In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Loretta Graziano Breuning, founder of the Inner Mammal Institute and author of Habits of a Happy Brain, to explore how the brain chemicals we inherited from earlier mammals quietly run our lives.
Loretta’s work breaks human behavior down to its biological roots... dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphin and explains why our brains evolved to chase rewards, seek status, crave connection, and avoid pain. Her perspective is simple but uncomfortable: these chemicals were designed for survival, not constant happiness. Once you understand that, a lot of your emotional ups and downs suddenly make sense.
What stood out to me in this conversation is how much of what I thought was “personal failure” was actually old neural wiring doing what it was trained to do. The constant push to feel better, the restlessness, the craving for validation, the anxiety when things feel uncertain, all of it clicked when framed through the idea of the inner mammal. Not as something to fight or suppress, but something to understand and work with.
As someone constantly juggling creativity, responsibility, and self-doubt, Loretta’s approach gave me language for patterns I’ve lived with for years. It helped me see why certain habits stick, why change feels so hard even when you want it, and why progress isn’t about fixing yourself, it’s about building new pathways one repetition at a time.
This episode isn’t about quick hacks or toxic positivity. It’s about learning how your brain actually works, why feeling “up and down” is normal, and how awareness gives you real agency over your behavior instead of shame.
If you’ve ever felt stuck in cycles you can’t explain, this conversation might give you the missing context.
🌐 Website / Institute
https://innermammalinstitute.org
https://innermammalinstitute.org/about/
@inner.mammal.inst
https://www.instagram.com/inner.mammal.inst
LorettaBreuningPhD
https://www.facebook.com/LorettaBreuningPhD
📺 YouTube
Inner Mammal Institute
https://www.youtube.com/c/InnerMammalInstitute
🔗 All Links / Resources
https://linktr.ee/lorettabreuning
Find Dr. Loretta Graziano Breuning