This month we’re focusing on practicing happiness – or as we like to say at Matter, a more balanced and fulfilling life – by adopting our neuroscience-based behavioral framework.
Scientists have connected the activity of six neurotransmitters to our experience of nine positive emotions.
These six neurotransmitters (or “feel-good” chemicals) are released in our brain when we engage in activities that fulfill our needs. They create a sensation of satisfaction and reward as a reinforcement mechanism to repeat these behaviors, ensuring our continued well-being. This is why they are also referred to as our “reward systems”.
Consistently activating these six neurotransmitters is Matter’s neuroscientific definition of happiness. And like a muscle, happiness needs to be practiced in order to stay fit.
Here’s how the practice works:
While this can be a daily practice, we start to feel the deficits from missing neurotransmitters after about a week. And let’s be real – there will be days when we don’t notice any positive moments.
We have happy times and unhappy times. Recognizing unhappiness is a signal we want to change something. Maintaining a weekly happiness practice is a good way to ensure we don't go too long neglecting any of our neurotransmitters. Regularly capturing and reflecting on good moments helps us learn from them, and ensures that our good moments won't fade away.
As such, we’ll be offering weekly challenges to build a habit for this happiness practice. Practice our behavioral framework and its benefits in March’s weekly challenges. And be on the lookout for related polls and questions in our polls and questions space.
By consistently activating your six neurotransmitters, and staying focused on what contributes to your happiness, you are building neuroplasticity. With greater neuroplasticity, we’re better able to adapt and change. We have a greater capacity to help others, and we’re more likely to live a longer, healthier, happier life.
Every day this week, take note of when you feel a positive emotion.
While the positive emotion(s) can be felt during big moments, the significance of the moment does not matter. It could be as simple as the pleasure from a snack or the contentment after a mindful minute of breathing.
Recognizing wins (both big and small) triggers dopamine release, reinforcing motivation and encouraging continued effort in personal and professional pursuits. Our goal is simply to train our brains to look for the positive in our lives.
Training your brain to recognize positive emotions as they happen rewires your mindset toward positivity. And when you’re better able to notice and savor positive moments, you activate more dopamine (which primes us to repeat the behaviors and situations that bring us joy.)
Repeatedly activating our reward systems can effectively build neuroplasticity (the brain's ability to change and reorganize by creating or strengthening connections.) More neuroplasticity correlates with happier lifespans, which explains why studies show that focusing on good moments increases life satisfaction and subjective well-being.
Start your day with something that excites you (not checking emails, social media (where a potentially negative surprise may lurk), or a boring chore.)
When we engage with something exciting to us, we activate more dopamine in our brains. Any activity that motivates us (i.e. has dopamine as the primary neurotransmitter) or is associated with any other positive emotion (i.e. has dopamine as a secondary, co-factor neurotransmitter) will decrease cortisol, the primary stress hormone.
When you start your day with excitement you can lower your stress and get the day off on the right foot. And hopefully your excitement leads to a positive moment that you can record later!
Close each day by thinking about a recent positive moment, and record it in a journal, photo album, or the Matter app.
Ideally this moment has happened over the past couple of days, but if it’s been a rough week (or month, or year), feel free to find memories from farther back.
The goal is to ensure we transfer positive, short-term memories into positive, long-term memories.
Over time, this builds a personal “memory bank” that can be used to help you:
Before going to sleep, recall good moments by looking through your positive “memory bank” (camera roll, journal, Matter app, etc.) to experience positive emotions and re-activate their corresponding neurotransmitters.
If you have the Matter app, use our Recall feature, which selects specific memories to fill your neurotransmitter gaps (like a tailored positive emotion booster). For example, if you recorded having a great day at work (during which your dopamine and serotonin goals are met), the algorithm should select memories that boost your oxytocin and cannabinoid levels. It gives you what you need most!
No matter how your day went, the goal is to end your day on a positive note, so you can:
Actively recalling and reflecting on good moments before falling asleep promotes this information from short-term to long-term memories. Long-term memories are biologically hardwired in our brain so that we can easily recall them when we need them.
Fundamentally, our night sleep is the most important component of our daily learning and memory formation cycle.
During the initial one to two hours of sleep, long-term memory formation primarily takes place. In this deep sleep phase, the most important short-term memories are promoted. Memories not promoted will be forgotten.
Events that happen right before falling asleep are more likely to be remembered, so we must be wary of what activities we do before heading to bed.
Watching TV, consuming news, or scrolling social media right before bed can block deep sleep. The overrepresentation of negative news can drive fear, anger, and ambiguity, raising cortisol (stress) levels.
This not only keeps us awake longer, but also encourages the formation of negative long-term memories. Over time, this can promote anxiety and addiction disorders.
Matter aspires to support our natural daily rhythm and promote learning from positive memories. To prevent mental and societal illness, we need to focus on the positive, too.
Our positive memories are the best reflection of what we like and value and why. Basically, our positive memories define us as a person.
While recalling good moments, reflect on what brought you those positive emotions so you can learn what makes you happy. Then you’re more likely to remember and repeat those things, and create even more good memories in the days that follow.
Plan an activity you look forward to this week to balance out your “feel-good” neurotransmitter levels, with a focus on the positive emotions you might be lacking. Add it to your calendar to be reminded to make time for what matters most for your happiness.
Our studies show that memories tied to fulfilled plans lead to longer neurotransmitter release. When you schedule activities you look forward to, the excitement for the event gives us a dopamine boost before we even start. You also get an additional boost of pride and gratitude when you complete the plan. This means you experience good feelings for longer (pre and post events)!
In case you need inspiration, here are some ideas per neurotransmitter: