ANDREW HUBERMAN: Welcome to this
20-minute non-sleep deep rest protocol. Non-sleep deep rest
is a powerful tool that can allow you to
control the relaxation state of your nervous system
and your overall state of mind. It can restore mental
and physical vigor, and it can be done any
time of day or night. It can even partially offset
the negative consequences of getting too little sleep. Non-sleep deep rest takes
advantage of the fact that specific forms
of breathing place us into a state of deep relaxation
by slowing our heart rate down. It also takes
advantage of the fact that we can control
our perception-- that is, which sensations
we are focused on. Sensations are
simply the conversion of physical events in
the world into a language that our body and
brain can understand. It's a process by which
things like photons of light, mechanical
pressure on our skin, sound waves, and so
on, are converted to electrical and
chemical signals in our neurons, or nerve cells. Perception is simply
the sensations that we happen to be focused
on at a given moment. And perception is an incredible
aspect of our nervous system. We can't directly control
what sensations are around us and inside of us,
they are just there. But we can control our
two kinds of perceptions. One kind of perception
is called exteroception, and is when we pay attention
to things around us beyond the confines of our skin. The other type of perception
is called interoception, and it's when we pay
attention to things at the level of the
surface of our skin and inward, inside our body. With non-sleep deep rest, you
can shift your brain state from one of thinking, stress,
planning, from anticipation of any kind, positive
or negative, to one of pure sensation
and deep relaxation. It's very simple to do. You'll want to do this
protocol seated or lying down. So if you're not already seated
or lying down, please do so now. You'll also want
to close your eyes. So if your eyes aren't already
closed, please close them now. Throughout this
protocol you'll want to breathe normally, unless
instructed to do otherwise. One pattern of breathing
you'll be asked to do is to Inhale deeply,
ideally through your nose. But if you can't do
it through your nose, inhale through your mouth. Try that now. Inhale deeply through your nose,
and then exhale all of your air through your mouth. Let's do that again. Inhale deeply through your
nose and then exhale completely through your mouth. And as you exhale, exhale
through thinly pursed lips as if through a small straw. Let's repeat that
two more times. Inhale deeply through
your nose, and then exhale completely through
thinly pursed lips. One more time. Inhale deeply through
your nose, and then exhale completely
through your mouth through thinly pursed lips. Breathing in that way,
that is, inhaling deeply through your nose and
then exhaling completely through the mouth through
thinly pursed lips, is known to slow your
heart rate down and relax your nervous system. Feel free now to simply
breathe normally. Now, in your mind's
eye, imagine yourself standing over yourself, looking
at your body which is seated or lying down, and
imagine holding a flashlight or a spotlight
and directing it at your feet. Focus your attention on whatever
it is that your feet happen to be in contact with. It could be socks, sandals,
shoes, or merely the air. It doesn't matter. Focus your attention
specifically on the bottoms of
your feet, and try to perceive whatever
it is they are sensing. They could be tingling. They could even be numb. It doesn't matter. Now imagine expanding
that spotlight to include the tops of your
feet, your shins, your calves. Expanding that spotlight
further to include your thighs, your hamstrings,
and up to your waist. Now, with your entire
lower body illuminated inside the beam of light
from that spotlight, inhale deeply through your
nose or through your mouth. And then exhale completely
through thinly pursed lips until your lungs are empty. Repeat that twice more, and
each time as you exhale, imagine your lower body
sinking down about a centimeter into whatever surface you happen
to be in contact with now. Now continue by
breathing normally. Inhale deeply. And as you exhale,
imagine your body sinking another centimeter
into the surface you are lying or
sitting down on. As you inhale, remember to
have your belly expand ever so slightly. And as you exhale, your stomach
will fall ever so slightly. As you breathe in
this manner, continue to imagine the spotlight
illuminating your entire body. As you Inhale, you can
imagine that spotlight getting slightly brighter. And as you exhale,
imagine the spotlight getting slightly dimmer. Continue to inhale and to
exhale while imagining your body sinking down. Now pay attention to the
muscles of your face. And as you continue
to breathe normally, try to relax the
muscles of your face-- at first only slightly. And then with each
subsequent breath, relaxing the muscles of your
forehead and face more and more. Now, regardless of the
