Speaker 1: Hey, the folks, it is Sunday, May seventeenth, and it's
Speaker 1: time to get dopamine. Up Robot has some tricks, some hacks,
Speaker 1: but I'm told they all will work to make you
Speaker 1: get happy even when you don't think you can with that.
Speaker 1: Welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. All right,
Speaker 1: you certainly got my attention, ropes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's a way to trigger your brain's happy
Speaker 2: chemicals without taking any.
Speaker 3: Chemicals, no meds.
Speaker 2: This isn't about what you can drink or eat or
Speaker 2: what pill you can take. No, this is just some
Speaker 2: simple tips that will literally and have been proven to
Speaker 2: boost these chemicals that are in your brain that create
Speaker 2: a feeling of happiness.
Speaker 1: You can make yourself happy.
Speaker 3: Yes, there are four hap'mically happy.
Speaker 1: This is not you just trying to fake the funk.
Speaker 1: You know, actually turn on happiness.
Speaker 3: You can change your body chemistry.
Speaker 1: To me, which leads to happiness, a better mood and happiness.
Speaker 1: All right, then, all.
Speaker 3: Right, you know what the four happy hormones are?
Speaker 1: Yes, because you just hold me them and you're.
Speaker 3: Really good at recalling, aren't you.
Speaker 1: I'm not going to do a Q and A.
Speaker 2: Let's go all right, So the first one is dopamine.
Speaker 2: Dopamine is referred to as the reward chemical. It helps
Speaker 2: us feel pleasure as a part of our brain's reward system.
Speaker 3: I don't know that I realized that.
Speaker 2: That that that specifically is triggered by feelings of satisfaction
Speaker 2: or that you're rewarding yourself for something.
Speaker 1: Yes, isn't that the thing when you get get compliments
Speaker 1: or awards or isn't that the thing dopamine is triggered?
Speaker 3: Yes, right, okay, yes, that's what happens.
Speaker 2: So the first thing they say you can do is
Speaker 2: celebrate your wins. And sometimes we don't do that, they said,
Speaker 2: even sometimes checking off a to do list item, you
Speaker 2: will get a rush of dopamine if you acknowledge it, like,
Speaker 2: actually recognize that you just accomplished something.
Speaker 3: Today. We just accomplished something. We're about to go celebrate
Speaker 3: our win.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well I'm back to the other things. Yes, we
Speaker 1: are about to. Because we as we sit here, as
Speaker 1: we record this, we are in the mythical mystic Connecticut.
Speaker 1: I didn't know it was such a thing. Yeah it was.
Speaker 1: It's been a very white weekend for me. I learned
Speaker 1: a lot about culture. Yes, today, yours this is a
Speaker 1: hot spot and a draw for a bunch of people
Speaker 1: because of a movie that I had never heard of.
Speaker 2: And still haven't seen, Pizza. Julia Roberts grew up loving
Speaker 2: that movie. So yes, we did eat it Mystic Pizza
Speaker 2: last night to prepare for yes.
Speaker 1: Half marathon we ran this morning. Yeah, just randomly signed
Speaker 1: up for this about a month ago. And cute little
Speaker 1: town cue. It is adorable little place and we have
Speaker 1: enjoy We might come back at some point. But it
Speaker 1: was a win. It's a big win. It's even in
Speaker 1: the last couple of miles, like I looked over and
Speaker 1: said this, we are badass and just look at we
Speaker 1: just got up on a Sunday and decided to do so. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm celebrating that win. I'll take it. But my thing
Speaker 1: was when you said it, I go to people who
Speaker 1: struggle to find the win, struggle to find in other
Speaker 1: ways bad day. You don't think to yourself, oh I
Speaker 1: accomplish my check off. It doesn't seem like a big win,
Speaker 1: but yes, yes it is.
Speaker 2: Yes, So that can be something as simple as that,
Speaker 2: or and like today, we were just going to drive
Speaker 2: back and we thought, you know what, We're gonna put
Speaker 2: the metals around our neck and we're going to go
Speaker 2: have some brunch and then we'll drive back. So it's
Speaker 2: about kind of marking those moments and recognizing them. It
Speaker 2: will surge the dopamine in your brain. The other thing
Speaker 2: you can do dance to upbeat music. How can you
Speaker 2: be sad when you're dancing to music, Like, just turn
Speaker 2: the music on and start dancing.
Speaker 3: Your body chemistry will change.
Speaker 1: All right. It's hard to do when you said, I
Speaker 1: get it, but yes, we music plays a very big
Speaker 1: role in our lives every single day, much to the
Speaker 1: chagrin of our neighbors sometimes who will call downstairs at
Speaker 1: three in the morning pretty early. Yes, said TJ's at
Speaker 1: it again. So yes, music is a big deal. And yeah,
Speaker 1: all our music is upbeat and inspirational and emotional and
Speaker 1: rouse We like rousing music.
