Happy Aloha Friday!
Last week we started talking about some of the benefits to having fun. Today, we are going to dig deeper into how having fun can reduce our stress and improve our sleep!
Cortisol, known more properly as our “stress” hormone or the “fight or flight” hormone increases when we are stressed. The reason our body increases cortisol levels is to protect us from a potential life-threatening event. If our body senses stress, it releases cortisol to allow our body to go into “conservation mode” and prepare for anything from a war to a famine.
On the flip side, when we have fun and surround ourselves with people that make us experience happiness, we have an increase in serotonin and a decrease in cortisol.
Serotonin, also known as our “happy” hormone, is a chemical that regulates our sleep, memory, mood and more! So when we do something that brings us joy, our body is more regulated and our stress load becomes more manageable!
So to wrap it up, having fun increases our serotonin and decreases our cortisol which allows for a better mood and a better night's sleep!
Comments