Podcasts about endorphin levels

Susun Weed answers 90 minutes of herbal health questions followed by a 30 minute interview with Author Loretta Breuning. Loretta Breuning, PhD, is Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels.   As a teacher and a parent, she was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned about the brain chemistry we share with earlier mammals and everything made sense. She began creating resources that have helped thousands of people make peace with their inner mammal. Dr. Breuning's work has been translated into sixteen languages and is cited in major media. Before teaching, she worked for the United Nations in Africa. Loretta gives zoo tours on animals behavior, after serving as a Docent at the Oakland Zoo. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Tufts. The Inner Mammal Institute offers videos, podcasts, books, blogs, multimedia, a training program, and a free five-day happy-chemical jumpstart. Details are available at InnerMammalInstitute.org.

Disclaimer: We were having difficulties with our audio. We apologize for the poor sound quality. Loretta Breuning, PhD, is Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels. As a teacher and a parent, she was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned about the brain chemistry we share with earlier mammals and everything made sense. She began creating resources that have helped thousands of people make peace with their inner mammal. Dr. Breuning's work has been translated into sixteen languages and is cited in major media. Before teaching, she worked for the United Nations in Africa. Loretta gives zoo tours on animals behavior, after serving as a Docent at the Oakland Zoo. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Tufts. The Inner Mammal Institute offers videos, podcasts, books, blogs, multimedia, a training program, and a free five-day happy-chemical jumpstart. Details are available at InnerMammalInstitute.org. Website: https://innermammalinstitute.org Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LorettaBreuningPhD X: https://twitter.com/InnerMammal Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/inner.mammal.inst/ Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/InnerMammalInstitute Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorettabreuning/ New book: Why You're Unhappy: Biology vs Politics https://innermammalinstitute.org/why Promo Code: 20% off my course with the code HAPPY20 https://innermammalinstitute.org/course

Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD is the author of Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels. She founded the Inner Mammal Institute to help people build new neural pathways to turn on their happy chemicals in new ways. Relevant links:https://www.ergogenic.health/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How does the fact that we are definitively mammals inform us on our happiness pathways? Our long ancient history as mammals can tell us about how we operate in the world, what makes us happy, the duration of happiness vs other states, and how we can help rewire our brain for a happier existence!Loretta G. Breuning, PhD, is Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels. As a teacher and a parent, she was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned about the brain chemistry we share with earlier mammals and everything made sense.She began creating resources that have helped thousands of people make peace with their inner mammal. Dr. Breuning's work has been translated into twelve languages and is cited in major media. Before teaching, she worked for the United Nations in Africa. Loretta gives zoo tours on animals behavior, after serving as a Docent at the Oakland Zoo. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Tufts. The Inner Mammal Institute offers videos, podcasts, books, blogs, multimedia, a training program, and a free five-day happy-chemical jumpstart. Details are available at Innermammalinstitute.orgIn this episode, Dr. Breuning enlightens us on these interesting subjects and shares memorable animal stories. She delves into the limbic brain, the functions of various neurotransmitters, and what triggers us to be happy, along with what the hidden needs are in us…To Connect With Dr. Loretta Breuning:https://innermammalinstitute.org/To Connect With Dr. Joy Kong:http://drjoykong.com/Watch Video Episodes on YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZj1GQBWFM5sRAL0iQfcMAQFollow Dr. Joy Kong on Social Media:https://www.instagram.com/dr_joy_kong/https://www.facebook.com/stemcelldrjoyhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/joy-kong-md-4b8627123/For more information about anti-aging regenerative medicine treatment visit:https://uplyftcenter.com *Our content is for informational purposes only and should not be treated as medical or health advice. Please consult with your doctor / healthcare provider if you have any questions about your medical conditions.*

Have you ever felt socially awkward or anxious in a crowd? Do you find relief in consuming substances, certain foods and sugary treats? Well guess what? You're FAR from alone! And better yet, we have a fun solution for you! My esteemed guest today, JW Ross is a lifelong innovator and inventor of Botanic Tonic's “Feel Free” plant-based tonic. He started his career as a Texas oilman who experienced immense corporate success that was tainted with alcohol addiction. After hitting rock bottom and going to rehab, JW purged alcohol from his life and completely pivoted his career. He went on life-changing trips to the South Pacific and Southeast Asia, where he discovered botanical plant medicines whose ingredients have been used socially and in wellness for centuries. After discovering these plants, JW dedicated his life to finding a herbal solution that would replace alcohol and still give him a euphoric lift with a positive impact. He home-tested many concoctions, finally finding the perfect recipe that turned into the feel free tonic recipe. I'm very grateful to JW and Botanic Tonics for offering Awakening Aphrodite listeners and viewers a 40% discount off your first purchase! Just use the promo codes below at check out or visit my e-store to purchase: FITAMYTV for capsules!FITAMYTV40 for tonic! You can learn more about JW's amazing products at botanictonics.com (or their Instagram) and more about the man himself at ⁠jw-ross.com⁠. If you enjoyed this episode, you will also LOVE Episode 4: Creating Happy Brain Chemicals and Healthy Habits By Boosting Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels with Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD and Episode 72: Connecting at the Heart-Level, Fostering Better Relationships, Loving With Detachment and Healing Addictions with Nonviolent Communication and Wayland Myers, PhD TIME STAMPS 00:00:00 Beginning of Episode 00:12:44 JW's Story 00:20:45 Social Anxiety 00:24:34 Breaking The Cycle 00:27:57 Cardboard Angels 00:33:09 Stepping Out Of The Box 00:39:39 The Hour Between Dog And Wolf 00:44:33 Fast And Slow Decisions 00:48:54 Natural Stress Relief 00:55:23 Feel Free 00:59:07 Sourcing Kava 01:03:49 Addiction 01:08:23 FDA Corruption 01:14:20 Get The “F” Out Of The FDA Movement 01:16:59 Silence Is Compliance 01:20:47 Admiring vs Desiring 01:26:01 Botanic Tonics Sharing your kind thoughts & feedback in a review is the ULTIMATE way to support Awakening Aphrodite. You can also jump on Amy's email list and follow her updates at @FitAmyTV. Find out more at amyfournier.com and watch this episode on YouTube at Awakening Aphrodite Podcast/FitAmyTV! For special discounts on Amy's FAVORITE products, visit her estore.

Have you ever felt socially awkward or anxious in a crowd? Do you find relief in consuming substances, certain foods and sugary treats? Well guess what? You're FAR from alone! And better yet, we have a fun solution for you! My esteemed guest today, JW Ross is a lifelong innovator and inventor of Botanic Tonic's “Feel Free” plant-based tonic. He started his career as a Texas oilman who experienced immense corporate success that was tainted with alcohol addiction. After hitting rock bottom and going to rehab, JW purged alcohol from his life and completely pivoted his career. He went on life-changing trips to the South Pacific and Southeast Asia, where he discovered botanical plant medicines whose ingredients have been used socially and in wellness for centuries. After discovering these plants, JW dedicated his life to finding a herbal solution that would replace alcohol and still give him a euphoric lift with a positive impact. He home-tested many concoctions, finally finding the perfect recipe that turned into the feel free tonic recipe. I'm very grateful to JW and Botanic Tonics for offering Awakening Aphrodite listeners and viewers a 40% discount off your first purchase! Just use the promo codes below at check out or visit my e-store to purchase: FITAMYTV for capsules!FITAMYTV40 for tonic! You can learn more about JW's amazing products at botanictonics.com (or their Instagram) and more about the man himself at ⁠jw-ross.com⁠. If you enjoyed this episode, you will also LOVE Episode 4: Creating Happy Brain Chemicals and Healthy Habits By Boosting Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels with Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD and Episode 72: Connecting at the Heart-Level, Fostering Better Relationships, Loving With Detachment and Healing Addictions with Nonviolent Communication and Wayland Myers, PhD TIME STAMPS 00:00:00 Beginning of Episode 00:12:44 JW's Story 00:20:45 Social Anxiety 00:24:34 Breaking The Cycle 00:27:57 Cardboard Angels 00:33:09 Stepping Out Of The Box 00:39:39 The Hour Between Dog And Wolf 00:44:33 Fast And Slow Decisions 00:48:54 Natural Stress Relief 00:55:23 Feel Free 00:59:07 Sourcing Kava 01:03:49 Addiction 01:08:23 FDA Corruption 01:14:20 Get The “F” Out Of The FDA Movement 01:16:59 Silence Is Compliance 01:20:47 Admiring vs Desiring 01:26:01 Botanic Tonics Sharing your kind thoughts & feedback in a review is the ULTIMATE way to support Awakening Aphrodite. You can also jump on Amy's email list and follow her updates at @FitAmyTV. Find out more at amyfournier.com and watch this episode on YouTube at Awakening Aphrodite Podcast/FitAmyTV! For special discounts on Amy's FAVORITE products, visit her estore.

Have you ever felt socially awkward or anxious in a crowd? Do you find relief in consuming substances, certain foods and sugary treats? Well guess what? You're FAR from alone! And better yet, we have a fun solution for you! My esteemed guest today, JW Ross is a lifelong innovator and inventor of Botanic Tonic's “Feel Free” plant-based tonic. He started his career as a Texas oilman who experienced immense corporate success that was tainted with alcohol addiction. After hitting rock bottom and going to rehab, JW purged alcohol from his life and completely pivoted his career. He went on life-changing trips to the South Pacific and Southeast Asia, where he discovered botanical plant medicines whose ingredients have been used socially and in wellness for centuries. After discovering these plants, JW dedicated his life to finding a herbal solution that would replace alcohol and still give him a euphoric lift with a positive impact. He home-tested many concoctions, finally finding the perfect recipe that turned into the feel free tonic recipe. I'm very grateful to JW and Botanic Tonics for offering Awakening Aphrodite listeners and viewers a 40% discount off your first purchase! Just use the promo codes below at check out or visit my e-store to purchase: FITAMYTV for capsules!FITAMYTV40 for tonic! You can learn more about JW's amazing products at botanictonics.com (or their Instagram) and more about the man himself at ⁠jw-ross.com⁠. If you enjoyed this episode, you will also LOVE Episode 4: Creating Happy Brain Chemicals and Healthy Habits By Boosting Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels with Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD and Episode 72: Connecting at the Heart-Level, Fostering Better Relationships, Loving With Detachment and Healing Addictions with Nonviolent Communication and Wayland Myers, PhD TIME STAMPS 00:00:00 Beginning of Episode 00:12:44 JW's Story 00:20:45 Social Anxiety 00:24:34 Breaking The Cycle 00:27:57 Cardboard Angels 00:33:09 Stepping Out Of The Box 00:39:39 The Hour Between Dog And Wolf 00:44:33 Fast And Slow Decisions 00:48:54 Natural Stress Relief 00:55:23 Feel Free 00:59:07 Sourcing Kava 01:03:49 Addiction 01:08:23 FDA Corruption 01:14:20 Get The “F” Out Of The FDA Movement 01:16:59 Silence Is Compliance 01:20:47 Admiring vs Desiring 01:26:01 Botanic Tonics Sharing your kind thoughts & feedback in a review is the ULTIMATE way to support Awakening Aphrodite. You can also jump on Amy's email list and follow her updates at @FitAmyTV. Find out more at amyfournier.com and watch this episode on YouTube at Awakening Aphrodite Podcast/FitAmyTV! For special discounts on Amy's FAVORITE products, visit her estore.

All human beings have an animal brain inside us, and those brains get wired by our experiences - good or bad. We're pre-programmed by how we're wired in childhood and puberty, and it can be really difficult to rewire them - whether we're trying to learn new habits or integrate past trauma.   How do we retrain our brains the right way? Is the pursuit of constant joy a recipe for misery?   In this episode, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute, Dr. Loretta Bruening shares how the brain works and how we can change the way we think and behave by tapping into our inner mammal.   Your neurons are not connected when you're born, they connect from experience. -Dr. Loretta Bruening   Three Things We Learned    - You're not designed to always be in a state of pure joyAre human beings creating more misery by having unrealistic expectations about our emotions?    - How to learn a new language as an adultCan we learn something from dog trainers?   - The truth about our deeply-rooted behaviorsAre we pre-programmed with the survival instincts of your ancestors?   Guest Bio   Loretta G. Breuning, PhD, is the founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels. As a teacher and a parent, she was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned about the brain chemistry we share with earlier mammals and everything made sense. She began creating resources that have helped thousands of people make peace with their inner mammal. Dr. Breuning's work has been translated into twelve languages and is cited in major media. Before teaching, she worked for the United Nations in Africa. Loretta gives zoo tours on animal behavior, after serving as a Docent at the Oakland Zoo. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Tufts. The Inner Mammal Institute offers videos, podcasts, books, blogs, multimedia, a training program, and a free five-day happy-chemical jumpstart. For more information, head to InnerMammalInstitute.org.

