We go through all those moments where our emotions take over. Positive or negative, they are triggered by the different situations we face everyday. However, according to Chinese medicine, when we let negative feelings and thoughts take up too much space, our body is deeply affected.
It must be known that the metabolism reacts to the different emotions that we can feel. Life puts us face to face with scenarios that can provoke emotions such as joy, sadness, or anger. The latter directly affect our body through the secretion of hormones, including serotonin and endorphin, also called happiness hormones, or cortisol, rather identified as the stress hormone.
Despite what one might think, these feelings are not uncontrollable and we have some power of action on how to handle them. Indeed, our way of approaching life plays a determining role in the place we give to the different emotions that cross our body.
Happiness hormones
In a research conducted by The Iranian Journal of Public Health, scientists are investigating the different biological factors to consider when it comes to happiness and good health. Through their analysis, serotonin appears as a crucial hormone in regulating our feelings and well-being. This neurotransmitter is directly related to our emotions, and it acts on our feelings of satisfaction, happiness, and optimism. Moreover, the most modern antidepressants would increase the production of serotonin in the brain to combat the effects of depression.
The second hormone that is the subject of this happiness study is endorphin. Through an analysis of the observations made during the International Conference on Chemicals, Biological and Environmental Sciences, Dr. P. B. Rokade explains that endorphin is very similar to morphine in structure and effect. It is an endogenous opioid peptide that we have the ability to produce on our own; you just have to know the triggers.
Dr. Rokade continues his analysis by explaining that many everyday situations are sources of endorphin production. He mentions physical exercise, love, chocolate, laughter, intercourse and orgasms as key factors that lead directly to the secretion of this hormone in our body.
The stress hormone
According to The Journal of the American Physical Therapy Association, cortisol is a neuroendocrine hormone with anti-inflammatory properties that also mobilizes glucose to produce energy. In stressful situations, this hormone keeps the brain emotionally linked to our most frightening memories so that the body is conditioned to avoid potentially dangerous situations in the future. However, this state of stress that can be beneficial in the short term because it protects us indirectly, can turn into a state of constant stress by intensifying the secretion of cortisol and disrupting its rate in the body.
In addition, the British Society for Neuroendocrinology concluded that "the major depression costs more than 50 trillion euros each year in the United States alone, in Great Britain". Indeed, this state of sadness often requires medical care when it develops in an extreme way, hence the importance of knowing how to protect your body from these negative emotions.
In an interview with the psychologist and psychotherapist Jeanne Siaud-Facchin granted to the journal Psychologies, the latter advises the meditation by explaining,
"Mindfulness meditation can instantly lower the level of cortisol (the stress hormone) in the blood ... In parallel, it triggers the secretion of a cocktail of hormones that are good, such as oxytocin and endorphins. The physiological impact is therefore instantaneous »
Our look on life
Equanimity, a concept introduced by Marcus Aurelius during the Stoic period, is a word that represents many values from which we can draw inspiration on a daily basis to balance our feelings. Indeed, in his book Thoughts for myself, this Stoic philosopher invokes the importance of not being affected by situations beyond our control, and of building a balance that is unique to each one of us.
To show equanimity means to know how to control one's emotions. When facing a difficult situation, it is normal to feel sad. However, the place this sadness will occupy in your life depends on you. Either you decide to let these negative emotions take over you, or you say you're a strong person and you refuse to let yourself down.
It is up to you to make your choice !
