We often underestimate how much our morning rituals can set the tone for the rest of the day. When you prioritize activities that spark a natural dopamine release, you aren’t just waking up — you’re essentially giving your brain a head start on feeling motivated and balanced.
“Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, which is a chemical released by brain cells, and it’s mostly involved in motivation, learning and reinforcement,” says Mia Soviero, a neuroscience researcher who conducted research at NYU Langone Health and Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute.
“It isn’t just about feeling good. It’s mostly about learning and motivating you. So, it helps our brain understand what actions are worth repeating and what habits we should have in our lives that we should strengthen,” says Soviero, who also founded the nonprofit Research Girl, Inc to help aspiring science researchers receive more opportunities in their field of interest.
A common misconception is that dopamine levels are always supposed to be boosted, Soviero says: Neurotransmitter levels are meant to fluctuate.
“We don’t want to always have really high dopamine levels, but we do want to have a healthy dopamine system,” she says. “You just want to build these good patterns in dopamine, where dopamine is able to be released the way it’s supposed to.”