Speaker 2: So yeah, changes your mood. And the third thing they
Speaker 2: say you can do to increase your reward chemical and
Speaker 2: they said only do this sparingly and when there is
Speaker 2: something to celebrate. But it is true and proven according
Speaker 2: to Harvard researchers, when you treat yourself to a shopping spree,
Speaker 2: your dopamine spikes. So it's something to remember if you
Speaker 2: feel if this is something that you're rewarding yourself for,
Speaker 2: I don't know, something you've accomplished. Going on a shopping
Speaker 2: spree will absolutely spike your dopamine.
Speaker 1: Well, see, the only people what do they call them
Speaker 1: a choppaholics or shopping addicts. But there are things sometimes
Speaker 1: maybe even eating sometimes people things people do to comfort themselves.
Speaker 3: Yeah kind of is exactly kind yes, and it and
Speaker 3: it does.
Speaker 2: But these are ways as long as you can afford
Speaker 2: it and you keep it obviously to a minimum. But
Speaker 2: they said, but just even going out and buying the
Speaker 2: sweater that you've been eyeing because you, you know, either
Speaker 2: did something you were proud of physically, professionally, personally, whatever,
Speaker 2: and to reward yourself that there is a real beat
Speaker 2: and I fit from a body chemical response that you
Speaker 2: can acknowledge and appreciate. All right, Next up seratonin. This
Speaker 2: one is known as the mood stabilizer. So seratonin is
Speaker 2: responsible for boosting your mood. And they say, the number
Speaker 2: one way you can boost your serotonin go outside.
Speaker 1: Wait, what's it? What serotonin does? What?
Speaker 3: It's your mood.
Speaker 2: Stabilizer and it's responsible for boosting your mood so when
Speaker 2: you get a burst of serotonin, your mood increases. And
Speaker 2: the number one way you change your serotonin level for
Speaker 2: the better is to go outside.
Speaker 1: What does that mean a stabilizer. Stabilizer doesn't increase the mood.
Speaker 2: Yes, so if you're feeling low or sad, if you
Speaker 2: can get more serotonin, it'll stabilize your mood. It'll make
Speaker 2: you it'll bring you up from a bad mood. So, yes,
Speaker 2: it boosts your mood.
Speaker 1: I hear stable, and I hear just solidifies where you
Speaker 1: already are.
Speaker 2: No, it actually brings you up to actually being in
Speaker 2: a good mood or not in a bad mood. And
Speaker 2: going outside that makes sense, they said, even if it's
Speaker 2: just for fifteen minutes, And if you can go for
Speaker 2: a walk, even better, And that makes total sense.
Speaker 3: Like your whole mood can change if you just walk outside.
Speaker 1: Especially if it's a nice weather day.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean even in the rain sometimes I don't know.
Speaker 3: I appreciate that.
Speaker 2: The number two way they say you can increase your
Speaker 2: serotonin levels is to meditate. That that absolutely regulates your
Speaker 2: mood and can lift you up out of a funk.
Speaker 1: I agree with that one hundred percent. It takes some work.
Speaker 1: It takes some training, and it takes some patience to
Speaker 1: find what you like because you have to sit and
Speaker 1: you have to concentrate and focus, and it takes some training.
Speaker 1: But man, when you get there, it is it's I
Speaker 1: highly recommend meditation.
Speaker 3: Yes, I have tried to do it.
Speaker 2: I have not been as good as I have definitely
Speaker 2: not ever gotten into a regular a routine of it.
Speaker 2: And I know that that would be so helpful. So
Speaker 2: I am going to try to do that, even if
Speaker 2: it's just once a week, maybe on the weekend, even
Speaker 2: just as a reflection.
Speaker 1: But the thing, when you get into a habit of it,
Speaker 1: you won't be able to stop. I used to do
Speaker 1: it every single morning in the car on the way
Speaker 1: to the stadio. That's amazing ten minutes because you were
Speaker 1: being driven. Oh yeah, I just want to you're not
Speaker 1: doing it while you were driving. If you can meditate
Speaker 1: and drive at the same time.
Speaker 2: Wow, that would be so helpful. Road rage would not exist.
Speaker 2: What do you know? So the next hormone is oxytocin.
Speaker 2: Do you know what oxytocin does? Like what that hormone does?
Speaker 3: I did not. It's it's known as the love hormone.
Speaker 2: So it's produced when we're excited by our sexual partner.
Speaker 3: So it's that thrill.