environment you're in, try to listen to sounds
within that environment. Whatever happens to be
surrounding you, try to hear it. Perhaps you can only hear the
sound of your own breathing. Perhaps there are
noises in the room. Regardless of the sounds you
hear, tried to focus on them. Now you will breathe in the
same manner you breathed before, with a deep inhale through your
nose until your lungs are full. And then a slow, complete exhale
through slightly pursed lips. Let's repeat that again. Inhale through your nose
until your lungs are full. Then exhale slowly through your
mouth with slightly pursed lips. Now, in your mind's eye, try
to imagine your body again illuminated by a spotlight. Imagine looking
down at yourself, and your entire body is
illuminated by that spotlight. Dim that spotlight in
your mind by about 50%. And as you do so, deliberately
relax the muscles of your legs. Then deliberately relax
the muscles of your hands, sensing your palms,
wrists, and fingers. Continue to breathe normally. And in your mind's eye,
dim the spotlight 50% further still so that the image
of your body in your mind's eye is barely a silhouette. Now, in your mind's eye,
make the spotlight brighter. Try to see any portion of
your body in your mind's eye-- your hands, your arms,
your torso, your feet. No matter if you see one or all
of these parts, try to see them as if you are staring
down at yourself. Now move the spotlight
to your abdomen and focus your
attention on whatever it is your abdomen is sensing. As you inhale, your stomach
should move out slightly. And as you exhale,
it should sink down. Expand the spotlight to
include your upper abdomen, your chest, your neck. And now in your
mind's eye, imagine that spotlight is expanding
to include your arms as well. Continue to breathe normally. Now focus your
perception on whatever surface your back happens
to be in contact with-- a shirt, a chair, a sofa. Whatever surface it
happens to be contacting, focus on that contact now. Simply bring your attention
and your perception to those points of contact. And as you do so, inhale
deeply again through your nose or through your mouth. And then as you exhale, imagine
your back and your upper body sinking about a centimeter
into whatever surface they happen to be
in contact with. Now move the spotlight
to include your face, the top of your head, and
the back of your head. And as you continue
to breathe normally, focus your perception
on relaxing the muscles of your face. And as you continue
to breathe normally, see if you can extend the
duration of your exhales ever so slightly. And now in your mind's eye,
expand the spotlight downward to include your neck, your
chest, your arms, your abdomen, your waist, your legs,
and down to your feet. Imagine yourself looking down
at your own body, illuminated inside of the spotlight. And in your mind's eye,
deliberately dim that spotlight. Make the illumination
less intense. Inhale deeply again through
your nose or through your mouth. And then exhale completely
through thinly pursed lips. And as you do so,
imagine your entire body sinking into the surface
it's in contact with. Now, while continuing
to breathe normally, move your toes ever so slightly. You'll notice that you are in
control of your nervous system. You can direct your
perceptions and your actions. In doing so, you'll
notice that you are in control of
your nervous system, meaning you direct your
perceptions and your actions. Move your ankles and bend your
knees just the slightest bit. You can move your upper
body from side to side, your head from side to side,
or even nod just slightly. Now move your hands. Lift your arms just a tiny
bit, then set them down again. And now, whenever you are
ready, slowly open your eyes. And as you do so, you'll
notice that normally your nervous system is bombarded
with sensory information, mostly visual information,
which you have eliminated during this
non-sleep deep rest protocol. As you have now
experienced, you are in control of your perceptions. Controlling your perceptions is
simply directing your attention to specific sensations,
and you control which sensations you
perceive by directing your attentional
spotlight to whatever part or parts of your
body that you choose. This reflects the remarkable
power of the human brain. You can direct your
actions, your perceptions, and you can do so in order to
bring about deep relaxation. You can also do that to achieve
heightened states of alertness or attention to any sensation
outside of you, or within you. Non-sleep deep rest
protocols such as this one can help you restore your sense
of mental and physical vigor, can partially offset the effects
of not getting enough sleep, and can also help you get better
at falling and staying asleep. It can be done any
time of day or night when you feel you need a
mental and/or physical reset. Thank you for joining me
for this non-sleep deep rest protocol brought to you
by Huberman Lab and AG1.
