20 Minute Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) to Restore Mental & Physical Energy | Dr. Andrew Huberman
00:00:00.000 | Welcome to this 20-minute non-sleep deep rest protocol.
00:00:09.880 | Non-sleep deep rest is a powerful tool that can allow you to control the relaxation state
00:00:14.480 | of your nervous system and your overall state of mind.
00:00:19.520 | It can restore mental and physical vigor, and it can be done any time of day or night.
00:00:26.480 | It can even partially offset the negative consequences of getting too little sleep.
00:00:33.600 | Non-sleep deep rest takes advantage of the fact that specific forms of breathing place
00:00:38.680 | us into a state of deep relaxation by slowing our heart rate down.
00:00:45.320 | It also takes advantage of the fact that we can control our perception, that is, which
00:00:51.160 | sensations we are focused on.
00:00:56.280 | Sensations are simply the conversion of physical events in the world into a language that our
00:01:01.660 | body and brain can understand.
00:01:05.840 | It's a process by which things like photons of light, mechanical pressure on our skin,
00:01:12.720 | sound waves, and so on, are converted to electrical and chemical signals in our neurons or nerve
00:01:20.080 | cells.
00:01:23.240 | Perception is simply the sensations that we happen to be focused on at a given moment,
00:01:29.320 | and perception is an incredible aspect of our nervous system.
00:01:35.360 | We can't directly control what sensations are around us and inside of us.
00:01:41.040 | They are just there, but we can control our two kinds of perceptions.
00:01:48.400 | One kind of perception is called exteroception and is when we pay attention to things around
00:01:54.400 | us, beyond the confines of our skin.
00:01:59.200 | The other type of perception is called interoception, and it's when we pay attention to things
00:02:05.040 | at the level of the surface of our skin and inward, inside our body.
00:02:12.520 | With non-sleep deep rest, you can shift your brain state from one of thinking, stress,
00:02:19.040 | planning, from anticipation of any kind, positive or negative, to one of pure sensation and
00:02:26.960 | deep relaxation.
00:02:30.320 | It's very simple to do.
00:02:33.080 | You'll want to do this protocol seated or lying down, so if you're not already seated
00:02:39.120 | or lying down, please do so now.
00:02:44.160 | You'll also want to close your eyes, so if your eyes aren't already closed, please close
00:02:50.400 | them now.
00:02:53.360 | Throughout this protocol, you'll want to breathe normally, unless instructed to do otherwise.
00:03:02.920 | One pattern of breathing you'll be asked to do is to inhale deeply, ideally through your
00:03:07.480 | nose, but if you can't do it through your nose, inhale through your mouth.
00:03:13.920 | Try that now.
00:03:16.600 | Inhale deeply through your nose, and then exhale all of your air through your mouth.
00:03:29.240 | Let's do that again.
00:03:31.520 | Inhale deeply through your nose, and then exhale completely through your mouth.
00:03:38.320 | And as you exhale, exhale through thinly pursed lips, as if through a small straw.
00:03:47.720 | Let's repeat that two more times.
00:03:51.000 | Inhale deeply through your nose, and then exhale completely through thinly pursed lips.
00:04:03.440 | One more time.
00:04:06.460 | Inhale deeply through your nose, and then exhale completely through your mouth through
00:04:15.400 | thinly pursed lips.
00:04:22.160 | Breathing in that way, that is, inhaling deeply through your nose, and then exhaling completely
00:04:28.800 | through the mouth through thinly pursed lips, is known to slow your heart rate down and
00:04:35.320 | relax your nervous system.
00:04:40.920 | Feel free now to simply breathe normally.
00:04:48.140 | Now in your mind's eye, imagine yourself standing over yourself, looking at your body,
00:04:55.420 | which is seated or lying down, and imagine holding a flashlight or a spotlight and directing
00:05:02.720 | it at your feet.
00:05:06.560 | Focus your attention on whatever it is that your feet happen to be in contact with.
00:05:12.340 | It could be socks, sandals, shoes, or merely the air.