Loretta G. Breuning, PhD, is Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels. ---------- Follow me on Instagram Subscribe to the free “Happy, Healthy Newsletter" https://innermammalinstitute.org/podcast/ YT https://www.youtube.com/innermammalinstitute FB @LorettaBreuningPhD Tw @innermammal Insta @inner.mammal.inst LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorettabreuning/

Loretta G. Breuning, PhD, is Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels. ---------- Follow me on Instagram Subscribe to the free “Happy, Healthy Newsletter" https://innermammalinstitute.org/podcast/ YT https://www.youtube.com/innermammalinstitute FB @LorettaBreuningPhD Tw @innermammal Insta @inner.mammal.inst LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorettabreuning/

Have you been wondering how to manage anxiety, especially in midlife? Dr. Loretta Breuning is here to provide us with the answers! Join us on the latest episode of The Hormone Prescription Podcast and learn how the lessons from the mammalian kingdom can help us all have a happy brain. Not only will you learn about how hormones work within our bodies, but also gain insight into how simple changes in our environment can drastically change the way we feel.   Dr. Loretta Breuning, PhD, is the Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphin Levels and Tame your anxiety-rewire your brain for happiness and others.   As a teacher and a parent, she was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned about the brain chemistry we share with earlier mammals and everything made sense. She began creating resources that have helped thousands of people make peace with their inner mammal. Dr. Breuning's work has been translated into twelve languages and is cited in major media. Before teaching, she worked for the United Nations in Africa. Loretta gives zoo tours on animal behavior, after serving as a Docent at the Oakland Zoo.   In this episode, you'll learn: - How the mammalian brain works - The hormones that can affect your emotional state - Simple strategies to rewire your brain for happiness and reduce anxiety - How our environment plays a role in affecting our moods   Listen now to this powerful episode with Dr. Loretta Breuning and learn how you can have a happy brain!   (00:00): Nature is designed to habituate to the emotions that we already have. Stay tuned to find out why our happy chemicals are not designed to be on all the time.   (00:13): So the big question is, how do women over 40 like us, keep weight off, have great energy, balance our hormones and our moods, feel sexy and confident, and master midlife? If you're like most of us, you are not getting the answers you need and remain confused and pretty hopeless to ever feel like yourself Again. As an ob gyn, I had to discover for myself the truth about what creates a rock solid metabolism, lasting weight loss, and supercharged energy after 40, in order to lose a hundred pounds and fix my fatigue, now I'm on a mission. This podcast is designed to share the natural tools you need for impactful results and to give you clarity on the answers to your midlife metabolism challenges. Join me for tangible, natural strategies to crush the hormone imbalances you are facing and help you get unstuck from the sidelines of life. My name is Dr. Kyrin Dunston. Welcome to the Hormone Prescription Podcast.   (01:07): Hi everybody, and welcome back to another episode of the Hormone Prescription with Dr. Kyrin. Thank you so much for joining me today. Today we're gonna be talking about stress. Again, I know it's such an important topic, but we're gonna be relating it to your happy neurochemicals. We're going to be talking about dopamine and serotonin and oxytocin and endorphins and how you can optimize these neurochemicals for your hormonal and overall health and wellbeing, how you can get out of anxiety and many other things. She has a unique perspective that's comes from the animal kingdom, which we're a part of, but we're a little bit different and we're gonna talk about how we're different and how that affects our health and ways that you can manage your neurochemicals that other animals don't need to worry about. I'll tell you a little bit about her and then we'll get started.   (02:05): Dr. Loretta Bruning is a PhD and she's founder of the Inter Mammal Institute and Professor Erta of Management at California State University East Bay. She's the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain, retrain Your Brain to Boost your Serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and Endorphin levels. And the author of Tame Your Anxiety, rewire Your Brain for Happiness and other books. As a teacher and a parent, she was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned about the brain chemistry we share with earlier mammals and everything made sense. She began creating resources that have helped thousands of people make peace with their inner mammal. Dr. Bruni's work has been translated into 12 languages and is cited in major media before teaching. She worked for the United Nations in Africa and Loretta gives zoo tours on animals' behavior after serving as a docent at the Oakland Zoo. Welcome Dr. Loretta Bruning to the podcast.   (03:05): Hi. So nice to be here.   (03:07): I'm really glad to have you here. I think people are dealing with so much stress right now. Stress levels are at an all-time high and we can't talk about it enough. How can people get regulated out of the stress site, be happy in their lives, experience joy? I mean, after all, I think that's what we're here to do ultimately, but there are a lot of things that get in the way and I'm curious if you can share with everyone how did you get interested in brain neurochemical chemicals and how to have a happy brain? What was your path?   (03:42): Like many people, I grew up around a lot of unhappiness and I didn't have a good explanation for it. So I think I was always curious like, what is everybody so upset about? So I was always looking for that and nothing ever seemed like a good enough explanation. I studied academic psychology my whole life, so I knew all the theories, but they still didn't really explain it to me and especially becoming a parent and you think, okay, now gonna start over and we're gonna do everything right according to the book, you know? And I was like, no, that doesn't work. Kids are unhappy. My students were unhappy. So then I had to rethink what I had learned and I stumbled on a lot of animal studies monkey studies, and that triggered, you know, cuz when I was like 18 years old and started studying psychology, there were a lot of monkey studies and that's what got me into seeing that the chemicals that make us feel good are the exact same chemicals in animals and they're controlled by brain structures that animals have too. And to me, that explained everything first because a monkey is constantly making decisions. What's gonna make me happy? Oh, if I get that banana, how can I get it? And that's the job our happy chemicals do is reward us for those actions. And then that this whole animal brain is not capable of using language. So it's totally separate track from the stuff we're telling ourselves in words.   (05:20): Yes. You know, I think that we forget that we are animals and that we have the same brain structures as other animals and that our brain is really designed to keep us alive, but some of those systems can act negatively in humans and actually make us sick when we don't understand them and use them properly. And I think this is super important for women at midlife because we've kind of, most of us been using our brains and our systems unconsciously, and we don't really start paying attention to how they function until we hit midlife. And the cumulative negative effects start encroaching on our good health. And then we wanna know, oh my gosh, I don't feel well. And we discover that our brain neurochemistry is part of the reason why we don't do well. How can we work with it differently? So can you talk a little bit about the different brain structures and kind of how our neurochemistry works and then we can kind of dive into what people might be encountering in terms of maladaptations of these systems that causing them problems? Sure.   (06:36): So you've raised so many good issues and I'm gonna try to simplify. Sure. Get to the point as much as possible, but there's so much. So I always like to focus on the positive, you know, what can we do instead of just focusing on the problem? So the reality is that our happy brain chemicals are not designed to be on all the time. You hear about dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphin and you think, oh, other people must be just getting this all the time and what's wrong with me? And yet, when you know the job these chemicals do, you know that their job is only to be on for that moment to spark you into action when that action is appropriate. So for example, like a lion is looking around for something it can eat and if it runs after everything, it's not gonna get anything and it's gonna die of starvation.   (07:30): So dopamine turns on when it sees something it can get, and that's what our good feelings are like for that appropriate moment. So when we're not having that spark of joy, it's like no big deal. That's to the self-acceptance of my brain is designed to go up and down to navigate where should I use my energy? What's a good opportunity? And the other part of that is, well, how do I know what's a good opportunity and where should I use my energy? Well the amazing thing is my dopamine pathways are built from my own dopamine experience in my past. And your dopamine pathways are built from your past. So every little toddler is like trying to get that ball and get that cookie. And yet we're all building our pathways from our unique individual experience. And when I know my own pathways, that liberates me from being limited by them because you may think, oh, the only way to feel good is by repeating this behavior that triggered my good feelings in the past. But when you know that it's just a pathway, then you say, oh, there are thousands of other ways to be happy. I'm just doing this one because that's just the accident of my past experience.   (08:50): Yeah, we really are very programmed throughout our lives as to what's gonna make our dopamine reward pathway go up, what's gonna make our serotonin go up. It's gonna differ for every person. But I totally identify, and maybe you listening identify with this too, that I do wanna be happy all the time. Loretta . What's wrong with that? And you know, I think we see other people maybe on social media or friends that we have who really do seem like they're happy all the time. Why can't we be happy all the time?   (09:25): Okay, that's a great question. So first let's distinguish happy chemicals from unhappy chemicals. Okay, so I don't want to feel like I'm gonna die in every minute. So that's, yeah, like in in the animal brain, you are trying to escape from predators and starvation and the human brain is capable of imagining predators that are not actually there. That's how we stress ourselves. So we feel like we gotta run from this predator all the time, and that's horrible feelings. So absolutely, we should definitely wanna get away from that because that's the job our brain is designed to do is escape that threat. But if I want to feel joy every minute of every day, that's not realistic and I'm gonna end up disappointing. And if I tell myself that everybody else is feeling joy every minute of every day, then I'm gonna end up, you know, feeling left out. So, you know, there's this current movement of trying to feel the pleasure of small things. I think that's great, but the way the brain works is it habituates to what you already have. So if I think, let's say if I only get a date with this one person, I'll be happy forever. But then once you get the date with that person, you're not happy forever. Right,   (10:53): . So   (10:54): If you think, oh, if I only get this promotion, I'll be happy forever. But you get the promotion and you're not happy forever. So the reason is that our brain is designed to habituate to rewards we already have. So it's like saying that when my ancestors were hungry and they thought, oh, if I only found a tree full of riped fruit, I'd be so happy I'd, you know, I'd never be unhappy again. And they'd find the tree and they'd stuff their face with riped fruit. But if that made them happy forever, then they would not get any protein. They would not search for water and firewood. So our brain is designed to focus on the unmet need and to take for granted what you already have and say, okay, been there, done that. Now what else can I get? So that's the norm , which   (11:48): Yeah, I think everyone can relate to that. And I remember when I was younger, I would always think, I will be happy when, fill in the blank, you know, when I graduate high school, when I graduate college, when I graduate med school, you know, when I get married, when I have a baby. And like you would get to that and you do get that initial boost of, oh my gosh, this is so great, I'm so happy. And then it just becomes a factor of your life and it doesn't give you that dopamine kind of hit or serotonin boost. So I know everybody listening can really relate to that. And I love that you explained it, the nature's design to habituate to the emotions that we already have. And it is does confer survivability not only on the animal kingdom, but humans, which we're a part of the animal kingdom, but I think that sometimes we think we're superior because we have these huge four brains and that we should be able to surpass that. So how does someone who's maybe feeling dysthymic or even depressed really start to work in their lives to change their neurochemistry to a more positive state where they can get those boosts?   (13:03): Sure. So first is to understand that whatever triggers the happy chemical is based on not what you're telling yourself in words and philosophical abstractions, but it's a real physical pathway built from past experience. So a simple example would be, you know, if you give a child a cookie when they do a certain behavior, they're gonna repeat that behavior. So even if you're sad on some level, you got rewarded for being sad in your past. Mm-Hmm. because you felt like, well now I'm doing my share in carrying the load by being sad or something like that. So once you say, my sadness is a real physical pathway in my brain, my feelings about what it takes to turn on a reward chemical, those are real physical pathways in my brain. And I can build new pathways to have new expectations about how to turn on my happy chemicals. But it's hard to build new pathways in adulthood. It's exactly like learning language. When you're a child, you learn language easy. But if you try to study a foreign language in adulthood, it takes a lot of repetition and it feels like real work. And that's what it takes to build a new path to happy chemicals when you're older. Okay. One example.   (14:30): Sure. Yeah, that would be great.   (14:32): So, so the typical example would be negative expectations. Like if you think people don't like me, nothing I do works. Everything I, everything goes wrong in my life, you know, every, everyone can look for that o, that whatever is their own loop. And then look for, well, how did that pathway get built in my past? And then every time I feel it to say, oh, it's a real physical pathway, what other pathway could I have that would feel better? So my personal example was I always felt like people were criticizing me. Like I would jump to that conclusion all the time on no evidence at all. And then I would feel basically the terror of my childhood of being attacked and criticized. So what other pathway would I like to have will to just say other people are fine with me and I can feel good whether or not I have their approval. So I tell myself that, and the first time I do it, it sounds wrong and stupid and unbelievable, but I know that I, if I repeat it over and over and practice it, that I will build a real physical pathway in my brain and then it will just feel like my new normal.   (15:51): Okay, yeah, I love that. So we can change our neurochemistry studies have clearly documented that I know that some people listening deal with a lot of anxiety. You know, as our hormones change at midlife, when our estrogen starts going up and our progesterone starts going down, which can happen as early as 35, but definitely starts happening from 40 to 50. And by the time you hit menopause, you're really solidly in that category. You lose that ameliorative effect of the progesterone, which is the anti-anxiety hormone. So a lot of women at this stage of life deal with a lot of anxiety. What are some tools that we could start to use to help mitigate that?   (16:38): Sure. So to boil it down to one word that I use is called legacy. So legacy means my sense of what I can create that will live on after I'm gone. And the reason for this is if you think that we have this big human brain attached to this animal brain, so the animal brain is programmed to just search for survival and to fear survival threats. But my big human cortex can abstract and think about the future and it knows that I'm not gonna survive and there will be a future that will go on without me. And that is terrifying. And we can terrify ourselves all the time. Now, in the world of our past people died young, but they had children young. So if you had children like at 16, then you'd be a grandma at 32 if you lived that long. And so when you saw your grandchildren, you had a sense of legacy because you taught them how to chop vegetables and you saw them do it, and you had a sense of yourself living on after you're gone.   (17:46): So that was your legacy. And there was no, no birth control. So people were so busy taking care of children that they didn't have time to worry about dying as much, and they, they couldn't call 9 1 1, they couldn't get lab tests. So they just focused on like the next emergency of, you know, a kid's crying, how can I get food? And now like we don't really get to watch our grandchildren grow up for so many reasons. So we don't have that automatic sense of legacy. So we have to constant, consciously create a sense of legacy in one way or another.   (18:23): Yeah, that's, that's an interesting concept I hadn't thought about, but creating something for the future. And you're reminded me about the short lifespan that just a few hundred years ago we have, and I, I think it would be so interesting to see a study about people's ability to be in the present a few hundred years ago when they knew they were only gonna live, you know, 30 or 40 years. I bet that really focused them on, I gotta make the most of this time Yes. That I have. Whereas now we've got, you know, on average, I think 82 years in the US as the American lifespan for females. And I don't know about everybody else, but I feel like I waste a lot of time because it's like, oh, I won't do that thing now because I've got another, you know, few decades where I could do it. Whereas if I only had 32 years, well my life would've been over a while ago, but it really would've focused me. How do you think that has changed over time?   (19:25): Well that's, you know, to focus on the positive again. Yeah. Pause is a time when you say, geez, if I wait to be happy, I may wait too long. , you know, and so is it worth wasting another minute of my life worrying about X, Y, and Z? And you could make good arguments with your conscious verbal brain, oh, I should worry about X, Y, and Z. But then you could say, you know what? I could let it go because I'm not gonna get back the time that I waste on that. And also there's a lot of fearful images about the future, like even though I may live till X number of years that I'm gonna have a decline. And if you focus on that, then you're gonna be feeling the decline now. Mm-Hmm. . So it takes a real conscious effort to redirect yourself, you know? And like every time you see a wrinkle, for example, to instead of seeing that wrinkle as evidence of decline to say, this wrinkle gives me permission to stop worrying about X and to just start being happy. Now,   (20:34): I'm glad you brought this up. I recently came across an article in my newsfeed about the high demand for older aged female models. Recently there's been a boom and even 70 and 80 year old female models, right? Everybody is really starting to honor older women, their wisdom, which is what I think we really is the gift of menopause, is that the wisdom that we carry. We have lived long lives, we've seen a lot. I remember an attorney telling me once that when he went to jury trials and they did the voir deer where they select the jury, his favorite jurors were older women. And I asked him why. And he said, because they have been there, done that, seen everything. But they also have a lower ego and the maturity to understand the nuances of guilty, not guilty issues, which some younger people don't have. So all this to say also, I see in your bio, you've done a lot of interesting things. It says that you used to work for the United Nations in Africa, so you've lived a lot of life, you're at a certain stage outside of the work that you do with helping people to boost their neurochemistry. Just from a personal perspective, what would you share with the audience that would say, what are your biggest lessons learned at this stage of life, looking at life that that might be meaningful to them?   (22:08): Sure. So first we say, I have power over my own brain. I'm not gonna be happy from something outside myself. So if I wait for the world to make me happy, I'm gonna wait too long. . So what can I do to make myself happy? But of course we all know that that doesn't mean short-term happiness. Like you sit around and eat a pint of ice cream. So how do you balance this long-term versus short-term? So I talk about having a long-term goal, a short-term goal, and a middle-term goal. And in order to reach your goals, a lot of times, well, so a short-term goal is like I can reach it today, so I'm gonna get some hit of dopamine every day. That nice sense of accomplishment by setting a realistic goal, by breaking down what I want into small steps that I could actually do.   (23:00): And then the other part is like to achieve long run goals, I might have to do some things that are uncomfortable. So what can I do about that uncover? Well, instead of getting into like a cortisol spiral where you know I do something that feels bad and then that triggers another bad feeling and another, and another, I say to myself, okay, I'm gonna do this thing that makes me uncomfortable. I'm only gonna do it for five minutes. Or what, whatever's that reasonable chunk to tackle that obs obstacle. And then, you know, if I were gonna have a cup of coffee and a cookie anyway, I need to save it until after I've done that difficult thing. So that whenever I have it down, that I have an up that I can look forward to. And I have plenty of ups that have no calories, which in my life is comedy. But people can find their own.   (23:52): I love comedy cause laughing is so good for your neurochemistry . Yeah. Talk a little bit about laughing and what are some of your favorite things, ways to engage with comedy? Do you like standup movies? Like how do you get laughter in your life and what does it do for your neurochemistry?   (24:10): Sure. So laughter triggers endorphin, which is the body's natural opioid. And this is a widely misunderstood chemical. So an opioid is there to relieve pain and in the state of nature it's triggered by real physical pain. But because we have deep belly muscles that we don't use much, when you have a belly laugh, you get a little bit by giving those muscles a workout and you only get a little bit, but then you can laugh more and get a little bit more and it's the only healthy way to get them really, or the main healthy. And I explained this all in my books, so the way I get it. So I don't like bitter angry comedy and it's hard for me to find like truly uplifting comedy. And I know that if I look for comedy when I'm in a bad mood and like nine outta 10 of them are gonna be bitter, then I'm gonna just end up feeling worse, right? So I keep what I, I call, like when you're on a diet and you fill your pantry with healthy snacks mm-hmm. . So I fill my pantry with healthy comedy and I have a list of things that are ready for a bad day. So I know that when I'm in a bad mood, I have something uplifting that I could go to and I, I make that list on some other day rather than waiting until I'm in a bad mood.   (25:32): Yeah, I love that. And I love to laugh too. So one of my favorite go-tos I'm gonna share with everyone cuz you can use this, is I found this TV channel I, I'm sorry I don't re exactly know what it's called, but it's all videos of animals unscripted, they call it. Oh,   (25:49): I didn't write that down. .   (25:51): It's animals just doing what animals do mostly pets, right? Pet cats and dogs. They are hilarious. So it's just one video after another with no narration, no introduction of pets and Anna, there are some birds and different lizards and things doing the crazy things that animals do. So I'm gonna put a plug for that. And I'm also gonna put a plug for a re a movie I saw recently, I think it's from New Zealand that I think is hilarious. It's called The Breaker, uppers and . I literally laughed out loud so many times in that movie. So I gotta put a plug in for that. But I agree with you, laughing is huge. Another thing I wanted to touch on is that, you know, a lot of the people, women I work with, this might be you if you're listening, they're not so much concerned with their own worries, but worrying about others in their lives and what other people should be doing and trying to control them. And this one has to do this and what if they, what if my kid, you know, moves across the country to another state with my grandkids and then I won't be around them and they want to control what everyone else is doing. They're worrying about what everyone else is doing. You shared this quote with me before we started about it says, it's hard enough to manage your own brain, so stop trying to manage other people's brains. So I'm wondering if you can talk a little bit about that.   (27:18): Sure. So the feeling that I can only be happy if other people do X, Y, and Z, that my happiness depends on them. If you think that you'll never be happy . So it's just, you just gotta make a deal with yourself. I'm gonna be happy no matter what anyone does. And the simple way to do that, if I give you a visual image, if this other person does something and I think, oh no, I can't be happy because they're doing that, is I'm imagining that there's only one path to happiness and that person is blocking the path. But instead I'm gonna think there are thousands of paths to happiness and if this person blocks that path, I'll just find another P.   (28:04): Yeah. So stop focusing on everybody else . And you know, and it goes along with that same desire I used to have, well I'll be happy when this happens For me, that happens for me. And a corollary is I'll be happy when X person stops doing Y or X person starts doing why. And really I have decided at this point in my life that happiness only happens in the now when I'm happy with myself. And it really doesn't have anything to do with anything to do with what anyone else does. And I can choose that. Yes,   (28:41): I I a way of saying that. I always say my husband gets on my nerves, but it's my nerves . So, but it's fine. I, it's my job to adjust my own nerves to love him for what he is. And I don't even have to love him in any specific way. That's my job to just decide,   (29:01): Yes, to decide it's a decision. I know the name of your company's inner Mammal Institute and you take people on zoo tours to see animals behavior and I'm wondering if you can share with everyone, what does that do for the people who participate? How does it enrich their understanding? Sure.   (29:21): So I learned so much by watching nature documentaries and the simple fact of life in the interest of time, I'm just gonna say it straight, like animals are quite nasty to each other. And I learned that from watching nature videos. And yet what I learned from academic social science is that the state of nature is all peace and love and something has gone wrong with our world, but that's just not true. So we have this animal nature which is very motivated by self-interest and we really struggle to manage and navigate and control this inner mammal that is just wanting to grab the next banana. So how can I manage my inner mammal? And like I always feel like other people wanna grab my banana. That's easy to see. But what about my own impulse to get another banana and my feeling of like they took that banana at my expense.   (30:20): That's how the mammal brain works. So nobody likes to see this in themselves, everybody wants to see it in other people. So that's why we really need to be exposed to the reality of animals. Now to tell you the truth, you don't visually see that in the zoo because the pet world is not the same as the state of nature where animals are not fed. They have to get their food, they have to hide from predators. So the zoo tour is really a fun way to talk about this. But if you watch the nature videos of David Attenborough, especially his early series, then you really get get the facts. And I got them then from that like evolutionary biology books is how, and I have a reading list on my website and it's all in, in all of my books. I put this in a simplified form of why animals are nasty to each other and how we can feel it and manage it and relax with   (31:21): It. Yeah, you know, it's interesting, I just came back from four months in Africa and went on safari a few times. So I got to see those wild animals in their natural habitat habitat. And it was very instructive to see how they work both communally but also very selfishly in some ways. And I saw what good boundaries the animals had because at certain points in their existence, well for instance the wiles at one point we were driving up to, so in this Serengeti, or no, we were in the in goro goro crater in Tanzania. And most of it was extremely dry so there wasn't a lot of vegetation for a lot of the animals to eat. And then we came upon this place where there was a river and it was very green and lush and there were almost no animals there. And I said to myself and to the guide, why don't they just come over here and eat and drink water?   (32:22): And he said, because the lions know that that's where the animals are gonna go to eat and drink water. So they're afraid. And then I saw this group of will to be standing right outside this lush area and they were all huddled together facing the same direction. And one was out in front and he said, you see those will to bees, they are discerning. Is it safer, is it not? Where is the sun in the sky? What is the wind doing? What time of year is it? Is the lion gonna attack us now is it safe to go drink the water and eat or no? And so they were working communally, but then other times you would see them when there actually would be food and one would be pushing the other to try to get more of the food or more of the water. And so it was very interesting to me to observe that. Well   (33:14): I love those guides because they tell you the truth. Yes, don't get from academic psychology because academic psychology constructs this unrealistic, idealized world of peace and love, which is not what nature is about. And you get it from those tour guides and and you can get it without if you can't go there. You know, nat, a lot of some nature videos, you know, some of them are still hooked on the, the other unrealistic belief. But another simple example about the wildes that I learned from a nature video. So in order for them to get from, you know, they follow the grass year round, you probably saw how they migrate to wherever the grass is, but they have to cross a river and while they're crossing the river, they could die from a crocodile, they could die on the other side, you know, from a predator and then they could die when they jump in because another will toes could jump on top of them.   (34:15): So it's very difficult to make that decision. When am I gonna jump? They'd really rather not jump cuz the crocodile might get them, but if they don't jump, the rest of the herd piles up behind them and pulls them in and then they don't even get to jump, they just get shoved in with without balance. So they're constantly making this very difficult decision and you could see your own terror of like when you're a kid, like, do I jump or not? And so even what looks like herd behavior is a constant calculation of how much do I follow, how much do I, you know, take a step in a different direction. And our brain is making that decision every minute of every day. Am I gonna just follow the guy in front of me or am I gonna take a different step in a different direction? And you're calculating that with your best guess, which can never be perfect.   (35:09): Yeah. And I love what you said earlier about the fact that other mammals don't have the ability to imagine danger and humans do. There's a great book I wanna share with everyone called Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers that clearly explains why zebras don't get ulcers, they don't have the imagination faculty and they really go through a process after they are stressed. So for instance, we, we saw this crazy wild chase of a leopard going into a herd of various types of gazelle like creatures and how they responded and, and I really got to see what's outlined in that book firsthand where these animals, when they go through a stress like being chased by a predator, they have a discharge process that they go through afterwards where they shake, and maybe you can talk a little bit about this and how it might apply to us. They go through a process to discharge that stress and reregulate their cortisol stress hormone, which I talk about all the time. This is really what's killing us. So how can we take that instructive information from a zebra's behavior and use it for our superior mammalian brains?   (36:23): Sure. You're also referring to, and and it's slipping my mind, there's a a book by another guy Levine about this shaking that goes on. So the idea is they discharge the stress and then they go back to what, what do they go back to? And this is what I talk about in my anxiety books. They go back to meeting their survival needs because if they just worry about predators all the time, they're gonna starve to death. So if they say, I'm not going out into that world unless it's a hundred percent safe, then they would to death. So hunger motivates them to deal with risk, to deal with potential danger to go out and meet their needs and only worry about danger when it's really there. Now the big human cortex says, oh no, that's stupid, I'm going to anticipate threats and avoid them. But if you spend your whole life anticipating threats and avoiding them, you're gonna just worry constantly.   (37:26): That's because our basic needs are met, that our lives are so comfortable that we could just stay home and do nothing unless we think it's a hundred percent safe. And one thing I blame this on, that's funny, I'm a bit older than you, I think I remember the years when, so cars broke down all the time and people said, oh, American cars are so bad, we should do what the Japanese did. And this is what I taught in the early years of my academic career. So the Japanese had this way of anticipating things that will go wrong in the production of a car and solving it at the source, fixing it at the source. And they said, that's what we have to do. We have to anticipate defects and fix 'em at the source. And so the whole education went on this bandwagon of anticipating threats and figuring things and preventing them so that quality would be a hundred percent and that had value, but it really made people nuts because now people think nothing can ever go wrong. We anticipate every possible threat and they literally, it's called the Toyota method that every tiny defect is a crisis because if you don't fix it now you're gonna produce a thousand more cars with the same defect. So you have to treat it as a crisis. So we were all indoctrinated to treat every tiny little problem as a crisis.   (38:51): Yeah, I think that's a great example. And you know it's done well for the car industry, but as a human species we really can't live that way. And thank you for saying that about the the worrying. Cuz there was something I was worrying about this morning and as we're talking, I'm thinking, why am I worrying about that? If it becomes a problem, I'll deal with it. I'm not gonna worry about it now   (39:16): . Yeah,   (39:17): Yeah. So can   (39:19):I give you another example of this that I think is very common? So let's say you get an email that asks you to go to some website and do this or that, and let's say it's something that you wanna do. So okay, I'm gonna do it. So you go to that website and you think, oh, this'll take five minutes and then a half hour has gone by and you still haven't done it. And like somehow I get really upset when I can't get something technical to work. It's really the problem is that I'm connecting it to every failure in my past is a real pathway in my brain. So one little failure today activates that old pathway like it's my failure pathway. You have your failure pathway. And what triggered it was really the expectation that I could do it in five minutes. So all I could do is just tell myself this is something hard, it's gonna take a while, and then all of the problem goes   (40:15): Away. Right. No, I love that. It really is how we frame the problems that we have. It's not the problems themselves that are the problem. What you think is the problem is not the problem, it's how you're thinking about the problem. So our thinking is always the problem. I know you have some great resources for everyone, but before we wrap up, I'm wondering if you could talk a little bit about the importance of oxytocin. That's another hormone. I don't think we talk merely enough about its importance and how to nurture our oxytocin.   (40:47): Sure. So in the animal world, animals seek groups for protection from predators. And in the oxytocin is the chemical that rewards you when you feel protected by a group. But this has been idealized in an unrealistic way in the current human dialogue. So we think that we should be protected all the time. And in fact, that's true for babies and that's why, as you know in the medical profession that oxytocin is central to maternal birth and lactation. But in the adult world, you're not meant to get this protection that you got as a child. So oxytocin moments are difficult and rare. Now how do I get my oxytocin moments? Well, whatever triggered my oxytocin when I was young built real physical pathways that tell me how to get it today. But that's also quite limiting. So the famous example is if you smell the cooking that reminds you of trust and bonding moment of your youth, then you seek that you want that, you think that will make you happy.   (41:57): But what we really want is protection. And in the adult world, we're never gonna get the protection of a child. And even when you were a child that protection was not perfect. So we have to accept that I have this natural logging for protection and I'm only gonna get moments of it rather than to have this perfect protection. So a simple example of a moment of it is people go to a concert and they're in this building with like thousands and thousands of people, whether it's music or a speech or an athletic event that you feel like you're sharing something that's important to you, but they're not really protecting you. Another example is if I tell my life story to a train a stranger on a plane, they're not gonna be there for me in the future. So it's like you look for these trust moments because letting down your guard is what is the oxytocin feeling? And what was so impactful to me, I learned that reptiles only have oxytocin when they're mating, which lasts for 10 seconds and the rest of the time no oxytocin because they don't trust their fellow reptile. So oxytocin is that feeling that I can barely tolerate your presence just enough to reproduce .   (43:24): . That's hilarious. , yes, oxytocin. I mean, people may know it as being the hormone that go is what causes labor in women, but it's also involved with milk production and bonding and connection and it interacts with your other hormones as well. So I'm gonna leave you all with a mandate to do something with your oxytocin today. What could you do to get some oxytocin just on a daily basis? You know, I think the past few years where a lot of us have been so isolated, we were legally bound in some instances, to not leave our home for much really has put a toll on our oxytocin, which unbalances our entire hormonal neuroendocrine cascade. So getting back to normalcy where we have in-person human interaction is key. So I want to challenge everybody listening to do something about your oxytocin to boost it going forward. And Loretta has a lovely gift for you and we'll have a link in the show notes to it. Do you wanna tell them a little bit about your download anxiety? What turns it on, what turns it off?   (44:41): Sure. It's a free book, P d F. It's the shortened form of my larger book, which is called Tame Your Anxiety, rewiring Your Brain for Happiness and Explains something. We haven't talked much about cortisol, the chemical that gives us the survival threat feeling and to sort of accept our own cortisol. It has a natural job and then to get real about the ability to manage it rather than to just let it take over and spiral.   (45:12): Awesome. Well thank you so much for that free gift, Loretta. If you are dealing with anxiety, I invite you to click the link in the show notes and learn what you can do to start taming your anxiety. Thank you so much, Loretta, for joining us for an episode of the Hormone Prescription Podcast.   (45:33): Sure. Thanks for the great   (45:34): Questions and thank you for joining us today. Hopefully you will implement some of the things that we've discussed so that you can move towards greater hormone balance and brilliant health. Thanks again and I'll see you next week for another episode of the Hormone Prescription Podcast with Dr. Kiran. Until then, peace, love, and hormones   (45:54): Y'all. Thank you so much for listening. I know that incredible vitality occurs for women over 40 when we learn to speak hormone and balance these vital regulators to create the health and the life that we deserve. If you're enjoying this podcast, I'd love it if you'd give me a review and subscribe. It really does help this podcast out so much. You can visit the hormone prescription.com where we have some free gifts for you and you can sign up to have a hormone evaluation with me on the podcast to gain clarity into your personal situation. Until next time, remember, take small steps each day to balance your hormones and watch the wonderful changes in your health that begin to unfold for you. Talk to you soon.   ► Get a FREE copy of Dr. Loretta Breuning's Anxiety: What turns it on, What turns it off. CLICK HERE to sign up.    

