• How To Avoid Getting Sucked into Other People’s Misery
    Jul 9 2024
    Here are 3 simple steps to feel good despite the inevitable negativity of family, friends, coworkers, and public affairs.

    The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of "Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org.

    Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now.
    (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps!

    Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them.

    Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why

    See video clips from this episode and others at:
    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq
    If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal.

    Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons.

    It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions.
    Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily.

    The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.
    Show more Show less
    18 mins
  • Ruthless Compassion
    Jun 25 2024
    Dr. Sirota founded the Ruthless Compassion Institute to teach people to be “kind” instead of “nice,” because the latter is often dysfunctional. (https://marciasirotamd.com/ruthless-compassion-institute)

    The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of "Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org.

    Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now.
    (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps!

    Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them.

    Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why

    See video clips from this episode and others at:
    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq
    If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal.

    Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons.

    It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions.
    Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily.

    The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.
    Show more Show less
    43 mins
  • When Students Don’t Engage
    Jun 11 2024
    A substitute teacher asks me how the inner-mammal perspective can help him manage the bad behavior he observes in the classroom.

    The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of "Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org.

    Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now.
    (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps!

    Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them.

    Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why

    See video clips from this episode and others at:
    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq
    If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal.

    Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons.

    It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions.
    Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily.

    The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.


    Show more Show less
    53 mins
  • Food Panaceas and Food Alarmism
    May 28 2024
    “Fat Burning Man” chats with me about how we can wade through the avalanche of conflicting claims about food and wellness. (https://abeljames.com/fatburningman/)


    The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of "Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org.

    Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now.
    (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps!

    Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them.

    Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why

    See video clips from this episode and others at:
    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq
    If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal.

    Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons.

    It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions.
    Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily.

    The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.
    Show more Show less
    52 mins
  • If Your Therapist Isn't Open to You
    May 14 2024
    Andrew Hartz created the Open Therapy Institute to help people find therapists who respect their world view, and to help therapists respect people who are disparaged by their politicized credentialing programs.. https://www.opentherapyinstitute.org

    The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of "Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org.

    Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now.
    (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps!

    Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them.

    Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why

    See video clips from this episode and others at:
    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq
    If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal.

    Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons.

    It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions.
    Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily.

    The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.
    Show more Show less
    44 mins
  • Pakistani Doctor on Lifestyle Diseases
    Apr 30 2024
    Dr. Attia Ansari tells me how her patients in Pakistan "just want a pill” instead of working to improving their wellbeing and lifestyle. Here’s the Emotional Eating link that was mentioned.

    The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of "Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org.

    Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now.
    (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps!

    Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them.

    Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why

    See video clips from this episode and others at:
    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq
    If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal.

    Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons.

    It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions.
    Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily.

    The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.


    Show more Show less
    38 mins
  • Your Power Over Your Attention
    Apr 16 2024
    Nir Eyal explains his model for becoming “indistractable” instead of feeling overwhelmed by external stimuli. (nirandfar.com)

    The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of "Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org.

    Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now.
    (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps!

    Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them.

    Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why

    See video clips from this episode and others at:
    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq
    If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal.

    Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons.

    It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions.
    Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily.

    The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.


    Show more Show less
    35 mins
  • Wiring In Your “Wise Advocate"
    Apr 2 2024
    The founder of Myelin Leadership tells me how he teaches people to find their child circuits and rewire them into “wise advocate” circuits.

    The HAPPY BRAIN PODCAST helps you spark your happy brain chemicals in healthy ways. Your host is Loretta G. Breuning PhD, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of "Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain your brain to boost your serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphin levels.” Details at: https://innermammalinstitute.org.

    Check out our new video course, Train Your Inner Mammal to Feel Good Now.
    (https://innermammalinstitute.org/course — 10% off with the code ReaderDiscount at the checkout.) You will learn to rewire your happy chemicals with small simple steps!

    Our dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin are inherited from earlier mammals. We control them with the limbic brain we’ve inherited from animals. The verbal human part of the brain doesn’t understand what makes the animal part feel good, and that’s why we do things to feel good that we later regret. When you understand the job that each happy chemical evolved to do, you can find healthy ways to spark them.

    Dr. Breuning’s new book, Why You’re Unhappy: Biology vs Politics, shows why unhappiness comes so easily to our brain. Why do they tell us that happiness is the natural state and unhappiness is a disorder? It’s politics. The kind of politics that all mammals have. Find out more at: https://innermammalinstitute.org/why

    See video clips from this episode and others at:
    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1hyR2RHXp04OmVhFUKNh81FT5gffvplq
    If you like The Happy Brain Podcast, please rate and review it to help others make peace with their inner mammal.

    Our happy chemicals evolved to reward survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time. Your brain chemicals are like paving on your neural pathways, which wires you to repeat behaviors that spark good feelings and avoid behaviors that spark bad feelings. That’s why we keep repeating or avoiding things without quite knowing why. To change these patterns, you have to blaze a new trail through your jungle of neurons.

    It’s hard because it takes so much repetition. The Inner Mammal Institute shows you how to design and build the new neural pathway that’s right for you, and motivate yourself to do the repetitions.
    Rewiring your brain is like learning a foreign language: we all know it’s possible, but most people don’t. You can be someone who does! You can build new paths to your happy chemicals so you flow there more easily.

    The Inner Mammal Institute has the resources you need to do that. It offers free resources, including videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts. Dr. Breuning’s books explain the big picture and help you plot your course step by step. No matter where you are right now, you can enjoy more happy chemicals in healthy ways. Get the details at https://InnerMammalInstitute.org.


    Show more Show less
    38 mins