00:05:18.880 | It doesn't matter.
00:05:21.800 | Focus your attention specifically on the bottoms of your feet and try to perceive whatever
00:05:26.960 | it is they are sensing.
00:05:30.840 | They could be tingling.
00:05:32.920 | They could even be numb.
00:05:34.640 | It doesn't matter.
00:05:39.320 | Now imagine expanding that spotlight to include the tops of your feet, your shins, your calves.
00:05:50.920 | Expanding that spotlight further to include your thighs, your hamstrings, and up to your
00:05:57.680 | waist.
00:06:02.160 | Now with your entire lower body illuminated inside the beam of light from that spotlight,
00:06:08.440 | inhale deeply through your nose or through your mouth, and then exhale completely through
00:06:18.840 | thinly pursed lips until your lungs are empty.
00:06:30.200 | Repeat that twice more, and each time as you exhale, imagine your lower body sinking down
00:06:37.960 | about a centimeter into whatever surface you happen to be in contact with now.
00:07:07.440 | Now continue by breathing normally.
00:07:11.760 | Inhale deeply, and as you exhale, imagine your body sinking another centimeter into
00:07:22.440 | the surface you are lying or sitting down on.
00:07:32.780 | As you inhale, remember to have your belly expand ever so slightly, and as you exhale,
00:07:44.000 | your stomach will fall ever so slightly.
00:07:54.240 | As you breathe in this manner, continue to imagine the spotlight illuminating your entire
00:08:02.660 | body.
00:08:07.360 | As you inhale, you can imagine that spotlight getting slightly brighter, and as you exhale,
00:08:19.000 | imagine the spotlight getting slightly dimmer.
00:08:27.460 | Continue to inhale, and to exhale while imagining your body sinking down.
00:08:40.320 | Now pay attention to the muscles of your face, and as you continue to breathe normally, try
00:08:50.640 | to relax the muscles of your face, at first only slightly, and then with each subsequent
00:09:03.480 | breath, relaxing the muscles of your forehead and face more and more.
00:09:28.160 | Now regardless of the environment you are in, try to listen to sounds within that environment.
00:09:39.880 | Whatever happens to be surrounding you, try to hear it.
00:09:58.800 | Perhaps, you can only hear the sound of your own breathing.
00:10:15.520 | Perhaps, there are noises in the room.
00:10:22.040 | Regardless of the sounds you hear, try to focus on them.
00:10:46.200 | Now you will breathe in the same manner you breathed before, with a deep inhale through
00:10:52.440 | your nose, until your lungs are full, and then a slow, complete exhale through slightly
00:11:05.280 | pursed lips.
00:11:13.960 | Let's repeat that again.
00:11:16.920 | Inhale through your nose, until your lungs are full, then exhale slowly through your
00:11:30.060 | mouth with slightly pursed lips.
00:11:45.880 | Now in your mind's eye, try to imagine your body again illuminated by a spotlight.
00:11:59.360 | Imagine looking down at yourself, and your entire body is illuminated by that spotlight.
00:12:16.040 | Dim that spotlight in your mind by about 50%, and as you do so, deliberately relax the muscles
00:12:31.000 | of your legs, and deliberately relax the muscles of your hands, sensing your palms, wrists,
00:12:49.460 | and fingers.
00:12:58.400 | Continue to breathe normally, and in your mind's eye, dim the spotlight 50% further
00:13:13.040 | still, so that the image of your body in your mind's eye is barely a silhouette.
00:13:36.440 | Now, in your mind's eye, make the spotlight brighter.
00:13:51.320 | Try to see any portion of your body in your mind's eye.
00:13:58.120 | Your hands, your arms, your torso, your feet.
00:14:07.440 | No matter if you see one or all of these parts, try to see them as if you are staring down
00:14:16.880 | at yourself.
00:14:29.480 | Now move the spotlight to your abdomen, and focus your attention on whatever it is your
00:14:34.920 | abdomen is sensing.
00:14:40.840 | As you inhale, your stomach should move out slightly, and as you exhale, it should sink
00:14:47.200 | down.
