5 Best Illinois Places To Boost Your Serotonin Levels

Enhance your well-being by getting outside. Discover the positive impact of sunshine on your mood at Illinois' top spots for boosting serotonin naturally.

Make the promise not to miss too many opportunities to be somewhere the sunshine feels better. Catching rays in your backyard, maybe on the deck in a comfy chair is nice, but when you want to fill your body with serotonin, consider spending some time at these Illinois spots.

Happy Hormones

Any time you can do something that makes you happier is time well spent. If it causes your brain to feed you a little 'reward chemical', or the 'Love Hormone', some of the fabulous natural 'painkiller', or a 'mood stabilizer', it was probably the right thing to do

• Dopamine - "The Reward Chemical"
• Oxytocin - "The Love Hormone"
• Endorphins - "The Pain Killer"
• Serotonin - "The Mood Stabilizer"

I'll call these places I'm sharing with you, serotonin spots.

Serotonin

Some of the best natural ways you can stimulate your brain to secret serotonin are mindfulness, meditation, being with nature, and sun exposure.

5 Best Illinois Places To Boost Your Serotonin Levels

1. The Cleanest Lake in Illinois

Lake time, lake time, lake time... how many times do I have to say it to be magically transported to some water and sunshine?

Lake Le-Aqua-Na is a manmade lake and is known for having some of the clearest water in Illinois. The lake has a total of 1.4 miles of wooded shoreline, too. This Caribbean-like lake is located in Stephenson County just west of Route 73 on Lake Road, in Lake Le-Aqua-Na State Park. The park is six miles south of the Illinois-Wisconsin state line and three miles north of Lena, Illinois.

MORE: Cutest Animal Ever Coming to Illinois’ Brookfield Zoo for First Time

2. Galena

Get our free mobile app

There isn't a season when one of America's coolest small towns doesn't look amazing, but I hate the cold, so Galena looks AND feels amazing during the spring and summer.

MORE: How To Avoid Conflict With Coyotes During Illinois Mating Season

3. Tallest Waterfall in Illinois

An incredible rush comes over me when I'm near waterfalls. I just love the sound of the water falling over the edge. The taller the waterfall the better.

At just over 100 feet, Burden Falls in the Shawnee National Forest is Illinois' tallest waterfall. The Burden Wilderness area of the forest covers about 4,000 of the park's 289,000 acres.

MORE: Illinois And Wisconsin Are Home To Two Of Happiest Cities In US

4. The Friendliest Town in Illinois

Geneva will always live rent-free in my soul. It's where my wife and I went on our first-ever weekend away trip several years ago.

Walking, biking, shopping eating. It's possible to hijack all the happy hormones on a road trip to Geneva.

Tap Below to Get the BEST OF 97ZOK sent straight to your inbox.

5. Glamping in Shawnee Hills

Try glamping in the Shawnee Hills dome for a luxurious camping experience with modern amenities amidst nature's wonders of Illinois' 289,000-acre national forest. Just look at these photos. Plenty of sun for more serotonin production, and if you're glamping with the right person, I'll bet you get a little extra oxytocin, too.

There's also an entire adults-only glamping resort near Starved Rock State Park.