05/18/2022
Bodywork, Hormones & Homeostasis
Our bodies are home to an intricate hormonal system that constantly works for our survival. This system produces feel-good chemicals as the motivation and reward for taking steps toward what’s good for us. Together, these hormones create a desirable brain state that keeps people coming back for more. Since the therapeutic goal of bodywork is to tilt the balance away from stress and toward relaxation and healing, we can use our hands-on work to help give a boost to these essential happiness hormones while enhancing pain neuroscience client education.
Let’s discuss four of the brain molecules linked to happiness and offer simple ways manual therapists can help trigger their release. The acronym DOSE (Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins) is used to describe the hormonal quartet responsible for those feel-good feelings, and although there are many ways to stimulate their secretion, we’ll focus on the ones we can get our hands on.
Dopamine is a chemical messenger secreted by the hypothalamus in anticipation of rewards. It drives our brain’s reward system and stimulates pleasure-seeking behavior, motivating us to take action toward goals, desires, and needs… and giving us a surge of reinforcing pleasure as we achieve them.
Clients love to set and achieve therapeutic goals, from freer movement and posture improvement to enhanced performance and less pain, and we can use our understanding of dopamine to help them get what they want. For starters, break big bodywork goals down into smaller ones, so the client’s brain can celebrate with a hit of dopamine each time it anticipates reaching the finish line. To avoid a dopamine hangover, continue to stimulate the release of this happiness hormone by helping the client set a new goal prior to achieving the current one. For example…Click here to read more and view a vagus nerve video: https://mailchi.mp/freedomfrompain/bodywork-hormones-homeostasis-and-spring-sale-159782