00:14:52.860 | Expand the spotlight to include your upper abdomen, your chest, your neck.
00:15:02.160 | And now, in your mind's eye, imagine that spotlight is expanding to include your arms
00:15:07.640 | as well.
00:15:12.240 | Continue to breathe normally.
00:15:16.160 | Now focus your perception on whatever surface your back happens to be in contact with, a
00:15:21.640 | shirt, a chair, a sofa, whatever surface it happens to be contacting.
00:15:29.000 | Focus on that contact now.
00:15:35.840 | Simply bring your attention and your perception to those points of contact.
00:15:42.040 | And as you do so, inhale deeply again through your nose or through your mouth.
00:15:51.360 | And then as you exhale, imagine your back and your upper body sinking about a centimeter
00:15:57.440 | into whatever surface they happen to be in contact with.
00:16:03.840 | Now move the spotlight to include your face, the top of your head, and the back of your
00:16:09.080 | head.
00:16:11.000 | And as you continue to breathe normally, focus your perception on relaxing the muscles of
00:16:17.240 | your face.
00:16:23.880 | And as you continue to breathe normally, see if you can extend the duration of your exhales
00:16:30.200 | ever so slightly.
00:16:34.280 | And now, in your mind's eye, expand the spotlight downward to include your neck, your chest,
00:16:43.160 | your arms, your abdomen, your waist, your legs, and down to your feet.
00:16:59.980 | Imagine yourself looking down at your own body, illuminated inside of the spotlight.
00:17:05.920 | And in your mind's eye, deliberately dim that spotlight.
00:17:10.560 | Make the illumination less intense.
00:17:18.040 | Inhale deeply again through your nose or through your mouth.
00:17:23.200 | And then exhale completely through thinly pursed lips.
00:17:29.320 | And as you do so, imagine your entire body sinking into the surface it's in contact with.
00:17:40.440 | Now while continuing to breathe normally, move your toes ever so slightly.
00:17:52.960 | You'll notice that you are in control of your nervous system.
00:17:56.700 | You can direct your perceptions and your actions.
00:18:01.680 | In doing so, you'll notice that you are in control of your nervous system, meaning you
00:18:07.640 | direct your perceptions and your actions.
00:18:13.400 | Move your ankles and bend your knees just the slightest bit.
00:18:19.880 | You can move your upper body from side to side, your head from side to side, or even
00:18:26.080 | nod just slightly.
00:18:31.880 | Now move your hands, lift your arms just a tiny bit, then set them down again.
00:18:40.840 | And now, whenever you are ready, slowly open your eyes.
00:18:47.760 | And as you do so, you'll notice that normally your nervous system is bombarded with sensory
00:18:53.800 | information, mostly visual information, which you have eliminated during this non-sleep
00:19:01.720 | deep rest protocol.
00:19:04.340 | As you have now experienced, you are in control of your perceptions.
00:19:09.680 | Controlling your perceptions is simply directing your attention to specific sensations, and
00:19:16.920 | you control which sensations you perceive by directing your attentional spotlight to
00:19:23.320 | whatever part or parts of your body that you choose.
00:19:28.840 | This reflects the remarkable power of the human brain.
00:19:33.140 | You can direct your actions, your perceptions, and you can do so in order to bring about
00:19:40.720 | deep relaxation.
00:19:44.600 | You can also do that to achieve heightened states of alertness or attention to any sensation
00:19:51.880 | outside of you or within you.
00:19:58.480 | Non-sleep deep rest protocols, such as this one, can help you restore your sense of mental
00:20:05.680 | and physical vigor, can partially offset the effects of not getting enough sleep, and can
00:20:14.360 | also help you get better at falling and staying asleep.
00:20:19.840 | It can be done any time of day or night when you feel you need a mental and/or physical
00:20:28.760 | reset.
00:20:33.240 | Thank you for joining me for this non-sleep deep rest protocol brought to you by Huberman
00:20:38.520 | Lab and AG1.
00:20:40.560 | [silence]