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               hen you enter a mosh pit, several things happen in your body at the same time. First, being surrounded by a wild crowd pushing and shoving one another triggers your sympathetic nervous system, which is responsible for your fight-or-flight instinct. Basically, your body assumes that you are surrounded by violence on all sides and may be hit, crushed, or otherwise attacked at any moment. As a result, your sympathetic nervous system releases adrenaline so that you can either run away from the situation or fight your way out. Now that the adrenaline has been released, it triggers dopamine to be released as well. Dopamine is a hormone that you’ve probably heard about. It can make you feel content, focused, and motivated. Its role in this situation is to help you avoid panic and think clearly while you get yourself through this situation. It also happens to make you feel good in that situation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All that happens in the first few moments of entering the mosh pit. Then, once you start running, pushing, shoving, and jumping, you begin to work up a sweat, and the part of your brain that’s aware enough to know you’re not about to die decides that you must be exercising! With that in mind, your body releases a series of endorphins, including beta endorphins, which happen to act as a pain killer and lift your mood, which is already a bit higher than it should be because of the dopamine and adrenaline. In addition to around 20 endorphins designed to make you feel less pain and put you in a better mood. Along with all those new endorphins, the workout part of your brain is also going to chuck out a little more dopamine to reward you for all your hard work (because you deserve a little treat). THEN to top it all off, your body sends out a bit of serotonin, a neurotransmitter designed to keep your mood stable and make you feel calm since you now have so many chemicals running rampant in your body. The result is an intense feeling of exhilaration and well-being comparable to a longer and more potent than usual runner’s high. 

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Your body’s biological response is fully responsible up to this point, but now your psychology takes over. You’re surrounded by hot, sweaty bodies moving in tandem, you’re completely deafened by the same music, you can’t hear or see much, so all you can really do is let your body relax and go with the flow of the pit. It might not seem relaxing, but the level of unity you’re experiencing through a nearly identical shared perception of the situation with all the people around you is triggering a comfort response in your brain. 

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​​​​SO to summarize, you’re now pumped full of chemicals designed to keep you happy, make you feel calm, get you energized, and ensure you feel no pain. Chances are that on top of that, you may have partaken in some sort of drugs or alcohol, which is helping that feeling along. Your senses are now completely dulled, you’re surrounded by people who essentially feel like extensions of yourself, and so you are encouraged and, at a certain point, forced to let go of your constant self-awareness and just let go. At the same time, depending on your personality type, you may react very differently to this series of events, which could lead to higher stress levels and a negative experience in the pit (everyone be safe out there).

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