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Hello Doer,
How are you being today?
This blog will briefly explain the shared human brain chemicals and how the presence of each makes you a doer.
What else could you be doing (thinking) when you believe you are physically doing nothing?
Psychological and Physical Doings
As living organisms, what makes us human beings is our doings (the complicated thoughts, feelings, and actions). The brilliant brain is continuously doing, helping us to function and stay alive daily. The two parts of the mind (Thinking Mind and Emotional Mind) housed in the #brain are continually processing what we sense and interpreting it to become our perception. Both the psychological process of doing and the physical actions carried out, as a result, shape our reality, making human beings #doers.
No matter what you think you are doing or not doing, the human brain will continuously release appropriate bodily chemicals. These determine our state of being and motivate our actions at a particular moment.
Whether you are sleeping or sitting quietly and observing or watching TV, feeling hungry or thirsty, saying, or not saying something, you are still thinking, feeling, and taking some form of action. It is this doing, starting with a thought about what we have sensed (Stimulus), and the meaning we give to it, that either moves us towards (approach) or away from (avoid) what we perceive. That is to say; Your thoughts create the feeling that is the result of your action.
Neurotransmitters
#Neurotransmitters play a vital role in how the brain works in controlling and coordinating an individual's body. The feelings generated from the brain, down through the whole body, depend on the complicated exchange between probably over one hundred different kinds of neurotransmitters. At any one time, complex mixes of these chemicals are released inside the body as signals, influencing our brain, causing and affecting our doings. The levels and balance of these brain chemicals in our body change everything we do from unconscious thinking to conscious movements, such as learning, sleeping, and our mood.
Hormones
Hormones work like chemical signals; they are chemical messengers in particular glands in the body and cause-specific organs to respond in a certain way. Feelings are described best as sensations in the body. The feeling of happiness or sadness depends on hormones and other chemical signals released from the brain. The brain chemicals increase or decrease brain activity associated with body movements called emotion.
The Pleasurable Brain Chemicals
Of the 100+ neurotransmitters, it is only a small percentage that influences most of our functioning. Here are some common brain chemicals and hormones that dictate our mood and regulate troublesome emotions.
Serotonin
Researches show that Serotonin regulates mood, sleep, and has a broader effect on appetite.
It is associated with learning and memory. The sense, or belief, of feeling important generates the flow of Serotonin.
A low level of Serotonin results in anxiety depending on the thought, gender, personality, and circumstance. It sometimes leads to aggression or depression in the person.
Endorphin
Scientific evidence clearly shows that Endorphins reduce levels of stress by balancing mood and helping to control stress and anxiety.
"The Feel Good" chemical helps suppress physical pain, acting as pain relief while positively boosting your mood.
Endorphins are released naturally during exercise and other physical activities.
Any activity that releases endorphins will reduce discomfort and thus enhance the capacity for empathy.
Dopamine
Dopamine is known to generate feelings of pleasure hence the common name "The Dopamine Effect."
It is associated with the controlling of movement and rewards the learning process, which explains the increased degree of motivation.
When in conjunction with Serotonin, they generate “the feeling of Happiness." Dopamine could also raise the level of alertness in a person when coupled with noradrenalin.
This is the feeling you get when you believe that you will be successful at meeting your essential needs and desirable wants. It is connected with goal striving and attainment, creating a feeling of euphoria.
Oxytocin
"The Love Hormone" gives the feeling of trust, secures a more excellent bond between mother and child, helps us build empathy, and is also involved in romantic attachment, maternal love, and infatuation.
It is associated with social bonding and friendly social interactions, such as the physical display of emotions and feelings of generosity.
It influences the parts of the brain involved in controlling emotions and depresses the fear and anxiety centre (amygdala). It helps reduce the effects of stress hormones called Cortisol. Emotionally stressed people tend to have low levels of Oxytocin in their bloodstream.
Other Hormones
"Adrenaline Rush"
Among other effects, adrenaline releases in the body and stimulates the heart, so it beats faster.
This is required to prepare the body for 'flight and fight' mode in the face of a threat. In a stressful situation, the release of Cortisol is present in the body.
It is also released when we feel excited (can be used as motivation or drive) or shocked.
Vasopressin
Finally, vasopressin is another hormone that encourages friendliness in us. Being friendly is linked to aspects of our social behaviour. In addition to its purpose in assisting us in drinking water, vasopressin could influence some degree of defensive or aggressive behaviour depending on gender. It ensures we are better able to read facial expressions in recognising who to trust.
We produce these chemicals by communicating with our nerve cells (Neurons) at any time. In reacting to stimuli based on our thoughts; (information sent to the brain), the chemicals surge in the body and could change your mood from happiness to despair in a split second.
Doing nothing does not exist as human beings are psychologically and physically doing. The secret I found in balancing my brain chemicals is "BEING". This has helped me rest and rejuvenate my mind. I create effortless energy daily with the ability to motivate myself in achieving my doing.
Do you want to be a personal scientist in learning to balance your BEING & DOING?
References
David, A. (2019) The Secret Life of the Brain: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Mind
McDowell, P. E. (2015) Thinking about Thinking: Cognition, Science, and Psychotherapy
Spilsbury, R (2013) Emotions From Birth to Old Age (Your Body for Life)