Healthy euphoria: Getting high without drugs

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Euphoria is an altered state of consciousness, typically induced due to secretion of certain neurotransmitters in the brain; it’s a mental condition significantly different from the normal, wakeful state of mind.

What causes euphoria? The answer is manifold: meditation, music, dancing, breathing exercises, physical exercise, sexual intercourse and consumption of psychotropic drugs all can lead to the altered state of consciousness.

Drugs are not recommendable for use to experience euphoria. Recreational drugs can cause altered state of mind, but can also lead to health problems like impaired short-term memory, cognitive abnormalities, depression, hallucinations etc…

Sexual intercourse is a good way to experience euphoria, but again excess orgasms can lead to health problems. During orgasm, neurotransmitters like oxitocin and dopamine are released in significant amounts. These feel good hormones can cause sexual addiction through a psychological process called reinforcement, if released in excess amounts.

So what’s the best way to experience euphoria and be in that state most of the times without causing any problems to health? It’s possible only by maintaining balance between all the genuine agents that lead to the feeling of high.

Here’s an illustration. Doing meditation all the times is not a healthy way of being in the state of euphoria, just like having sex in excess or taking drugs. However, doing meditation for an hour or so daily is great way of reaching that altered state of mind. Listening to music, dancing, exercising, getting involved in creative activities, and maintaining healthy frequency of sex and alcohol use are all good ways of experiencing healthy and prolonged state of euphoria provided they’re done in moderation. It’s also important to make sure we don’t develop severe addiction to any of those things or else it’ll interfere with our normal lives.