Hormones of Happiness...

Rohit’s exams are in progress and most of my time goes with him. I sit with him for preparing for all the subjects including French and Hindi!!! (Many of you know why I have highlighted those subjects J,  Google is my savior). He was so mischievous while preparing for Science exam, so my husband got angry and said “Rohit, you are troubling her so much. Next time I see you doing this, you will get nice beatings from me”. Rohit responded saying “Daddy, please remember Newton’s third law of motion”.  My husband could not hold his anger any more, he smiled and hugged him and I could sense that his Cortisol level reduced and his Oxytocin level went up.

Yes, I watched Simon Sinek’s talk in 99U on “Why leaders eat last” I really liked it very much and learnt few things about the Chemicals which get produced in our body.

Endorphin - the Pain masking Chemical

Dopamine - the joy of finding what you seek.

Serotonin - the security of social dominance

Oxytocin - the safety of social bonds - Love, Trust, Friend

These are called Hormones of Happiness or even Leadership Hormones. These are very essential hormones, absence or reduction of their levels will have major impact for us. Here are the possible impacts when the level goes down:

Endorphin – Increases anxiety and makes you more aware of pain

Dopamine - Procrastination, self-doubt, and lack of enthusiasm

Serotonin - chances of getting depression

Oxytocin – Stress and depression

OK, now we know that maintaining the levels of these Hormones are very important, is there a way to increase the level? Yes, there are few simple ways to increase these Happiness Hormones and keep our-self happy

Endorphin – Regular Exercise!! I know that is little tough. Other ways are: to have some sense of humor, sharing jokes and even dark chocolate will help

Dopamine – As this is related to accomplishing goals, ensure you have short term goals. Achieving the short term goals and celebrating (can be a simple pat on your back) will ensure continuous flow of Dopamine.

Serotonin – Reflect on the past successes. I do this a lot; I have a separate folder in my Inbox which contains few appreciation mails which I have received so far. On a stressful day, I will spend some 10 minutes to read few of them and feel fresh J

Oxytocin – This is also called as Cuddle Hormone. Simple act of Hand shake and hug can help. I read somewhere that kids require at least 8 hugs per day.

One last Hormone about which we should know is Cortisol, the stress hormone which helps us deal with stress. Whenever we are in a place where we don’t feel we belong to (For some it can be Office, for some in can be home, for someone else it can be party), we have high level of Cortisol all the time, which is not at all good for our body, it impacts our digestion. So keeping Cortisol in control is important.

If you have time, please watch this video of Simon Sinek. Good one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReRcHdeUG9Y