If a brand promises that you’ll feel good after drinking their zero calorie refreshment, it’s usually not true.
Feeling good comes from a series of habits not a quick fix whether sugar filled or sugar free, these “feel good kicks” are simply cutting corners.
If you are going to listen to anyone about what makes you feel good, it should be phycologists, after all they’re the ones who have dedicated their lives to studying human behaviours.
The single key to feeling good
Harvard Phycologist Shawn Achor reveals, backed up by decades of research all pointing to the same thing, that there’s one particular element to feeling joyful that you might not be aware of.
Achor’s research suggest that feeling joyful is all about generating dopamine in the brain. Dopamine has a significant influence on our feelings of happiness, wellbeing and mood. It’s crucial to our happiness and joy. Low levels of Dopamine is associated with things like low mood and depression, pain, loneliness, stress and anxiety.
Therefore, to feel good, our focus needs to be on activating the levels of Dopamine in the brain. Here are some invaluable tips to naturally and effectively boost our brans Dopamine levels;
1. Exercise
Im not surprised by this one. We all know that exercise is good for us but this is not just for weight loss reasons. An intensive workout boosts dopamine, endorphins and serotonin, quite literally a cocktail of neurotransmitters that exist to make you feel good. Go on you’re worth it.
2. Checklist tasks
Guess what? Research has shown that dopamine is released whenever we complete a task and it doesn’t matter how big or small that goal was!
When we see a tick next to a task on our to-do list, it makes us happy – so aim to complete at least one task every day for a sure way to fire up your Dopamine.
3. Focus on something you feel passionate about
Have you ever noticed that you become hyper-focused when you’re doing something that you really enjoy, or at the very least really care about? Phycologists say that during these times we enter a phycological state called “flow”. I have written about this here.
It goes without saying that this period of flow is incredibly satisfying and uplifting for our brain, so indulge in tasks that you can enjoy.
4. Increase Tyrosine
Of all of the chemicals that make up Dopamine, the most important is Tyrosine. Tyrosine is the building block of Dopamine and can be found in the following foods; Bananas, Beef, Chicken, Green Tea, Watermelon, Yogurt, Coffee, Almonds
5. Listen to music
Scientific research shows that music increases our levels of Dopamine. So blast your favourite song and let the music heal your mood on a low day.
To read more about how to boost your Dopamine, read this helpful blog here.