Did you know that we aren't meant to be happy all the time? Did you know we are set up for rewards? So much of what we do as humans is because of the way our brains are wired. It explains so much! And most importantly, it explains so much about our kids! I love talking about the brain and in this episode, I'm talking to Dr. Loretta Breuning who is teaching us about what drives human motivation and how our brains are wired and why we should care! In this episode we are talking about how critical chemicals in our brain work. First, we need to understand that we are wired for survival and what experiences we have in our early years, inform the way we react to situations later in life. We talk about Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphin and how we can use them to feel good! For Loretta's book, “Anxiety: What turns it on, what turns it off”, info graphics to simplify the workings of the brain, and handouts for parents and teachers, please visit the Parent Toolbox. www.parent-toolbox.comAbout Loretta BreuningLoretta G. Breuning, PhD, is Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels. As a teacher and a parent, she was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned about the brain chemistry we share with earlier mammals and everything made sense. She began creating resources that have helped thousands of people make peace with their inner mammal. Dr. Breuning's work has been translated into twelve languages and is cited in major media. The Inner Mammal Institute offers videos, podcasts, books, blogs, multimedia, a training program, and a free five-day happy-chemical jumpstart. Details are available at InnerMammalInstitute.orgSocial Media:Website: https://innermammalinstitute.org/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorettabreuning/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LorettaBreuningPhDInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/inner.mammal.inst/Twitter: https://twitter.com/InnerMammalYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/InnerMammalInstituteThanks for listening! For more on Robbin, her work and free resources, keep reading! READY FOR YOUR FAMILY CHECK UP CALL? If you're feeling burnt out by bad behavior, worn down from constant battles and bickering and you've struggled to get the cooperation, respect and obedience you want from your kids, I've been there too. It might be time to learn new tools (that you've never been taught) to help you get your kids to listen to you, build teamwork, and grow the harmony in your home. https://parentingforconnection.as.me/CheckupcallFREE GUIDE FOR PARENTS OF STRONG-WILLED KIDS: “How to Turn a NO into Cooperation” go to www.strongwilledkids.com It means so much to me that you listened to my podcast! If you resonate with my message and would like my personal help in your parenting journey, I'd love to talk to you. Please visit my website to book a call with me where we can talk about your parenting frustrations and I'll share how I can help you. www.parentingforconnection.com The intention for my show is to build a community of parents that can have open and honest conversations about parenting without judgement or criticism. We all deserve access to help and support when we need it most. I honour each parent and their path towards becoming the best parent they can be. My hope is to inspire more parents to consider the practice of Peaceful Parenting.If you know somebody who would benefit from this message, or would be an awesome addition to our community, please share

Leigh Ann Rodgers is the CEO and Founder of Better Teams, and is driven to positively impact corporate culture and cultivate happy, high-performing teams. She is also the host of Leading Better Teams podcast. In this episode, Leigh Ann shares thoughts on accountability, bonding/connection, and why virtual teams require extra work to build connections. Listen in for how to build strong virtual connections!   https://bit.ly/TLP-338   Key Takeaways [1:58] Leigh Ann volunteers three days a week at a local animal sanctuary for farm animals. There are pigs, horses, donkeys, goats, and cats. It's a beautiful little farm tucked into a forest. Leigh Ann feeds them and puts the hay out. It's a peaceful place. Leigh Ann does the afternoon shift. The early morning shift scoops the poop, so Leigh Ann is happy to go in the afternoon. [4:06] If members of a team are not being accountable to each other, the first thing to find out is why they are not. Leigh Ann says most of the time there is fear. It's a risky thing to hold a peer accountable. It may lead to them not liking you, retaliation, or conflict. [4:57] How do we create a culture and create trust where people want to hold each other accountable and want to be held accountable? It would be a culture where team members don't see accountability as a threat but as a way of teaming together to help everyone be the best that they can be. [6:04] One person can influence a team to a degree, depending on their status within the team. [7:17] The leader establishes the culture. The leader can tell the team that it is expected for them to have difficult conversations with each other instead of coming to the leader. It starts with the leader setting the tone and the expectation for open, candid conversation, with good intention, to help each other be their best. That requires real feedback. The leader also needs to reward that behavior. [9:55] If team members are unwilling to hold each other accountable, Leigh Ann loves the ADKAR model for changing behavior. Leigh Ann focuses on the first three aspects: Is the person Aware of their behavior? Do they Desire to change? Do they Know how to change? That's where Leigh Ann starts to figure out why a person is not willing to engage in difficult conversations. [11:50] One of the principles in Leigh Ann's Better Teams training is Readiness. The first element of Readiness is having the right equipment, tools, and resources. If you don't have those, advocate for yourself. The second element is competence and skill sets. Advocate for the competencies you need. It may involve getting a mentor. The third element is being adaptive, flexible, and agile. Can you pivot? [12:59] Leigh Ann relates being adaptive to stress levels. People are fairly adaptive but when stress levels get high, we begin to get less adaptive and flexible. When there's a lot of uncertainty, we start to crave certainty, which makes any new change feel bigger than it even may be. Recognize when your stress levels are high and advocate for ways to increase certainty so you can be flexible. [14:18] Instead of advocating for the organization to provide something for you, it is better for you to provide the tools, training, skills, and more to better yourself for the job you have or future roles. Advocating for yourself may become a barrier to doing something for yourself that is well within your capability. [15:09] Leigh Ann clarifies the difference between you managing your self-improvement and advocating for yourself to have the company provide an important solution that will benefit the company while benefiting you. What you can do without guidance or leadership, do independently. [16:38] Jan notes that past guest Kim Cameron, spoke a lot about abundance versus scarcity. As we come out of a pandemic, we hear more from our guests about abundance than scarcity. Maybe people are more open-minded than they were. Jan invites you, the listener, to connect on social media about trends you are seeing. And Jan is proposing a prize if somebody listens to all past episodes of the show! [18:11] Jan cites an HBR 1998 article on trust in the virtual team. Trust in virtual teams has been a topic for a while. [18:34] Leigh Ann says some teams are getting human connection right, and some are not doing as well. People need to feel bonded to the people they are working with. Many people miss being in the office with other people. It takes so much more effort to build a meaningful connection on a group call. When you disconnect from the call, you disconnect from the people. [19:56] Before the podcast started recording, Jan, Jim, and Leigh Ann were connected, talking about themselves. They were connecting and building rapport before starting the podcast. When meeting virtually, ask about each other. [21:30] Some individuals and teams want deeper connections and some do not. It has to be managed case by case. Leigh Ann is reading about oxytocin in the book Habits of a Happy Brain. Oxytocin makes us feel connected and bonded. It is released when you come together and start to feel that you know who people are a little bit more and you feel safe with each other. [22:43] When teams get together and do some sort of meaningful team exercise where they're really getting to know each other in a safe way and as they want to, it creates that sense of bonding that may not be there if you're just coming together running down a spreadsheet. We need to create spaces for teams to actually share what they want to about themselves and create that sense of connection. [23:13] Leigh Ann suggests building, even virtually, times for teams to come together with a little structure for teams to share and learn about each other. A simple example is to ask team members to bring with them an object that symbolizes something that they value highly. [23:50] Leigh Ann remembers someone bringing in a medal from running in a triathlon, and how running was part of her health journey. Another person brought in something that symbolized a medical challenge they had and a conversation that helped people on the team understand the person better. The team suddenly saw each other in a new dimension which made them more human to each other. [24:51] Another exercise is a DiSC® communication workshop. What are the different ways in which we like to communicate? Are you direct? Do you like to ask questions? [25:19] Doing some really meaningful team exercises like this allows people to get to know each other. Not necessarily sharing all their deep, dark family secrets, but it's a way to learn about each other and what makes people tick, and create that sense of bonding and closeness we don't get from typical business meetings. [26:18] You can get people together for celebrations. We tend to celebrate success and meeting goals. We celebrate outcomes. Dr. Carol Dweck focuses on growth mindset. How do we celebrate the effort, even if we fall short of the goal? We should celebrate growth, effort, and learning in addition to outcomes. It's also important to celebrate individual contributions and specialties each person brings. [29:04] On the farm where Leigh Ann volunteers, each of the 25 volunteers brings something unique. One volunteer loves to paint. She painted sayings all over the farm and created the farm calendar. One volunteer is meticulous with order and structure. It's important to celebrate the unique contributions of each person on your team. That makes them feel special and increases their serotonin, by the way. [30:32] Leigh Ann tells how she beat the doldrums. Although she loves what she does, she noticed last year she was getting “the blahs.” She had to do some soul-searching to figure it out. She had stopped learning and growing and needed some new things to play into her strengths. She did a lot of learning and coaching with people, reading, and writing that helped her energize again. She got curious! [32:40] Jan and Jim noticed that at the beginning of the pandemic, leaders were energized by the crisis. After 18 months, the same leaders were fired. They couldn't react anymore, they had to step back and think. They had to be proactive. We're still in that stage, where people are planning and budgeting and projecting what will happen. Jan directs people to what they value. [33:33] Leigh Ann often asks people to ask themselves “What do you want?” and “What do you need?” That's the beginning to find out how you get to that. [34:23] Leigh Ann's listener challenge: Put pen to paper, think about, and first ask yourself, what do you want and what do you need? If you're not sure, grab a coach to help you think that through. Do some self-reflection and figure it out. Second, ask how you get out of your way. Third, ask how you prioritize and plan to get there. Leigh Ann has sessions starting in January that can help you through this. [36:13] Closing quote: Remember, “Individual commitment to a group effort — that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” — Vince Lombardi   Quotable Quotes “How do we create a culture and create trust where people want to hold each other accountable and want to be held accountable? And they don't see it as a threat. They see it as a way of teaming together to help everyone be the best that they can be.” — Leigh Ann “In general, people are fairly adaptive but when stress levels get really high, we begin to get less adaptive and flexible. When there's a lot of uncertainty, we start to crave certainty, which makes any new change feel bigger than it even may be.” — Leigh Ann “We've got to figure out ways to create spaces for teams to actually share what they want to about themselves and create that sense of connection and bonding and I think we've got to build that in, even more than just, ‘How are you doing?'” — Leigh Ann “Doing some really meaningful team exercises … allows people to get to know each other. And not necessarily for sharing all their deep, dark family secrets, but it's a way to learn about each other and what makes people tick, and create that sense of bonding.” — Leigh Ann “Take time to put pen to paper and think about what you want and what you need. … And if you're really not sure, grab a coach. A coach can help you think that through, as well, but do some self-reflection and figure that out.” — Leigh Ann   Resources Mentioned Theleadershippodcast.com Sponsored by: Darley.com Rafti Advisors. LLC Self-Reliant Leadership. LLC Leigh Ann Rodgers Better Teams Team Consultant Academy Leading Better Teams podcast Change management (including ADKAR) Kim Cameron Organization — Trust in Virtual Teams, HBR Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels, by Loretta Graziano Breuning DiSC® Carol Dweck, Ph.D.

