How’s it going? I’m Ella Eland: the creator of DOPAMINE design studios.

I’m going to tell ya a little more about what exactly DOPAMINE is all about.

Sure, it’s a little design and apparel brand with an emphasis on outdoor activity and the joys of mountains and waves.

But there’s so much more to it than that.

The whole concept of DOPAMINE was founded on the addictive rush of spending time outside…

and the mental and physical benefits that come with it.

Let me take you back to 2022 when the first sparks of DOPAMINE came into fruition.

At the age of 18, I moved out to Hawai‘i.

Completely and utterly alone.

Eager to live a life I had been dreaming of through ocean and surfing-themed paintings for nearly all my life, I graduated high school a semester early to embark on a gap-semester program in Hawai‘i.

Throughout the three months, I learned about the beautiful culture of Hawai‘i, volunteered around Oahu and the Big Island, and revelled in the other-wordly natural beauty of the land (‘aina) and sea. Hawai‘i captured my heart and gave me a sense of belonging and purpose such as I had never experienced before.

Two months after I returned to my hometown of Breckenridge, Colorado, I found myself standing alone in a studio apartment in Kailua, HI, ready to finally create and live a simple life of creating art and spending days in the sun and surf.

Though I was thrilled to be where I was, grateful for what I had, and excited for what lay ahead, I found myself battling depression and anxiety at intense levels.

If you can imagine, living utterly alone on an island at the age of 18 where you knew absolutely no one was not easy.

However, though I spent most of my days in my own company aside from coworkers and the customers I worked to appease at my day-job, I had one constant companion:

nature.

Particularly, the ocean.

The ocean was my constant companion: my refuge, my teacher, my guide.

My greatest and most dependable friend.

On the many nights where I couldn’t sleep for the thoughts that plagued my mind, I would walk along Kailua Bay for hours, sit on the sand and cry at the waves.

Stare at the stars and the moon: two constants that never turned their back on me or deceived me like so many people in my life had.

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The beauty of the landscape around me inspired my paintbrush, but more than that, it brought me peace and made me feel less alone.

I wasn’t truly alone, was I?

I was surrounded by trillions and trillions of stars, the constant crashing waves, the whispering palms, the cooing doves and yodeling roosters.

All beings that expected nothing from me other than my mere existence and my mutual care of them.

Now throw surfing into the picture.

Surfing had been a dream of mine since I first learned about it, and was a major draw of moving to Hawai’i in the first place. Like every basic kook, I bought a foamie and floundered around at Canoes in Waikiki and Castles in Kailua, trying to improve my wave-riding skills.

I became completely addicted.

I can say with complete conviction that surfing saved my life.

Sounds totally dramatic, but it’s true.

It further connected me to the ocean who had given me so much and cared for me when no else was there.

It helped me find strength in my mind and body.

It helped connect me to like-minded individuals.

It taught me patience, acceptance, courage, and so much more.

The amount of times I found myself glowing with awe and gratitude over the total beauty and joy of sitting on a surfboard in the electric aqua blue ocean of Hawai’i is innumerable.

I had never felt so much love and pure simple happiness in my life before.
*I had never felt more alive--and so grateful to be so.*

Surfing became my ultimate form of therapy.

It cleared my head of the depression and anxiety that so readily plagued it.

It helped me heal from trauma and heartbreak.

It helped shape me into a person that I could finally face in the mirror with acceptance and love.

Catching a wave felt like ascending to another dimension.

It was the closest thing to heaven that I could imagine.

Often I would enter the water after a night of restless sleep or heaving sobs of pain, fear, loneliness, or hurt.

However, after spending hours on my board under the rising sun, paddling until my arms felt like noodles, gliding down crystalline waves, the previous night’s battles felt less potent, often washing off with the tide.

After surfing, I felt energized and buzzed, ready to take on the day.

I felt like a drug-addict: chasing the high of wave-riding.

Completely drunk off saltwater, my lungs gasping for sea air, my body itching to submerge in the waves. On days where I didn’t surf I often felt restless.

This addictive feeling inspired the idea that eventually formed DOPAMINE.

Surfing was like a drug to me, which got me wondering…why?

Some basic research led me to explore the phenomena that is dopamine: a neurotransmitter in our brains that brings us that feeling of ecstasy and influences us to repeat behaviors or activities that spark it.

Exercise is one of the most prominent catalysts of dopamine.

Artificial drugs and substances hijack natural dopamine levels, which is why people can so easily become addicted to them. They intensify the rewarding and pleasurable feeling to the point where one finds themselves completely addicted to it in order to feel anything like it at all.

I am fortunate to say that I never resorted to substance abuse to cope with the struggles I faced, though I was certainly tempted to and understand why it’s so easy to do so.

Instead, I found relief and “treatment” through surfing and simply being outdoors.

Though surfing was my go-to “drug,” I found similar highs through yoga, longboarding, hiking, running, snorkeling, and simple walks along the beach.

The relief and joy that outdoor activity gave me inspired me to share it with others.

I wanted to share my experience and journey with mental health so people who are also struggling can feel encouraged to discover a healthy way to cope too.

I’ve witnessed the devastating effects of drugs and alcohol on people’s minds and bodies, and I’ve witnessed and experienced the undeniable power of outdoor exercise as an alternative.

Having battled with mental health throughout my life, it is an issue that is incredibly important to me.

Having been healed and cared for by nature, protecting and caring for all beings of the natural world is incredibly important to me.

This is the foundation of DOPAMINE:

the emphasis on nature and the free, natural, and healthy high it offers us if we take the time to care for ourselves and appreciate what we can do in the abundance Mother Nature provides us.

So, next time you toss on that DOPAMINE tee or hoodie, remember what it’s all about: self-care and a deep love and appreciation for the good ol’ outdoors.

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