How You Can Have Sustainably High Levels of Dopamine

Research tells us how we can have a healthy relationship with dopamine that increases our motivation, focus and happiness. Here’s how.

Dopamine is essential for getting anything done. It is responsible for all energy and movements. The dopamine cycle is intricate, but its understanding is crucial.

Everyone has a baseline level of dopamine. Whenever you do something enjoyable, the dopamine level rises and drops below the baseline, returning to the baseline with time. The crucial thing is the sustainability of that dopamine high.

The baseline also depends on the layering of activities to achieve a dopamine high. For example, taking a walk with music/podcasts/audiobooks on. Walking without these external stimuli becomes a drag. (I am guilty of it.)

Sustained Dopaminergic Activities

Activities such as cold showers have sustained dopamine highs, whereas smoking has short-lived dopamine highs.

Cold water showers can increase the dopamine level up to 2.5 times as compared to your baseline. That’s a remarkably high increase. In…