Overthinking, busy schedules and waiting for weekends pretty much sums up our daily life.We have no time to work on ourselves and our well-being. We juggle anxiety, stress and fatigue daily and often forget that we deserve some fuel to lit life. But do we realize that whatever it needs to feel happy lies within ourselves? Well, that’s true and how!
The great philosophers have always reminded us of this famous phrase — ‘happiness lies within self.’We might never crack the real meaning of it, but all we know is this is true from a scientific perspective. Yes, your happy hormones play a vital role in stabilizing your mood, making you feel good and experiencing happiness. It gets easy to manage your mood when you are aware what triggers your happy hormones. Some simple activities can be instrumental in tricking your happy hormones to elevate your happiness quotient daily. Let us help you find the key to your happy hormones!
What are these happy hormones?
Our human body produces various hormones that define our mental state and overall being. Similarly, there are 4 major happy hormones that are responsible for kicking in happiness, mood, and feelings. These are Dopamine, Serotonin, Endorphins and Oxytocin. You must have heard about these hormones, but do you know what each of thesehormones does to your body and how to trigger them naturally with daily activities? Here’s your guide to happiness!
Dopamine- The motivating happy hormone
Doesn’t it feel really good when someone recognizes and appreciates your work at your job? Or when someone compliments you for the way you carry yourself, that nice dress you wear, or for your new haircut? Well, that good feeling you get about yourself is the dopamine hormone. Dopamine is said to play a ‘motivational role in the brain’s reward system.’You can use this trick to boost someone’s mood quickly. Appreciate them and compliment them, it helps! Sometimes you get body-shamed, someone misinterprets your actions, or a miscommunication leads to an argument; on such days, focus on activities that boost your morale and give you a happy high.
Activities that release Dopamine:
- Listening to music, singing, or playing a musical instrument would help release great amounts of dopamine in your system.
- Watching comedy movies, videos or shows with your loved ones because laughter is the medicine that cures your mood with dopamine release.
- Get power naps, and a goodnight sleep! Improve your sleep cycle
- Meditation and artistic activities
- Eating comfort food, shopping, and other such outdoorsy activities that give you ‘joy’
Serotonin- The ultimate mood stabilizer
The day gets tough when we go through stress, anxiousness, and sadness. Some days we feel these emotions strongly. Do not worry, because Serotonin release would stabilize your mood and make your day better. It is known to battle anxiety and depression. This hormone spikes the feel-good emotion in youwhich we call as ‘bliss.’Accomplishing a long-pending task and then going out to a party gives you a different sort of satisfaction, isn’t it? It’s your serotonin talking to you! There are many such day-to-day activities that spike this hormone to give you a mood boost. These activities involve a connection with the environment you are in.
Activities that release Serotonin:
- Cook your favourite meal with while listening to your favourite playlist.It feels therapeutic, diverts your mind well and oh, how can you forget the aromas that lift your senses!
- Exercisingor practising yoga in open spaces, especially in the morning.
- Hanging out with friends, partying, and getting involved in a healthy social circle
- Going out on a long drive with your best buddies
- Staying organized and in sync with your schedules
Endorphin- The natural mind healer
This is one of the peppiest hormones that is associated with runners’ high or intense physical activities and is known as a natural painkiller. Remember how we used to hop and jump when we used to win a race when we were kids? Or how we used to flap our hands in excitement when we got our favourite birthday gifts? Yes, that’s endorphins partying in your body. The level of endorphins is generally high in kids or people who are physically active like athletes, sportsmen, runners, dancers, fitness freaks, etc. The spike of this hormone is known to beat anxiousness, painful memories, and dullness in you. Also, endorphins are directly proportional to your confidence level. The more confidence, the more endorphin released!
Activities that release Endorphins:
- Playing your favourite sport
- Indulging in high-energy workouts like gym, cardio, running, dancing, Zumba, etc
- Dancing or performing arts in public as it boosts your confidence
- Getting your tasks done on time or before time
Oxytocin- The love hormone
Falling in love is a great feeling. Your mind woos you with its tricks, makes you smile even when you’re alone, makes you relate to the lyrics of most love songs, gives you butterflies when you see your loved oneand WHAT NOT! These are the oxytocin levels giving you aeuphoric experience that nothing else can!When someone cares for you, brings you flowers, sends you a lovely gift, hugs you, holds your hand or kisses you—you experience oxytocin release. We all love intimacy and being taken care of. This hormone has a lot to do with filling up the lacunae of emotions through physical intimacy.
Activities that release Oxytocin:
- Meeting your best friends often
- Self-care activities like body spas, hair spa, facial and salon dates with self
- Indulging in soft and caring physical touch like holding hands, kissing, hugging and physical intimacy
- Watching romantic, feel good or inspiring movies
- Playing with pets or watching pet videos
Your takeaway:
When you know your keys to happiness, it becomes easier to create a space that you love to live in. Take responsibility for your well-being and sail better through life because you are your own saviour!
