How the Four ‘Feel Good’ Chemicals help our Physical and Mental Health

The 3Ps are something I discuss in EVERY session with my clients. Building these into our days is what helps us to feel better! The 3Ps are:

• Positive actions
• Positive interactions
• Positive thoughts

Increasing our 3Ps helps us to generate beneficial neurotransmitters. These are chemical responses in the brain that support us to be mentally healthy. Let’s look at four ‘feel good’ chemicals:

• Oxytocin
• Dopamine
• Serotonin
• Endorphins

So how do these ‘feel good’ chemicals help us, how can we increase them and how does Solution Focused Hypnotherapy help?

Dopamine is the reward and motivation chemical that drives us and encourages us to repeat rewarding behaviours. It also supports movement control, learning and memory, mood regulation, and attention and focus.

Here are some of the ways we can get our dose of dopamine in a healthy way:

• Activities we enjoy 
• Regular exercise
• Self-care
• A good night’s sleep
• Working towards and completing a task
• Cleaning and taking care of our homes
• Eating healthy meals
• Reading a book
• Being creative
• Helping others

The chemicals in our brains were designed for our ancestors thousands of years ago – they had to work hard to get the motivation and reward from finding food and shelter (hence our need for slow dopamine).

In the modern world, we are faced with many ways (sometimes addictive) to get fast and immediate hits of dopamine; social media, alcohol and drugs, pornography, online shopping, gambling and eating sugary/processed foods.

Do you recognise the feeling of doom scrolling on social media, quickly followed by feeling demotivated, maybe experiencing low mood and subsequent procrastination? This is our dopamine crashing and our brain’s way of telling us that the way we got that dopamine isn’t good for us.

In my sessions I help clients to understand how our brains work and I support them to make small steps towards feeling better and living their best life! This often includes building activities into their days which help to increase slow dopamine. 

Serotonin is the mood regulating chemical which is strongly linked to our mental health. A balanced level of serotonin can help us to feel calm, relaxed and content. It also contributes to energy levels, concentration, memory, healthy sleep and digestion

That’ll be the boost of serotonin it offers, however, in the UK we spend 90% of our time indoors!

The chemicals in our brains were designed for our ancestors who of course spent the majority of their lives outdoors in nature, hunting and foraging for food.

The reduction in time spent outdoors in modern life in the UK has a huge impact on our production of serotonin, the wonderful mood regulating chemical!

• Spending time outdoors and in nature 
• Exposure to sunlight
• Exercise, especially outdoors
• Positive thinking, including journalling
• Interacting with pets

In my sessions, clients come up with small achievable steps which help them to move forward in a positive way:

• “I’ll take a break from work to appreciate my garden.”
• “I’ll set my alarm tonight and get my exercise gear ready.”
• “I will protect my quiet time at the weekend and spend lots of time in the garden.”

Hypnosis at the end of each session helps my clients to make these changes without relying on willpower!

Endorphins are the body’s natural pain relievers and can help to reduce stress and anxiety, symptoms of depression, contribute to weight loss, improve confidence and self-esteem, and even alleviate pain from childbirth!

How to increase our body’s endorphins release:

• Exercising
• Listening to music
• Meditating
• Laughing
• Exposure to ultraviolet light
• Acupuncture
• Being creative
• Using essential oils
• Eating dark chocolate

As my clients start to feel better, they often tell me about new activities they have tried, or an old hobby that they have returned to, many of which are increasing their endorphins:

• Joining a choir
• Enjoying dance classes
• Jogging
• Walking in the countryside

In my hypnocabin we increase our endorphins with the familiar scent of essential oils and often lots of laughter too!

Oxytocin is the connection chemical which is often referred to as the ‘love hormone.’ Whether our connections are friendships, romantic relationships or parent/child bonding, oxytocin doesn’t just create social connection, it fuels it! It also plays a vital role in facilitating childbirth.

• Activating our rest and digest state (the opposite to our fight, flight, freeze state)
• Reducing stress by lowering cortisol (the stress hormone)
• Reducing inflammation (often increased by chronic stress)
• Reducing anxiety

• Positive physical touch, including hugging and holding hands 
• Spending time with our family
• Socialising with our friends
• Acts of kindness
• Sharing a meal with others
• Spending time with our partner or friends doing activities we enjoy
• Cuddling pets
• Eye contact
• Exercise
• Physical relaxation

Many of my clients approach me for support with anxiety. Often this is holding them back from joining social activities and as a result they are missing out on opportunities to increase their oxytocin. They might feel stuck and unable to move forward with their plans. 

As we work together to reduce anxiety, and my clients start to feel better, they are often more confident and motivated to join in with those social activities again. This includes:

• Saying yes to social events
• Embarking on trips
• Spending evenings doing fun activities with others

If you’d like to find out more about how Solution Focused Hypnotherapy could help you to increase your ‘feel good’ chemicals and move forward from anxiety, stress, depression and many more issues, please get in touch to book your free initial consultation.