Meditation
Episodes
In this clip, Dr. Andrew Huberman discusses NSDR's benefits for dopamine, sleep, creativity, trauma therapy, and how it differs from meditation.
Darya Rose talks about her 10 day silent retreat.
Tim Ferriss' experience with floatation tanks & his desire to continue experimenting with meditation
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In this clip, Dr. Andrew Huberman discusses NSDR's benefits for dopamine, sleep, creativity, trauma therapy, and how it differs from meditation.
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Darya Rose talks about her 10 day silent retreat.
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In this clip, Wim Hof discusses how his breathing techniques calm the mind and allow practitioners to access the parasympathetic system more immediately.
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In this clip, Dr. Roland Griffiths describes the current state of research on long-term meditation and the role psilocybin plays in that research.
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In this clip, Dr. Roland Griffiths and Dr. Rhonda Patrick discuss the effects of meditation on gene expression.
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In this clip, Dr. Roland Griffiths discusses similarities in the effects of psilocybin and meditation on the brain and their potential usefulness in treating depression.
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Will lifestyle interventions be accepted as alternative treatments for depression? | Charles Raison ClipDr. Charles Raison discusses his belief that ancient practices are more likely than modern pharmacology to encourage resilience and stave off depression.
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The ‘Wild 5’ protocol to treat depression: exercise, diet, sleep, social connectivity & mindfulness ClipDr. Charles Raison describes the Wild 5 trackable wellness intervention and how it may be incorporated into the treatment of depression.
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Dr. Charles Raison and Dr. Rhonda Patrick discuss the potential benefits of meditation and running to improve mood.
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Dr. Elissa Epel identifies several biohacks that show promise as strategies to reduce stress and lengthen telomeres.
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Dr. Elissa Epel discusses the mechanisms of healthy aging and the associations between stress, telomere length, addiction, eating, and metabolic health.
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Dr. Roland Griffiths discusses the effects of the psychedelic compound psilocybin on the human brain.
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Dr. Darya Rose & husband Kevin Rose discuss the benefits of meditation, seasonal eating, and more.
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Dr. Pierre Capel discusses cold stress, Wim Hof, genetic modification, and cancer immunotherapy.
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Rhonda explains chronic stress's impact on brain, gut, immune system, and aging. Meditation buffers and improves cognitive and biological aging.
Topic Pages
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Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)
Meditation attenuates HPA-axis activity, lowering cortisol and thereby enhancing CREB-dependent transcriptional upregulation of hippocampal BDNF.
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Depression
Mindfulness meditation downregulates amygdala reactivity and modulates default-mode network connectivity, attenuating rumination and depressive symptomatology.
News & Publications
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Mild cognitive impairment is often a precursor to Alzheimer’s disease, marking the initial stages of cognitive decline that precede more severe dementia. Evidence suggests lifestyle factors mediate the progression of mild cognitive impairment. A recent study found that intensive lifestyle modification improves cognitive and functional performance and slows disease progression in older adults with mild cognitive impairment.
Researchers conducted a randomized controlled trial involving 49 participants aged 45-90 with mild cognitive impairment or early dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. Half of the participants received the usual care, while the other half received a 20-week intensive lifestyle intervention. The researchers assessed the participants' cognitive and functional performance and measured plasma biomarkers associated with Alzheimer’s before and after the intervention.
They found that participants in the intervention group showed considerable improvements in cognition and function compared to the control group. In addition, Aβ42/40 ratios increased in the intervention group but decreased in the control group.
The Aβ42/40 ratio is a measure of the relative levels of two forms of amyloid-beta protein (Aβ42 and Aβ40) in the blood or cerebrospinal fluid. It is a biomarker used to assess the presence and progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Lower ratios typically indicate higher levels of brain amyloid-beta plaques, a hallmark of the disease. An increase in the Aβ42/40 ratio, as observed in the intervention group, suggests a potential reversal or slowing of amyloid-beta plaque accumulation, indicating an improvement in disease pathology.
