How we experience life depends on the chemicals in our brains. Whether we are happy or sad, angry or worried, any emotions we feel all can be traced to what’s going on inside our heads. Now that modern science has a pretty good idea of what happiness looks like in our brains we can actually hack into 4 happiness chemicals and improve our life quality significantly! 

Dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins are four chemicals that are responsible for our happiness. Here are some simple ways to hack into these positive neurochemicals.

Happiness Chemicals

#1: Dopamine

Also known as the “feel-good” hormone or the “reward chemical”. This hormone (and neurotransmitter) is an important part of your brain’s reward system. Dopamine is associated with pleasurable sensations. It is responsible for learning, memory, motor system function, and more. This chemical motivates us to take action toward goals, desires, and needs. And at the same time, it gives us a feeling of satisfaction and pleasure when we achieve them. If you’re prone to procrastination, self-doubt, and lack of willpower or enthusiasm, it could be linked with low levels of dopamine.

Ways to boost dopamine:

• completing a task
• celebrating small wins
• doing some self-care activities
• eating food

Tips:

• Try to find a way to break big goals down into little pieces. This will allow your brain to celebrate when you’ve hit the finish line. Thus you can create a series of little finish lines and it will help to release dopamine.
• Always create new goals before achieving your current one. That ensures a continual flow for experiencing dopamine.

#2: Serotonin

Also known as the “mood stabilizer”. This hormone (and neurotransmitter) is responsible for your mood, sleep, digestion, appetite, learning ability, and memory. Serotonin flows when you feel significant or important. When you feel lonely or depressed it can be a signal of absent serotonin. Unhealthy attention-seeking behavior can also be a symptom of serotonin lacking.  

Ways to boost serotonin:

• meditating
• walking in nature
• swimming
• running
• cycling
• sun exposure

Tips:

• Spend some time reflecting on your past significant achievements. This will allow your brain to re-live the experience. The thing is our brain doesn’t feel the difference between the real and imagined. Therefore, by just thinking about some positive experience, visualizing the pleasant event or situation, you can help your brain to produce serotonin.
• Spend some time outdoors to enjoy the sunshine. Our skin absorbs UV rays, which promotes vitamin D and serotonin production.

#3: Oxytocin

Also known as the “love hormone”. This hormone helps promote trust, empathy, intimacy, and healthy relationships. Oxytocin is released by men and women during orgasm, and by mothers during childbirth and breastfeeding. With physical affection like kissing, cuddling, and sex, oxytocin levels naturally increase. In order to create strong bonds and improved social interactions, we need oxytocin.

Ways to boost oxytocin:

• kissing
• cuddling
• playing with a dog
• holding hand
• playing with a baby
• giving compliments
• sex

Tips:

• The most simple way to boost your oxytocin level is to give someone you love a hug. It’s been scientifically proven that inter-personal touch not only raises oxytocin but reduces cardiovascular stress and improves the immune system. For keeping your oxytocin flowing, give at least 8 hugs a day!
• When someone receives a gift, their oxytocin levels can rise. You can help your loved ones boost their oxytocin levels by simply buying them gifts.

#4: Endorphins

Also known as the “pain killer”. Endorphins are your body’s natural pain reliever. They are released in response to pain and stress and help to alleviate anxiety and depression. Similar to morphine, endorphins act as an analgesic and sedative, diminishing our perception of pain.

Ways to boost endorphins:

• laughter
• dark chocolate
• spicy foods
• essential oils
• exercising

Tips:

• Attending a comedy show or watching a comedy movie will increase your levels of endorphins. The easiest way to boost your endorphin levels is to find things to laugh at during the day.
• Aromatherapy is great for increasing your endorphins. It’s been noticed that essential oils such as vanilla and lavender increase the production of endorphins.

The Bottom Line

Hormones are chemicals produced by different glands across your body. They travel through your bloodstream, acting as messengers and playing an important part in many bodily processes. Certain hormones are responsible for regulating your mood, promoting positive feelings, including happiness and pleasure. And now you know how you can boost the levels of those happiness chemicals naturally! Get some sunshine, do some exercising, go for a date, laugh, kiss, hug, and always remember to celebrate your little wins!

