Dopamine is a powerful and influential neurotransmitter naturally produced by our brains. Related to the reward centers of the brain, it helps regulate movement and emotional response. It not only helps us recognize rewards but helps reinforce our minds to seek them.

Avoid Chemical Dependencies

Alcohol, cigarettes, drugs, sex, pornography, shopping and any other instant gratification have negative results for long term dopamine levels.

These patterns rewire our ‘reward circuitry’ for fast release.

This rewiring is not conducive to sustainable dopamine production.

Checklist Tasks

Make a checklist for any of your tasks, and as you complete them mark them off. This formal manner of physically tracking your accomplishments solidifies the rewarding feeling you get from marking each task. This intensified feeling leading to more dopamine being produced. It also helps to form productive patterns of success.

Create Something

The focus and creative juices required to create something are influenced heavily by dopamine.

The process itself creates dopamine.

Think back to a time you were drawing or writing something, remember the feeling. That contented feeling is the rise of dopamine. From personal experience the feeling lasts a couple of days.

Exercise

While exercise builds a healthier physical aspect of ourselves, it also is great for our mental aspects. It has been proven to be a great stress reliever, ways to build mental fortitude, and general mood booster.

This is due to the chemical reaction that creates more dopamine. Specifically exercise increases the production of most neurotransmitters, including endorphins and serotonin. You don’t need to lift boulders to get this boost. Just stay in motion for at least twenty minutes. A good might last even longer.

Change Your Diet

Certain foods can effect your dopamine levels as well.

Staying with healthy food options, these foods can boost one of the building blocks (Tyrosine) of dopamine.

These foods include but are not limited to: almonds, avocados, bananas, beef, chicken, and chocolate. Feeling good never tasted so good!

Listen To Music

Music has a profound effect on our mood. Putting in your favorite music is a sure fire way to boost your mood.

Meditate

As moods, actions and thoughts have a recognizable imprint on our brain’s chemistry.

So it makes sense that calming our minds and dealing with positive and negative formations would make a positive imprint on our chemistry.

In this practice you don’t need to sit for hours or at all.

As you go about your day just bring your focus to your breath periodically.

Take Supplements

Stuck in a time crunch? These supplements and foods are great boosts to your dopamine. Acetyl-l-tyrosine is a building block of dopamine. Curcumin is one of the active ingredient that is commonly found in curry spices and turmeric. Ginkgo Biloba is a a super herb that can boost dopamine levels and increase blood circulation. L-theanine increases multiple neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine. Green Tea is a good source of this.

Go Through A Cleanse

There are many imbalances and toxins in your body from day to day living in our modern times. Eating fermented foods, sleeping, and staying away from processed foods are a great start. If you feel it necessary you can get more extreme and go on a cleanse. Make sure that you are keeping tabs on your calories if you live an active lifestyle.