Doctors and psychologists figured out how to always feel happy

When do we feel happy? When we win the competition. When we buy our own apartment. When the child takes the first steps. When… You can easily continue this row. Our body in response to these events – significant in our lives – produces hormones of happiness, we experience delight, euphoria, we fly. But this doesn’t happen often. However, it is in our power to try to become happy, as they say, on a regular basis.

There are only four happiness hormones: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphin.

Dopamine is produced at the synapses of neurons in the brain. It is considered a reward hormone and has related functions: it helps women feel attractive and men feel confident in their sexual abilities; makes sexual satisfaction bright; stimulates willpower, initiative and concentration in achieving the goal until successful completion and receiving a reward; increases the pleasure of delicious food, favorite activities, communication with loved ones.

By the way, the production of dopamine starts long before the event – from the awareness of the approaching joy. You are just going to the store for a new dress, and the hormone has already begun to flow into the blood. Maybe that’s why the anticipation of the holiday is sometimes brighter and more pleasant than the holiday itself?

So, dopamine will be high if you eat delicious food, but exclude saturated fats. Physical activity and quality sleep are essential. Dopamine instantly responds to a beautiful dream and a magical fantasy. Yes, there is also a volcanic release of dopamine during intimacy.

What inhibits the production of dopamine? According to psychologist Gulnara Khakimova, this is done by negative thoughts: “Some unfavorable comments are rushing through my head in the voice of a boss or even a passerby, whom we don’t care about. And we replay the annoying situation in our head over and over again, trying to come up with decent answers. Therefore, the ability to track and choose what we think about affects our feeling of happiness. Negative thoughts must be turned off by willpower. It’s possible. You just need to practice a little.”

Serotonin is an antidepressant hormone, 95% of which is produced in the intestines and only 5% in the brain. Who would have thought that the basis of our positive mood is located there! Although the way to a man’s heart, as we remember, lies through the stomach.

Indeed, good digestion is the basis for the proper production of serotonin. Irina Gavrilina, a fitness instructor and nutritionist, advises: “Eat enough fiber, try to eat fruits, vegetables, berries and herbs of different colors. This is how you can maintain the balance of vitamins and minerals. Pay attention to offal, this is a source of complete protein, iron, B vitamins.

You also need foods high in tryptophan, magnesium, B vitamins, omega-3 acids. Please note: coffee and alcohol reduce the level of the hormone and its production.

It is important to eat less sweets. It is believed that cravings for sweets are a sign of a lack of serotonin. Serotonin loves dark chocolate.

One of the main requirements for increasing serotonin production is good posture. Don’t let yourself slouch! If a person does not straighten his shoulders, walks with his head down, the level of the antidepressant hormone drops.

If the level of serotonin is normal, the person is active, self-confident, he can do anything. Vital forces are overflowing, the mood is wonderful. It has been noticed: such people achieve success and take everything from life to the fullest.

Oxytocin is the hormone of attachment. It is produced in the hypothalamus but stored in the pituitary gland. We can say that this substance is the “winner” of two Nobel Prizes. The first was awarded for the discovery of the hormone, and the second for its synthesis.

Oxytocin is very necessary for women in labor and nursing mothers. It is to him that we owe the emergence of love, sympathy, emotional attachment, warmth in relationships. It also helps to cope with stress.

Intimacy and orgasm, hugs, communication with loved ones and relatives, gentle touches, a sense of trust contribute to the production of oxytocin. Relaxing massage and stimulation of the halos of the female breast also help.

Endorphins, or rather endorphins, are the hormones of love. These are several similar chemical compounds that are produced by the neurons of the brain. They help to cope with pain and stress; healing, accelerate tissue regeneration; receiving emotional reward in the form of euphoria if a person emerged victorious from a difficult situation; help to form imaginative thinking, reveal creativity and fantasy.

Endorphins love everything we love: intimacy, delicious food, dreaming about something pleasant, watching your favorite movie, lying in the sun. Ultraviolet increases the level of endorphins in the body. Maybe that’s why we love sunbathing so much?

Denmark has a Happiness Research Institute. And there it was precisely established that the greatest misfortune is loneliness. When there is no person with whom you maintain a trusting relationship. Loneliness is even worse than physical weakness. People are only happy when they have family and friends. So love your family, make more friends, help them. It has been established that not those who are helped live longer and happier, but those who help.

Sean Achor is one of the creators of the most popular course on happiness at Harvard University. According to him, going to a concert, a restaurant or a sports match brings more pleasure and pleasant impressions than new clothes or equipment. Those who believe that these are unnecessary expenses are completely wrong. Yulia Korchagina-Ozcan, an expert in building business relationships, says: “In fact, happiness is inner freedom and calmness associated with confidence in one’s own strengths and capabilities. This is what makes us virtually invulnerable.”

Give gifts from the heart. Choose carefully, think over what your loved one will be happy with. According to the Journal of Happiness Studies, people experience more positive emotions when they shop for others.

The advice to spend more time outdoors is international. Just 20 minutes outside in fine weather even boosts your mental capacity. This is your chance to deal with problems and be rewarded with euphoria.

The American Meteorological Society has studied the dependence of mood on outdoor temperature. It turned out that the happiest person feels at a temperature of 13.9 ° C. Nature certainly does not have bad weather.

Smile! The brain responds by releasing endorphins and oxytocin. This is called feedback: the muscle tension that creates a smile on the face changes the mood.