How to control your mind with your body | ANDREW HUBERMAN
Summary
TLDRThe script discusses the autonomic nervous system's role in human emotional states. It explains how extreme stress or relaxation affects our thoughts and actions, making it hard to control our mind with thinking alone. The speaker suggests that engaging the body through behaviors like breathing and movement can shift our autonomic state, allowing for clearer thinking and a broader perspective. This is crucial for managing stress and preventing it from spiraling into a self-destructive cycle.
Takeaways
- 🧠 The statement 'cannot control the mind with the mind' refers to the difficulty in managing extreme emotional states like stress or panic through rational thought alone.
- 🌿 The autonomic nervous system (ANS) is responsible for regulating our levels of alertness and plays a significant role in our emotional states.
- 🔍 At the extremes of the ANS, thoughts can become uncontrollable, making it hard to talk or think oneself out of a stressed or anxious state.
- 🔄 The ANS is a two-way system that connects the brain and body, allowing certain behaviors and breathing patterns to shift our emotional states.
- 🤔 When extremely stressed or anxious, it's challenging to redirect focus away from the source of stress and can feel like the state will last forever.
- 🏃♂️ Physical activity like walking or running can help alleviate stress by utilizing the body's preparedness for action, which is part of the stress response.
- 🚨 During stress, the body undergoes various physiological changes, such as increased heart rate and the redirection of energy to muscles, preparing for potential action.
- 👀 Stress causes the pupils to dilate, narrowing our visual and mental focus to concentrate on potential threats or issues.
- 🧘♀️ Relaxation techniques like meditation, exercise, and social connection can help broaden the mental aperture and reduce stress.
- 😴 Difficulty sleeping due to stress can exacerbate the problem, creating a cycle of compounded stress and emotional distress.
Q & A
What does the phrase 'control the mind with the mind' refer to?
-The phrase suggests the difficulty of using one's thoughts to change one's emotional state, especially when under extreme stress or anxiety.
What is the autonomic nervous system and what does it control?
-The autonomic nervous system is a part of the nervous system that controls involuntary actions, such as the regulation of heartbeat, blood pressure, and digestion. It is responsible for the 'fight or flight' response, as well as the 'rest and digest' functions.
How does the autonomic nervous system affect our thoughts and actions?
-The autonomic nervous system can influence our thoughts and actions by altering our levels of alertness and stress. When it is at extreme ends, it can make our thoughts uncontrollable and our actions reactive rather than thoughtful.
What happens to our thoughts when we are at the extremes of the autonomic nervous system?
-At the extremes, our thoughts can become uncontrollable and resemble a 'runaway train,' making it difficult to rationalize or talk ourselves out of our emotional states.
How does the autonomic nervous system connect to the rest of the body?
-The autonomic nervous system connects to the brain and all major organs of the body, creating a two-way communication system that allows for the regulation of bodily functions.
What are the two states of mind mentioned in the script where it's hard to control thoughts?
-The two states are when one is extremely alert and stressed or panicked, and when one is very close to sleep and feels drowsy and exhausted.
Why is it difficult to take our mind off anxiety when we are in a stressed state?
-In a stressed state, our focus narrows and becomes fixated on the source of stress, making it hard to shift our attention elsewhere.
How does the perception of time change when we are in a negative emotional state?
-When in a negative emotional state, such as stress or anxiety, it can feel as if the state will last forever, which is a distortion of our perception of time.
What are some behaviors that can help shift our position on the autonomic continuum?
-Certain behaviors like meditation, exercise, a healthy meal, and social connection can help shift our position on the autonomic continuum towards a calmer state.
What happens to our body when we are stressed according to the script?
-When stressed, our heart rate quickens, fuel is shuttled to the muscles, pupils dilate, and our thinking becomes very narrow, focusing intensely on the stressor.
Why is it beneficial to have a narrow aperture of thinking in certain situations?
-A narrow aperture of thinking can be beneficial in emergency situations where quick, focused reactions are needed to respond effectively to a threat.
Outlines
🧠 Controlling the Mind Through the Body
The paragraph discusses the concept of not being able to control the mind with the mind, particularly when in extreme emotional states such as stress or panic. It introduces the autonomic nervous system, which governs alertness levels and is responsible for the fight or flight response. The speaker explains that at the extremes of the autonomic nervous system, thoughts can become uncontrollable, similar to a runaway train. However, engaging the body through certain behaviors and breathing patterns can shift one's position on the autonomic continuum, thereby influencing the mind and allowing for different thoughts and actions. The speaker also touches on how negative states can distort the perception of time, making them seem permanent, whereas positive states rarely do. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the importance of looking to the body to control the mind in these extreme states.
