“Happiness is free” is a saying heard across the world. Truly you can determine to be happy and to stay happy. Being happy is controlled by a hormone in the body. Hormones are produced in different glands across the human body. Hormones also play a significant part in bodily processes. The happy hormones trigger happiness and yes! Couple of times people say if you don’t smile and you frown always, you are killing millions of cells in your body. When you are happy, you smile and laugh thereby saving millions of cells. Learning to stimulate the production of happy hormones sounds fascinating and exciting, let’s delve into it.
What Are Happy Hormones? How To Boost Them?
Happy hormones are hormones known to promote positive feelings in the body such as happiness and pleasure. These happy hormones include the following:
Dopamine
This is known as the feel good hormone, it is a neurotransmitter which serves as a reward system in your brain. It is known to be associated with sensational pleasures, accompanied with memory, learning and lots more!
Serotonin
This hormone and neurotransmitter are responsible for regulating mood, including your sleep, appetite, digestion, learning ability and memory.
Oxytocin
This hormone is known as the love hormone which is often being made use of during childbirth, breastfeeding, and strong parent to child bonding. In relationships, oxytocin is responsible for helping to promote trust, bonding and empathy in relationships. When physical affection develops, the level of this hormone keeps increasing.
Endorphins
This hormone is produced in response to stress or discomfort. It is a natural pain relieving mechanism. The levels of this hormone increases when activities such as eating, having sex or working out are carried out.
Progesterone
It is primarily present in women and it helps in calming anxiety, regulating good sleep and preventing mood swings.
Factors That Promote The Production Of Happiness Hormones
Stimulating your happy hormones should be something worth doing everyday, to clear stress, anxiety to promote happiness and pleasure. Learn them below
Set a regular exercise routine
Engaging in exercise activities helps to release endorphins; a natural pain reliever. When you exercise, it helps to boost physical and mental health in various ways. Exercising doesn’t necessarily have to be specified to the gym but it can include taking a walk, hiking, dancing, swimming, or jogging.
Laugh Always
Constant laugh is an antidote to stress reduction. It also helps to produce serotonin. Laughing is indeed an excellent medicine. Laughing uplifts your mood and creates a positive mindset. Try to get involved in actions that trigger laughter such as watching comedy movies or pitting your humorous stories into writing and read it to brighten your mood and help you stay positive.
Create time to meditate
To become more conscious of your body and health, engage in mindfulness and meditation to help you slow down mentally, so you can put everything in place. Meditating help to increase dopamine and this has been found to be very helpful as it can make you more focus, increase your attention span and make you fully concentrative.
Eat food that can boost hormones
Improving your mood and ability to concentrate is as essential as eating a nutrient dense food. Try to consume dark chocolate because they contain tyramine; the amino acid that creates dopamine. Other foods like yoghurt, almonds and eggs can also help to release dopamine. Also foods like oat, peanuts and tuna have high tryptophan that increases serotonin levels.
Hugging or kissing a loved one
Hugs and kissing indicate a sign of tender affection, kindness and protection. So when we do this among people we love, it will ignite and create a beautiful memory. It will help to boost any hormones such as endorphins, dopamine and oxytocin.
Closing thoughts
Incorporate these tips into your daily life to help stimulate your happy hormones and stay happy always. Having a good feeling promotes good pleasures, making a successful day and time worth spending.
If you set out time to practise the above, you certainly live a fulfilling profound life of happiness. Remember to always exercise. Engage in activities that will put smiles on your face. Inculcate the habit of constant meditation, it will be good seeing yourself glow everyday as a reflection of stimulating your happy hormones.