Healing through your past trauma could be a long process but there are signs of change and growth along the way. It’s not always easy to see the progress because it could look so small and inconspicuous most days, but there are telltale signs that can help you to see even the smallest progress.

There are individual differences, of course. Each of us is healing from different traumas and suffers from different emotional wounds. In this article, I will share with you 10 signs that you are healing that are based on broad generalizations so you can just choose those that fit you personally.

What Is Emotional & Psychological Trauma?

Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a dangerous world. It can cause upsetting emotions, memories, and anxiety that won’t go away easily. Also, emotional trauma can leave you feeling numb, disconnected, and unable to trust people.

Traumatic experience often involves a threat to our physical or mental safety. In fact, any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and isolated can potentially result in trauma, even if it doesn’t involve physical abuse.

Thus, it is your subjective emotional experience of the event that determines whether an event is traumatic. The more scared, helpless, unsafe you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatized.

A potentially traumatic event is more prone to leave us with longer-lasting emotional and psychological trauma if:

• we were unprepared for the event
• the event occurred suddenly
• we felt powerless to prevent the event
• the event occurred repeatedly (for example, child abuse)
• if the event involved extreme cruelty
• if the event occurred during the childhood years

Each of us has our own unique experiences. We all are healing from different traumas and suffer from different emotional wounds. But whatever your trauma is, there are general telltale signs that you are healing. Now let’s take a look at them!

10 Signs That You Are Healing

Here they are – 10 signs that you are healing.

#1: You have accepted that you’ve gone through something difficult

The most important thing to do on your healing journey is actually to acknowledge and accept that you’ve experienced a life-changing moment that has impacted you. This is when the healing process starts. Instead of denying this experience or pretending that it wasn’t a big deal, you accept that your life, mind, body, relationships, or the way you see the world has shifted from that point.

#2: You welcome support

You are open to support and help in different ways whether it’s from friends, family members, energy healers, or therapists. You finally allow yourself to release the need to carry your burdens alone.

#3: You don’t feel ashamed of your trauma

You stopped trying to bury your trauma deep inside of you so that you are not left vulnerable. You allow yourself to feel vulnerable though it may feel uncomfortable at first. Over time, it becomes easier and easier to open up. You are not drowning yourself in shame anymore for everything that has happened to you. You are not trying to ignore your trauma. Instead, you are opening up so that your emotional wound can finally heal.

#4: You are learning to manage your emotions

Instead of allowing your emotions to control you, now you’re learning to manage them. With time, you start seeing how you’re becoming able to anticipate stressful situations and come up with strategies to deal with them. You become more proficient at calming yourself down rather than being purely reactive.

#5: You can recognize and cope with your triggers

In the past, different cues in the environment could have predictably, if unconsciously, set you off. Now you’re consciously aware of all the triggers and know how to cope with them.

#6: You feel more in control of yourself

You let go of self-blame and self-criticism. You chose to stop being a victim. This allowed you to take control over your life, your emotions, and reactions. The less you feel like the trauma controls you, the more you feel in control of yourself.

#7: You can set and enforce your boundaries, and respect other’s

Your past trauma used to make you wrongly see boundaries as a sign of rejection, or confuse boundaries with walls that keep people out. Your healing self is able to recognize healthy boundaries, both those of others and your own. Now you see boundaries as a sign of your ability to connect with others in healthier ways.

#8: You feel safe in your relationships

Trauma can leave us feeling unsafe in close relationships or certain triggering situations, so it makes sense that it might be difficult to trust another person and open yourself up after experiencing trauma. When dealing with trauma, it can be painful to feel caught between feeling unsafe in relationships but still desiring relationships with others. If you noticed that you feel safer in your relationships and it becomes easier for you to trust others, this is a clear sign that you are healing.

