Protocols Quotes

“people find that just reducing the amount of starchy carbs they eat at lunch allows them to go straight through the rest of their day feeling energized”
― Andrew D. Huberman, Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body

“Does counting sheep help with falling asleep? Counting sheep has long been recommended for calming a busy brain before bed. The idea is that by giving ourselves a task, we stop ruminating on the day and going over our to-do lists for tomorrow. It turns out that counting sheep isn’t such a great nighttime activity. Allison Harvey, a psychologist at UC Berkeley, found that counting sheep actually made it more difficult for people to fall asleep.140 She concluded that this basic mental imagery was not engaging enough to hold the attention of people lying in bed trying to keep anxieties at bay. Without that focus to help calm our brain, we’re back to ruminating and reviewing to-do lists. A subsequent study in which Harvey instructed participants to deliberately suppress whatever thought was most likely to intrude into their mind before sleep found this didn’t help—predictably, the thought they were supposed to be suppressing just became more preoccupying.141 Instead, try these somewhat weird tricks: Take a mental walk: Imagine walking from your bed to your mailbox and then down the street and to a nearby location, then home again by the same or different familiar route. Occupying a busy brain with an easy and engaging task can help stop ruminating thoughts. Mental walks like these are occupying but not stimulating. And they have the tendency to lull people off to sleep. Move your eyes following the pattern described below: Warning: This is going to sound a bit out there, but it works well for many people, and studies are indirectly starting to suggest why. Lie down in bed and close your eyes. Keep your eyes closed and move your eyes slowly to the right then to the left, then up, then down, then counterclockwise and then clockwise. Then cross them somewhat by directing them gently toward your nose. Finally, do a big inhale and long exhale. Repeat one to three times as needed. Told you this would sound a bit out there! This trick often helps people fall asleep, because to do so we need to stop thinking about our limb position, or proprioception. Our visual and vestibular systems, or balance, and proprioception systems interact, and the eye movements just described “confuse” those systems. A similar mechanism partially explains why gentle slow rocking and pacing can help babies, and slow rocking of a bed (yes, such beds exist) can help adults improve their sleep metrics.142 We need more data to understand the mechanism behind this pattern, which is why it’s not its own protocol, but it is reasonable to assume it is related to the eye-to-vestibular circuits involved in, among other things, proprioception and sleep. New eye mask and rocking-bed technologies that trigger this eye movement pattern are designed to cause similar eye movements. I have tried a few of these nascent technologies and confess I fell asleep in less than two minutes! Meanwhile, this technique is free and easy to try. “Next thing I knew it was morning!” is not an uncommon refrain from people with whom I have shared this trick.”
― Andrew D. Huberman, Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body

“also prepare you for your calling when it comes. Build mental and physical strength and resilience. And endurance. Master getting a great night’s sleep on a regular basis. Work hard in whatever job you do. That’s the secret.”
― Andrew D. Huberman, Protocols: An Operating Manual for the Human Body