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The Happy Brain

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Do you wonder what stimulates your happy brain chemicals- dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, endorphin? Answer your questions with these lively conversations between Loretta Breuning and real readers of her book, Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels. Still have more questions? Read the book and be a guest on the show yourself! Contact Dr. Breuning and learn more about her work at the Inner Mammal Institute at: InnerMammalInstitute.org. The brain chemicals that make us feel good are inherited from earlier mammals. They evolved to do a job, not to make you feel good all the time. When you know the job of each chemical in the state of nature, your ups and downs make sense. More important, you can re-wire yourself to enjoy more of them in sustainable ways. But it’s hard. Our brain is designed to release happy chemicals to reward steps that promote survival. But our brain defines survival in a quirky way: it cares about the survival of your genes and it relies on neural pathways built in youth. To make things even harder, our brain habituates to the rewards it has so you always have to do more to get more happy chemicals. We are not born with survival skills like our animal ancestors. Each newborn human wires itself from its own early experience. Happy chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, wiring you to repeat behaviors that made you feel good before. This is why our urgent motivations don’t make sense to our verbal brain. It’s not easy being mammal! When you know how your brain works, you can find healthier ways to enjoy happy chemicals and relieve unhappy chemicals. You can build new neural pathways by feeding your brain new experiences. But you have to design the new experiences carefully and repeat them a lot. The Inner Mammal Institute has free resources to help you make peace with your inner mammal: videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books illuminate the big picture and help you plot your course. You can find new ways to feel good, wherever you are right now. Music from Sonatina Soleil by W.M. Sharp. Hear more of it at InnerMammalInstitute.org/musicbywmsharp

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United States

Description:

Do you wonder what stimulates your happy brain chemicals- dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, endorphin? Answer your questions with these lively conversations between Loretta Breuning and real readers of her book, Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels. Still have more questions? Read the book and be a guest on the show yourself! Contact Dr. Breuning and learn more about her work at the Inner Mammal Institute at: InnerMammalInstitute.org. The brain chemicals that make us feel good are inherited from earlier mammals. They evolved to do a job, not to make you feel good all the time. When you know the job of each chemical in the state of nature, your ups and downs make sense. More important, you can re-wire yourself to enjoy more of them in sustainable ways. But it’s hard. Our brain is designed to release happy chemicals to reward steps that promote survival. But our brain defines survival in a quirky way: it cares about the survival of your genes and it relies on neural pathways built in youth. To make things even harder, our brain habituates to the rewards it has so you always have to do more to get more happy chemicals. We are not born with survival skills like our animal ancestors. Each newborn human wires itself from its own early experience. Happy chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, wiring you to repeat behaviors that made you feel good before. This is why our urgent motivations don’t make sense to our verbal brain. It’s not easy being mammal! When you know how your brain works, you can find healthier ways to enjoy happy chemicals and relieve unhappy chemicals. You can build new neural pathways by feeding your brain new experiences. But you have to design the new experiences carefully and repeat them a lot. The Inner Mammal Institute has free resources to help you make peace with your inner mammal: videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books illuminate the big picture and help you plot your course. You can find new ways to feel good, wherever you are right now. Music from Sonatina Soleil by W.M. Sharp. Hear more of it at InnerMammalInstitute.org/musicbywmsharp

Language:

English


Episodes
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If Your Therapist Isn't Open to You

5/14/2024
Andrew Hartz created the Open Therapy Institute to help people find therapists who respect their world view, and to help therapists respect people who are disparaged by their politicized credentialing programs.. https://www.opentherapyinstitute.org The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.

Duration:00:44:19

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Pakistani Doctor on Lifestyle Diseases

4/30/2024
Dr. Attia Ansari tells me how her patients in Pakistan "just want a pill” instead of working to improving their wellbeing and lifestyle. Here’s the Emotional Eating link that was mentioned. The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.

Duration:00:38:24

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Your Power Over Your Attention

4/16/2024
Nir Eyal explains his model for becoming “indistractable” instead of feeling overwhelmed by external stimuli. (nirandfar.com) The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.

Duration:00:35:24

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Wiring In Your “Wise Advocate"

4/2/2024
The founder of Myelin Leadership tells me how he teaches people to find their child circuits and rewire them into “wise advocate” circuits. The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.

Duration:00:38:06

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A BioFeedback Rewiring Device

3/19/2024
I’m skeptical of magic bullets, but my guest helps people strap on a device that trains you to change your brainwaves, and it sounds reasonable. (https://www.neuroflex.tech) The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.

Duration:00:38:23

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War And Mammals

3/5/2024
My guest is a Ukrainian-Israeli who just read my book and is putting it into practice right now. The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.

Duration:00:45:56

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Training: How Much Is Too Much?

2/20/2024
My guest was an elite athlete until she trained too much, and her story can help you make good decisions about whatever you’re training for. The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.

Duration:00:54:33

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Urge Surfing

2/5/2024
The author of No Willpower Required tells me about strategies that worked for him after years of alcohol dependence. (hardenbrook.com/no-willpower-required) The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.