Speaker 2: And it can also be like that feeling of falling
Speaker 2: in love, that is oxytocin.
Speaker 1: I had no idea, why do we want to falsely
Speaker 1: produce that?
Speaker 2: Well, because if you're wanting to feel that that rush
Speaker 2: of oxytocin, that rush of love.
Speaker 1: Basically, why would you want to feel that?
Speaker 3: Why wouldn't you want to feel in front of whom?
Speaker 2: Well, just just in general, it's just a it's a
Speaker 2: fun feeling. So the number one way you can do
Speaker 2: that is if you cuddle with someone, cuddle with cuddle
Speaker 2: with your loved one, cuddle with your pet. You will
Speaker 2: feel a rush of love, that feeling you know, that's
Speaker 2: like joy.
Speaker 1: It's not just sexual. Romantic, Okay, that's what it is.
Speaker 3: Sexual.
Speaker 2: It can be sexual, but also just can be romantic
Speaker 2: and romance and the feeling of falling in love.
Speaker 3: And I thought this was interesting.
Speaker 2: They said, the other way you can produce oxytocin is
Speaker 2: to join a local community, like think about start going
Speaker 2: to fitness classes, have a regular yoga group, a book club.
Speaker 2: Basically the feeling of belonging actually when you feel like
Speaker 2: I'm a part of this group, and I'm a part
Speaker 2: of this this these folks, and I and I belong
Speaker 2: and I feel loved. That actually will increase your oxytocin.
Speaker 2: I never thought about going to a fitness class as
Speaker 2: making your oxytocin levels go out, but they say it does.
Speaker 1: Yeah, because it's a bunch of other hot people in
Speaker 1: there working out. She end up, Hey, let's grab a
Speaker 1: coffee after class this week. No, it's not about the love,
Speaker 1: please say fitness class. What else? Bible study book club?
Speaker 2: Yes, I'm sure that could be a part of it
Speaker 2: as well too. Yes, but it's about being in a
Speaker 2: group and being a part of things, all right. When
Speaker 2: we come back, we are going to talk about the
Speaker 2: last of the happy hormones. How do you burst or
Speaker 2: burst or boost your endorphins? When we come back, Welcome
Speaker 2: back everybody to this episode of Amy and TJ. We're
Speaker 2: talking about Harvard researchers have found some simple ways that
Speaker 2: all of us can boost our brains happy chemicals.
Speaker 3: You're feeling a little down, you're feeling in the dumps.
Speaker 3: You don't have to resort to some marijuana or a glass.
Speaker 2: Of wine or maybe even I don't know. They're saying
Speaker 2: you could avoid medicine, that this could actually replace anything
Speaker 2: chemical that you could try to ingest or take.
Speaker 1: Do they say it's just.
Speaker 2: I don't know if they say it's just as effective,
Speaker 2: but they say it triggers these chemicals, These actions trigger
Speaker 2: these chemicals, just like some other medicines might do. And
Speaker 2: it's available to all of us, and we just have
Speaker 2: to think about what it is that we're looking for.
Speaker 2: But inendorphins, you know, people talk about a runners high
Speaker 2: and I hear about endorphins, but I don't know that
Speaker 2: I actually knew what the definition of what it is
Speaker 2: that endorphins do for us. They are called aka the
Speaker 2: body's natural painkillers.
Speaker 3: I did you realize that or was I just I
Speaker 3: don't know. Was my head in the sand?
Speaker 1: Yes? Usually, but I know I did not know that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I just I'm kidding the same. No, No, it's true
Speaker 1: though it was a beast joke we've been lately.
Speaker 2: Uh I No. So endorphins, look, each one of these
Speaker 2: happy hormones have a very specific function within your body
Speaker 2: chemistry that brings these different feelings of happiness. So yes,
Speaker 2: I guess endorphins help you get through pain, and I
Speaker 2: always just thought they were all interchangeable, like, oh, my
Speaker 2: serotonin levels are up, or my dope mean levels are up,
Speaker 2: or I want to get that runners high.
Speaker 3: But this is how we actually get through pain.
Speaker 2: And the number one way you can do this not shocking,
Speaker 2: I'm sure exercise. So we just ran thirteen point one miles.
Speaker 2: You ran through quite a bit of pain, would you
Speaker 2: say in doorphins because you were smiling, you were singing,
Speaker 2: You look like you were in a great mood.
Speaker 1: What was that? I don't know if that's endorphin that
Speaker 1: that was a mind thing. For me, it was, Uh, yes,
Speaker 1: I've been injured. It has some issues, but I was
Speaker 1: one of the better runs. My lungs held up, my
Speaker 1: conditioning held up, just my foot didn't quite hold up
Speaker 1: the whole rangement. I felt lucky and blessed to get
Speaker 1: as far as I did without being in severe pain.
