And if you work really hard, you can get also an endorphin rush.

But the core high actually isn't endorphins, it's endocannabinoids.

So some people experience that as a kind of euphoria, but a lot of people experience it as just feeling better, like the worries are a little bit less, everything feels possible, things feel like there's reason to hope.

Endocannabinoids also increase the pleasure we get from social contact.

So sometimes you don't even notice what the runner's high is or the exercise high is until afterwards and then you reunite with your partner or you meet up with your team.

And suddenly it's an easier interaction, somehow their stories are funnier and it feels better to hug someone.

So the runner's high, it's not always that rush that people think it is, where in the moment peak intensity, you're like loving life because you're working hard.

The actual runner's high is more of this neurochemical change that seems to make us more optimistic and also more open to connecting with others.

So we know, for example, when you are lifting heavy weights, you're doing things that really engage the core, the muscles of your core actually talk to your brain in a way that tends to rather produce this kind of happiness or euphoria that actually calms down anxiety.

There's a really interesting neurofeedback loop that when you brace your core and when you're engaging in that kind of strong muscular contraction that's stabilizing, your brain reads those signals from your body as essentially, I've got this, I'm in control.

So that's not really like a runner's high, but it can be a really empowering state of mind.

And so your literal moment to moment sense of self is always being informed by what your body is doing.

And we know that when people are active, often they experience themselves as a different version of themselves.

So with something like weight lifting, you are literally getting feedback, sensory feedback from your body that says, I am strong, I move heavy things, I do hard things, I'm powerful.

And your brain does not receive that information from like, so you're lifting something heavy, so your brain is going to get feedback from muscle contraction and tension of the tendons on your joints.

Your brain does not get that information and think, my bicep is strong or my lats are strong.

The brain thinks, I am strong, I have strength, I am exerting myself in this way.

And every movement form has its own like signature proprioceptive feedback.

So my favorite form of exercise, my favorite forms are dance and yoga.

And when you think about the gestures in dance or the gestures in yoga, the full body gestures, my favorite proprioceptive feedback are actually these physical signatures of joy, like your arms stretched out and your gaze lifted and your heart open, and I can start a movement experience feeling depressed and anxious and demoralized, but after 10 minutes of throwing my arms in the air and looking up and smiling, my brain is like, you are a joy.

And so often people get attracted to the forms of movement that give them a sense of self that is really personally meaningful or empowering.

And with running, sometimes it's, I'm free, I'm fast, I'm going somewhere.

I'm a runner.

I'm a runner.