Inspired by the book Meet Your Happy Chemicals (by Loretta G. Breuning, PhD), community member Irina wrote about four hormones associated with positive feelings and applying them to community work. Read on for ways our happy chemicals are accessed by working together on priority projects for maintenance and development at Sirius Ecovillage.
JP stands for Joyful Productivity, which is how we refer to our weekly Saturday morning community workday- which is open to the public! Check out our recent JP video here.
We all have four happy chemicals:
- Dopamine
- Serotonin
- Oxytocin
- Endorphin
Dopamine gives you the “I got it!” feeling.
Working towards a goal with positive expectations stimulates dopamine, which makes us feel good and happy. Achieving results and trying to do new things also promotes dopamine. So, try doing different tasks such as working in the garden using new tools, riding a tractor, etc.
In the end, achieving any results, like seeing a clean space in the Community Center (CC), a weeded garden bed, or a finished circle of firewood will definitely give you some pleasurable dopamine.
Serotonin flows when you feel important.
This brain weʼve inherited strives to feel important because that promotes survival in a natural state. It releases when we feel respected by others and shown that our opinion matters. Of course contributing to the maintenance and development of our community’s infrastructure and natural resources will spark the flow of serotonin.
Do you have any ideas of how to tap into more serotonin? Share!
Oxytocin is the feeling of trust.
Social trust feels good because social alliances promote survival. We feel good when we are around people with shared characteristics and/or values, and when we are in a safe space.
Connecting at the morning circle and working together with trust and respect for each other will make us happier because of the oxytocin release.
Endorphins provide a brief euphoria that masks physical pain.
Endorphins helped our ancestors access relief when injured.
Laughing and crying stimulate small bursts of endorphin, as well as some physical work!
Digging the trench, working with wood and most of our JP tasks require some physical work, which gets our blood flowing, delivering oxygen to our organs, thus making them happy and young.
This is science as seen through JP, where you’ll find all the opportunities to increase your happiness, even if your body releases only one of the listed hormones.
P.S. There is a secret fifth hormone, very powerful. It’s called “lunch”.
Based on a book Meet Your Happy Chemicals by Loretta G. Breuning, PhD