecting with nature. I love outdoor walking or jogging. When I walk, I do not think about other things but connect with nature by simply being present. In winter, I go to the sauna or for an indoor swim. Water is part of nature, and if I do not have time to go out, I take a mindful bath. Doing all my nature activities mindfully releases serotonin, and my mood gets boosted. Activities like going to the gym or sauna or running outdoors create endorphins with lots of sweating to cleanse my body.

 

8:00–9:00 a.m.: Kids’ breakfast and getting ready for school

This is my time for serving my family. I make a nice breakfast with love for the kids and ensure they get ready to go to school on time. This activity involves people, meaning I enjoy oxytocin with love and bonding.

 

9:00–5:00 p.m.: Work time

This is all about other people and accomplishing company goals. People come first for me. Nurturing good relationships and having a cheerful time with people gives me lots of oxytocin. Then I talk about business matters with a clear and happy mind, with goals for each meeting resulting in dopamine-based joy.

More Tips

Your life is different from mine, and Happy Hormones are common for both of us. You may have a busy schedule, traveling to the office, taking care of young children, extended office hours, etc. It is essential to wake up early and have your own time to create positive energy in the morning, which will help with your mood for the day by activating serotonin.

If you have a long drive to your workplace, make that a happy experience by adding something you like: listening to a podcast or music, talking to people, enjoying a coffee, or just observing the beauty of nature.

• Listening to music gives you a good mood through the release of serotonin

• Listening to motivational podcasts gives you drive through dopamine

• Enjoying coffee gives pleasure through dopamine

• Talking to people gives you oxytocin-based joy

• Observing nature with mindfulness brings on a good mood through serotonin

Whatever life you have, you can apply Happy Hormone awareness to create joy in it.

Balancing Happy Hormones: The Key to a Joyful Life

Discover how balancing your body's Happy Hormones—serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins—can transform your wellbeing and lead to a more joyful, balanced life

Next: Balancing Happy Hormones

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