These findings suggest that intensive lifestyle modification has profound effects on Alzheimer’s disease progression in older adults with mild cognitive impairment. FoundMyFitness has a wealth of information about the various components used in this intensive protocol, which included:
- Diet: A whole-food, minimally processed, plant-based diet, high in complex carbohydrates and low in harmful fats and refined sugars.
- Exercise: Daily aerobic activities and resistance training exercises three times weekly.
- Stress management: Daily meditation, yoga, stretching, relaxation exercises, and breathing technique sessions.
- Group support: Group sessions, including supervised exercise, stress management practices, support groups, and lifestyle lectures, three times weekly.
- Supplements: Daily supplements, including omega-3 fatty acids, curcumin, a multivitamin/mineral, coenzyme Q10, vitamin C, vitamin B12, magnesium L-threonate, lion’s mane mushroom, and a probiotic.
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Deep breathing exercises moderate heart rate variability – and may reduce Alzheimer's disease risk. gero.usc.edu
Deep breathing exercises may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study shows. People who practiced deep breathing exercises had blood lower levels of amyloid-beta protein – a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.
The study involved 108 healthy adults. Half of the participants practiced slow-breathing techniques in a 10-second rhythm (five seconds in, five seconds out) to maximize their heart rate variability. The other half tried to keep their heart rate steady by practicing relaxation techniques, such as picturing calm settings or listening to calming music. Each group practiced their respective techniques for about 20 minutes, twice daily for four weeks.
They found that participants who practiced the slow-breathing techniques (inducing greater heart rate variability) had lower blood levels of amyloid-beta 40 and 42 – two toxic proteins that are typically increased in people with Alzheimer’s disease – than those who kept their heart rates steady. The reductions in the two amyloid-beta proteins corresponded to decreased production of proteins involved in noradrenergic signaling, part of the body’s “fight-or-flight” response.
Heart rate variability refers to the physiological phenomenon of variation in the time interval between heartbeats, measured by the variation in the beat-to-beat interval. Decreased parasympathetic nervous system activity or increased sympathetic activity will lead to lower heart rate variability, a robust predictor of poor health outcomes, including a greater risk of death after a heart attack.
These findings suggest that breathing techniques that moderate heart rate variability reduce amyloid-beta burden in healthy people, potentially reducing the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Learn about other strategies to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease in this episode featuring Dr. Dale Bredesen.
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Breathing exercises reduce stress and improve mental health. www.news-medical.net
Breathwork improves mental health, a new study shows. People who practiced breathwork reported less anxiety, depression, and mental stress, regardless of how frequently they engaged in the practice.
Researchers reviewed the findings of 12 randomized controlled trials that investigated the effects of breathwork on stress. The breathwork techniques were presented in person, remotely, or via both.
They found that slow-breathing exercises improved participants' mental health, regardless of how the techniques were presented. Participants who practiced breathwork reported having less anxiety, depression, and mental stress, compared to those who did not practice breathwork. Surprisingly, the researchers didn’t identify a dose-response effect with breathwork, aligning with other findings in which just a single breathwork session reduced anxiety.
Breathwork is an umbrella term that refers to various breathing exercises and techniques. Evidence suggests that breathwork improves heart rate variability and promotes resilience to stress. People often engage in breathwork as part of general relaxation practices, yoga, or meditation. Learn more about the benefits of meditation in this audio episode featuring Dr. Rhonda Patrick.
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Improving sleep, diet, fitness, and weight may be alternatives to testosterone therapy. (2018) www.sciencedirect.com
From the publication:
Patient interest in fertility and testicular size preservation and a desire to avoid lifelong medical therapy with testosterone drives the need to identify non-TTh [non-testosterone therapy] for hypogonadism. Medical therapies that can stimulate endogenous testosterone production include hCG [human chorionic gonadotropin], AIs [aromatase inhibitors], and SERMs [selective estrogen receptor modulators], all of which demonstrate efficacy in increasing serum testosterone levels and good safety profiles. Natural therapies to increase testosterone production include diet and exercise, weight loss, improved sleep, decreasing stress, and varicocele repair. Diet, exercise, and weight loss provide a means to potentially reverse comorbidities that are closely linked to hypogonadism. Improvements in sleep quality and duration and decreasing stress are additional lifestyle modifications that can improve testosterone levels without the need for lifelong medication. Varicocele repair also can increase testosterone levels, although rigorous data supporting its use remain lacking. Patients considering TTh should be counseled on disease modification and the possibility of discontinuing TTh in the future, before initiation of therapy, and the alternatives discussed in this review also should be considered first in appropriate candidates.
