We all want to feel good, and many of us go to extreme lengths to do so. That includes many high risk/high reward but also high consequences behaviours. Like getting high. Few are beyond the seductions of the feels. Even venerated figures from the annals of history could not say no to feeling good. Which is actually where the origin of Dr. Feelgood comes from. “Dr. Feelgood” is the moniker for Dr. Max Jacobson, personal physician to American President John F. Kennedy, who earned the name by plying JFK with steroids and amphetamines (at minimum) whilst in office.
But there is no need to go to such lengths. Please don’t! There is no need to search for outside what you already have inside. You are your own Dr. Feelgood! And this is the one time you should get high on your own supply.
Pleasure is such an underrated piece of the wellbeing puzzle. There is endless focus on improvement and growth and far too little on celebration and enjoyment. Which paradoxically is even more necessary now. After more than a year of having our lifestyles and liberties assailed by the global response to the COVID19 pandemic, more than a few of us are starting to feel the wear and tear of stress, worry and anxiety. If that is not balanced out with fun, joy and pleasure, descent into despair is a matter of when not if.
So, if you’re feeling some COVID PTSD, a bit blue and down in the dumps, do not despair, there’s a legal pick me up for that. Well, there are a few. Because unbeknownst to most of us, all of us are always carrying. Yup, your body is the ultimate dealer. Cannabinoids, opioids, amphetamines, tryptamines, all courtesy of yours truly – you. We even produce some lovely stuff not even the most hooked up dealers could ever peddle (serotonin, dopamine, endorphin, oxytocin). And because you are your own supply it’s completely safe and completely free.
And yet we externally seek molecules to bring us internal bliss, joy, and pleasure despite the infinite potential to create these molecules within us. The new age mantra you are all you need is definitely overplayed and has a very real limit, but when it comes to feel good molecules, you really are all you need. You just have to activate them.
The pursuit of pleasure is a one-way ticket to disappointment but a life path without pleasure will be a dis-eased one. We’re talking lower life spans, more inflammation (and therefore more dis-ease of every kind), higher blood pressure (because of the inflammation) and an impaired psycho-neuro-endo-immunology. And all of that effectively because your central nervous system doesn’t get enough rest from sympathetic mode aka stress mode. Pleasure brings you into parasympathetic, into healing, into resting, into peace and into good health.
It shouldn’t be difficult at all to cultivate pleasure, it’s as human as it gets, but in this hyper individualised, fragmented and fear saturated society it has become all too fleeting. Below are several studied, specifically approved ways to feeling good. I mean, it’s ludicrous this even had to be studied by that’s where we are. But before jumping into this list, there’s an overarching theme here – connection. To feel good, we need to connect – to ourselves, to others and to the experience of life itself.
Okay, here’s the scientifically “approved” list.
Number one – physical, human touch. This is endlessly powerful. Skin to skin contact is the medicine pharmaceutical will never get close to bottling. Connect emotionally and socially by fostering intimate relationships. As we have always maintained during this corona-coaster, it should never be about social distancing, just physical distancing if needed. Be of service to others. Being generous and giving to others is hardwired into humans. It is because of our ability to cooperate that our species now dominates the Earth. Being of service activates deep neurological paths in our brains that simply put makes us feel good. Connect to a non-human living being. Animals and plants fill us with goodness. Forrest bathing is just the new fancy way of saying get out into nature and the data on the value of pets to our wellbeing is uncontested. Move. Movement aka exercise is one of the best pain and stress relievers there are. Plenty science shows it’s more effective and safer than any pharmaceutical intervention. Sing and dance. Music has been part of the human experience since before civilisation, it does something to the soul we’re evolved to resonate with. Connect to yourself with anything that make you smile and make yourself feel alive. Movies, books, games, hobbies – anything that makes you smile – do it. And laugh! Laughter truly is medicine.
All of the above will reduce stress, relieve pain, improve your health and the overall texture of your life. Food, exercise and sleep will keep you alive but absent pleasure and connection you won’t be living. And you’ll be alive a good bit shorter. So less serious and more smiles. Less pain and more pleasure. The goal shouldn’t be to stay alive until we all must transition out of our bodies. The goal is to have lived.