#9: You forgive and see yourself as whole

You know that your traumas and emotional pain are only a part of your journey on Earth. All your experiences on this planet are designed for learning and growing. And your trauma is one of such experiences. By forgiving yourself and others for all the pain you’ve been going through, you are releasing all that negativity that was making you feel broken. This is how you start seeing yourself whole again!

#10: You feel comfortable expressing your feelings

You’re not hiding your feelings anymore. Now you feel comfortable sharing whatever you feel you need to express. You can freely and openly talk about your trauma, your emotional wounds, and everything that has happened to you in the past that has created that traumatic experience. You also feel comfortable about the ways that have helped you overcome your trauma and the healing techniques that you’ve been using.

The Bottom Line

When bad things happen, it can take a while to get over the pain and feel safe again. And although healing from your past trauma may look like a long and slow process, there are signs of change and growth along the way. Sometimes these signs are almost invisible but it’s important to notice and celebrate them.

Whether you are seeking to reduce your stress, anxiety, elevate your mood, or are looking to alleviate physical and emotional wounds and boost your vitality, there is a self-healing tool for you. Being a 20-year-experienced healer myself, I can assure you that the below self-healing tools can be as effective as receiving a healing session from a spiritual healer (if practiced properly and consistently).

Of course, there are more than 7 self-healing tools you can use. But in this article, I decided to collect the most accessible, simple, yet seriously effective self-healing tools that will help you promote your wellness, physical and mental health.

7 Self-Healing Tools

#1: Meditation

Meditation is the most important self-healing tool that is available to us at any time. Here are some of the healing benefits you may get if you make meditation a part of your daily self-care routine:

• stress levels reduction;
• anxiety control;
• sleep improvement;
• emotional balance;
• pain control;
• attention span lengthening;
• blood pressure decrease;
• age-related memory loss reduction;
• may help fight addictions, etc.

How Do I Start My Meditation Practice?

If you’re new to meditation practice but want to try it, check out my easy guide “6 Steps to Start a Meditation Practice“.

#2: Pranayama

Pranayama is a system of breathing exercises that can significantly increase your energy level and calm your mind.

Prana is the Sanskrit word for breath, life force, or vital principle. Ayāma can be translated as the suspension of breath or control. Thus, pranayama means control over vital energy.

Prana is the vital energy that fills everything in the Universe. It saturates all living things with life, providing physical bodies with strength. Breathing allows us to absorb prana and control its flow.

Here are some healing benefits that daily pranayama practice can offer us:

• longevity increase;
• supports lung function;
• emotional balance;
• cardiovascular function improvement;
• deepens concentration;
• helps in bringing down hypertension;
• clearing out the nasal passages and stuffy noses;
• helps to remove all accumulated toxins from your body;
• removes the blemishes and wrinkles from the skin and provides fresh oxygen making your skin glow;
• helps in alleviating digestive problems and also helps reduce bloating;
• supports brain function, etc.

How Do I Start My Pranayama Practice?

If you’re new to pranayama but want to try it, check out my guide “Pranayama for Beginners“.

#3: Mantras

A healing mantra is a combination of sounds of a certain frequency. By chanting a healing mantra, we affect the area of the body that needs healing with healing sound vibration. Sound vibrations get into resonance with the diseased organs and at a subtle level correct their condition. Regular practice of the healing mantras will help you improve not only your health and the health of your loved ones but also boost your energy levels and cleanse your energy body of negativity.

Different healing mantras have different benefits. Generally speaking, healing mantra practice can be used for:

• charging water for changing the crystal structure of matter;
• alleviating suffering, reducing mental and physical pain;
• treating nervous disorders and severe depressive states;
• treating psychosomatic diseases;
• reducing chronic fatigue;
• eliminating pain;
• boosting immunity;
• help with disorders;
• relieving mental ailments;
• alleviating women suffering in childbirth;
• heals the human psyche, etc.

How Do I Start Chanting Mantras?

If you are not familiar with healing mantras, check out my article “8 Powerful Healing Mantras For Mental, Emotional, And Physical Health“.

