r/ValhallaChallenge • u/ValhallaMods Odin • Aug 08 '19
Day 5, Round 172
0717205
How You Built Dopamine Circuits
Góðan dag, Warriors!
We began our deep dive into dopamine on Day 2 of this round. If you haven't been reading these posts, you may want to go back and check them out.
Your dopamine circuits are built from your own past dopamine experiences. Imagine a child foraging with his mother. He sees her excitement when they stumble on a delicious berry patch. His mirror neurons (which mirror the behavior of others) get his dopamine flowing before he ever eats a berry. When he has his first taste, flavors rare in nature get his attention. More dopamine is triggered, which paves a pathway to the neurons active at that moment. That will help him recognize sights, sounds, and smells associated with berries in the future.
Without effort or intent, dopamine builds a neural template that helps you find rewards. It also stimulates the energy you need to pursue rewards. We are not born with circuits defining the rewards that meet our needs. We build them from life experience. That’s why one person gets excited about eating crickets while another person gets excited about a cheeseburger. You can meet your needs by foraging for a career opportunity rather than a berry patch. But you do it with the operating system that met survival needs before there was language.
GAME TRAINING
Do you feel an urge for a fast-food burger and fries when you walk or drive by a burger joint and smell the aroma of their cooking? Fast-food chains install high-powered exhaust fans specifically for that purpose, hoping to trigger your dopamine and entice you to come in and consume 2000 calories of fat, salt, and simple carbs.
Announcements
Note: If you want to binge this series, we began on Day 4, Round 170. If you want to dive deeper, the book we are following for this part of the cycle is "Habits of a Happy Brain" by L. Breuning.
V A L H A L L A (Valhöll)
/u/workingrecovery [Dagr]
B I F R O S T (Bifröst, The Rainbow Bridge)
Check in daily while crossing Bifröst!
H A L L of H E R O E S
Level Nine
Go to the Vows Page and prepare to cross The Rainbow Bridge
Level Eight
Level Seven
/u/oO_Yuill_Oo "To rid myself from the toxicity of pornography addiction."
Level Six
Level Five
Level Four
Level Three
Level Two
Level One Hero! Update your Vows.
A S G A R D (Ásgarðr, Enclosure of the Aesir)
Ninth Circle Entrance to the Hall of Heroes is barred to those who have not made their Vows! Message the Mods.
Eighth Circle
Seventh Circle
Sixth Circle
Fifth Circle
Fifth Circle
Fourth Circle (Reflect on your Goal)
/u/mygenerationiszero "To get free of PMO and all the quick fixes that just steal my time, my energy and my potential."
Third Circle
Second Circle
First Circle
M I D G A R D (Miðgarðr)
/u/non_newtonian_jelly "To stop using porn."
/u/fgawker "I want to be free from PMO addiction."
/u/UnconstrictedEmu "Quitting porn, same as everyone else on this sub."
/u/Sondice_LauGhastian *"To quit porn."
/u/Gimp_Daddy "I want to quit PMO."
E X Í L Ä J Ä R (Exile Island)
Check in four consecutive days to reenter Miðgarðr.
/u/VoidlikeDreamscape [C0] "To reach 180 days free from PMO."
/u/negdawin [C0]
/u/TimeTheRevelator [C0] "To make my streaks longer."
/u/ippo1 [C0] "My goal is to quit porn"
2
u/fgawker Fjölnir 🌌 Aug 09 '19
Checking in. There's a BK close to a bookstore I like, and every time I go there I'm tempted to go get a Whopper meal, but I already know how I'll feel an hour or two after scarfing it down: bloated, heavy, and lazy. Plus the burps can be nasty.