D.O.S.E. – The Happy Brain Chemicals that Make You Feel Good

The Benefits of Happiness

1. Improved overall health
   • improved heart health and lower risk of heart disease
   • the ability to combat the stress hormone cortisol
   • stronger immune system so you’re less like to get sick
   • a healthier lifestyle such as physical activity and sleep habits
   • can help reduce aches and pain of those with chronic conditions
   • increase life longevity
2. Improved creativity and problem-solving skills
3. Benefiting the community through involvement with charities
4. Having more positive relationships with those around you
5. Being able to enjoy life more and get through life challenges easier
6. Being happy with what you have

What are the Happiness Chemicals

When you feel good, your brain is releasing one of the happiness chemicals or happy hormones. There are four main happiness brain chemicals:

1. Dopamine
2. Oxytocin
3. Serotonin
4. Endorphins

Each chemical has a job to do and when your brain releases one of these chemicals, you feel good. It would be great if they all surged all the time. However, it does not work this way. Once the chemical has done its job, it will turn off, leaving you with a desire for more. By understanding how these chemicals work, we can better improve our overall happiness by tapping into each of the four happiness chemicals.

3. SEROTONIN

Serotonin rewards you with a good feeling when you feel significant or important. It is the pleasure you get when you experience social power, loyalty, or status.

It results from finding opportunities to assert or prevail. This is not aggressive, rather it is a calm form of confidence and accepting yourself within the people around you.

Serotonin is what motivates a leader to excel and grow. It not only motivates you but your peers to do the same. The feeling of not letting down their leader, parent, or teacher is what causes this motivation.

How Serotonin Deficiency Affects You

• Low self-esteem
• Being overly sensitive and emotional
• Anxiety and panic attacks
• Mood swings
• Depression and feeling hopeless
• Social phobia
• Obsessive-compulsive disorders
• Insomnia

How to Increase Serotonin Levels Naturally

• Exercise (increases serotonin and dopamine, but also helps balance them)
• Cold showers (2-3 mins of cold showers can be unpleasant but offers great benefits that have longer-lasting effects than compared to caffeine)
• Sunshine (10-15 minutes of sunlight a day can increase serotonin and vitamin D)
• Eating foods such as banana, eggs, omega-3 fish, nuts and seeds, leafy greens, and probiotics
• Getting a massage (increases serotonin and decreases cortisol)

CrossFit GBAR3 WOD 11.16.22

STRENGTH
squat clean 10 x 1

WOD
10-8-6-4-2
DB hang power cleans, 45/30
shoot-throughs

AWOD
20 GHD hip extensions and GHD sit ups