After almost a year of writing on the macro-wellness blog, and a few heartaches after sharing my intimate life and struggles for the world to judge, I am changing the format of my blog: shorter (who doesn’t like this?) and focused on a new thing I learn from the leading edge world of health and wellness.
Starting with the molecule of pleasure and reward, dopamine. Have you ever wondered why most of us, living in our comfortable societies of abundance and instant pleasure, are never satisfied and chronically anxious about the next thing? Have you ever struggled to wake up in the morning and motivate yourself to face the day? It all comes down to this little substance called dopamine. This highly misunderstood hormone, amongst other vital contributions to our bodies, operates as a currency with which we track pleasure and success. Our well-being depends on the perception we have about our level of motivation and dopamine lies behind it. We are all wired by nature and evolution to feel happy and healthy when we seek things, probably a left-over from the ancients days when rewarding foraging for sustenance and pleasure was a matter of life or death for the mere survival of the species. Nature’s response to ensure we achieve this constant drive to seek sources of energy was dopamine.
That’s great! What’s the problem then? In our overstimulated, ultra-convenient, pleasure-saturated world, where seeking food and pleasure is not a struggle anymore, the baseline level of dopamine in our systems is continuously being messed up with constant short bursts and dips, bringing the finite amount of dopamine we have in our system lower and lowe. That causes havoc with our motivation, drive and overall perception of well-being. So, here is the secret to keep the baseline balanced and support a long-term wellness state: ‘dopamine fasting’ – an idea first coined by Dr. Lembke in extreme addiction situations but whose principles can be applied in everyday life:
- Fast on the ‘indulgence’ of your mobile phone and social media by limiting daily exposure
- Fast on multiple dopamine inducing activities at the same time, for example, going to the gym, drinking a sugary energy drink, blasting your favourite song and checking instagram at the same time
- Fast on comfort and convenience by going to a silent retreat once a year
In other words, every now and then, do less of the things you enjoy. I know, counter-intuitive but you will thank me for it, later. Don’t go cold turkey. Now that you know how the system works, play around with it. A month of fasting usually allows the body to reset the brain’s reward pathway, restoring our ability to get pleasure from less potent rewards.
I’ll stop writing now, I enjoy it too much; I got the right level of dopamine in my system.
Important medical note: This opinion is not meant to replace medical advice. If you are suffering from depression, please consult your doctor.
Macro-Wellness 