Negativity is natural because our brain zooms in on problems. We feel good when we solve them, but our brain immediately shifts to the next problem. You miss out on positivity when you see the world through this lens. Fortunately, you can build a corrective lens that lets in the good that your negative lens has screened out. You can reduce the stress / anxiety of cortisol and stimulate your dopamine, serotonin and oxytocin in new ways.
7. 1. Your brain is designed to learn from pain
Pain is a surge of
cortisol,
the “stress
chemical.”
8. Cortisol connects all the
neurons active at that moment
That wires you to
turn it on faster
in the future.
Your ancestors
survived because
they anticipated pain
and acted to avoid it.
9. 2. Mammals evolved social pain
The mammal brain
rewards you with
oxytocin when you
find safety in social
support.
It alarms you with
cortisol when you
wander away from
that social support.
10. The mammal brain constantly
weighs the anticipated pain of
social isolation against the
anticipated pain of lost opportunity
11. 3. Cortisol feels awful because that works
The bad feeling commands your attention
until you do what it takes to make it stop
12. If you relieved cortisol by climbing
a tree, the good feeling of relief
wires you to scan for trees
If you make it stop by
eating pizza, that wires
you to scan for pizza.
Distraction doesn’t
protect you from
predators but it relieves
the anticipation of pain
temporarily. Then you
seek another distraction.
13. 4. Your brain is constantly filtering information
because the world floods our senses
with more detail than we could process
Your filter is not
conscious:
it’s the neural
pathways built
from past
rewards and
pain
14. The electricity in your brain
flows like water in a storm,
finding the paths of least resistance
16. The mammal brain
rewards you with the
good feeling of dopamine
when you expect a
reward, but it alerts you
with cortisol when the
reward doesn’t come
18. The mammal brain rewards you with
the good feeling of serotonin when you
see yourself in the position of strength
It alerts you
with cortisol
when it sees
you in the
weaker position
20. - We humans are more
helpless & vulnerable at
birth than other creatures
- Crying is a big cortisol
surge; it’s one of our
only pre-wired behaviors
- So the foundational
circuit in your brain is a
sense of urgent needs
you are powerless to meet
21. A young brain is full of myelin, which
coats neurons so they conduct
electricity at super speeds
22. Each brain sees the world through
the lens of its myelinated neurons
our myelin years
are
before
age 8 and
during puberty
23. Our brain is not designed for happiness.
It evolved to motivate survival
behaviors.
45. You will end up with cortisol because our
efforts often fall short of our expectations
You can find the good without depending on immediate
visible rewards. Most of human progress came from
efforts that did not bring immediate visible rewards.
46. People like to find external positives
because it’s easier that finding
internal ones
49. Each of us
sees the world
through the lens
we built without
effort or intent
from our unique
individual past
experience
50. You can build a new filter to let in
the good that your old filter ignores
51. Free resources from the Inner Mammal Institute
Learn more about
your happy chemicals
podcasts
videos
infographics
training certification
slide shows (incl this)
5-day Happy-Chemical Jumpstart
www.InnerMammalInstitute.org
52. Books by L. Breuning, PhD
The Science of Positivity
Stop Negative Thought Patterns
By Changing Your Brain Chemistry
Habits of a Happy Brain
Retrain your brain to boost your
serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and
endorphin
I, Mammal
How to Make Peace With
The Animal Urge for Social Power