Welcome to this 10-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'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 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.

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. 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.