Latest / JOY Unfiltered: Choose Joy on Purpose
Episode 4, 2026 Fall Mini Season: Why Joy (The Science)
In this deep dive, Rachel unpacks the actual science behind everything Joy Unfiltered is built on. Why pleasure and joy run on completely different chemical systems, why your brain rewards being right more than being happy, why your nervous system has to physically support joy for it to land, and what self-determination theory reveals about sustained wellbeing. This episode bridges directly back to "Joy Is." and sets up everything coming next in the season.
In this episode:
The difference between pleasure (dopamine) and joy (serotonin/oxytocin)
Why your brain is a prediction machine, not a…
The skinny
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