T.J. Power is the lead neuroscientist at the DOSE Lab and co-founder of Neurify, a trailblazing organization in the mental health sector. He is also a renowned international speaker, having captivated audiences worldwide and worked with major corporations and health services.
What’s the big idea?
Human brain chemistry is at odds with modern lifestyles. The activities and habits that naturally boost dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins have been largely replaced by routines that leave us feeling depleted. Uplift mood, tune focus, boost energy, and deepen relationships by fostering optimum conditions for your body’s favorite neurotransmitters.
Below, T.J. shares five key insights from his new book, The DOSE Effect: Optimize Your Brain and Body by Boosting Your Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins. Listen to the audio version—read by T.J. himself—in the Next Big Idea App.
1. Dopamine that requires effort is better.
Dopamine is your brain’s motivational fuel. When elevating your dopamine levels, focus on the idea of earning dopamine and not just getting instant, quick hits. In our hunter-gatherer past, dopamine rewarded us for effort. It made activities like hunting for food or building shelter feel good so that we wanted to keep doing these things. Today, dopamine is getting hijacked by quick hits like social media, sugary snacks, and online shopping. These easy dopamine fixes cause brief neurochemical spikes that then crash out and make us feel quite low.
To optimize dopamine naturally, start your day with action. Instead of going on your phone first thing in the morning, go to the bathroom, brush your teeth, splash some water on your face, or even get a little bit of sunlight. This kind of action naturally starts generating dopamine in your brain. Throughout your day, really connect with goal-oriented tasks. Maybe that’s tackling a challenging project at work or cleaning your home.
We all know that feeling, for example, when you need to change and wash your bedding. It’s an annoying task that isn’t particularly fun. You wake up one morning and think, yeah, I should probably change and wash my bedding today. And then a few days later, you’re like, oh yeah, I need to. You go through the hell of unbuttoning the duvet, getting the sheet off, jamming it in the washing machine so it all fits in one load, getting it out, drying it, and putting it all back on the bed. Eventually, you find yourself getting into your freshly washed bed, and you think about how nice it feels to be under clean covers. No one regrets washing their bedding. That’s dopamine.
Dopamine rewards you for an effortful task that is beneficial to you as a human being. Try to limit quick dopamine behaviors. Replace endless scrolling with something like reading, writing, solving a problem, or connecting with a human. If we can reduce quick dopamine and increase slow dopamine, then our brain will operate much better.
2. Build connection through the love hormone.
Oxytocin is a connection chemical that strengthens relationships and develops trust. In the past, oxytocin was essential to survival because it drove cooperation within tight-knit social communities. Today, digital habits and individualistic lifestyles weaken oxytocin pathways, leaving us feeling isolated and lonely.
To elevate oxytocin, consider a few of these actions:
- Physical touch. Hugging someone for five seconds is a scientifically proven way to raise oxytocin.
- Deepen social moments. When socializing with people you love, remove distractions. Get that phone as far away as possible. Eye contact is a priority. Listen actively and ask interesting questions.
- Altruism. Pro-social behavior—like acts of kindness, helping a friend, writing someone a thank you, or smiling at someone and asking how their day’s going—increases oxytocin.
3. Have a dose of nature’s antidepressant.
Serotonin is the body’s mood booster. Spending time outdoors in the sunlight and consuming unprocessed foods supports serotonin production. Unfortunately, our modern indoor lifestyles and processed diets deplete this chemical, leading to mood swings and fatigue.
To boost serotonin levels, spend more time outdoors. On a sunny day, you might only need five minutes outside to achieve a nice increase in this chemical. On cloudy days, you’ll require 10 to 15 minutes. Often, we only go outside when it’s sunny, neglecting the cloudy days when we really should be getting out there. A simple rule I like to follow is the principle of seeing sunlight before checking social media every single morning. As someone who’s addicted to my phone, going on social media first thing in the morning primes my brain for that dopamine loop, causing me to stay on my phone all day. Observing sunlight before social media is an essential routine in my life that helps maintain my serotonin levels.
The second part of this is prioritizing gut health to increase serotonin. Ninety percent of this chemical is made in your gut. Anytime you eat fibrous, rich, nutrient-dense foods, your body uses them to generate serotonin.
The third part is a practice called underthinking. When overthinking, our brains and thoughts go rapidly and often in a negative direction. It’s important that we know how to calm down our bodies in those moments. If we settle our hearts and reduce cortisol levels (the stress hormone), our thoughts will also calm. We often do this with a physiological sigh. This is where you take a double inhalation through the nose, followed by a big exhalation from the mouth. Repeating this three to five times—double in, one out, double in, one out—builds serotonin and slows overthinking.
4. Use endorphins to alleviate pain.
Endorphins are your brain’s natural painkillers. They’re activated by physical activity, hot environments, and laughing regularly. For our ancestors, endorphins were critical for enduring the physical demands and stressors of surviving in the wild. To activate them in your life, you need to make sure you move daily. Exercise triggers this chemical. Take a 10-minute walk. Try walking faster or up a hill, or turn it into a little jog or sprint. Any moment of physical activation is great.
“To activate them in your life, you need to make sure you move daily.”
Next, I suggest experimenting with heat therapy, like a warm bath or sauna. You may have experienced this before getting in a bath: suddenly, you feel a bit more relaxed, neurobiologically speaking. That’s because endorphins are released into your brain, calming you down.
Finally, we really need laughter. Our research at the DOSE Lab shows that humans in our modern world are not laughing enough. We ask people, on a scale from one to 10, how frequently they laugh. Using data from 50,000 people, we got an average answer of only 5.1. If your personal answer to that question is a low number, you need to prioritize happy social moments or funny movies and TV shows. Things that get you laughing are essential for this chemical.
5. Get happy from DOSE.
Happiness isn’t just a fleeting emotion. It’s deeply rooted in brain chemistry. You can transform your mental and emotional state by understanding and intentionally boosting dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins. Start with small changes to your daily lifestyle: phone habits, food choices, and time spent outside. Over time, you’ll notice significant shifts in your motivation, mood, relationships, and happiness.
To listen to the audio version read by author T.J. Power, download the Next Big Idea App today:
