Resilience and Grit: Embracing the stress of cold exposure as a self-directed challenge strengthens top-down control over reflexive states, fostering resilience and grit that extends to real-world stressors. Energy and Focus: Cold exposure triggers the release of epinephrine and norepinephrine, enhancing alertness, focus, and providing a boost of energy that can be applied to mental and physical activities. By following proper protocols, individuals can experience increased energy, focus, mood, resilience, metabolism, physical recovery, and a stronger mind-body connection. Deliberate cold exposure offers a range of benefits for both the brain and body. And then, once the sun is out, go outside.” On Optic Flow “There are now at least half a dozen quality papers published in quality peer-reviewed journals that show that forward ambulation - walking or biking or running - and generating optic flow in particular has this incredible property of lowering activity in the amygdala and thereby reducing levels of anxiety.” So this is really the foundational power tool for ensuring a great night's sleep and for feeling more awake during the day." On Alternative Lighting “If you wake up before the sun rises, flip on as many lights as you can in your space if you want to be awake in your artificial light environment. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of quality peer-reviewed papers showing that light viewing early in the day is the most powerful stimulus for wakefulness throughout the day and it has a powerful, positive impact on your ability to fall and stay asleep at night. This is grounded in the core of our physiology. "The single best thing you can do for your sleep your energy your mood your wakefulness your metabolism is to get natural light in your eyes early in the day. A morning spike in cortisol will also positively influence your immune system, metabolism and ability to focus during the day. Viewing sunlight within the first hours of waking (as soon as you can, even if through cloud cover) increases early-day cortisol release (the ideal time for elevated cortisol) and prepares the body for sleep later that night. “View morning sunlight!” is one of my common refrains.
Andrew Huberman on the Benefits of Morning Sunlight Despite its potential benefits, it's crucial to remember that yoga nidra should not replace medical treatment for sleep disorders.ĭr. Some studies suggest that it may improve sleep quality, reduce insomnia symptoms, and alleviate stress and anxiety. It aims to bring the mind and body into a deep relaxation state akin to the state between wakefulness and sleep. Yoga nidra, also known as "yogic sleep," is a type of relaxation practice involving guided body scans and visualizations. Huberman's Extensive coverage of NSDR and sleep optimization here. But when I started doing this practice and exploring it, I found that I would come out of a 30-minute yoga nidra session feeling like I slept 5, 6 hours or longer.” Read Dr. Frankly, I don’t think there’s any evidence for that specific statement. “There are some interesting data published showing that these yoga nidra meditations, if you will, can upregulate some of the neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine, that make you prepared for action.” “There was this lore in the yoga nidra community that 30 minutes of yoga nidra is equivalent to 4 hours of sleep. Huberman on Yoga Nidra (Non-Sleep Deep Rest)