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Diet, exercise, and weight loss
– 12-wk lifestyle modification program involving aerobic exercise and diet modification significantly increased mean testosterone levels
– 52-wk program of diet and exercise significantly increased mean serum testosterone levels
– Individuals who lost 10% of weight between visits showed a significant increase in testosterone levels
– Weight loss through low-calorie diets or bariatric surgery was associated with significant increases in total testosterone levels
Improvements in sleep
– Men with OSA treated with UPPP had significant 3-mo postoperative increases in testosterone levels
– Restriction of sleep to 5 h/night decreased testosterone levels by 10-15%
Stress reduction
– Men with high stress levels had significantly lower serum testosterone levels compared with controls
– Men with higher work stress had higher than expected incidence of hypogonadism
Varicocele repair
– Varicocelectomy significantly increased mean testosterone levels
– Varicocele repair significantly increased testosterone levels
– Significantly increased total testosterone levels were found at 12-mo follow-up after varicocelectomy
– Mean serum total testosterone significantly increased after varicocelectomy
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Stress-induced chronic inflammation is associated with depression and other diseases. (2015) www.sciencedaily.com
From the article:
The authors found that in addition to being linked to numerous physical health issues, including cancer and diabetes, systemic inflammation is linked to mental health issues such as depression. Among patients suffering from clinical depression, concentrations of two inflammatory markers, CRP and IL-6, were elevated by up to 50 percent.
Fagundes said chronic inflammation is most common in individuals who have experienced stress in their lives, including lower socio-economic status or those who experienced abuse or neglect as children. Other contributing factors are a high-fat diet and high body mass index.
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The study also found that depression caused by chronic inflammation is resistant to traditional therapy methods, but can be treated with activities such as yoga, meditation NSAIDS and exercise.
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Meditation improves the error detection capacity of the brain. www.sciencedaily.com
Meditation is a form of mental training geared toward improving a person’s core neurocognitive function, such as regulation of attention and emotion. Open monitoring meditation, often referred to as “being present,” trains a person to engage in non-judgmental attention to present-moment experiences. Findings from a 2019 study suggest that open monitoring meditation improves a neurocognitive function called error monitoring.
Error monitoring is the process by which the brain detects and responds to mistakes. It reflects core cognitive control processes that underlie emotional and behavioral regulation and plays key roles in learning, academic achievement, and work performance.
The study involved 212 healthy female college students (average age, 19 years) who had never practiced meditation before. Half of the participants engaged in a 20-minute open monitoring meditation exercise, while the other half listened to an audio lecture. The investigators measured the participants' brain activity in both activities via electroencephalography (EEG). After completion of their respective activities, the participants took a computerized test to gauge distraction and performance.
The EEGs revealed that brain activity related to conscious error detection increased in the participants who participated in the meditation. No changes in error detection were noted in the participants who listened to the audio lecture.
These findings suggest that open monitoring meditation enhances the brain’s capacity to detect and pay attention to mistakes, potentially reducing the number of errors a person makes. Learn about other health benefits of meditation in this episode featuring Dr. Rhonda Patrick.
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Mindfulness meditation reduces biomarkers of stress response associated with anxiety disorder. www.sciencedaily.com
Anxiety disorders are psychiatric conditions characterized by extreme fear or worry, such as generalized anxiety disorder, panic disorder, panic attacks, and phobias, among others. They are the most common mental disorders in the United States. A 2017 study found that mindfulness meditation can help manage symptoms of anxiety.