Duration:00:44:50

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How to Guide Your Inner Horse

1/23/2024
A horse expert tells me how she guides the animal, and it’s amazingly relevant to guiding our inner mammal. The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.

Duration:00:48:45

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Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics

1/9/2024
My new book shows why unhappiness is a natural brain function, and how politics transformed it into a disease. (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CGTNQHGZ) You’ve been told that happiness is the natural default state, but that’s bad biology and it also undermines your quest for happiness in the long run. The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org. Music from Sonatina Soleil by W.M. Sharp. Hear more of it at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org/musicbywmsharp

Duration:00:09:46

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A Therapist's View of Mental Fitness

12/1/2023
Dr. Susan Hickman tells me why she created the Mental Fitness Institute, as we compare and contrast our darker days. The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org. Music from Sonatina Soleil by W.M. Sharp. Hear more of it at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org/musicbywmsharp

Duration:00:45:47

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Children Are More Impressionable Than You Realize

11/17/2023
This episode is just me. I get so many questions about parenting that I wanted to address them. In short, we are tempted to reward bad behavior without consciously intending to. The child pays the price because it wires them to repeat the bad behavior over and over. The next time you are tempted to reward a bad behavior by giving it power, ask yourself whether you're really doing it for yourself, to make you feel like a good person. The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org. Music from Sonatina Soleil by W.M. Sharp. Hear more of it at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org/musicbywmsharp

Duration:00:11:20

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The Lonely Entrepreneur

11/3/2023
My guest coaches entrepreneurs who dare to leave the cave to find something new, but how does their inner mammal find the courage? joshthomas.net/home1702925582033 The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org. Music from Sonatina Soleil by W.M. Sharp. Hear more of it at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org/musicbywmsharp

Duration:00:48:05

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Learning a Foreign Language

10/20/2023
Many people get frustrated in their efforts to wire in a new language, so I discuss the challenge with Michael Waite, who teaches English in Japan. The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org. Music from Sonatina Soleil by W.M. Sharp. Hear more of it at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org/musicbywmsharp

Duration:00:47:43

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Friends - On TV and IRL

10/6/2023
The TV show “Friends” is my guest's mental-health solution, and you will be surprised at how persuasive she is. @myonlyfriends podcast. The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org. Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now. (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them. Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why See video clips from this episode and others at: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons. It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions. Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily. The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org. Music from Sonatina Soleil by W.M. Sharp. Hear more of it at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org/musicbywmsharp

Duration:00:50:05

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Climbing Out of a Hole

9/22/2023
Zack Paul went from Navy SEAL to a deep hole of pain, but he climbed out and now teaches others to do that. Check out my new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now https://innermammalinstitute.org/course Get 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout. You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Check out video clips from this episode and others here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. THE HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you blaze new trails to your dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. My guests are pioneers in retraining the inner mammal. I love learning from them! Listen in and subscribe so you can turn on your happy chemicals in healthy new ways. Your host, Loretta 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org Life is more peaceful and satisfying when you understand the brain we’ve inherited from earlier mammals. Your mammal brain controls the chemicals that make you feel good: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. These chemicals are released for reasons that don’t make sense to our verbal human brain. When you know what these chemicals do in animals, your ups and downs make sense! Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Each happy chemical has a special job. When it turns on, it paves neural pathways that turn it on more easily in the future. That’s why we repeat behaviors that we’d rather do without. Fortunately, you can re-wire yourself to stimulate them in sustainable ways. But it’s hard. It’s like learning a foreign language: it takes a lot of repetition. Yet people do it every day. You can be one of them! You can design a new path to your happy chemicals and repeat it until it’s strong enough to turn on easily. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how. The Inner Mammal Institute has free resources to help you make peace with your inner mammal: videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org. Music from Sonatina Soleil by W.M. Sharp. Hear more of it at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org/musicbywmsharp

Duration:00:54:00

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Managing Highs and Lows

9/8/2023
Christian Ray Flores became a rock star in the Soviet Union after living in war zones in Third-World countries, and shares the life skills he learned along the way. (https://www.christianrayflores.com/p/how-is-marxism-eroding-the-west-today) Check out my new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now https://innermammalinstitute.org/course Get 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout. You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Check out video clips from this episode and others here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. THE HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you blaze new trails to your dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. My guests are pioneers in retraining the inner mammal. I love learning from them! Listen in and subscribe so you can turn on your happy chemicals in healthy new ways. Your host, Loretta 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org Life is more peaceful and satisfying when you understand the brain we’ve inherited from earlier mammals. Your mammal brain controls the chemicals that make you feel good: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. These chemicals are released for reasons that don’t make sense to our verbal human brain. When you know what these chemicals do in animals, your ups and downs make sense! Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Each happy chemical has a special job. When it turns on, it paves neural pathways that turn it on more easily in the future. That’s why we repeat behaviors that we’d rather do without. Fortunately, you can re-wire yourself to stimulate them in sustainable ways. But it’s hard. It’s like learning a foreign language: it takes a lot of repetition. Yet people do it every day. You can be one of them! You can design a new path to your happy chemicals and repeat it until it’s strong enough to turn on easily. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how. The Inner Mammal Institute has free resources to help you make peace with your inner mammal: videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org. Music from Sonatina Soleil by W.M. Sharp. Hear more of it at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org/musicbywmsharp

Duration:01:03:37

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So Many Different Wellness Strategies!