🔍 The Stress Response and Its Effects
This paragraph delves into the physiological responses that occur during stress, anxiety, or fear, which are states of high alertness and awareness. It details how the body prepares for action by increasing heart rate and directing energy towards the muscles, while also narrowing the visual field to focus on immediate threats. The speaker describes the 'narrow aperture' effect on both vision and thinking during stress, which limits the ability to see peripherally and think broadly. The paragraph also discusses how stress can make it difficult to engage in relaxing activities, creating a cycle that's hard to break. It concludes by suggesting that finding ways to reduce autonomic arousal is crucial for breaking out of this cycle and preventing a downward spiral into increased stress and anxiety.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Autonomic Nervous System
💡Fight or Flight
💡Rest and Digest
💡Stress
💡Anxiety
💡Panic
💡Third Personing
💡Apertures of Thinking
💡Narrow Aperture of Vision
💡Self-Destructive Cycle
💡Coping Mechanisms
Highlights
The statement 'control the mind with the mind' refers to the difficulty of managing mental states through thought alone.
Relaxed and happy states allow for better decision-making and control over one's environment.
The autonomic nervous system governs alertness levels and is responsible for the fight or flight response.
At extremes of the autonomic nervous system, thoughts can become uncontrollable like a runaway train.
The autonomic nervous system connects to all organs of the body and can be influenced by behaviors and breathing patterns.
Shifting one's position on the autonomic continuum can change thought patterns and actions.
When extremely stressed or anxious, it's hard to take focus off the source of distress.
Anxiety can create a perception that the current state will last forever.
Engaging with the body through certain behaviors can help control the mind.
Stress, panic, and anxiety are high-alert states that can be difficult to manage.
Stress responses include increased heart rate and the redirection of energy to muscles.
Stress can cause a narrowing of visual and cognitive focus, limiting peripheral vision and expansive thinking.
Stress can make it difficult to engage in activities that might alleviate it.
There are practical ways to reduce autonomic arousal and shift out of a narrow stress mindset.
Stress can be adaptive in certain situations, such as emergencies, but is often undesired in daily life.
Sleep issues can compound stress, creating a cycle of increased anxiety and sleeplessness.
Meditation, exercise, and social connection are ways to relax and manage stress.
Transcripts
what do you mean when you say you cannot
control the mind with the mind
yeah that statement really emerges from
the fact that if we are in a pretty
relaxed state or if we are happy we
generally feel like we can do what we
want to do we can maneuver through our
environment we can make choices that are
reasonable but oftentimes we're not in
relaxed and happy States that's just
part of The Human Experience obviously
and there is a fundamental feature to
the nervous system which is this thing
they call the autonomic nervous system
which is just fancy nerd speak for the
components of your nervous system that
raise your levels of alertness or bring
them way down sometimes we hear fight or
flight rest and digest but this system
governs all that but a lot more and
basically what happens is when we are at
the extremes of the autonomic what I
call seesaw of very very alert to the
point of being really stressed or
panicked or concerned or if we are very
close to sleep and we're drowsy and
we're exhausted
at those
points along the autonomic nervous
system
our thoughts become a bit like a runaway
train you know if you're very upset it's
hard to talk yourself out of it if
you're stressed it's hard to think
yourself out of it in fact you can start
doing all sorts of third personing and
rationalization you can call someone you
can text somebody it's very hard to get
yourself out of those states with
thinking alone
but the beauty of the autonomic nervous
system is that it traverses the brain
and the body and it connects to
essentially all the organs of the body
and it's a two-way street such that
certain behaviors even certain patterns
of breathing
Etc allow us to shift where we are on
the autonomic Continuum between very
very alert and stressed and very calm
and thereby give our mind a shift also
in terms of the kinds of thoughts that
we can entertain the sorts of actions
that we can engage in to make this
concrete if you're very very stressed
you're very upset
two things happen one it's very hard to
take your focus off whatever it is
that's upsetting you and if you don't
know what's upsetting you you know pure
anxiety but you don't know why it's very
hard to take your mind off of the
feelings of anxiety
in those states of mind
there's another component which is that
for whatever reason and no one really
understands why this is it feels as if
the state that you're in will go on
forever now when we're in happy relaxed
States rarely do we think gosh this is
going to go on forever and yet when we
are in these unfortunate states of mind
we get the idea somehow it sort of
hijacks our perception of time and we
feel like this is never going to stop
if we turn to the body and certain
behaviors let me talk about what those