Episode 76: Smart Habits for Preparing for an Exam or TestDecember is certainly a busy season for most of us, with so much work to wrap up before the holidays and so many personal and family commitments. It's also a time when we reflect on the accomplishments we made this year and what goals we'd like to set for the coming year. If one of your objectives next year is to take a certification exam or translation test, we think you'll find this episode useful. Several listeners asked us for tips on preparing for exams and tests, so we're happy to share our experiences and advice on this topic. We both know that getting certified as a translator and/or interpreter and passing a translation test for your dream client can be a big milestone in your career, but they can also be stressful experiences. So, let's talk about some ways to make these situations less nerve-racking and increase your chances of success. Tune in to hear our conversation on our:• Experiences with translation and interpreting certification exams, how we prepared for them, and how these credentials helped our business• Tips on how to make exam day less stressful• Approaches to taking translation tests for clients• Advice on what to take into account when taking translation testsYou'll also get some amazing tips and advice from our colleagues—certified translators and interpreters in different languages—on how to prepare for certification exams!Resources we mentioned in this episode:• ATA certification exam• CCHI certification exam for healthcare interpreters• Some helpful resources on preparing for the ATA certification exam:o The Ins and Outs of the ATA Certification Examo Ergonomics for ATA's Certification Exam: Unspoken Advice with Untold Benefitso Forming A Peer Study Group to Prepare for ATA's Certification Examo Taking and Preparing for ATA's Online Certification Examo 12 Extra-Linguistic Skills You Need to Master before Taking ATA's Certification Examo Who Wants to Fail ATA's Certification Exam?o Practical Tips for Taking ATA'S Certification Exam Onlineo One Member's Tips on How to Prepare for ATA's Certification Exam• Episode 46: Smart Habits for Finding the Right Clients for You• The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides• Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels by Loretta Graziano Breuning• The Perfect Marriage by Jeneva RoseSee the full list of links and resources for this episode: https://smarthabitsfortranslators.com/podcast-episodes/76

Loretta G. Breuning joins the show to talk about how to develop healthy habits that retrain your brain and increase your feel good chemicals. Boosting these chemicals, that were once primarily used in evolutionary survival, requires a new approach in our 21st century lifestyle, and Loretta is here to tell us how. She explains how brain chemicals are controlled by neural pathways built from past experiences, how you can build new pathways by feeding your brain new experiences, and what exactly each of our brain chemicals are designed to do. So many fascinating topics and tips discussed in todays podcast. You'll leave with a new understanding of your brain and how you can become a happier person by using Loretta's incredible brain boosting strategies.   On today's podcast, you will learn: The purpose of each of our main neurotransmitters. The experiment where rats drank cocaine water until they died. Why your body releases cortisol so frequently. How to rewire your brain to release more feel good chemicals. How social media affects our brain, and ways to reduce its use. Loretta's top tips for boosting feel good chemicals.   Loretta G. Breuning's Bio: Loretta G. Breuning, PhD, is Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels. As a teacher and a parent, she was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned about the brain chemistry we share with earlier mammals and everything made sense. She began creating resources that have helped thousands of people make peace with their inner mammal. Dr. Breuning's work has been translated into twelve languages. Before teaching, she worked for the United Nations in Africa. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Tufts.  The Inner Mammal Institute offers videos, podcasts, books, blogs, multimedia, a training program, and a free five-day happy-chemical jumpstart.  You can learn more about Loretta and her work at  

Are you baffled about why your teen is so anxious? Do you want to know how to help them? If so, this episode is for you. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 32% of teens suffered from an anxiety disorder in the last year compared to just 19% of adults, and the numbers keep growing.  What's going on?! In this episode, I'm joined by Dr. Loretta Breuning, author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels. She is also the Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute which helps thousands of people make peace with their inner mammal. Dr. Breuning teaches us how anxiety shows up in the brain and how we can use that information to help our teens (and ourselves) manage anxiety more effectively.   Resources Mentioned in This Episode Books by Dr. Loretta BreuningHabits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphin Levels Status Games Tame Your Anxiety: Rewiring Your Brain for Happiness The Science of Positivity Inner Mammal Institute Video Series Dr. Cam's Top 10 Secrets for Raising Teens   Thanks for Listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others would appreciate the guidance and encouragement, please take a quick moment to rate and review. Reviews from my listeners are extremely valuable and greatly appreciated. Review on iTunes.   Subscribe to the Podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, YouTube, Google, Spotify. You can also subscribe from the podcast app on your mobile device or listen LIVE in my Private Facebook Group.

Ready to bring out your inner mammal?   Dr. Loretta Breuning is the founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and the author of Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels. A former professor at California State University, she has dedicated her second career to teaching people how to manage their happy brain chemicals.   It turns out that we have a lot more in common with mammals in the wild than you may think. In fact, you can boost your happiness by learning how serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin,  endorphins, and cortisol work in nature.   This week, you'll learn all about your brain chemistry and what we have in common with animals. You'll discover how your behavior adapted and will get easy tips to rewire your brain to experience increased pleasure.   If you struggle with any type of emotional or mental health issue, Dr. Breuning will provide you with a new and unique take on your biochemistry!    Key Topics/Takeaways:   Why Dr. Breuning went into this field. Ways we are similar to the animal kingdom.  The reason it's so hard for humans to be happy. How neurotransmitters are made and what triggers them. Ways oxytocin can be developed in negative ways. Why you should avoid negative media. How childhood experiences shape our reality.  Tools to rewire the brain.   Where to Find the Guest:   InnerMammalInstitute.org   @inner.mammal.inst   Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels   Memorable Quotes:    “If you look at the statistics, we actually leave our greatest mark over 50.” (4:45, Betty)   “Our brain is not designed to be happy all the time. It's designed to promote survival, and the happy brain chemicals evolve to reward you for behaviors that promote survival in that immediate moment.” (5:38, Dr. Breuning)   “Serotonin is your brain signal that it's safe to assert. And of course, we want that feeling, but we don't have it every minute because it's not safe to assert every minute. So we need to be realistic about the real job of these chemicals.” (16:42, Dr. Breuning)   “We are all navigating the world with the pathways we built before age eight and during puberty.” (21:31, Dr. Breuning)   “The brain learns from rewards and pain, and so every experience of rewards biases you to look for that reward, and every experience of pain biases you to fear that kind of pain.” (23:24, Dr. Breuning)   Website Living Well Dallas Hormone Reset Betty Murray   Socials  Facebook Instagram

Ready to bring out your inner mammal?   Dr. Loretta Breuning is the founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and the author of Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels. A former professor at California State University, she has dedicated her second career to teaching people how to manage their happy brain chemicals.   It turns out that we have a lot more in common with mammals in the wild than you may think. In fact, you can boost your happiness by learning how serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin,  endorphins, and cortisol work in nature.   This week, you'll learn all about your brain chemistry and what we have in common with animals. You'll discover how your behavior adapted and will get easy tips to rewire your brain to experience increased pleasure.   If you struggle with any type of emotional or mental health issue, Dr. Breuning will provide you with a new and unique take on your biochemistry!    Key Topics/Takeaways:   Why Dr. Breuning went into this field. Ways we are similar to the animal kingdom.  The reason it's so hard for humans to be happy. How neurotransmitters are made and what triggers them. Ways oxytocin can be developed in negative ways. Why you should avoid negative media. How childhood experiences shape our reality.  Tools to rewire the brain.   Where to Find the Guest:   InnerMammalInstitute.org   @inner.mammal.inst   Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels   Memorable Quotes:    “If you look at the statistics, we actually leave our greatest mark over 50.” (4:45, Betty)   “Our brain is not designed to be happy all the time. It's designed to promote survival, and the happy brain chemicals evolve to reward you for behaviors that promote survival in that immediate moment.” (5:38, Dr. Breuning)   “Serotonin is your brain signal that it's safe to assert. And of course, we want that feeling, but we don't have it every minute because it's not safe to assert every minute. So we need to be realistic about the real job of these chemicals.” (16:42, Dr. Breuning)   “We are all navigating the world with the pathways we built before age eight and during puberty.” (21:31, Dr. Breuning)   “The brain learns from rewards and pain, and so every experience of rewards biases you to look for that reward, and every experience of pain biases you to fear that kind of pain.” (23:24, Dr. Breuning)   Website Living Well Dallas Hormone Reset Betty Murray   Socials  Facebook Instagram

Have you ever wondered why you feel the way you do? We are not just rational beings, but we're also emotional animals. And when our emotions get in the way of our goals, we must learn to overcome them. Today, we will discuss how our emotions work, the science behind human emotions, and how to use your inner mammal to achieve success.   As a teacher, Loretta had grown tired of the direction in which her school was headed. She didn't feel good about it and it reminded her of her father's experiences with stress over several decades. She realized that if she didn't make a change soon, she might end up like him, burned out from life-long stress.   After the pivotal moment of retiring at 50, she began reading books about evolutionary psychology and found it fascinating. Her interest in how human emotions develop was piqued when she learned that human emotions are similar to those of other animals. Even our positive and negative feelings are created by chemicals in our bodies. It was also apparent that humans have certain chemicals that create certain emotions, which led her to understand how her inner mammal functions.   ABOUT DR. LORETTA BREUNING:Loretta G. Breuning, Ph.D. is a graduate of Cornell University and Tufts. She is the founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She has been writing about the human motivation for more than twenty years, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphin Levels. Before teaching and writing full-time, she worked for the United Nations in Africa. The Inner Mammal Institute offers videos, podcasts, books, blogs, multimedia, a training program, and a free five-day happy-chemical jumpstart.    Resources: 1) Book: Status Games: Why We Play and How to Stop: https://innermammalinstitute.org/statusgames/ 2) Website: https://innermammalinstitute.org 3) Get the Burnout Checklist: https://www.drsharongrossman.com/burnoutchecklist 4) Sign up for a free Breakthrough Session with Dr. Sharon: http://www.bookachatwithsharon.com/ 5) Take the first step to decode your burnout: http://decodeyourburnout.com/

Loretta Graziano Breuning, Ph.D. is the author of Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphin Levels. She founded the Inner Mammal Institute to help people build new neural pathways to turn on their happy chemicals in new ways. (www.InnerMammalInstitute.org) As a Professor of Management at California State University, and a mom, Loretta was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. While researching alternatives, she uncovered the brain chemistry we share with animals. She learned that each happy chemical evolved to motivate a specific survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time for no reason. Then everything made sense, and she began creating resources to spread this knowledge: books, videos, blogs, podcasts, infographics, slide shows, social media, and a training program. Loretta's work has helped thousands of people "make peace with the animal inside." And she still marvels every day at the overlap between a wildlife documentary and the lyrics to a love song. Dr. Breuning's work has been translated into Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, French, Turkish, and German. She has been quoted in Forbes, NPR, the Wall St. Journal, Fox, Time, NBC, Psychology Today, Cosmopolitan, Real Simple, and Psychologies. Her podcast is "The Happy Brain," and she's been a guest on many podcasts, including Almost 30, James Altucher, Brainfluence, Recovery Unscripted, Fat Burning Man, Humans 2.0, and Yogabody. Details at InnerMammalInstitute.org. To become a Certified Inner Mammal Trainer and help people make peace with their inner mammal, check out our new training program at InnerMammalInstitute.org/training. In this Episode: Dr. Breuning's personal and professional journey Neurochemistry & the disease model Neural pathways & reward center wiring Alternative experiences & dealing with life on life's terms Understanding brain wiring and behavior Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphin The Inner Mammal Institute and Inner Mammal Method Satiation Expectation management and Distress Intolerance Dr. Breuning's take on addiction and Building Neuropathways What's next? Signature Question Follow Dr. Breuning: Website: https://innermammalinstitute.org/ Psychology Today: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/contributors/loretta-g-breuning-phd LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorettabreuning/ Books: https://www.amazon.com/Loretta-Graziano-Breuning/e/B001K8RYKU%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share The content of our show is educational only. It does not supplement or supersede the professional relationship and direction of your healthcare provider. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified mental health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition, substance use disorder, or mental health concern.

