Master Stress: Tools for Managing Stress & Anxiety

This episode explains what stress is, and how it recruits our brain and body to react in specific ways. I describe the three main types of stress, and how two of them actually enhance the function of our immune system making us less vulnerable to infections. I review tools that allow us to control our stress in real-time, as well as tools to prevent long-term stress, burnout and stress-induced illness and anxiety. As always, we cover behavioral tools and supplements that can assist or hinder stress control.

Read the full show notes for this episode at hubermanlab.com.

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Timestamps

00:00:00 Introduction

00:00:31 Sponsors: AG1, LMNT & Waking Up

00:04:41 Emotions: A Logical Framework of Brain-Body Loops

00:10:29 Stress: The (Falsely Narrow) Animal Attack Narrative

00:14:31 The Stress RESPONSE: Generic, Channels blood, Biases Action

00:21:08 Tools to Actually Control Stress: Reduce Alertness or Increase Calm

00:24:15 The Fastest Way to Reduce Stress In Real Time: “Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia”

00:29:45 The Fastlane to Calm

00:34:53 Important Notes About Heart Rate Deceleration: Vaso-vagal Lag

00:36:50 Cyclic Sighing For Calm and Sleep Induction

00:37:57 Nasal Breathing For Cosmetic, Immune and Performance Enhancement

00:38:46 Two Breathing Centers In The Brain

00:39:45 Breathing For Speaking Clearly

00:40:39 The 3 Types of Stress: Short, Medium and Long-Term

00:42:10 Positive Effects of Short-Term Stress: Immunity and Focus

00:45:32 Adrenalin (Epinephrine) Deploys Killer Immune Cells

00:46:40 Cyclic Deep Breathing IS Stress: Wim Hof, Tummo & Super-Oxygenation

00:50:58 Inflammation Is Useful and Good, In the Short Term

00:52:02 Procrastination and Self-Manufactured Nootropics

00:53:00 Relaxation Can Cause Illness

00:54:30 Immune Activation Protocol

00:55:20 Medium Term Stress: A Clear Definition

00:56:07 Stress Threshold

00:57:10 Stress Inoculation Tools: Separating Mind & Body, On Purpose

00:59:50 Use Vision to Calm the Mind When the Body Is Agitated

01:02:36 Beyond NSDR

01:04:36 Long Term Stress: Definition, Measurement, Cardiovascular Risks