8/25/2023
Bianca Brasil treats patients with a huge range of Eastern and Western methods, and even uses them on herself! (institutobiancabrasil.com.br/home) Check out my new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now https://innermammalinstitute.org/course Get 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout. You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Check out video clips from this episode and others here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. THE HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you blaze new trails to your dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. My guests are pioneers in retraining the inner mammal. I love learning from them! Listen in and subscribe so you can turn on your happy chemicals in healthy new ways. Your host, Loretta 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org Life is more peaceful and satisfying when you understand the brain we’ve inherited from earlier mammals. Your mammal brain controls the chemicals that make you feel good: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. These chemicals are released for reasons that don’t make sense to our verbal human brain. When you know what these chemicals do in animals, your ups and downs make sense! Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Each happy chemical has a special job. When it turns on, it paves neural pathways that turn it on more easily in the future. That’s why we repeat behaviors that we’d rather do without. Fortunately, you can re-wire yourself to stimulate them in sustainable ways. But it’s hard. It’s like learning a foreign language: it takes a lot of repetition. Yet people do it every day. You can be one of them! You can design a new path to your happy chemicals and repeat it until it’s strong enough to turn on easily. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how. The Inner Mammal Institute has free resources to help you make peace with your inner mammal: videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org. Music from Sonatina Soleil by W.M. Sharp. Hear more of it at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org/musicbywmsharp

Duration:00:49:25

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A Homeless Addict’s Success Story

8/11/2023
Jared Klickstein tells me about growing up with drug-addicted parents, and about the recovery program that succeeded where so many failed. Check out my new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now https://innermammalinstitute.org/course Get 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout. You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! Check out video clips from this episode and others here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. THE HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you blaze new trails to your dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. My guests are pioneers in retraining the inner mammal. I love learning from them! Listen in and subscribe so you can turn on your happy chemicals in healthy new ways. Your host, Loretta 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org Life is more peaceful and satisfying when you understand the brain we’ve inherited from earlier mammals. Your mammal brain controls the chemicals that make you feel good: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. These chemicals are released for reasons that don’t make sense to our verbal human brain. When you know what these chemicals do in animals, your ups and downs make sense! Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Each happy chemical has a special job. When it turns on, it paves neural pathways that turn it on more easily in the future. That’s why we repeat behaviors that we’d rather do without. Fortunately, you can re-wire yourself to stimulate them in sustainable ways. But it’s hard. It’s like learning a foreign language: it takes a lot of repetition. Yet people do it every day. You can be one of them! You can design a new path to your happy chemicals and repeat it until it’s strong enough to turn on easily. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how. The Inner Mammal Institute has free resources to help you make peace with your inner mammal: videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.

Duration:00:52:38

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Rewiring Negativity in Kids

7/28/2023
Troubled classrooms are transformed by my guest Scott Ervin as he rewards positive behaviors & NEVER rewards negative behaviors. (behavioralleadership.com) You can now enroll in my new video course, which helps you rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps! https://innermammalinstitute.org/course. Get 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout. Check out video clips from this episode and others here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal. Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-happy-brain/id1377502232?i=1000558350153 Spotify Podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/episode/1wuRZCKcRWsg0sIPSvcrA6?si=jEJRVF72TSKNaE5b5pk1ig Check out my new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now https://innermammalinstitute.org/course THE HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you blaze new trails to your dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. My guests are pioneers in retraining the inner mammal. I love learning from them! Listen in and subscribe so you can turn on your happy chemicals in healthy new ways. Your host, Loretta 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.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org Life is more peaceful and satisfying when you understand the brain we’ve inherited from earlier mammals. Your mammal brain controls the chemicals that make you feel good: dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin. These chemicals are released for reasons that don’t make sense to our verbal human brain. When you know what these chemicals do in animals, your ups and downs make sense! Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Each happy chemical has a special job. When it turns on, it paves neural pathways that turn it on more easily in the future. That’s why we repeat behaviors that we’d rather do without. Fortunately, you can re-wire yourself to stimulate them in sustainable ways. But it’s hard. It’s like learning a foreign language: it takes a lot of repetition. Yet people do it every day. You can be one of them! You can design a new path to your happy chemicals and repeat it until it’s strong enough to turn on easily. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how. The Inner Mammal Institute has free resources to help you make peace with your inner mammal: videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org. Music from Sonatina Soleil by W.M. Sharp. Hear more of it at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org/musicbywmsharp

Duration:01:05:47