The secret of being happy is accepting where you are in life and making the most out of every day…. Or is it? Is there a secret to happiness that we can uncover by looking into the chemicals in our brain? We will find this out today. Watch this interview on YouTube here https://youtu.be/6Sb8wAsvwQ8 On the episode we will explore: ✔  A deep dive into the four happy chemicals in our brain. ✔ How to move past old patterns, behaviors and stress response circuits in our brain, for new results. ✔ Healthy ways to increase our happiness neurotransmitters. ✔ Vicious cycles we should all be aware of, and ways to break these cycles. ✔ How to rewire a "low trust" brain and what we can learn from how monkeys build trust in others. Welcome back to The Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast, where we cover the science-based evidence behind social and emotional learning (for schools) and emotional intelligence training (in the workplace) with tools, ideas and strategies that we can all use for immediate results. I'm Andrea Samadi, and on today's episode #236, we have Loretta Breuning, the Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute,[i] Professor Emerita of Management at California State University and the author of  Habits of a Happy Brain[ii] and Status Games: Why We Play and How to Stop. Her work has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, Real Simple and numerous podcasts. Loretta helps people to build their power over their mammalian brain chemistry, reminding us that “happiness comes from chemicals we've inherited from earlier mammals: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphin levels. When you know how they work in animals, your ups and downs make sense. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behaviors, not to make us feel good all the time. But you can feel good more often when you understand nature's operating system.” Let's meet Dr. Loretta Breuning and learn together, how to retrain our brain to boost our serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels, for a happier and healthier life by understanding why these neurotransmitters are important for happiness to occur in the present moment of our lives. Welcome Loretta, thank you for coming on the podcast. We have been focused on our brain as it relates to learning, and when I saw your book, Habits of a Happy Brain I jumped to learn more about it, because who doesn't want to learn more about our brain chemistry, especially when it comes to retraining our brain for happiness. INTRO Q: Can we start with where your interest in this topic began? How did you go from being a University Professor, to writing books about our brain chemistry and connecting us back to our “inner mammal” and how our brain is wired for survival?  Q1: You mentioned something in another interview[iii], that I think is important for us to understand. You said “we are all wired by our early experiences because this is when we have the most neuroplasticity.” What should we all know about how our brains are wired, that makes us all unique, right down to the level of the neurons in our brain? Q1B: So, if we are to dive deeper into this, you know how we all have a trauma response, or when we are stressed, or experiencing overwhelm, we experience either fight (anger/irritability) flight (let's talk about something else and avoid all of this) freeze (unable to move and disassociate), or fawn (where you keep the peace as a people please to avoid conflict)…all of these reactions hard-wired from our early experiences. I'm sure each of us, if asked, could think about which trauma response we use predominately. Once we are aware of our stress response circuit, what do we do with that?  Is it enough to just pay attention to whatever it is that's causing a reaction and notice if it's really a threat to you, or if we can just move beyond it? Q2: When I think about happiness, I don't usually think about what's going on at the brain level (until reading your book).  I'm thinking, I want to move towards this, or I don't. This makes me feel good, or it doesn't. Do more of X, and less of Y. What's behind this feeling of happiness? What 4 chemicals are showing up in the brain, and what should we know about how these 4 brain chemicals work?  (Page 14) Q2B: To intentionally retrain our brain towards more happiness, is this a good formula? “look for the joy=dopamine, beware of masking my pain, it will be temporary (endorphins), look for those I trust (oxytocin) and keep an eye on my pride/desire for social importance with serotonin? Is this enough, or am I missing anything important? (Page 16) 2C: What are healthy ways to increase each neurotransmitter? Q3: How does our brain wire itself early in life, and how difficult is it to break old wiring/habits? Q4: What are some common vicious cycles we should be aware of? What is the solution to getting out of these cycles, or resisting habits that make you feel good in the moment, and then bad later? Q4B: What tools do you have for people who are struggling to break a habit? Q5: In Chapter 2, Meet Your Happy Chemicals, you say that “your dopamine circuits are built from your past experiences” and “that dopamine builds a neural template that helps you find your rewards” (page 36, Habits of a Happy Brain) all built from our life experiences, like the child who discovers a berry patch with their mother, triggering dopamine with the whole experience. What happens to the rush this person feels later in life, (eating berries, or other experiences that have been wired into the brain) and what should we understand about the ups and downs of dopamine? Q5B: How can we translate this understanding into our parenting? Q6: What about endorphin, that “masks pain for a short time” (Page 41) “that is only released if you push past your capacity to the point of distress” and allows you to move forward. We have recently addressed chronic pain[iv], with ways to retrain our brain using mindfulness and meditation, along with other strategies, but endorphin doesn't seem to be a long-term solution to pain management. How does it contribute to our happiness if it's a short-term solution to our pain? Q7: What is the connection between oxytocin and trust? If you were standing in front of someone who just feels off to you for some reason, what happens at your brain level? Is oxytocin ONLY secreted with trust? Q7B: You say that “our oxytocin pathways are built with life experience” (page 48) so would it make sense that if we have a hard time trusting in our past experiences that these neural pathways would lean towards mistrust with others until we had rewired a new pathway of trust? Q7C: How would you rewire a “low-trust' pattern in our brain? Q8: How can we recognize when serotonin is flowing in our brain as we seek that feeling of being important or being respected, and how do our past serotonin experiences create our present expectations?   Q9: What is your 45-day plan to rewire our brain towards happiness? How can we take all of this and make it applicable? Q10: Why does our brain create unhappiness? What's important with experiencing the contrast of happiness and it's opposite? Q11: Is there anything important that I have missed? Final Thoughts: Thank you Dr. Breuning for sharing your Habits of a Happy Brain and all of your research on this podcast. For people to learn more about your work, and access the incredible free video series you've created, I will put the link to your resources and where people can follow you in the show notes. FOLLOW DR. LORETTA BREUNING WEBSITE https://innermammalinstitute.org/trainings/ TWITTER https://twitter.com/InnerMammal FACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/LorettaBreuningPhD LINKEDIN https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorettabreuning/ YOUTUBE https://www.youtube.com/c/InnerMammalInstitute   REFERENCES:   [i] https://innermammalinstitute.org/about/   [ii] Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels https://innermammalinstitute.org/books/habits-of-a-happy-brain/   [iii] The Quest for Status with Dr. Breuning and Mark Queppet https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQFzCq8bSdk [iv] Neuroscience Meets Social and Emotional Learning Podcast EPISODE #133 with Ashok Gupta on “Getting to the Root of Chronic Pain and Illness” https://andreasamadi.podbean.com/e/ashok-gupta-on-heath-and-happiness-getting-to-the-root-of-chronic-pain-and-illness-long-covid-fibromyalgia-chronic-fatigue-and-others/  

Sometimes teens behave in ways that seem truly inexplicable. One day they'd rather die than miss a trip to the mall with their friends...and the next they can't stand a single one of those same friends! They want to join the lacrosse team but won't go to a single practice,  date someone new every week, and change their future career three times in one day. It seems like they're being motivated by something behind the scenes…something that even they don't understand!In reality, teens are acting under the influence of all sorts of brain chemicals that developed as a result of evolution. Beyond just the reproductive hormones like testosterone and estrogen that we often associate with adolescence, kids are motivated by their internal reward system, including chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins. These chemicals cause teens to form habits and reward-seeking patterns that not only shape their teenage lives, but potentially their adult lives too!To understand how these chemical forces work in the teenage brain, we're talking to Loretta Breuning, author of Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels. Loretta is the founder of the Inner Mammal Institute, which provides resources for people to understand their pleasure-seeking brain chemicals and cultivate a happier life! In our interview, Loretta explains how oxytocin, dopamine, serotonin and endorphins work, how these chemicals change teens' behavior, and what happens when teens don't get enough of them.

It's been nearly 6 years since I first had the pleasure of speaking with Loretta Breuning. This episode has been months in the making and I'm happy to have her back to chat about her book Status Games: Why We Play and How to Stop.Loretta is a Professor Emerita of Management at California State University and the author of many personal development books including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphin Levels and the aforementioned Status Games: Why We Play and How to Stop. She's the founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and has helped thousands of people make peace with their inner mammal.During our conversation, Loretta and I talked about the role happy brain chemicals play in your status and the biology behind it. We discussed the importance of stimulating your serotonin to achieve your highest productivity levels in life and in the workplace and about wiring in new choices towards your best step confidently and navigating a healthy serotonin mindset.Loretta brings an interesting comparison of human and animal behaviour and how we can train our brains to boost these happy chemicals. It is a pleasure having her on the show once again. I hope you enjoy our latest conversation. I know I did.Links Worth Exploring Connect with Loretta: Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram Loretta's Book: Status Games: Why We Play and How to Stop Related Conversation: Episode 59: The Habits of a Happy Brain with Loretta Breuning Related Blog Post: Generally Helpful Tips Thanks to all of the sponsors of this episode. You can find all of the sponsors you heard me mention on this episode on our Podcast Sponsors page.Want to support the podcast? Beyond checking out our sponsors, you can subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Click on any of the links below to make that happen.Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | StitcherYou can also click on this link to paste the podcast feed into your podcast app of choice.Thanks again for listening to A Productive Conversation. See you later.Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It's been nearly 6 years since I first had the pleasure of speaking with Loretta Breuning. This episode has been months in the making and I'm happy to have her back to chat about her book Status Games: Why We Play and How to Stop. Loretta is a Professor Emerita of Management at California State University and the author of many personal development books including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphin Levels and the aforementioned Status Games: Why We Play and How to Stop. She's the founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and has helped thousands of people make peace with their inner mammal. During our conversation, Loretta and I talked about the role happy brain chemicals play in your status and the biology behind it. We discussed the importance of stimulating your serotonin to achieve your highest productivity levels in life and in the workplace and about wiring in new choices towards your best step confidently and navigating a healthy serotonin mindset. Loretta brings an interesting comparison of human and animal behaviour and how we can train our brains to boost these happy chemicals.  It is a pleasure having her on the show once again. I hope you enjoy our latest conversation. I know I did. Links Worth Exploring Connect with Loretta: Website | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | Instagram Loretta's Book: Status Games: Why We Play and How to Stop Related Conversation: Episode 59: The Habits of a Happy Brain with Loretta Breuning Related Blog Post: Generally Helpful Tips Thanks to all of the sponsors of this episode. You can find all of the sponsors you heard me mention on this episode on our Podcast Sponsors page. Want to support the podcast? Beyond checking out our sponsors, you can subscribe to the show wherever you listen to podcasts. Click on any of the links below to make that happen. Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher You can also click on this link to paste the podcast feed into your podcast app of choice. Thanks again for listening to A Productive Conversation. See you later.

Natural ways to boost our feel-good chemicals known as endorphins

Natural ways to boost our feel-good chemicals known as endorphins Endorphins do more than just make you feel good. They assist the body in healing, give you energy, and may even support the growth of neurons. On this episode, Drs. Mike and Crystal discuss foods, nutrients, and lifestyle approaches to stimulate the body to release endorphins naturally.

You might have heard of the happy chemicals in our brains – dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin, but how much do you really know about them and what they do? I am hugely interested in this topic for personal reasons, and this week's guest has so much wisdom on this topic. This woman has transformed my life, business, and knowledge of human behavior and I am over the moon to welcome her to the show this week. Dr. Loretta Bruening is the author of Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels and also Tame Your Anxiety: Rewiring Your Brain for Happiness, plus many more. She joins me this week to talk about the four main happy chemicals as well as the not-so-happy chemicals we all have in our brains, where these chemicals evolved from, why so many people don't realize the impact they have, and the various neural pathways that are running inside each of us behind the scenes. If you've ever wondered how human behavior works and want to understand yourself and the actions of others better, we've got you covered this week. “Each of us has to create certain thought habits to put things into perspective and constantly build our confidence in our own problem-solving skills.” - Dr. Loretta Breuning  In This Episode: - Hear where dopamine evolved from and why it makes us feel good. - There is a reason we all have a natural longing for protection, here's what it is… - Learn how each of us is wired by our own unique individual past experiences. - Find out what the Pomodoro technique is and what's so great about it. - Loretta shares the difference between a new neural pathway and an old one. - Hear why we currently think about the cortisol chemical the way we do. - Loretta shares the differences between the human brain and the animal brain and why we act the way we do. - Discover why the happy chemicals are not designed to be on all the time, and how they do specific jobs. And much more... Connect with Dr. Loretta Breuning: - Website –  https://innermammalinstitute.org/happypower/ (https://innermammalinstitute.org/happypower/) - Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels –https://www.amazon.com/Habits-Happy-Brain-Serotonin-Endorphins/dp/1440590508 ( https://www.amazon.com/Habits-Happy-Brain-Serotonin-Endorphins/dp/1440590508) - Tame Your Anxiety: Rewiring Your Brain for Happiness –https://www.amazon.com/Tame-Your-Anxiety-Rewiring-Happiness/dp/1538117762 ( https://www.amazon.com/Tame-Your-Anxiety-Rewiring-Happiness/dp/1538117762)   Connect with Adam Lyons: -https://thesmartblueprint.com/ ( Website) - https://uk.linkedin.com/in/adam-lyons-210670166 (LinkedIn) - https://www.facebook.com/TheAdamLyons (Facebook) - https://www.instagram.com/TheAdamLyons/ (Instagram) - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXrYi3GXQ7OtJ6urs8w3CBQ (YouTube)

It's the first week of January and April and Tracie are thinking about resolutions. We delve into willpower, habits, and mindset, and discuss the role of American individualism in the culture of New Year's Resolutions. Ultimately, we look for a better way to change our habits–and stop beating ourselves up with flawed systems.Check out our discussion/reflection questions for this episode:  https://joyousjustice.com/blog/jews-talk-racial-justice-ep-70Find April and Tracie's full bios and submit topic suggestions for the show at www.JewsTalkRacialJustice.comLearn more about Joyous Justice where April is the founding and fabulous (!) director, and Tracie is a senior partner.: https://joyousjustice.com/Support the work our Jewish Black & Native woman-led vision for collective liberation here: https://joyousjustice.com/support-our-workRead more of Tracie's thoughts at her blog: https://www.bmoreincremental.com/Learn more about Racial Justice Launch Pad and join the waitlist: https://joyousjustice.com/racial-justice-launch-padRead more about James Clear and his book Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones  https://jamesclear.com/atomic-habitsLearn more about Cheshbon Hanefesh (Soul Accounting) here: https://www.judaismyourway.org/2021/08/20/soul-accounting/Read more about the Heath Brothers and their book Switch: How to Change Things when Change is Hard: https://heathbrothers.com/books/switch/Learn more about a growth mindset vs. fixed mindset here: https://positivepsychology.com/growth-mindset-vs-fixed-mindset/Read more about Thich Nat Hanh: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Th%C3%ADch_Nh%E1%BA%A5t_H%E1%BA%A1nhFind out more about Mussar:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musar_movement#:~:text=The%20Musar%20movement%20Learn more about Sonia Choquette here:  https://soniachoquette.net/Read more about the book Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels by Loretta Graziano Breuning: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781440590504

Welcome back to Awakening Aphrodite! I've been wanting to dedicate an entire episode on healing and overcoming trauma for a long time. This was a huge challenge for me due to my own person experiences. If this episode helps you change a single aspect of how you navigate your own healing journey I would love to hear about it. Together, we will cover key chapters from the book "The Body keeps The Score" by Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk. Timestamps: 00:00 Importance Of Holistic Medicine In Our Time 1:28 Join Amy's Email List! 03:29 “The Body Keeps The Score” By Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk 07:30 Understanding ourselves through trauma 10:00 Using pain as a means of change 12:45 Thoughts as ingredients for being 14:12 Episode 72 with Dr. Weyland Meyers 14:34 Discovering the trauma in my body 16:24 How shame affects our health and addictions 18:40 “Freezing” in traumatic situations 18:56 The five parts of “The Body Keeps The Score” 21:45 The pervasiveness of trauma in our society 22:36 Trauma is more than an event 28:31 The Biological and Physiological Memory of Trauma 30:35 Power of Imagination When Healing 31:42 The Origins of PTSD 34:33 PTSD and Low Cortisol 37:03 Trauma Survivors and Prescription Medication 38:51 The Requirement for Mental Health 40:31 The Brain as a Cultural Organ 42:09 Attachment and Trauma 45:00 Coping with Food & Overeating 48:01 Feelings Resulting From Trauma 49:56 Healing and Treatment 1:01:00 Closing Summary Other episodes mentioned: 72. Connecting at the Heart-Level, Fostering Better Relationships, Loving With Detachment and Healing Addictions with Nonviolent Communication and Wayland Myers, PhD 45. Creating Happy Brain Chemicals and Healthy Habits By Boosting Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels with Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD Contact Amy Fournier: WEBSITE: http://amyfournier.com/ EMAIL: amy@amyfournier.com INSTAGRAM: @FitAmyTV YOUTUBE: Awakening Aphrodite Podcast/FitAmyTV FACEBOOK: Amy Fournier TWITTER: Tweetwithamy TIKTOK: @awakeningaphrodite PODCAST: Awakening Aphrodite (available on all podcast outlets like iTunes and Spotify)

