Written By: Tania Tarafdar | Published : November 30, 2017 11:33 AM IST
Cognitive benefits: Spending time amidst nature helps in reducing mental fatigue and improving cognitive performance. A Finnish study showed that running and playing in the beautiful outdoors can improve academic achievement in children. [5]
Are you ridiculously stressed at work and need a magic-boosting supplement? Serotonin is your body's feel-good hormone can help you take whatever comes your way. Depression is associated with low levels of serotonin but there are ways to naturally boost your serotonin levels. These research-backed strategies will help you smile no matter what!
Get a massage
A refreshing massage can actually help combat both anxiety and depression by affecting the body s biochemistry. A massage therapy can slash your cortisol levels while increasing your serotonin levels [1].
Exercise
When you exercise your body releases a surge of neurochemicals including serotonin and dopamine [2]. Just make sure that you choose exercises that you actually love doing because if you pick something you absolutely hate, it will not do much in improving your mood. Did you know serotonin deficiency can cause rheumatoid arthritis?
Soak up the sun
Another study found that people had higher levels of serotonin on sunny days than on cloudy days so try to soak up the sun as much as possible [3]. So soaking up some sun can dramatically alleviate your winter blues.
Meditate
Regular meditation can not only lower your blood pressure but also boost your serotonin levels [4]. So 30 minutes just by yourself is all you need in a day to do away with depression and anxiety. Here are 6 natural ways to increase dopamine level, the feel-good hormone.
References:
[1] Field T, Hernandez-Reif M, Diego M, Schanberg S, Kuhn C. Cortisol decreases
and serotonin and dopamine increase following massage therapy. Int J Neurosci.2005 Oct;115(10):1397-413. PubMed PMID: 16162447.
[2] Young, S. N. (2007). How to increase serotonin in the human brain without drugs. Journal of Psychiatry & Neuroscience : JPN, 32(6), 394 399.
[3] Lambert GW, Reid C, Kaye DM, Jennings GL, Esler MD. Effect of sunlight and season on serotonin turnover in the brain. Lancet. 2002 Dec 7;360(9348):1840-2. PubMed PMID: 12480364.
[4]Krishnakumar, D., Hamblin, M. R., & Lakshmanan, S. (2015). Meditation and Yoga can Modulate Brain Mechanisms that affect Behavior and Anxiety-A Modern Scientific Perspective. Ancient Science, 2(1), 13 19. http://doi.org/10.14259/as.v2i1.171
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