#4: Yoga

Yoga is an ancient practice that brings together mind and body by incorporating breathing exercises, meditation, and asanas (yoga poses).

Yoga practice comes with many benefits for both mental and physical health. Here are some of them:

• stress decrease;
• anxiety relief;
• inflammation reduction;
• heart health improvement;
• lowers blood pressure;
• improves sleep quality;
• help improve balance and mobility;
• reduces symptoms of depression;
• helps to reduce chronic pain;
• may relieve migraines;
• encourages healthy eating behaviors;
• boost strength and endurance, etc.

How Do I Start?

There are many different ways you can start practicing yoga right where you are without getting a membership to some fancy yoga studio or gym. To start your yoga practice is easy! Just check out my guide “Yoga Practice At Home” and you’ll see that you can do it!

#5: Solfeggio Frequencies

Solfeggio frequencies are nine healing tones that are in resonance with the bioenergetic centers of a person and are able to harmonize his biofield. Under the influence of these frequencies, the energy centers of the body find the natural vibrational balance. Biofield gets restored due to the resonance of sound vibration with the energy of the corresponding chakra.

Solfeggio Frequencies have many healing benefits. Here are some of them:

• manage mental disorders, nervousness, and worry;
• reduce inflammation associated with injuries and infections;
• heal allergies;
• reduce stress hormone cortisol in our body;
• remove toxins;
• detoxify the cells and organs;
• boosts cell energy;
• heal trauma;
• improve nutritional metabolism and nutritional assimilation;
• balance the parasympathetic nervous system, etc.

How Do I Start?

Solfeggio frequencies are a powerful tool that you can use at any time. You can find these frequencies on YouTube or download their audio version. Use them for your meditations, relaxation, or sleep. But first, read through my Healing Frequency List to choose the right frequency for your healing.

#6: Healing Affirmations

Healing affirmations are short phrases containing a verbal healing formula that, when repeated many times, activates the healing process in the subconscious of a person, contributing to the improvement of his psycho-emotional background and stimulating positive changes in his health and wellbeing.

With the help of healing affirmations, you can reprogram your mind from lack of energy and illness to vitality and health. If you learn to direct the energy of your thoughts to health and wellbeing you will eventually start feeling better, more energized, and will notice that you’re more healthy than ever.

Healing affirmations will help you to improve your overall health, boost your immune system, get rid of chronic and infectious diseases, ease the symptoms of a particular disease, speed up wounds and cuts healing, etc.

How Do I Start?

If you want to learn how to properly create and work with healing affirmations, check out my article 60 Powerful Healing Affirmations For Befriending Your Body.

#7: Reparenting Your Inner Child

No matter how big or small we are, almost each of us has experienced some kind of childhood trauma. These traumas can be different: your favorite toy was thrown in the trash; you were abandoned by your childhood best friend; physical or emotional abuse by parents or adults. Inner child healing is a vital component of your self-healing because it reconnects us with the wounded element of ourselves – the inner child.

Working on your inner child healing is the process of communicating, understanding, accepting, and healing your inner child. Your inner child represents your first true identity when you entered this world. She/he contains your ability to experience surprise, joy, innocence, sensitivity, and playfulness.

When we reject and stifle the voice of the inner child, we accumulate heavy psychological baggage. This unexplored and unresolved baggage causes us to face problems such as mental illness, physical ailments, and the inability to build healthy relationships.

When we reconnect with the wounded element of ourselves – our inner child, we begin to discover the root of many of our fears, phobias, insecurities, and self-sabotaging of life. And then we become able to understand the psychological reason that led us to our health problems and heal.

How Do I Start?

If you want to learn effective ways to re-parent and heal your inner child, check out my article Inner Child Healing: 4 Surprisingly Effective Practices.

Conclusion

Keep in mind that consistency in self-healing practices is the key to success! Though the above self-healing tools can be a helpful and effective way to support your healing, these methods are not designed to replace urgent medical care if you need one.