WISDOM OF THE WEEK - Do hormones determine your mood?

Modern medical science has explained in great detail how hormones influence our moods, emotions, sleep, energy, and even relationships. Hormones such as serotonin, dopamine, cortisol, and oxytocin are now commonly discussed in health programmes and on social media. Science also shows that food, stress, environment, social interactions, and even screen exposure can affect hormonal balance. Medicines and synthetic hormones are also used to alter moods and mental states when necessary.

Yet a very important question remains unanswered: If we know so much more today, why are people less peaceful than before? Why do anxiety, loneliness, stress, and emotional instability continue to rise?

Fifty years ago, people may not have understood the scientific names of hormones, but many lived in closer harmony with nature. Life was slower, relationships were deeper, and people spent more time in real human connection. Their lifestyles naturally supported emotional balance. They worked, rested, prayed, shared meals, and stayed connected to the rhythms of nature.

Today, we are busy studying life but forgetting to live it. We know more but experience less inner peace. Knowledge without awareness becomes a burden. Life is not only meant to be analysed. It is meant to be lived.

WHAT INFLUENCES HORMONES?

Science confirms that thoughts and emotions directly affect the brain and body. Stressful thinking increases cortisol. Positivity improves serotonin and dopamine levels. Meditation, deep breathing, and emotional calmness reduce stress responses in the nervous system.

This means that hormones and moods work in a cycle. Hormones influence our emotions, but our emotions also influence hormonal secretion. It is an interdependent relationship.

While we cannot directly command hormones to change, we can guide the thoughts that create emotional states. Thoughts become feelings, feelings create moods, and moods influence the body's chemistry.

If a person constantly entertains anger, fear, jealousy, or resentment, the body responds accordingly. But when one consciously chooses peace, gratitude, or acceptance, the inner chemistry slowly changes.

Our brain is a highly advanced machine, but it takes commands from our mind. Once we become aware of what we allow into our minds, we begin taking care of our emotional and physical health.

EMOTIONAL FREEDOM!

Most people wait for situations to improve. They wait for health, wealth, success, or people to change first. But maturity is when we stop depending on external conditions for inner stability.

It is time to learn to pause, observe, and redirect our thoughts, choosing not to become a prisoner of moods. Hormones are part of the body, but awareness belongs to the being. The more aware we become of our thoughts and emotions, the more balanced our lives become.

Let’s not merely know about life. Let us live it — now, not later.

Courtesy: Rajyoga Meditation Centre, Kingston (meditation courses and counselling are offered free of charge). Get in touch via email: bkmeditation.jam@gmail.com or WhatsApp: 876-853-7848. Follow them on Instagram: rajyoga_meditation_jamaica.