Dr. Andrew Huberman

How to Cope with Stress

We just learned that the limbic system is in control of our emotional and behavioral responses. Because it is such a powerful part of our brain, it can make or break us. Under extreme situations, however, it can be hard to control this part of the brain. Andrew believed that this limbic friction results in two types of stress.

“There are two types of stress. … one type of stress is when you’re too activated, alert, and agitated. This is what we usually experience when we’re in physical pain or emotionally bothered. Then, there’s another side of stress, wherein you’re feeling another shutdown or when you’re feeling exhausted and you can’t get mobilized and alert enough. This is the stress that gives us the feeling of fatigue.” – Andrew Huberman

Andrew explained that if you’re having a hard time dealing with stress, it’s important that you know which one you’re experiencing because the solutions to the two are quite different. 

“When you’re too activated, too alert, and you just find yourself too compulsive, do that double-inhale followed by an exhale. We know that is the fastest, and real-time tool for taking one’s state of alertness down. If you’re experiencing the overwhelmed and fatigued type of stress, there are also two ways to approach it. First is: You can sleep. You can get better at it, but it’s a slow tool. It’s not a real-time tool because you have to get up and deal with children, work, and life. So, a real-time approach to feeling the fatigue stress is to bring more alertness into the system. You can do this by knowing studying the direct relationship between how you breathe and your heart rate. When you inhale more vigorously or longer, you’re speeding up your heart rate. When you exhale, the diaphragm moves up, signalling the brain to tell the heart that it needs to slow.” – Andrew Huberman

This heart rate variability reflects the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system, which refers to the brain’s ability to slow down and calm the nervous system. And to summarize Andrew’s points, dealing with stress is really all about maximizing the power of breathwork!

“Breathwork can teach you how to operate these leavers, your brain and body, so to speak. Breathwork is a dedicated practice that you do away from these stressful events. By breathing, you can learn to control your heart rate, and thereby your mind. This is what the yoga community has done over the years. This is the principle behind the Wim Hof breathing [method], or TUMMO breathing, or the super oxygenation breathing method.” – Andrew Huberman

Isn’t that amazing? That we can just breathe our way to helping our mind come out of stressful moments in our lives? This leads us to what Andrew talked about in the last episode on the brain-body connection. You can’t drive your nervous system with thoughts and control your mind alone. You have to connect your whole body. This information is massive, and even Andrew thinks the same way.

“I do believe that having that knowledge in the mind allows people in a moment of stress to say, ‘Oh, I understand what’s happening to me. Therefore I should go to this particular tool because this is how it’s done. When in moments of stress, either excessively alert stress or excessively fatigued stress, I need to look to the body, because there are mechanisms that have been built into and designed to do this.’” – Andrew Huberman

With the progress in medicine and science in general, it’s sometimes easy to forget that our bodies and minds have built-in tools that can help us deal with life’s daily challenges. Luckily, Andrew is here to share his expertise on the topic.

“What I’ve described here is hardwired. Meaning we were all born with these neurons and connections in our body. We’re all born with these organs to be able to do these things. There’s not a lot of learning involved once you know how to do it. It works the first time. It works every time.” – Andrew Huberman

So there it is, friends. The truth is that power over yourself is found within you all along. It’s all about mind-body connection. If you can understand and master this, you’ll surely live healthier and happier!

Understanding the Law of Attraction

I recently had the author of the book The Secret, Rhonda Byrne, on the show. The book made the law of attraction more mainstream and popular. 

For those who are not familiar, the Law of Attraction essentially says that what you think you can become, what you think you can create, and what you think about consistently, is what you’ll start to attract in your life. I’ve always been fascinated by this philosophy, and I want to understand it from a scientific standpoint. Andrew was generous enough to let me know about his thoughts on the topic:

“Senses take the physical entities in the universe, and they constrain our experience of the world. … When we focus on the sensations from our senses, we gain perception. For me, thinking is a lot like perception, which are sensations I’m focusing on. These sensations can be from the past, the present, or the future we haven’t ever had. … Now thoughts are easier to introduce, and assuming that they are perceptions — then they have the power to shape you and the way you see everything around you. Now, because they are perceptions, they are heavily constraining. If they’re repetitive, they are essentially called beliefs. Here’s the thing though, whatever you believe in, whether it’s positive or negative, your mind rewards you with dopamine.” – Andrew Huberman

This dopamine release is the probable reason why we’re attached to some type of belief, whether it’s wrong or right. It’s not really other things that motivate us to believe in a certain kind of way, but it’s the dopamine that shapes what we see as rewards. As long as it feels good, we keep on sticking to that kind of belief. So, how can we make use of this chemical for us to feel motivated and alive? 

“We need to realize that how we view the world is shaping the release of these chemicals. When we have positive thoughts, we get a lift. If we can get a lift from our positive thoughts and then dopamine itself puts us in relationship with the outside world, there’s more possibility that is going to put us into momentum.” – Andrew Huberman

So a positive thought triggers forward movement. Many of us have heard this, but too often we underestimate the potential of the idea. But now, with science confirming that positive thinking can give you a little bit of a lift, you can use this knowledge so you can achieve bigger and greater things in life! Andrew even gave a piece of advice on how you can be able to use this knowledge even if you’re in a depressed state.

“You need to attach the dopamine release to the process of effort or goal-setting itself. And if you can attach dopamine release to the belief that you’re at least heading in the right direction, you’ll have more energy to keep going in the right direction. People make the mistake of thinking that the positive thought process should be attached to the finish line.” – Andrew Huberman

Not only is this information powerful, but it also gives hope to everyone who’s at the lowest point of their lives right now. Just like Andrew explained, it’s still possible to attract good things in life. Again, it’s not all about the finish line. It’s about your efforts, too. So give yourself a pat on the back, because you’re doing something great even with the smallest steps you take!

Why You Should Listen to This Andrew Huberman Podcast Episode Right Now…

Robert Greene said, “The need for certainty is the greatest disease the mind faces.” 

At this point in our lives, certainty might be the last thing that we can have right now. The global pandemic exposed us to our vulnerabilities and insecurities, and that could be the reason why many of us feel stressed, anxious, and fearful of what tomorrow holds for us. Yes, we might be powerless about this, but we are in control of how we respond to the challenges it brings. Just as Andrew suggests, you need to understand your mind so you can know how to benefit from it.

This conversation is a powerful one. Everything that I learned in today’s episode is 100% mind-blowing, so make sure to catch the full episode here. We’re only in the first half, and there’s still so much more to look forward to in the second part.

In Part 2, we’ll dive deeper into the science of positive thinking and how dopamine is released into the body. Andrew and I will also talk about how we can trick our minds into attaching internal rewards for external accomplishments, the science of gratitude and abundance, and so much more. It’ll be one exciting conversation — you’ll definitely enjoy and learn something from it!.

If you enjoyed and found value in this episode, please pay it forward. Tag Andrew, @hubermanlab, and me, @lewishowes, on Instagram with a screenshot of the episode and your greatest takeaways. And if you want to see someone else continue to improve their lives and expand their awareness, share it with them! You can also click the subscribe button on Apple Podcasts and check The School of Greatness out on YouTube. We’ve got over a million subscribers over there helping us spread the message of greatness to more people like you!

If you believe that you can unlock the power of your brain and use it to achieve your goals, Episode 1072 is one you don’t want to miss!

 

To Greatness,