The Slow Wellness Dopamine Menu
My take on a TikTok favourite.
🎧 Voice Notes from Me to You:
My close friends and I often send podcast-length voice notes to each other—it's our favorite way to share stories and stay connected. In that same spirit, here's my voice note to you! This is my way of bringing some real connection to our digital relationship. Listen for the inspiration behind this piece, some context about why it matters to me, and the thoughts that didn't make it into the written article.
Full article reading begins at 5:28 or keep scrolling and read below.
Recently I've been using a simple and creative tool to help ground myself and boost my mood. Have you heard of a "dopamine menu?" It’s a concept making its way through TikTok and after some minor adjustments (I gave it a somatic Slow Wellness tweak, obvs) I've been finding it helpful and I reach for it weekly during these uncertain times.
A Different Kind of Nourishment
A dopamine menu, at its heart, is a thoughtfully curated collection of activities that naturally elevate your mood and well-being. Unlike the endless scroll of digital stimulation, these practices offer a more sustainable relationship with pleasure and presence.
The beauty lies in its simplicity: when you notice yourself feeling scattered, depleted, burntout, or simply disconnected, you turn to your menu and choose an activity that meets you exactly where you are. It's an invitation to intentional care rather than unconscious coping.
Why This Matters Now
We're living in an era where our nervous systems are constantly bombarded. Anxiety, attention challenges, and burnout have become common companions for many of us. Our digital environments often leave us simultaneously overstimulated and undernourished – constantly seeking the next notification while feeling increasingly empty.
Personally, I’ve been hyper aware of this disconnection and quietly returning to practices my grandparents might have taken for granted: the ritual of brewing tea, the satisfaction of working with my hands, the restoration found in moments of genuine connection.
What science now confirms, wisdom traditions have always known – these seemingly simple practices create profound shifts in our neurochemistry and overall wellbeing. They may not deliver the immediate intensity of a social media dopamine hit, but they offer something far more valuable: a sustained sense of genuine contentment and presence.
Nero Fact:
A study in the Journal of Neuroscience showed that when you receive a high concentration of dopamine, you’re likely to either repeat the activity that gave you the boost to receive the same benefits or move on to another dopamine-increasing activity.
This is why it’s so easy to get addicted to behaviors like doom scrolling, Netflix bingeing, or late-night snacking. Instead, a dopamine menu encourages you to engage in healthy, sustainable activities that provide long-lasting dopamine effects, so you don’t need to unintentionally jump from one dopamine-increasing activity to another. Activities like working out, socializing with friends, or dancing and listening to music provide sustained increases in dopamine, whereas others like eating sugary foods give short bursts of dopamine.
An Invitation to Slowness
One thing I found about the sample menus online was that they lacked a bit of depth. This is a personal pet peeve of mine with online wellness advice in general, but in this case, I was an opportunity to build on a great idea.
I'm sharing my multi-page menu with you today not as a prescription but as an offering. Feel free to adapt it, expand it, or reimagine it entirely to reflect what brings you genuine nourishment, just like I did.
In true Melissa and Slow Wellness fashion, I’ve broken the menu down in a more personalized and easy to follow way:
Energy required (from very low to substantial)
Time available (quick bites to nourishing feasts)
Type of nourishment needed (Inner, Outer, or Higher Self)
Specific situations (including social settings and emergency nervous system needs)
I have found this formate to be particularly effective because It acknowledges that different days require different approaches to wellness, and It removes the pressure of "doing it all." I match the practice I choose with my current capacity which makes it feel like a treat rather than an obligation.
The menu includes over 60 somatic dopamine inducing practices across six categories:
Quick Bites: 5-minute practices for immediate effect
Comfort Meals: 10-20 minute practices for moderate engagement
Nourishing Feasts: 30+ minute deeper practices for full capacity days
Low-Energy Snacks: Practices specifically designed for depleted states
Social Sustenance: Practices that enhance connection with others
SOS Ready Meals: Immediate support for acute distress
How to use this menu: When feeling depleted, overwhelmed, or disconnected, consult this menu and choose a practice that matches both your available energy and the type of nourishment you most need in the moment. Trust that small, consistent acts of care create profound shifts over time.
Remember that caring for any aspect of your being—Inner, Outer, or Higher Self—ripples outward to benefit your whole system. There's no wrong choice on this menu; only different flavours of nourishment.
Some days, you might select a single 5-minute practice. Other days, you might create a "meal" by combining practices from different pathways. There's no right or wrong way to use this menu—only the opportunity to respond to yourself with increasing awareness and compassion.
✨ A Simple Bonus Practice: Consider creating your own "slow dopamine jar." Write each menu item on a slip of paper or popsicle stick. When you're feeling untethered or depleted, select one without overthinking. Sometimes the wisest part of ourselves speaks through this kind of gentle randomness – teaching me that nourishment doesn't need to be earned, optimized, or perfect to be worthwhile. ✨
Wellness Trends But The Slow Wellness Way
What distinguishes this dopamine menu from others you might encounter is its foundation in the R.I.T.U.A.L. method of Slow Wellness. Each practice offers a pathway to:
Recognize where you are without judgment
Create Intentional space for authentic presence
Tune in to sensory experience
Understand what emerges with curiosity
Allow integration without forcing outcomes
Live the learning through small, consistent actions
This isn't about optimization or self-improvement. It's about remembering that care doesn't need to be complicated to be profound.
Download your copy of the menu here.
Let me know which ones you try.
Go slow. With love…
Mel