Episode 86: Dr. Loretta Breuning

<p>Loretta Graziano Breuning, Ph.D. is the author of Habits of a Happy Brain: Retrain Your Brain to Boost Your Serotonin, Dopamine, Oxytocin, and Endorphin Levels. She founded the Inner Mammal Institute to help people build new neural pathways to turn on their happy chemicals in new ways. (www.InnerMammalInstitute.org)<br /> <br /> As a Professor of Management at California State University, and a mom, Loretta was not convinced by prevailing theories of human motivation. While researching alternatives, she uncovered the brain chemistry we share with animals. She learned that each happy chemical evolved to motivate a specific survival behavior, not to make you feel good all the time for no reason. Then everything made sense, and she began creating resources to spread this knowledge: books, videos, blogs, podcasts, infographics, slide shows, social media, and a training program. Loretta's work has helped thousands of people "make peace with the animal inside." And she still marvels every day at the overlap between a wildlife documentary and the lyrics to a love song.<br /> <br /> Dr. Breuning’s work has been translated into Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Arabic, French, Turkish, and German. She has been quoted in Forbes, NPR, the Wall St. Journal, Fox, Time, NBC, Psychology Today, Cosmopolitan, Real Simple, and Psychologies. Her podcast is "The Happy Brain," and she's been a guest on many podcasts, including Almost 30, James Altucher, Brainfluence, Recovery Unscripted, Fat Burning Man, Humans 2.0, and Yogabody. Details at InnerMammalInstitute.org.<br /> <br /> To become a Certified Inner Mammal Trainer and help people make peace with their inner mammal, check out our new training program at InnerMammalInstitute.org/training.</p> <p>In this Episode:</p> <p>Dr. Breuning’s personal and professional journey</p> <p>Neurochemistry & the disease model</p> <p>Neural pathways & reward center wiring</p> <p>Alternative experiences & dealing with life on life’s terms</p> <p>Understanding brain wiring and behavior</p> <p>Dopamine,