Habits of a Happy Brain with Dr. Loretta Breuning. Loretta Breuning, PhD, is the Founder of the Inner Mammal Institute. She started researching the happy brain chemicals when her experiences as a professor and a mom conflicted with prevailing theories of human motivation. Then she learned that our happy chemicals are inherited from earlier mammals, and they evolved to do a job rather than make us happy all the time.   When you know the job they do in animals, you can rewire yourself to enjoy more happy chemicals and relieve your distress chemicals. In this episode, you'll discover:    [1:48] The conflict and struggle in various stages of Dr. Loretta Breuning’s life and what motivated her to look into what causes human ups and downs.  [3:07] What is dopamine and how it turns on. [4:40] Why dopamine leads to frustration in everyone. [7:09] An example of dopamine working in my daughter. [7:50] How our brain is always comparing rewards to expectations. [8:35] Dopamine exercise strategies. [9:55] What is endorphin and how is it triggered. [10:32] How endorphin releases when you’re in pain. [11:41] Endorphin exercise strategies. [14:08] What is oxytocin and how it turns on. [15:55] If your trust was ever broken what you should be aware of. [17:17] Oxytocin exercise strategies. [18:36] What is serotonin and how it’s stimulated. [20:41] Why the brain is always comparing and what we can do about it. [22:55] The importance of having realistic expectations. [24:15] Serotonin exercise strategies. [25:38] The role of cortisol and adrenaline. [28:48] How our brain is wired from the time we’re born and as we age.  [32:34] Her parenting advice. [34:40] What we can expect and how we should go about creating new habits. [37:15] The Science of Positivity and why our brain goes negative. [39:58] How her approach is different from mainstream academic views.  For show notes and everything else we discussed in this episode click here: http://www.anchorsofhealth.com/7

7: Habits of a Happy Brain with Dr. Loretta Breuning

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