Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR)- Dr. Andrew Huberman - originál

Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) | Dr. Andrew Huberman

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHIbgSN2qAU

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 & physical vigor. And it can be done any time of day or night. It’s very simple to do. All you need to do for this is be seated or lying down. You’ll all want to close your eyes. Throughout this protocol you’ll want to breathe normally unless instructed to do otherwise. One pattern of breathing you will be asked to do is to inhale deeply, ideally through your nose. But if you can’t do it through your nose breathe through your mouth. And then exhale deeply through your mouth. Let’s do that again. And as you exhale exhale through slightly pursed lips only. Alright, a small inhale, let’s repeat that two more times: inhale deeply through your nose and then exhale completely through slightly pursed lips one more time. Breathing in that way — that is inhaling deeply 

through your nose and then exhaling completely through the mouth through slightly 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 or yourself looking at your body, which is seated or lying down and imagine treating 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 with the beam of light from that spotlight, inhale deeply through your nose or through your mouth and then exhale completely through slightly pursed lips until your lungs are empty. Repeat that twice more and as you inhale imagine your lower body sinking down about a centimeter into whatever surface you happen to be in contact with. Now move your attention 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 shoulders, your neck and now in your mind’s eye imagining 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 collar bones, your chest, your abdomen, your waist, your legs and down to your feet. Imagine yourself floating down at your own body illuminated inside of the spotlight, and in your mind’s eye deliberately dim that spotlight, make the illumination soft. Inhale deeply again through your nose or through your mouth and then exhale completely through slightly 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 perception and your actions. Move your ankles and bend your knees just slightly.

As a test, you can move your body from side to side, your head from side to side and even nod just slightly. Now move your hands, lift your arms just a tiny bit then down again and now whenever you are ready, slowly open your eyes and as you do you’ll notice that normally your nervous system is bombarded with sensory information, also visual information, while you have eliminated during this non-sleep deep rest. Because now 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 H. Huberman Lab and AG1.