Welcome back to Awakening Aphrodite! I've been wanting to dedicate an entire episode on healing and overcoming trauma for a long time. This was a huge challenge for me due to my own person experiences. If this episode helps you change a single aspect of how you navigate your own healing journey I would love to hear about it. Together, we will cover key chapters from the book "The Body keeps The Score" by Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk. Timestamps: 00:00 Importance Of Holistic Medicine In Our Time 1:28 Join Amy's Email List! 03:29 “The Body Keeps The Score” By Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk 07:30 Understanding ourselves through trauma 10:00 Using pain as a means of change 12:45 Thoughts as ingredients for being 14:12 Episode 72 with Dr. Weyland Meyers 14:34 Discovering the trauma in my body 16:24 How shame affects our health and addictions 18:40 “Freezing” in traumatic situations 18:56 The five parts of “The Body Keeps The Score” 21:45 The pervasiveness of trauma in our society 22:36 Trauma is more than an event 28:31 The Biological and Physiological Memory of Trauma 30:35 Power of Imagination When Healing 31:42 The Origins of PTSD 34:33 PTSD and Low Cortisol 37:03 Trauma Survivors and Prescription Medication 38:51 The Requirement for Mental Health 40:31 The Brain as a Cultural Organ 42:09 Attachment and Trauma 45:00 Coping with Food & Overeating 48:01 Feelings Resulting From Trauma 49:56 Healing and Treatment 1:01:00 Closing Summary Other episodes mentioned: 72. Connecting at the Heart-Level, Fostering Better Relationships, Loving With Detachment and Healing Addictions with Nonviolent Communication and Wayland Myers, PhD 45. Creating Happy Brain Chemicals and Healthy Habits By Boosting Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels with Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD Contact Amy Fournier: WEBSITE: http://amyfournier.com/ EMAIL: amy@amyfournier.com INSTAGRAM: @FitAmyTV YOUTUBE: Awakening Aphrodite Podcast/FitAmyTV FACEBOOK: Amy Fournier TWITTER: Tweetwithamy TIKTOK: @awakeningaphrodite PODCAST: Awakening Aphrodite (available on all podcast outlets like iTunes and Spotify)

Welcome back to Awakening Aphrodite! I've been wanting to dedicate an entire episode on healing and overcoming trauma for a long time. This was a huge challenge for me due to my own person experiences. If this episode helps you change a single aspect of how you navigate your own healing journey I would love to hear about it. Together, we will cover key chapters from the book "The Body keeps The Score" by Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk. Timestamps: 00:00 Importance Of Holistic Medicine In Our Time 1:28 Join Amy's Email List! 03:29 “The Body Keeps The Score” By Dr. Bessel Van Der Kolk 07:30 Understanding ourselves through trauma 10:00 Using pain as a means of change 12:45 Thoughts as ingredients for being 14:12 Episode 72 with Dr. Weyland Meyers 14:34 Discovering the trauma in my body 16:24 How shame affects our health and addictions 18:40 “Freezing” in traumatic situations 18:56 The five parts of “The Body Keeps The Score” 21:45 The pervasiveness of trauma in our society 22:36 Trauma is more than an event 28:31 The Biological and Physiological Memory of Trauma 30:35 Power of Imagination When Healing 31:42 The Origins of PTSD 34:33 PTSD and Low Cortisol 37:03 Trauma Survivors and Prescription Medication 38:51 The Requirement for Mental Health 40:31 The Brain as a Cultural Organ 42:09 Attachment and Trauma 45:00 Coping with Food & Overeating 48:01 Feelings Resulting From Trauma 49:56 Healing and Treatment 1:01:00 Closing Summary Other episodes mentioned: 72. Connecting at the Heart-Level, Fostering Better Relationships, Loving With Detachment and Healing Addictions with Nonviolent Communication and Wayland Myers, PhD 45. Creating Happy Brain Chemicals and Healthy Habits By Boosting Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels with Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD Contact Amy Fournier: WEBSITE: http://amyfournier.com/ EMAIL: amy@amyfournier.com INSTAGRAM: @FitAmyTV YOUTUBE: Awakening Aphrodite Podcast/FitAmyTV FACEBOOK: Amy Fournier TWITTER: Tweetwithamy TIKTOK: @awakeningaphrodite PODCAST: Awakening Aphrodite (available on all podcast outlets like iTunes and Spotify)

Stress, anxiety, and “busyness” have been so overwhelming for so many people in our modern world, and it's only gotten worse over the past few years! But have you ever thought about the connection between your mental state and your brain's neurochemistry? Or what steps you can take to improve your mental state by better understanding your neurochemistry?Today we are talking all about neurochemicals, stress, your sense of well-being, how to get more serotonin, less cortisol, rewiring your mindset, and more with Dr. Loretta Breuning!- We answer these questions:- Why do we play social status games?- What is the neurochemistry behind social status games?- What is the connection between “peace of mind” and your neurochemistry?- What are the roles of dopamine, cortisol, and oxytocin?- How have “busyness” and stress been turned into an effort to connect?- How can you combat intrusive thoughts and stress?- How you can rewire your mindset to improve your mind.- How does the media you consume affect your neurochemistry?- And more!-Schedule a consultation with Alexis: www.altfammed.comSupplements:Sugar Cravings Support: https://drannmariebarter.com/product/sugar-cravings-support/ Mood Relief: https://drannmariebarter.com/product/mood-relief/ Sugar Craving Support Pack: https://drannmariebarter.com/product/sugar-craving-support/ - About Dr. Loretta Breuning:Loretta G. Breuning, PhD, is Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels. As a teacher and a parent, she was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned about the brain chemistry we share with earlier mammals and everything made sense. She began creating resources that have helped thousands of people make peace with their inner mammal. Dr. Breuning's work has been translated into eight languages and is cited in major media. Before teaching, she worked for the United Nations in Africa. Loretta gives zoo tours on animal behavior, after serving as a Docent at the Oakland Zoo. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Tufts. The Inner Mammal Institute offers videos, podcasts, books, blogs, multimedia, a training program, and a free five-day happy-chemical jumpstart. Details are available at https://innermammalinstitute.org. -Subscribe for more gut health content and share this podcast with a friend! Take a screenshot of this episode and tag Dr. Ann-Marie Barter:http://instagram.com/drannmariebarter-Dr. Ann-Marie Barter is a Functional Medicine and Chiropractic Doctor at Alternative Family Medicine & Chiropractic. She is the clinic founder of Alternative Family Medicine & Chiropractic that has two offices: one in Longmont and one in Denver. They treat an array of health conditions overlooked or under-treated by conventional medicine, called the "grey zone". https://altfammed.com/https://drannmariebarter.com/

Status Games This is the third time I've welcomed Loretta on the show. We've previously discussed her work around our happy chemicals and her book Habits of a Happy Brain. In this conversation, we focus on the happy chemical serotonin the role it plays. Loretta shares with us how we can rewire our brain to avoid the trap of comparison and status-seeking to achieve more contentment and satisfaction from life. Nice! Guest Bio. Loretta G. Breuning, PhD, is Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels. As a teacher and a parent, she was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned about the brain chemistry we share with earlier mammals and everything made sense. She began creating resources that have helped thousands of people make peace with their inner mammal. Dr. Breuning's work has been translated into eight languages and is cited in major media. Before teaching, she worked for the United Nations in Africa. Loretta gives zoo tours on animals behavior, after serving as a Docent at the Oakland Zoo. She is a graduate of Cornell University and Tufts. The Inner Mammal Institute offers videos, podcasts, books, blogs, multimedia, a training program, and a free five-day happy-chemical jumpstart.

Loretta Graziano Breuning, Ph.D., is the author of Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphin Levels. She studied and written the brain chemistry of animals and how they relate to human behavior. She is also the host of the Happy Brain Podcast. She discusses the human brain's chemicals and how we can create more happy chemicals. ------------------------- Thanks for listening to The Funky Brain Podcast with Dennis Berry! Dennis is a Life Coach for Addiction Recovery and Life Mastery. If you are struggling with any type of addiction like alcohol, food, porn, drugs, or shopping, reach out for help. Asking for help is the first step in solving the addiction puzzle. Maybe you're not struggling with an addiction, but you are simply “stuck” in life and don't know how to push through. Dennis is the master in helping people get laser-focused, accomplishing their goals and dreams, and achieving life mastery on every level. Dennis works with people worldwide and currently has clients in England, Australia, and India. Zoom is a beautiful tool for helping people all over the world.

Loretta Breuning Status Games: Loretta Breuning, PhD, is Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels. She's Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay, and a grandma. Loretta Breuning Status Games Jane Austin, Charles Darwin, Booker T. Washington and other true stories included in the book to inform us these famous people were normal humans who dealt with their own status games--dishing a little dirt tooWhy Loretta stopped selling herself as a "brand" and whey Jeff did the same at Podcast Movement in 2014; constantly pitching to people is exhausting and just not funThat one time Jeff and Loretta went to the LA zoo in the rain; the zoo keeper gave all of the Bananas to the Alpha; Loretta says many zoo keepers will feed the other chimps away from the Alpha as wellJeff visited wild monkeys in Japan where the humans were in a cage and the monkeys were be fed the visitors; it was total chaos with much monkey violenceLearning how to beware of when you are going to start feeling a dip in your happy chemicals and learning to seek healthy ways to deal with that feeling; you don't need to be happy all the time; there is a middle pathThe Common paths to feel the status one up feeling described in the book; my abs are better than your abs, my car is better than your car; I have a bigger portfolio than youExercise can be a great way to relief stress but it can also become an addiction; too much exercise can cause undue wear and tear on joints, bones, and muscles Connections Website Book: Status Games: Why we play and How to Stop

Loretta Breuning, Ph.D. is the author of the book, "Habits of a Healthy Brain -- Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphin Levels". Loretta shares how we can retrain our brains to turn on the chemicals that make us happier -- and increase our overall feelings of satisfaction. She founded the Inner Mammal Institute where she provides resources that help people rewire their brains and build new neural pathways.

Watch The Full Episode on YouTube Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLtF9MwAkTc&feature=youtu.be Loretta G. Breuning, PhD, is the Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels, The Science of Positivity and Anxiety: What Turns It On and Turns It Off. Our happy chemicals are not designed to flow all the time for no reason. They evolved to reward survival behavior. Don't think others are getting happy chemicals all the time-- they're not! Resources: Site InnerMammalInstitute.org. Podcast happybrainpodcast.com Videos: YouHavePowerOverYourBrain.com FB LorettaBreuningPhD Tw @innermammal YT https://www.youtube.com/innermammalinstitute Insta @inner.mammal.inst LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorettabreuning/ *New book coming out in September: Status Games: Why We Play and How to Stop https://www.amazon.com/dp/1538144190/ Podcast: https://www.mentalhealthnewsradionetwork.com/our-shows/the-happy-brain/ Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome To Awakening Aphrodite 00:27 Introduction 04:03 The Beginning of Loretta's Journey 05:54 Leaving Academia 07:55 Researching Social Behavior in Mammals 13:09 Consciousness of Mortality in Animals 15:02 What Are Happy Chemicals? 21:04 Addiction To Social Media 23:47 Hormones vs. Neurotransmitters 28:57 What Are Endorphins 33:06 The Perception of The Happiness in Others 36:30 Confirmation Bias 39:27 The Formation of Myelinated Neurons 44:02 Rewiring Neural Pathways 49:04 Why Relationships Become Stagnant 51:14 The Unhappy Chemical 55:49 Social Comparison 57:27 Loretta's Upcoming Projects Thanks for listening to Awakening Aphrodite!

Watch The Full Episode on YouTube Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLtF9MwAkTc&feature=youtu.be Loretta G. Breuning, PhD, is the Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels, The Science of Positivity and Anxiety: What Turns It On and Turns It Off. Our happy chemicals are not designed to flow all the time for no reason. They evolved to reward survival behavior. Don't think others are getting happy chemicals all the time-- they're not! Resources: Site InnerMammalInstitute.org. Podcast happybrainpodcast.com Videos: YouHavePowerOverYourBrain.com FB LorettaBreuningPhD Tw @innermammal YT https://www.youtube.com/innermammalinstitute Insta @inner.mammal.inst LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorettabreuning/ *New book coming out in September: Status Games: Why We Play and How to Stop https://www.amazon.com/dp/1538144190/ Podcast: https://www.mentalhealthnewsradionetwork.com/our-shows/the-happy-brain/ Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome To Awakening Aphrodite 00:27 Introduction 04:03 The Beginning of Loretta's Journey 05:54 Leaving Academia 07:55 Researching Social Behavior in Mammals 13:09 Consciousness of Mortality in Animals 15:02 What Are Happy Chemicals? 21:04 Addiction To Social Media 23:47 Hormones vs. Neurotransmitters 28:57 What Are Endorphins 33:06 The Perception of The Happiness in Others 36:30 Confirmation Bias 39:27 The Formation of Myelinated Neurons 44:02 Rewiring Neural Pathways 49:04 Why Relationships Become Stagnant 51:14 The Unhappy Chemical 55:49 Social Comparison 57:27 Loretta's Upcoming Projects Thanks for listening to Awakening Aphrodite!

Watch The Full Episode on YouTube Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLtF9MwAkTc&feature=youtu.be Loretta G. Breuning, PhD, is the Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. She is the author of many personal development books, including Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin and Endorphin Levels, The Science of Positivity and Anxiety: What Turns It On and Turns It Off. Our happy chemicals are not designed to flow all the time for no reason. They evolved to reward survival behavior. Don't think others are getting happy chemicals all the time-- they're not! Resources: Site InnerMammalInstitute.org. Podcast happybrainpodcast.com Videos: YouHavePowerOverYourBrain.com FB LorettaBreuningPhD Tw @innermammal YT https://www.youtube.com/innermammalinstitute Insta @inner.mammal.inst LI: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorettabreuning/ *New book coming out in September: Status Games: Why We Play and How to Stop https://www.amazon.com/dp/1538144190/ Podcast: https://www.mentalhealthnewsradionetwork.com/our-shows/the-happy-brain/ Timestamps: 00:00 Welcome To Awakening Aphrodite 00:27 Introduction 04:03 The Beginning of Loretta's Journey 05:54 Leaving Academia 07:55 Researching Social Behavior in Mammals 13:09 Consciousness of Mortality in Animals 15:02 What Are Happy Chemicals? 21:04 Addiction To Social Media 23:47 Hormones vs. Neurotransmitters 28:57 What Are Endorphins 33:06 The Perception of The Happiness in Others 36:30 Confirmation Bias 39:27 The Formation of Myelinated Neurons 44:02 Rewiring Neural Pathways 49:04 Why Relationships Become Stagnant 51:14 The Unhappy Chemical 55:49 Social Comparison 57:27 Loretta's Upcoming Projects Thanks for listening to Awakening Aphrodite!

