So probably everyone reading this has been happy and they've been unhappy. It's the human dilemma where you wake up one day and look in the mirror and go UGH I look terrible and other days you wake up and look in the mirror and feel great! What causes that? How come some days, or weeks, or months we are fine and other days, weeks, or months we're not! What I've found is that 1- none of the pills or diets to make me feel better were sustainable over a long period of time and 2- I simply did not have enough information about my own personal hormones to know what might be causing the ups and downs.
I started reading, researching, asking friends, talking to doctors, and I asked and read and researched and gradually came information that made perfect sense.
So let's start with the information:
There are four feel good hormones- oxytocin, dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin. While stress and cortisol, a poor diet, the side-effects from drugs and or alcohol, lack of sleep, etc. will cause us to feel anxious, depressed, etc.
Oxytocin, the love hormone, and Your brain releases the so-called love hormone whenever you touch someone (a lover, a friend, etc.). High levels of oxytocin can bolster sex drive, heighten trust, beat back stress, and lower blood pressure. It can also impair memory, which may be why "hugging it out" actually works - releasing oxytocin could essentially help you forget a fight. Estrogen greatly enhances oxytocin's effects, making women bond more intensely after sex, and making a normal touch a turn-on during ovulation.
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that helps control the brain's reward and pleasure centers. Dopamine also helps regulate movement and emotional responses, and it enables us not only to see rewards, but to take action to move toward them. Dopamine deficiency results in Parkinson's Disease, and people with low dopamine activity may be more prone to addiction. The presence of a certain kind of dopamine receptor is also associated with sensation-seeking people, more commonly called "risk takers."
Endorphins make problems look smaller and make you feel better about your life. This means happy chemicals called endorphins are made and we experience a strong feeling of pleasure. When you laugh, your body makes endorphins. Endorphins are also made by the body in response to pain or extreme physical exertion. Endorphins are similar in structure and effect to opiate drugs. Let me repeat that- Endorphins are similar in structure and effect to opiate drugs. Amazing right? Our very own drug lab in our body.
Serotonin is an important chemical and neurotransmitter in the human body. It is believed to help regulate mood and social behavior, appetite and digestion, sleep, memory, and sexual desire and function. There may be a relationship between serotonin (or lack thereof) and depression.
While serotonin is utilized in many psychological processes, one of its primary uses is in the production of melatonin. In fact, the highest concentration of serotonin is located in the pineal body which is the source of melatonin. (Weird right?)
The pineal gland is found in the brain and it produces melatonin, a serotonin-derived hormone which modulates sleep patterns in both circadian and seasonal cycles. Melatonin is particularly sensitive to light so the pineal body is at the core of the body's circadian rhythm. Melatonin also plays a role in inhibiting sexual activity and increasing body heat.
Serotonin production increases with light, yet Serotonin the hormone needs total darkness to work so your room should be dark. No night lights or cell phones, etc. No TV's on, etc.
The warning from many researchers is that depression and other mood disorders are rooted in a serotonin imbalance. Whether the brain produces too little (so not enough sunlight) of the neurotransmitter or nerve cells are unable to receive the serotonin after it is synthesized (not enough darkness while we sleep), the result is from mild to severe psychiatric distress.
Serotonin is produced in the stomach and the brain. Only the serotonin produced in the brain can affect the brain. The serotonin produced in the stomach cannot cross the blood-brain barrier. However there are foods that can cross the blood-brain barrier and cause your brain to produce serotonin. There are several ways to increase your serotonin. 1- No Artificial Light at Night. Ambient light or artificial light at night blocks the production of melatonin.
2.No LED Lights at Night. The earth's sun gives off about 25% blue light, while LED light bulbs, computer screens, cell phones and televisions give off blue light levels at about 35%. Melatonin's real job is to detoxify you, rebuild you, and rejuvenate you during the wee hours of the night.
3.Soak Up the Sun. In order for us to produce an optimal amount of melatonin, we require an optimal amount of daylight or sunlight. Melatonin levels at night are dependent on a complete shutdown of melatonin during the day. This can only be accomplished if we are exposed to extremely bright sunlight during the day. Office and homelights are 10 times darker than being in the sun. Almost daily exposure to bright daylight can significantly increase melatonin production at night. And one way to naturally boost our melatonin levels is to eat more melatonin-rich foods.
Cortisol is a steroid hormone, in the glucocorticoid class of hormones. When used as a medication, it is known as hydrocortisone. It is produced in humans by the zona fasciculata of the adrenal cortex within the adrenal gland. It is released in response to stress and low blood-glucose concentration. Cortisol is made in the adrenal cortex of the adrenal gland, which is near the kidney. Cortisol, like all steroid-based hormones, is a powerful chemical.
Stress is another factor that controls our moods. Whether it's stress at work, at home, or from our boss, our team at work, or our own inner voice constantly pushing us forward, both cortisol and stress begin to function in a weird dance where one excites the other which in turn excites the other and on and on....
If our own 4 main hormones are not functioning properly then we begin a gradual, or not so gradual, fall from the happy, balanced life we had towards something else.
There are many products available from doctors and others that advertise as being able to help with any number of conditions. Anti-depressants to pumpkin seeds are as advertised to help with a myriad of conditions. The single most helpful thing you can do is to slow down, and try to get yourself back into a rhythm that suits you.
How do you do that? You do that by taking control of every aspect of your life. You take control by dictating to those around you how you want to be treated, what you are willing to do and when, and by slowly reclaiming your own space. You become the captain of your ship. You still do your work, you still raise your family, you still do everything you always did (unless you really don't want to) and YOU become calmer and happier. It's an amazing transformation that begins with you reclaiming your life. You don't have to be mean or nasty about anything and actually being mean and nasty will not produce the effect you are trying to achieve. You are trying to achieve an inner peace and calm that allows you to function at your highest level without sacrificing your health. You simply want to Feel Good all the time.
I believe it is completely possible to feel good all the time. Yes it will take some time but getting to where you are now took some time. There's an old saying that goes like this: We teach others how to treat us. So if we allow others to talk rudely to us, or to be mean to us, or to disrespect us, then we will begin to teach them not to do that. That will take a little time. But no matter what we want to change it is possible. Change begins within us and emanates out from there. No one can stop us from doing what we want to do within our selves. This is our space. This is our domain.


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