Loretta G. Breuning joins the show to talk about how to develop healthy habits that retrain your brain and increase your feel good chemicals. Boosting these chemicals, that were once primarily used in evolutionary survival, requires a new approach in our 21st century lifestyle, and Loretta is here to tell us how.
She explains how brain chemicals are controlled by neural pathways built from past experiences, how you can build new pathways by feeding your brain new experiences, and what exactly each of our brain chemicals are designed to do. So many fascinating topics and tips discussed in todays podcast. You’ll leave with a new understanding of your brain and how you can become a happier person by using Loretta’s incredible brain boosting strategies.
What You’ll Learn
Tune into today’s podcast to hear all about:
- The purpose of each of our main neurotransmitters.
- The experiment where rats drank cocaine water until they died.
- Why your body releases cortisol so frequently.
- How to rewire your brain to release more feel good chemicals.
- How social media affects our brain, and ways to reduce its use.
- Loretta’s top tips for boosting feel good chemicals.
Transcript
Click Here! Read the transcript for #461 Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Feel Good Chemicals with Loretta G. Breuning
About Loretta G. Breuning:
Loretta G. Breuning, PhD, is Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels.
As a teacher and a parent, she was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned about the brain chemistry we share with earlier mammals and everything made sense. She began creating resources that have helped thousands of people make peace with their inner mammal. Dr. Breuning’s work has been translated into twelve languages. Before teaching, she worked for the United Nations in Africa. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Tufts.
The Inner Mammal Institute offers videos, podcasts, books, blogs, multimedia, a training program, and a free five-day happy-chemical jumpstart.
You can learn more about Loretta and her work at InnerMammalInstitute.org.
Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels
When you feel good, your brain is releasing dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, or endorphin. You want more of these great feelings because your brain is designed to seek them. But you don’t always get it, and that’s natural too. Our brain doesn’t release a happy chemical until it sees a way to meet a survival need, like food, safety, and social support. And then, you only get a quick spurt before your brain returns to neutral so it’s ready for the next “survival opportunity. ” This is why you feel up and down. It’s nature’s operating system!
Many people have habits that are bad for survival. How does that happen if our brain rewards behaviors that are good for survival? When a happy-chemical spurt is over, you feel like something is wrong. You look for a reliable way to feel good again, fast. Anything that worked before built a pathway in your brain. We all have such happy habits: from snacking to exercising, from spending to saving, from partying to solitude, from arguing to making up. But none of these habits can make you happy all the time because your brain doesn’t work that way. Every happy chemical spurt is quickly metabolized and you have to do more to get more. You can end up overdoing a happy habit to the point of unhappiness.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could turn on your happy chemicals in new ways? Wouldn’t it be nice to feel good while doing things that are actually good for you? You can, when you understand your mammal brain. Then you’ll know what turns on the happy chemicals in nature, and how your brain can substitute new habits for old ones. You can design a new happy habit and wire it into your neurons. This book helps you do that in forty-five days. You don’t need much time or money to build a new neural pathway; you need courage and focus, because you must repeat a new behavior for forty-five days whether or not it feels good.
To learn more about this incredible book, and pick up a copy, click here!
The Myers Detox Podcast was created and hosted by Dr. Wendy Myers. This podcast is for information purposes only. Statements and views expressed on this podcast are not medical advice. This podcast including Wendy Myers and the producers disclaim responsibility for any possible adverse effects from the use of information contained here-in. Opinions of guests are their own and this podcast does not endorse or accept responsibility for statements made by guests. This podcast does not make any representations or warranties about guests qualifications or credibility. Individuals on this podcast may have a direct or indirect financial interest in products or services referred to here-in. If you think you have a medical problem consult a licensed physician.
