Happiness: How to Excite Your Pleasure Hormones to BE Happy More

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Jeneth Blackert, One of Thousands of Career Coaches on Noomii.

I’ve been inspired by several clients and I thought I would do some homework and research about what I call, “Choosing from the Space of Pleasure,” instead of what you’ve defined pleasure, happiness, excitement or even stress and fear to be.

Have you had one of those moments of fear where you reacted and ran from the fear, but deep inside you knew you were instead overly excited about the possibilities? At those moments of intensity, hormones are secreted by a specialized neuron into the bloodstream; common names include: Cortisol, serotonin, oxytocin and dopamine. When this happens we are in a state of high arousal, and one of two hormones are usually firing – it depends on how you react to the state of intensity – oxytocin or cortisol. These two hormones have a love-hate relationship: When we react in fear, we activate cortisol. When we are in touch with the sensations within, we activate oxytocin.

Now, the cool part! Studies have shown that oxytocin could be a hidden key to fat loss and a whole slew of other benefits. Interestingly enough, when cortisol is fired, your body reacts in the exact opposite manner: your immune system weakens and over time, the number of your brain cells decreases.

What if there are hidden benefits to stress and your differing reactions to it are the key to unlocking fat loss and more happiness / pleasure hormones?

Arousal: Open the Lands of Possibility by Destroying your Limitations

Arousal refers to the heightened response you feel when in the presence of the basic necessities: Fighting, fleeing, feeding and fornication.

For the most part, our habits, behaviors, and the way we function in the world is entrained largely through familial and social influence. Our parents teach us how to exist in the world, and we grow up believing that that is the only way. This entrainment keeps us looking socially for validation from others, instead of simply being ourselves. After time, we remain trapped in a constant reactive state where we are seeking to know who we are through other people’s viewpoints instead of trusting ourselves.

“If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid” ~ Albert Einstein.

What if instead of worrying about what’s wrong and harping on all of your problems, you acknowledged your body’s response and asked yourself a question about it. “What am I aware of here?” Increasing your awareness and actively taking part in developing your brain’s capabilities aid in altering perspective and weight loss. You can change your perspective and a bunch of healthy physiological responses will follow, including a higher degree of gratitude and personal freedom.

The Biology: Arousal Inside Your Body

Our arousal reactions start when the amygdala – a set of neurons located deep in the brain’s medial temporal lobe, that are linked to fear responses, happiness and pleasure) – sends a distress signal, letting your brain know that it needs to be alert. Reacting to the distress signal, the hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system by sending electrical impulses to the adrenal glands.

BOOM! Adrenal glands quickly pump epinephrine (an adrenaline hormone) into our bloodstream, which causes our heart to pump faster, elevating blood pressure. To cope with the increase in blood pressure, our breathing rate and oxygen intake increase, in an effort to boost energy. At this point, all five senses are heightened.

Now, this is when your choice comes in. When you choose to acknowledge the body when it’s under stress and view it as a good thing, your body responds appropriately…

Be-ology: How Active Arousal Delivers Personal Freedom

As you can see from our biological response to arousal, our body’s response to fear and pleasure is similar. When you acknowledge this response, you have the power to use it to your benefit.

Take a moment to be with this:

Could it be possible that everything you’ve concluded about fear, excitement, happiness, desire and pleasure was in fact the opposite and not what you decided it actually is?

How often do you identify a feeling as depression, anxiety or fear when it’s actually something else?

Would you be willing to let go of those identities and conclusions?

Imagine for a minute what your life would be like if you didn’t feel as if you had to fight or defend anything. What if you had no fear? What would you do differently?

Now, would you be willing to choose to BE with sensations of happiness, pleasure, and excitement, and explore it?

When you hit reactive and resistant moments – and you aren’t experiencing fear or danger – what if instead, you stopped and asked yourself a couple of questions?

Here are a few questions to start with:

Our reptilian brain is single-minded: You can choose what you wish. Now, you have the key for more pleasure, arousal, and healthy benefits including weight loss; why not open the door? Choice is the key.