Choose Joyy Podcast
Based on the mood and habit tracking Joyyful Planner, the Choose Joyy podcast is focused on self alignment for those who struggle with anxiety. Through these unpredictable times, we’ve all experienced moments of self-doubt and uncertainty. By making a conscious effort to choose joy daily, we allow ourselves to heal and grow into the path destined for us. Join me weekly to unpack, affirm, and choose joy.
Choose Joyy Podcast
Your Brain on Joy: The Serotonin One.
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Welcome to Your Brain on Joy- a mini-series breaking down the four neurotransmitters as if they were prescriptions for feeling better.
Ever feel like life only rewards you when you push harder? We flip that script by exploring serotonin—the chemistry of steadiness, safety, and quiet confidence—and how it differs from dopamine’s chase for the next win. Instead of glorifying the grind, we dig into how contentment forms the ground you can grow from, especially when your nervous system is asking for support.
We talk through clear signs that serotonin is running low and why that doesn’t mean you’re ungrateful or negative. Then we map out simple, science-aligned habits that help serotonin rise and build trust within yourself.
If this resonates, share it with a friend who’s tired of the hustle hamster wheel, and subscribe so you never miss a new chapter of Your Brain on Joy. Leave a review with one small routine you’re committing to this week—we’d love to cheer you on.
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You've made it to the Choose Joy Podcast. Here we make a conscious effort to choose.
SPEAKER_01:This is your brain. This is joy. This is your brain on joy.
SPEAKER_00:Hello and welcome back to the Choose Joy Podcast. I'm your host, Chelsea, and today we are continuing our neurotransmitter segment called Your Brain on Joy. Last week we talked about dopamine, but today's drug of choice serotonin. This is the neurotransmitter that gets labeled the happy chemical. But honestly, that label doesn't even fill the full story because serotonin is less about excitement and more about contentment. It's about steadiness, it's about the feeling of being safe in your body and at peace with where you are. And in a world that constantly tells us to chase more, serotonin actually reminds us that enough is actually a feeling. Last week we talked about dopamine and how dopamine is the go-getter signal in our brain to go get it. Well, serotonin plays a huge role in mood stability, emotional regulation, sleep, appetite, and self-worth. When serotonin levels are balanced, your life feels manageable. So you're pretty neutral. You're not necessarily on a high, but you're also not drowning. But when your serotonin is low, baby things can get heavy. You might notice irritability, sadness, overthinking, low self-esteem, um, feeling disconnected from yourself. That's what the what's the point feeling can creep in. And who wants that? I want to be very clear here. This doesn't mean that you're ungrateful, it doesn't mean that you're a negative person, it doesn't mean that you don't appreciate your life. It could just mean that your nervous system is literally asking you for support. God designed our bodies to heal and to communicate. Hence our brain, the literal computer for our bodies. One of the reasons why so many of us struggle with serotonin, I think, is because we live in a culture that glorifies dopamine. I wanted to start with dopamine because that is a heavy hitter. You know, it's the popular one. If you've ever seen the movie Inside Out, dopamine reminds me of joy. Serotonin kind of reminds me of sadness, but we'll get into it. So, yes, we live in a culture that um glorifies dopamine, glorifies that hustle spirit. We're rewarded for productivity, our achievements, and constant movement. We're praised for doing more, pushing harder. And honestly, all that sounds like to me is resting less.
SPEAKER_01:I am too tired.
