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In tandem with billionaires attempting to biohack their way out of aging and death, we see the sharp rise of popularity in run clubs, cold plunges and other wellness fads. It's clear that vanity, physical health and longevity are driving forces of these trends.
But, what if we could biohack joy?
Ultimately, biohacking is making changes to your lifestyle in order to “hack” your body's biology to improve your health. This can look as extreme as sleeping in a hyperbaric chamber, where users would breathe pure oxygen in the pressurized chamber. Getting more oxygen to the cells aids the body in fighting infection, and it helps to reduce inflammation and improve overall cellular function. (Justin Beiber said he leveraged hyperbaric chamber oxygen therapy – also known as HBOT – to manage anxiety and stress in his 2020 YouTube docuseries.) HBOT is commonly used in hospitals to treat carbon monoxide poisoning, severe anemia and other ailments.
Or, biohacking can be as simple as getting a sufficient amount of restful sleep. Sure, everyone sleeps, but sleeping well and long enough consistently plays an important role in your metabolism, immune health and mental and physical performance. Chronically insufficient sleep weakens the immune system and increases the risk of heart disease, dementia, kidney disease and depression.
Our emotions, though, are also inextricably linked to our bodies. When we’re excited (or scared) our hearts race. When we’re angry our body temp increases. Embarrassed? We blush.
In times where I’ve felt the most mental anguish, stress manifests very physically for me – weight loss, muscle and joint pain (particularly in my hips and lower back), headaches, and it seems like my heart rate skyrockets more easily than normal. I combat this with things that physically feel good. The goal is to calm my body in with the idea my mind will follow or simply make it easier to sort my thoughts. Have I been biohacking?
How Our Emotions Are Tied To Our Physiology
Commonly, we’re aware of the “happiness hormones” – serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin and endorphins. A great workout can boost our endorphins. “Dopamine menus” are all over TikTok full of life’s little things that are a quick route to a jolt of happiness or hit of dopamine. These are well known “hacks,” but so many parts of our body contribute to or are impacted by how we emotionally feel.
“Because [these hormones] impact our brain in ways that brighten our mood, they help us to have access to optimism and a more positive outlook about the future,” Dr. Akua Boateng, a licensed psychotherapist, said. They’re part of our neurochemistry and aid us in these mood states.
Our nervous system (which consists of your brain and spinal cord) are closely connected to the organs and systems in our body that regulate how we feel. “Our adrenal glands, our pituitary, amygdala, the parts of our brain that regulate fear – all of these are quite interconnected. Our nervous system communicates with these systems to protect us from things that could potentially harm us, giving us sensory cues about when things are safe versus when they're not safe,” Dr. Boateng said. “Our emotions are things that we feel, but they are quite also connected to neurochemistry.”
When we think of these signals, we experience them as the bodily responses we attribute to certain emotions. Our circulatory system is also a big part of how we experience emotions. Consisting of our heart, veins, blood vessels, blood, and lymphatic system, our heart rate is very tangibly affected by our experiences and emotions. It’s also very directly linked to detrimental health issues. For example, prolonged stress is a huge factor in developing heart disease, having heart attack, high blood pressure and strokes, among other issues outside of the circulatory system.
Another system greatly impacted, which also has an integral influence on our moods, is our digestive system. Dr. Boateng said the gut and mind connection is very real. “A lot of folks that are suffering from mental health challenges and just a lower functioning of the brain, we can parallel them also having some type of gut health issues. I've seen that happen time and time again,” she said.
With emotions being tied to such biological functions, can we participate in activities or “hacks” manufacture the physiological responses of good feelings?
To not sweat the small stuff
Splurge on mom with this self-care gift. Researchers have documented the health benefits of regular sauna use, and this compact blanket brings all the heat of a traditional cedar-paneled sauna right to mom’s couch (or bed).
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Normatec Elite boots are a recovery device that even non-athletes will love. The boots are intuitive to set up and use air compression to improve circulation, reduce swelling, relieve pain, and so much more. Plus, they’re really fun to use. While pricey, anyone who’s into health and wellness is sure to get a lot of use out of these boots.
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Can We Biohack Happiness?
Taking into account happiness isn’t as much a destination as it’s part of our emotional palette – which should have space for and includes sadness, fear, anger and emotions – the question is, can we biologically force ourselves out of a funk?
As an example, Dr. Boateng says if you were to take a blood test when you were emotionally feeling quite down, your serotonin levels would be low. Participating in something that makes you happy, like watching a comedy, would increase the presence of serotonin. Does this magically make you happy or without the circumstances that made you down? No. Might you feel happier regardless? Yes.
Ice baths or cold plunges have been lauded to afford participants mental clarity, improved mood and reduced inflammation. “Cold plunges kind of cause the body to go into a crisis state and recovery mode. Part of that recovery mode is the production of serotonin and dopamine in higher levels,” Dr. Boateng said. “It rushes the system so that we feel a little bit better as a result of that intervention or that exercise.”
Personally, I know cold plunges aren’t for me. Being cold makes me uncomfortable and irate. If I tried it, I might actually find a rush of joy due to the physiological response, but shocking the system with cold isn’t worth it for me. But, The Quality Edit team recommends Redwood Outdoors Yukon Cold Plunge Tub if you’re into it.
I’ve found a lot of physical tension relief and change in mood in dry saunas and steam rooms, and I even have a HigherDOSE infrared sauna blanket at home that I use often in cold New York City winters. The gradual heating up, the release accompanied with sweating, my flush cheeks, the heat on muscle tightness – these responses are similar to other things that make my body feel good like hot, humid summer days, working out, being in a jacuzzi, or sex. In hotter environments, I often find myself happier. So, I try to align my hacks with actions that I know make me happy, emotionally and physically.
“When you're in a sauna, it opens all of your blood vessels. You're getting more blood flow to the areas of your body that are in question. Most specifically, you're getting more blood flow, and hopefully oxygenated blood, to your brain,” Dr. Boateng said.
Ensuring your body’s systems are operating as best as they can, will help your body fight off infection and manage challenging emotions. Stress and unsavory feelings are normal for everyone and not to be ignored, but prolonged stress can cause inflammation. Inflammation response to compromised tissue.
Our lymphatic system played a huge role in healing inflammation. Exercise, staying hydrated and lymphatic drainage massages or compression therapy massages are good for lymphatic system health. Gadgets like Hyperice’s Normatec Elite compression boots are not an overnight fix, but they mimic the body’s natural muscle pump and move fluid through the lymphatic system. Very active users and professional athletes report quicker recovery. These are subtle changes to your lifestyle to promote healthier bodily functions. They may not be billionaire biohacks, but they are biohacks nonetheless.
Understanding the physiological connectedness your physical body has to emotions strengthens the overall relationship with your body. “When your body is in pain or it's going through something, it's really trying to talk to you,” Dr. Boateng said. “If you really intuitively listen, it will kind of give you insight into what's needed, more of this, less of this. Sometimes that’s physiological, and sometimes it’s emotional.” For this reason, she says, setting a boundary may give you a physiological response and feel a boost similar to that of a workout or good laugh.