are we are able to move ourselves along
the autonomic Continuum and at that
point when we've done that successfully
it's actually quite straightforward to
do we are able to think about things
differently we start to get a sense that
the way we feel might not be the way
we're going to feel forever and it's in
those shifts that we start to realize ah
my mind actually is not my best friend
at these extremes but there's a lot more
to it you're only getting the tip of the
iceberg in those States so that's why I
say if you can't control the mind with
the Mind look to the body to control the
mind
how would that be adaptive how would it
be adaptive for us to focus all of our
attention onto the anxiety is that
something that you could see a useful
absolutely so let's take stress as an
example and this could be stress Panic
anxiety you know each one of those has a
definition in medical terms
psychological terms but to be fair no
one really knows how to draw the line in
the brain between fear and Stress and
Anxiety but we can say with certainty
that all of those States involve high
levels of alertness high levels of
awareness sometimes for things in our
environment and sometimes just for
what's going on internally
when we are stressed anxious afraid
waking up in the middle of the night
doesn't matter what triggered it there
are a couple basic things that happen to
all of us first of all our heart rate
quickens that's kind of an obvious one
fuel from our muscles and our liver is
shuttled to particular organs of the
body and away from others
in particular fuel is shuttled towards
the big muscles of the body you generate
large movements this is why we Quake a
bit when we're stressed the hands will
shake it's preparing us for we are
prepared for movement how does that
prepare us for movement
um the shaking actually is the
consequence of trying to not move when
we are stressed basically this is why
taking a walk or a run you actually feel
like you can kind of dispel the stress
you're not actually dispelling the
stress what's happened is it's like the
ARP the RPM are getting cranked up it's
like idling it
right it's you know you could sit there
in a parked car and do that but
basically you take the thing out of park
and it just wants to go and so a lot of
the times when we're stressed it's in
conditions in which we're trying to
remain still public speaking and a tough
argument you know at the doctor's office
about to get an injection you know it
depends on what stresses people
obviously but that Readiness for Action
is a second component so heart rate
Readiness for Action by way of shuttling
glucose and other fuels to the muscles
and then away from the reproductive
organs from digestive organs Etc because
that's just not the right time for that
another very very powerful feature of
this response
is that our our pupils of our eyes the
dark parts of our eyes get big now you
might think that that expands your
visual field but actually the way the
Optics of the eye work that narrows the
aperture of your visual field so when
you are stressed you literally are
seeing things through a small aperture
soda straw view of the world as they say
and under those conditions you cannot
see things in your periphery as well as
you could prior to being stressed but
you become exquisitely good at measuring
small detail changes in whatever it is
that you happen to be looking at now
there's a internal process too which is
that the aperture on your thinking also
becomes very very narrow so that if for
instance well I had this happen the
other day I I heard something very
stressful I couldn't think about
anything else right and that might just
seem logical like of course you can't
think about anything else very stressful
you're concerned about this but my mind
wasn't thinking about this particular
incident it was thinking if this then
this then if that and that and that and
that and so you start you know dropping
into the future you start dropping into
the past like oh God why did we do that
why you know and you start doing all
that kind of cycling through things
and of course there are so many things
that can help relax us meditation
exercise a nice healthy meal social
connection but the fifth column of the
stress response is that your aperture
Vision your aperture of thinking gets
very narrow and it becomes harder and
harder to do the very things that would
keep you out of stress and so this is
kind of the the double-edged sword that
is stress and so all the more reason why
in those moments if the stress is not
desired because there are moments when
stress is desired you know you're
navigating an emergency Etc but if you
don't want to be in that narrow aperture
of thinking and vision Etc then you need
to find some way to bring your level of
autonomic arousal as it's called down
slightly so that you can start thinking
about other possibilities or you know
there are instances I think everyone's
been in this kind of situation where the
thing that's stressing you out is not
going to get resolved today and you need
to sleep and of course you know you need
to sleep and then you can't sleep and
then of course that creates a
compounding stress and now you're
stressed about not being able to sleep
and then over the course of the next few
days you you know dissolve into a puddle
of tears but fortunately there are ways
out of that kind of self-destruction
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