Speaker 1: So I don't know what role in endorphins played in
Speaker 1: any of them.
Speaker 2: I bet it played a lot of roles, a huge
Speaker 2: role in it because you were able to. I mean, look,
Speaker 2: this was just If anyone has ever run the Mystic
Speaker 2: Connecticut half Marathon, it is gorgeous.
Speaker 3: It is beautiful.
Speaker 2: We had a picture perfect weather day, but that was
Speaker 2: one of the I think it might be the hilliest
Speaker 2: race that I have ever run.
Speaker 3: Was it the hilliest race? You did?
Speaker 1: They were, I guess short, and you could argue even
Speaker 1: slight inclines, but it was a lot. I was shocked
Speaker 1: how up and down and there are a couple devils
Speaker 1: in there.
Speaker 2: There was one in particular, like between mile nine and ten.
Speaker 2: I thought, why is this hill here right now?
Speaker 1: Oh yeah? The end? Oh yeah, I thought the end
Speaker 1: on an incline at some point. Oh yeah, it was.
Speaker 2: It was.
Speaker 1: They should put a warning label on the dam.
Speaker 3: Yeah, this is not flat.
Speaker 2: I told you actually to get you, I was like, hey,
Speaker 2: I just found this half marathon in mister, Connecticut. It's
Speaker 2: along the coast, so obviously it won't be hilly. It'll
Speaker 2: be flat along the shore. I'm just so glad I
Speaker 2: didn't know what the course was like beforehand, because I
Speaker 2: would have been freaking out.
Speaker 3: That was very hilly.
Speaker 2: But I do think Look, I was running out of
Speaker 2: I was running out of gas at the end of it.
Speaker 2: But it's those endorphins. It's amazing what your body can
Speaker 2: push through and.
Speaker 3: I do it. I do speak to and I know
Speaker 3: you do too, babe. Just the runners high.
Speaker 2: It's not necessarily this euphoria all the time, but it
Speaker 2: is what keeps you going and keeps your legs moving
Speaker 2: even when you're in pain. So that's pretty cool. The
Speaker 2: other way you can boost your endorphins. I guess this
Speaker 2: makes a lot of sense. Watch something funny. Laughter is
Speaker 2: the best medicine, right, so that actually produces painkillers.
Speaker 3: That's so cool.
Speaker 1: I would highly recommend as well watching stand up comedy.
Speaker 1: You know me, I have this song in the background oftentimes,
Speaker 1: and just to hear someone staying up just telling jokes
Speaker 1: and with the intent of making you laugh. Oh that's
Speaker 1: I highly recommended Netflix and Hulu. All these folks have
Speaker 1: all these stand up specials. You'll find a bunch of
Speaker 1: new comics. I highly recommend that. I didn't realize I
Speaker 1: seek out comedy. I guess every time I go into
Speaker 1: the bathroom, I got my iPad and you hear some
Speaker 1: funny show on or somebody's.
Speaker 3: You love Archer. You always have Archer.
Speaker 1: Archer Constant Joah. I know every one of those episodes,
Speaker 1: but it's still it's funny to me. So I don't know,
Speaker 1: maybe I'm seeking this out and didn't even realize.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 2: I mean I think it's cool because you probably didn't think,
Speaker 2: oh wow, my endorphins have boosted now and that's why
Speaker 2: I'm in a better mood. You don't even realize it.
Speaker 2: So it's kind of cool to actually have it laid
Speaker 2: out this way. I appreciate the way they laid it out,
Speaker 2: so you could actually say, hmm, if I want to
Speaker 2: increase this, if I want to feel this, here's what
Speaker 2: I should do. But a lot of it is about
Speaker 2: being outside, being active, exercising and belonging, being with people.
Speaker 2: It's kind of common sense. But when you're sitting alone
Speaker 2: feeling sorry for yourself, if you can be intentional about
Speaker 2: just mixing it up and taking some of these and
Speaker 2: making some of these choices, it could absolutely change your day.
Speaker 1: Can you go through the four right quick again?
Speaker 2: Yes?
Speaker 3: Yes?
Speaker 2: Well, Dopamine, celebrate your wins, dance to upbeat music and
Speaker 2: treat yourself to a shopping spree. Serotonin, get outside, meditate, oxytocin,
Speaker 2: cuddle with the loved one or pet, join a group,
Speaker 2: endorphins exercise, watch something funny, so without everyone we hope you.
Speaker 3: Can be happy and stay happy.
Speaker 2: Today, I'm Amy Robach alongside TJ Holmes.
Speaker 3: We will talk soon.