  Did you know that the four happiness chemicals - dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin - have evolved to reward survival behaviours and not to make you feel good all the time?   Yes, you heard that right! But it all makes sense when you understand how these four chemicals work in animals.   Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD is the owner and founder of the Inner Mammal Institute, which helps people build power over their inner mammalian chemistry. Loretta believes that happiness comes from chemicals we have inherited from earlier mammals.   In this episode, Loretta shares her story about the unhappiness that drove her to research more and understand why people feel the way they feel and its relation to nature. Listen in to learn how to satisfy your inner child and find pleasure in it while still showing consideration for others. You will also learn the importance of building trust with others to create human connections even in the current virtual world.   Key Takeaways: Learn how to respect and accept yourself by finding pleasure in whatever you say while showing consideration to others. How your childhood experiences of vulnerabilities shape who you become as an adult. The importance of building trust in small steps to create human connections. How you release threatened feelings by laughing and how it works in the workplace.     If you enjoyed this episode, check out the video show notes and SUBSCRIBE TO THIS PODCAST on Apple Podcasts.   Episode Timeline: [0:42] Intro [4:42] Loretta explains how her quest for happiness motivated her to research happiness chemicals and write books. [6:44] Why we all want to give two things - whatever you were missing as a kid and survival. [9:02] How to find pleasure in saying whatever you want while being considerate to others. [13:15] How Loretta spent many years with a fear of being ignored which came from her childhood vulnerabilities. [17:32] The cortex and how it anticipates future risks which is a challenge to create a sense of safety. [20:14] Understanding why trust comes first and learning to build it. [23:54] Utilizing your dopamine in new ways to take steps that will help you meet needs without consequences of unwanted behaviors. [26:07] How animals make decisions to co-operate for survival and the functions of serotonin in driving animals and humans to want to be in the one-up position. [30:26] Learn to understand and manage the serotonin feeling by celebrating your small wins and giving yourself moments of peace. [33:14] The ways you can create an endorphin release work environment where people laugh. [39:48] Learn how to find the threat and then go back to seeking reward by not triggering more cortisol.     Standout Quotes: “We do need to take account for others and be considerate for others, but also to respect and accept ourselves.”- Loretta Graziano Breuning [10:23]   “Instead of just focusing on risks, we have to celebrate our own skills.”- Loretta Graziano Breuning [19:25]   “Touch and trust go together but trust comes first.”- Loretta Graziano Breuning [22:47]   “You can lower your guard when you feel like you have social support.”- Loretta Graziano Breuning [37:09]   Connect: Find | Cathleen Merkel At cathleenmerkel.com On Instagram: @CathleenMerkel On Facebook: @CathleenMerkelCoaching On LinkedIn: @CathleenMerkel       Find | Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD Websites Inner Mammal Institute Inner Mammal Institute (Deutsch) On LinkedIn On Instagram On Facebook On Twitter On YouTube     Book| Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels     Listen to the Happy Brain Podcast Here     SUBSCRIBE TO THIS PODCAST On Apple Podcasts.       Do you want to learn more about how to become a Legendary Leader, then download my FREE Guide which shares 5 Proven Ways To Gain Confidence As An Inspirational Leader Without Overwhelm - Simply Click Here   About Cathleen:     As a Thought Leader in the Mindset & (Self-) Leadership space, Cathleen supports high achieving, but worn-out women create a more content & balanced life without sacrificing their hard-earned success. Following a simple 6 step framework, she helps you not only reconnect with your inner feminine side; Cathleen also supports you to rediscover your REAL YOU!    Cathleen focuses on women who lost their sense of purpose, who feel they are running in a hamster wheel, trying to please everyone but themselves. She helps you to turn your careers, your social connections and personal life around so that you will start feeling fulfilled and excited again about the days to come.      At the end of the process, Cathleen's clients will feel healthier, happier, energised and clear about their future.        With over 15 years of leadership experience in Retail, Media & Broadcasting, Engineering and Property Investment, Cathleen has not only experienced the challenges and opportunities of a female leader herself, she has also been leading and supporting various leadership development initiatives within large, complex, multinational matrix organisations.   Only by deeply experiencing her very personal life challenges – ‘hitting a wall experiences' –Cathleen was able to redefine her own purpose, deciding to bring ease and content to as many women as possible on the planet!     Tune in here:  https://apple.co/2CaSQ5K https://spoti.fi/2XzM4QJ https://music.amazon.co.uk/podcasts/85d200fb-8e1d-46b3-b550-b00b9666f00f/The-Legendary-Leaders-Podcast     About Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD   Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD is a Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay. As a teacher and a mom, she was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned about the brain chemistry of animals, and everything made sense. Loretta knew this information could help people. So, she set about creating resources. She is thrilled that they have helped thousands of people around the world, and that they have been translated into Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, French, Turkish and German. Before teaching, Loretta was a United Nations Volunteer in Africa, where she learned about the mammalian custom of bribery. Later, she volunteered as a Docent at the Oakland Zoo, where she gave family-friendly tours on the social behaviour of mammals. Loretta is a graduate of Cornell and Tufts, and the proud mother of tax-paying adults. And every day she appreciates the similarity between the field notes of a primatologist and the lyrics to a love song. The Inner Mammal Institute helps people build their power over their mammalian brain chemistry. Happiness comes from chemicals we've inherited from earlier mammals: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphin. When you know how they work in animals, your ups and downs make sense. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behaviours, not to make us feel good all the time. But you can feel good more often when you understand nature's operating system.   The IMI has all the resources you need to make peace with your inner mammal:  books, videos, podcasts, infographics, slideshows, blogs, facebook, twitter, a zoo tour and a training program. And check out our MEDIA page and praise page to find out what people are saying about the Inner Mammal Method. It's not easy being mammal, but you can build your power over the quirky brain we've inherited.

Why do entrepreneurs have such a hard time stepping back from work? Why do we continually engage in behaviors that are exhausting us?   Ryan welcomes Dr. Loretta Breuning on the show for a deep dive into neurochemistry and how you can harness it's potential to create a happier life for yourself.   Key Takeaways [3:21] Ryan welcomes Dr. Loretta Breuning to the podcast and launches the discussion with a summary of his understanding of brain chemicals.   [5:00] Dr. Loretta offers up her caveats to Ryan's interpretation: all chemicals have both a good and bad side.   Dopamine is a motivator and a distractor — It will reward you for any behavior it perceives will make you survive. In between survival behaviors dopamine is not necessary or wanted!   Oxytocin is often called the love chemical but really it's about trust. But herd behavior can be negative so humans oscillate between herd mentality and individual pursuits.   Serotonin is the chemical that gives you a good feeling when you feel like you measure up to your peers.   [8:50] Dr. Loretta unpacks Ryan's gigantic question: the expectation that we can have a peak positive moment at all times is unrealistic.   It's important to learn what we understand our brain chemicals do in order to fully grasp the natural rhythm of ups and downs and stimulate our brains in a healthy way.   The advice she gives to people is first: read the books! Ultimately, there is no external fix, you need to take responsibility.   [13:40] Does the understanding of these chemical relationships affect how Dr. Loretta consciously makes decisions? The short answer is yes.   However we all are born helpless and need to please others to ensure our survival, what happens during periods of vulnerability and peak neuroplasticity (up to adolescence) will shape the chemical messages we receive from diverging or going with the herd.   The key is then to begin to see these behaviors for what they are and beginning to retrain your neural pathways.   [17:20] Ryan shares a very personal and vulnerable story and uses it as a case study to explain how his own trust mechanisms were stunted at a moment when he was relying heavily on the herd.   [20:39] With time we develop a tolerance for the chemicals we produce and unless something prevents you from repeating the behaviors that generate dopamine, most of us will keep questing after the same reward. What can we do about that?   This is where you can use Serotonin! If you are trying to merge away from one behavior, use your need to measure up to your peers to drive forward a new goal and take pride in a new goal.   [25:58] Cultural trends are often a Serotonin pitfall where people become obsessive about measuring up to their peers and social media is an enormous driver for this.   [28:43] Are there ways through diet, exercise, lifestyle to train the way to produce more of these chemicals? Can the body eve produce more of these chemicals?   These chemicals are produced from fat — don't cut it all out! Sunlight is also a multiplier.   Diversification is key: if you only have one reward mechanism (junk food - good feeling - bad feeling - junk food) you will be stuck in a loop, when the bad feeling occurs, you need to have an arsenal of strategies to divert it. You also need to dig into the root of the bad feeling and address it independently to free yourself of it.   [34:45] SSRIs are popular — Serotonin reuptake inhibitors prevent the reassimilation of Serotonin by your system thereby increasing its bioavailability; MDMA is being investigated also but has been linked with disruption of endogenous neurotransmitter systems; Psilocybin and other psychedelics seem to be promising in the treatment of mood disorders and Serotonin precursor supplements are also all the rage. What is Dr. Loretta's stance on external supplementation?   Loretta thinks anything external you add into your system will be less effective in the long run than controlling your thought process.   Braingasm [38:38] the minute we rest, we are pausing the pathways preventing them from chasing after the next high thereby creating a lull during which: 1. Our system perceives a threat to its survival 2. Is paradoxically the place where we can examine our programmed responses and chose to design the next pathways. [41:43] If and when we get the room to rest, what do we do to reprogram ourselves? A new project is always good — make it different (it will be less rewarding at first, stick with it) do it in small steps, design the steps carefully so you can repeat those steps every day. Dr. Loretta Breuning's second book The Science of Positivity: Stop Negative Thought Patterns By Changing Your Brain Chemistry details that process. [47:10] Ryan thanks Dr. Loretta for coming on the show and invites listeners to follow her work at InnerMammalInstitute.org. Thanks for listening! Mentioned in this episode Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphin Levels, by Loretta Breuning The Science of Positivity: Stop Negative Thought Patterns By Changing Your Brain Chemistry, by Loretta Breuning Capitalism.com

Dr. Loretta Breuning is the author of Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphin Levels as well as The Science of Positivity: Stop Negative Thought Patterns By Changing Your Brain Chemistry; and I, Mammal: How to Make Peace with the Animal Urge for Social Power. Habits of a Happy Brain is one of the best books I have read this year so I had to talk with Dr. Breuning about how our happy brain chemicals relate to the ups and downs of entrepreneurship. I was not disappointed, plenty of actionable takeaways here to help you operate at your best.

Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD is Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels. She's Professor Emerita of Management at California State University, East Bay.As a teacher and mom, Loretta was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned about the brain chemistry we share with earlier mammals, and everything made sense. So she began creating resources to help people manage their inner mammal. Her work has helped thousands of people rewire themselves for more happy chemicals.Her work has been featured on Forbes, NPR, Fox, the Wall Street Journal, NBC, Psychology Today, Cosmopolitan, Inc, Men's Health, Fast Company, Dr Oz and Real Simple. She has been interviewed on a large number of podcasts, including James Altucher, Brainfluence, Recovery Unscripted, YogaBody, FatburningMan, and Primal Blueprint. She has spoken at the International Coach Federation, the Latin American Positive Psychology Network, the Relational Center, and Imagery International. Her books have been translated into Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, French and Turkish.Dr. Breuning holds a BS from Cornell University and a PhD from Tufts University. She's married with children who are tax-paying adults. In her free time she likes to visit historic places and watch Spanish and French videos while exercising.Get ready to boost your happiness in just 45 days! Habits of a Happy Brain shows you how to retrain your brain to turn on the chemicals that make you happy. Each minute offers simple activities that help you understand the roles of your "happy chemicals" - serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphin. You'll also learn how to build new habits by rerouting the electricity in your brain to flow down a new pathway, making it even easier to trigger these happy chemicals and increase feelings of satisfaction when you need them most. Filled with dozens of exercises that will help your reprogram your brain, Habits of a Happy Brain shows you how to live a happier, healthier life!- https://innermammalinstitute.org/- https://www.amazon.com/Loretta-Graziano-Breuning/e/B001K8RYKUPlease do NOT hesitate to reach out to me on LinkedIn, Instagram, or via email mark@vudream.comLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-metry/Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/markmetry/Twitter - https://twitter.com/markymetryMedium - https://medium.com/@markymetryFacebook - https://www.facebook.com/Humans.2.0.PodcastMark Metry - https://www.markmetry.com/Humans 2.0 Twitter - https://twitter.com/Humans2Podcast

In this episode of The Productivityist Podcast, Mike speaks with Dr. Loretta Breuning from the Inner Mammal Institute. They talk about how you can retrain your brain, including some tactics and tips so that you can start building a happier and healthier brain. They dive into how to build new neural circuits, discuss the four chemicals that affect our behaviour, and how to tap into the animal inside of you so that you can embrace your "inner mammal" and craft more positive experiences. Relevant Links http://jump.blinkist.com/aff_c?offer_id=2&aff_id=1189&source=podcast59 (Blinkist) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1440590508/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1440590508&linkCode=as2&tag=vardyme-20&linkId=W66A73X44YYZMYAR (Habits Of A Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, & Endorphin Levels by Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD | Amazon) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0307591549/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0307591549&linkCode=as2&tag=vardyme-20&linkId=DCVKRXY7YTYKXKIC (The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work by Shawn Achor | Amazon) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006158326X/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=006158326X&linkCode=as2&tag=vardyme-20&linkId=JI7DFUPWCFXBL3OG (The Happiness Project: Or, Why I Spent a Year Trying to Sing in the Morning, Clean My Closets, Fight Right, Read Aristotle, and Generally Have More Fun by Gretchen Rubin | Amazon) http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/081298160X/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=081298160X&linkCode=as2&tag=vardyme-20&linkId=GPUL3JWXZ2YTQKFJ (The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business by Charles Duhigg | Amazon) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Attenborough (David Attenborough | Wikipedia) http://innermammalinstitute.org/ (Inner Mammal Institute: making peace with the animal inside) https://twitter.com/InnerMammal (Inner Mammal Inst (@innermammal) | Twitter)