Meditation is a form of mental training geared toward improving a person’s core psychological capacities, such as regulation of attention and emotion. Mindfulness meditation is often referred to as “being present,” trains the user to engage in non-judgmental attention to present-moment experiences.
The eight-week intervention study involved 70 people with generalized anxiety disorder. Some of the participants (42) took a mindfulness-based stress reduction course, while the remainder (28) took a stress management education course, which provided information about nutrition, sleep habits, and other wellness topics but did not include mindfulness. The authors of the study assessed the participants' response to a stressor (public speaking) before and after the interventions, based on biomarkers associated with stress, including adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and proinflammatory cytokines.
At the end of the intervention, the participants in the mindfulness-based stress reduction course had lower levels of ACTH and proinflammatory cytokines. Interestingly, the participants who took the stress management course without mindfulness had higher levels of ACTH after the intervention. The authors of the study suggested that this might have been due to the participants' anxiety about repeating the test.
These findings suggest that mindfulness meditation shows promise as a wellness strategy to manage symptoms of anxiety. Other wellness practices show similar benefits. For example, the Wild 5 protocol is an online resource that combines exercise, nutrition, sleep, social connectedness, and mindfulness practices to reduce stress. Learn about the Wild 5 protocol in this clip featuring psychiatrist Dr. Charles Raison.
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Yoga increases brain levels of the neurotransmitter GABA to reduce symptoms of depression. www.bumc.bu.edu
Yoga is an ancient Indian practice that engages the mind and body through physical poses, breathing techniques, and meditation. Robust scientific evidence has demonstrated that yoga benefits both mental and physical health. A new study suggests that yoga decreases symptoms of depression by increasing brain levels of gamma-aminobutyric acid.
Depression is a mood disorder characterized by profound sadness, altered sleep patterns, and feelings of guilt or low self-worth. It is the most common mental health disorder worldwide, affecting more than 265 million people.
Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a neurotransmitter produced in the brain that inhibits neural activity. Low levels of GABA are associated with increased symptoms of depression.
The study involved 28 people between the ages of 18 and 65 years old who had depression. A variety of diagnostic tools and self-reports assessed the participants' mental health, depressive symptoms, and suicide risk. Prior to being randomized to either a low-dose or high-dose Iyengar yoga intervention group, the participants underwent magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) scanning to assess GABA levels.
The low-dose group engaged in two 90-minute yoga sessions and three 30-minute homework sessions per week. The high-dose group engaged in three 90-minute yoga sessions and four 30-minute homework sessions per week. At the end of the 12-week intervention, the participants underwent a second scan, engaged in a 90-minute yoga session, and then underwent a third scan.
The participants in both the low-dose and high-dose groups reported that their depression symptoms improved. The MRS data revealed that participants who engaged in the low-dose yoga intervention exhibited significant increases in GABA levels between the first and third scans and between the second and third scans. The increased GABA levels were short-lived, however (lasting less than eight days after completing a yoga session), suggesting that yoga sessions should be regular and often to prevent symptoms of depression.
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Hi Rhonda, my wife takes pain medication pretty regularly (at least a 2 in a day a couple of times a week) for headaches and in Joe Rogan’s podcast i heard you mention the negative effects of ibuprofen… Strokes etc…
I was wondering what you would recommend as a substitute to this issue? I was figuring curcumin could be a possibility. Also, i had an thought about the regular use of pain medication for something like a headache and whether or not regular use could increase the likelihood of headaches. If there is any basis in fact for my thoughts i’d be interested to know as i haven’t really done any research on this.
Some things to note: She takes contraceptive pills and skips the sugar pills as to not get her period - I feel this is a terrible idea but she won’t listen to me. If you have insight on this, either relating to the original question or as a side note i’d be interested to know your take on it
Her nutrition is decent. She eats a lot of fruit, nuts, fish and vegetables and takes daily vitamin supplements (fish oil, D3, multi’s, glucosamine, and a few others).
Cheers Rhonda :)