The document discusses how the brain is designed to scan for threats and rewards, releasing cortisol in response to threats and "happy chemicals" like dopamine, endorphin, oxytocin, and serotonin in response to rewards. It explains that when the world changes, old neural pathways for avoiding threats and gaining rewards can become unreliable. However, we can build new neural pathways by focusing on goals and taking small steps toward them to stimulate dopamine, and by creating opportunities to build social trust to stimulate oxytocin. Making new habits daily can help give the brain's electricity new places to flow and help us expect to feel good.

1. Happy at Home
Loretta G. Breuning, PhD
Loretta@InnerMammalInstitute.org
Inner Mammal Institute
dopamine endorphinoxytocinserotonin

2. A gazelle lives with threat all the time.
How does it stay calm?

3. It focuses on the path in front of it, and trusts
its own skills. Soon, it’s back to rewards.

4. Our brain is designed to
scan for threats and rewards

5. When you see
something bad
for your survival,
your brain
alarms you with
cortisol, the
threat chemical.

6. dopamine
endorphin
oxytocin
serotonin
When you see something good for
your survival, your brain rewards
you with happy chemicals.

7. Threats get priority!

8. Because the
brain evolved
to promote
survival,
not to make
you happy

9. Cortisol tells your brain to
gather evidence about threats

10. Cortisol creates a full-body
sense of alarm that lasts for
about an hour.

11. In that hour, you keep looking
for evidence of threat. You can
end up in a cortisol spiral.

12. But you can learn to stay
focused on rewards instead.

13. Your reward chemicals are
dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin
and endorphin
dopamine endorphin oxytocin serotonin

14. We’ve inherited these chemicals
from earlier mammals

15. dopamine endorphinoxytocinserotonin
They evolved to do a job, not to
flow all the time for no reason

16. You stimulate them with neural
pathways built from your
unique past experience

17. Your past cortisol wired you to avoid
similar threats in the future.

18. You keep looking for threats
in order to avoid harm.

19. Your past rewards wired you to seek
similar rewards in the future.

20. Each of us sees the world
through the lens of our own
past experience

21. But when the world changes,
your old lens is unreliable.

22. Suddenly, you don’t know how
to get rewards or avoid harm.

23. What’s a big-brained
mammal to do?

24. You can build new pathways to
stimulate your dopamine, oxytocin
and serotonin in new ways.

25. New paths to dopamine

26. Dopamine
is the expectation of a reward

27. Dopamine
feels good because it releases energy

28. The good feeling of dopamine
motivates action to meet needs

29. Each step closer to a goal
stimulates more dopamine.

30. Your brain releases the good feeling
when you predict a reward, so what
happens when life is unpredictable?

31. Focus on a goal you can step toward
and you will keep enjoying dopamine.

32. Small steps are enough as
long as you keep taking them.

33. Plan many goals so you can
keep stepping even when
one path is blocked.

34. Plan a short-run goal, a long run goal,
and a middle term goal, and you will
keep feeling good.

35. New paths to oxytocin

36. Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
Oxytocin
is the pleasure of social trust

37. Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
Oxytocin
is released when
it’s safe to lower your guard

38. Loretta Graziano Breuning PhD, Inner Mammal Institute
When you’re separated
from the herd, your oxytocin falls.

39. When you’re home alone,
plan ways to stimulate the good
feeling of social trust.

40. Animals have plenty of
conflict in their social groups.

41. Plenty

42. Sometimes they’re mean.
They make up because in nature,
isolation = death.

43. Create opportunities to build
trust and your brain will reward
you with oxytocin.

44. Small steps toward trust are
enough to build new pathways
if you keep doing it.

45. You have power over
your brain chemicals.

46. That power is hard to find
because we have
two brains

47. The brain that talks to you in
words, and the brain you
inherited from earlier animals

48. When you understand your animal
brain, you can turn on your happy
chemicals in new ways.

49. Animals reach
rewards in a
world full of
threat because
they focus on
the path in
front of them.

50. You can build new neural pathways
that expect rewards in new ways.

51. Repeat a new habit daily and
you will build a new trail
through your jungle of neurons.

52. You will give the electricity in your brain
a new place to flow

53. You will expect to feel good

54. You’ll be glad you did!

55. Habits of a
Happy Brain
Retrain Your Brain to
Boost Your Serotonin,
Dopamine, Oxytocin,
and Endorphin
$11

56. Tame Your
Anxiety
Rewiring your brain
for happiness

57. The Science
of Positivity
Stop Negative
Thought Patterns
By Changing Your
Brain Chemistry
$11

58. books
podcasts
videos
infographics
training certification
slide shows (incl this)
5-day Happy-Chemical Jumpstart
all free except the books
innermammalinstitute.org
The Inner Mammal Institute
has the resources you need
to make peace with your
inner mammal

59. Loretta@InnerMammalInstitute.org
contact me