SPEAKER_00:Because serotonin thrives in stillness, it grows when you feel grounded, present, and secure in yourself and comfortable in your own body. And for a lot of us, especially adults navigating careers, relationships, and identity, that kind of steadiness and peace is really hard to find and hard to access. Not because we're doing something wrong necessarily, but because we're rarely taught how to slow down without guilt. Why is that? People legitimately make you feel guilty for not doing anything. Serotonin is deeply connected to your self-worth and your self-respect. It's influenced by how you speak about yourself, which we've talked about, and how safe that you feel in your environment and whether you really trust yourself, and that really depends on if your life is aligning with your values. And this part might feel uncomfortable, but it's important because low serotonin isn't about needing to do more, it's about stop stopping, stopping the betrayal on yourself. Saying yes when you mean no, betrayal, staying in spaces that drain you, betrayal, downplaying your needs to keep the peace, betrayal, um, overextending yourself and calling it strength. That's betrayal to your body, okay? You don't trust yourself, that's what that is. Serotonin increases when you honor yourself. So let's talk about gentle natural ways to support serotonin because this is choose joy, not fix it yourself. You know, we all in this together. Number one, sunlight. Now, sunlight came up on our dopamine episode as well, but baby, two for one special. Two for one special. Sunlight is one of the biggest supports for serotonin production because, especially in the morning, because it is the quickest way to help regulate your mood, even just 10 minutes outside. Movement also matters, but not like punishment workouts, like pushing yourself, if you know what I mean. It's more like walking, stretching, yoga, dancing, cut on. If you ever feel like your serotonin is low, cut on a funky beat and shake a tail feather, baby. Shake a tail feather. Um, consistency is another big one. Unlike dopamine, serotonin loves predictability. Simple routines like a morning ritual or a calm evening routine can help your nervous system actually feel safe. So pick two or three things that you want to do when you first wake up or right before you go to bed. That's the easy start to building a routine, just laying some type of foundation. You know, your body's gonna get used to this. I know that when I wake up, I'm gonna have a glass of water. I'm gonna go outside. You know, simple things like that can go a long, long way. Nourishment also matters more than we like to admit because serotonin is closely tied to gut health. So, again, eating regularly, staying hydrated, not skipping meals. That's all an act of emotional care, whether you'd like to see it that way or not, because you're literally nourishing your body, you're loving yourself, you know, you're allowing your body to trust yourself, if that makes sense. You gotta step outside of yourself sometimes and say, self, do I trust you? Am I taking care of you? Am I doing the things that I need to do? I mean, we're so busy catering to everybody, cater to yourself first, put your own gas mask on first, so then that you're able to help those around you. Amen. Continuing on, I finally have gratitude listed because it always helps to be grateful, but without the pressure, not forced positivity, just noticing what's steady, supportive, or familiar in your life, and showing appreciation for that. Now, since we're talking about our brain on joy as a play on your brain on drugs, if serotonin was a prescription, the directions might read like this take daily, best absorbed with sunlight boundaries, rest, nourishment, and self-respect. Side effects may include emotional steadiness, clearer thinking, and less self-judgment. Results may be slower than dopamine, but they last longer. Let me ask you something, gently. When was the last time you truly, truly felt at ease? Not excited, not distracted, just okay, content. Like, I'm I'm not bad, I'm not overly excited, but I'm I'm good. I'm good where I'm at. And then I want you to think about what you were doing differently then. Because sometimes serotonin isn't missing, it's just being crowded out with other things. It's so easy for us to get distracted, bombarded by so many things that we forget the simple ways of life. Contentment doesn't mean settling. And I know that because of this hustle culture that we live in, that's pushed and it feels guilty. You feel guilty when you're content, right? Because am I just settling? There could always be more. There can always be, I could always be doing more, I could always be having more, but like can you? Because it's about feeling secure, secure enough to grow without too much self-criticism. Choose joy is a message that I feel like pushes yin and yang. Taking bad with the good, good with the bad. You know what I'm saying? Everything's not gonna be all okay, but everything's not all bad either, you know? When you're secure enough to grow without so much self-criticism, it means that you're not giving up on your dreams, you're just learning how to live while you're working towards them. Does that make sense? Because serotonin teaches us that joy isn't always a shout, okay? It's not always as bright as the sun and right there in our faces. Sometimes it's a small whisper. You're safe right now, and it reminds me of God. Sometimes God is not standing right in front of you screaming in your face, right? Sometimes his voice comes as a still small whisper, and you'll only be able to hear it if you too are still. Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. And as always, be gentle with yourself and choose joy.