It means being present to what's happening internally while ignoring what's happening externally. It make us present to bodily sensations, thoughts and feelings as well as breathing.

What Is Mindfulness?

The pineal gland is often referred to as the third eye. It releases melatonin and responds to light. But in us humans, your pineal gland sits deep and is not the third eye that is being referred to in meditation.In the brain are no sensory neurons. When focusing on the brain (or during third eye meditation on the "third eye"), your thoughts become more dominant.We can only stop thinking by perceiving something else.By focusing on breathing, we focus on interoception. The more difficult the breathing exercise is, the more interoception it takes.

The Third Eye

Sensation is everything that is being detected by a sensory receptor.Preception is every sensation that is being interpreted, consciously experienced and organized, so it is everything that is being perceived.<ul><li>Two spotlights of perception can be split or emerged into one (for example focusing on one tree or on the whole landscape).</li><li>It can be intensified (can be noticed easily) or dimmed (diffuse). This is also known as fineness of perception.</li><li>This is possible to do with the DLPFC.</li></ul>

Perception

Left Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex (DLPFC): When it is active we are great at interpreting emotions and signals from the body such as (dis)comfort and make good decisions based on them.Anterior Cingulate Cortex (ACC): It interprets bodily signals such as heart beating.Insular Cortex: It interprets signals from our brain, body and outside of us.

Important Brain Areas

Dissociation: It is often associated with trauma and is considered as the removal of bodily awarness. It is the opposite of interoception.The ideal mental health state looks like this: We should be able to change between the states of interoception and exteroception as well as interoception and dissociation. The goal is to deliberately control the degree and timing of these shifts. Meditation helps with this!

Ideal Mental Health

<ul><li>The more you meditate, the less you need to meditate because you get better at it and therefore can switch to the desired brain traits more easily and faster.</li><li>It enhances sleep and focus and improves your mood.</li><li>It reduces (the risk for) cancer, pain and ADHD.</li></ul>

Benefits Of Meditation

This meditation practice balances everything, goes through all locations and practices placing focus on the spectrum.<ol><li>Close your eyes, focus on your third eye center or breathing for 3 breaths (interoception)</li><li>Open your eyes and focus on the surface of your body: Look at your hand & focus on breathing for 3 breaths: (50% intero-, 50% exteroception)</li><li>Focus on a location 10-15 ft away & on breathing for 3 breaths</li><li>Focus on a further distance & your breathing for 3 breaths</li><li>Focus on being a small body in this huge universe & on breathing for 3 breaths</li><li>Go back to interoception (step 1) if you want to</li></ol>

Space-Time-Bridging

Interoception = what's inside the bodyExteroception = what's outside the body<ul><li>You can test your degree of intero- and exteroception by counting your heartbeats without putting your fingers anywhere just by feeling inside your body.</li><li>Interoception isn't always good as it can lead to more anxiety and depression.</li><li>Too much exteroception can lead to being out of touch with your body.</li><li>As they both have negative side effects, we place no value on them, balance is key.</li></ul>

Interoception & Exteroception

You should do a meditation practice that goes against what you normally do. This will lead to more neuroplasticity (your brain's ability to change and adapt).<ul><li>If you tend to have more interoception, you should do a meditation practice to improve your exteroception.</li><li>If you tend to have more exteroception, you should do a meditation practice to improve your interoception.</li></ul>

The Best Practice For You

Meditation helps you to focus on what is going on in the moment and reduces mind wandering.The more you refocus during meditation, the better and more effective it is as it leads to more neuroplasticity. Refocus is better than focus (because being focused means that it is too easy for you).A three to five minute meditation practice is enough as you get all the benefits from it. It is also easier to do and can therefore be done more often. Consistency is important!

Basics Of Meditation

Default Mode Network = collection of brain areas that are active when you are not very focused on one task or activity; it generates mind wandering"A wandering mind is an unhappy mind": A study showed that minds wander a lot during all activities except making love. We are less happy when our mind is wandering than when it isn't. What we are thinking is more important than what we are doing.Because of the mismatch between being in activity and having our mind elsewhere, we are unhappy. That's why people are often unhappy even if they think good thoughts. Be fully engaged in what you are doing!

The Cause Of Unhappiness

Meditation for Interoception: Stopping (getting out of moving) & closing your eyes helps you to focus more on your skin and what's inside your body as your ACC and Insula become more active. So this leads to more interoception as exteroception is turned off due to no vision.Meditation for exteroception: Besides this common way of meditating, there are also meditation practices that focus on exteroception such as walking meditation where you focus on what's outside.

Ways Of Meditating

Dr. Andrew Huberman breaks down the science behind meditation and shares what makes a good meditation practice.

In this episode, I discuss the biological mechanisms of the state changes that occur during different types of meditation and describe how to develop the meditation practice optimal for you. I explain key meditation principles, such as using specific breathwork patterns and adjusting your perception to specific locations along the continuum between interoception, exteroception and dissociation. I discuss how meditation practices lead to long-term trait changes and neuroplasticity, including changing your default mood, reducing baseline anxiety/depression, increasing your ability to focus, enhancing relaxation, improving sleep, and increasing your overall happiness level. I also explain the concept behind the “third-eye center,” what mindfulness is from a biological standpoint, the power of ultra-brief meditations and how to select the best meditation and time and duration to meditate to meet your need. I also explain a novel open-eyed perception-based meditation that may enhance focus, relaxation and task-switching ability. Whether you are a novice or an experienced meditator or simply interested in how our brain controls different aspects of conscious awareness and self-regulation, this episode should interest you. #HubermanLab #Meditation #Science Thank you to our sponsors AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman InsideTracker: https://www.insidetracker.com/huberman Thesis: https://takethesis.com/huberman ROKA: https://www.roka.com/huberman Supplements from Momentous https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman Huberman Lab Premium https://hubermanlab.com/premium Social & Website Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab Twitter - https://twitter.com/hubermanlab Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hubermanlab TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@hubermanlab Website - https://hubermanlab.com Newsletter - https://hubermanlab.com/neural-network Articles A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind: https://bit.ly/3sMP64B Brief, daily meditation enhances attention, memory, mood, and emotional regulation in non-experienced meditators: https://bit.ly/3zu83gf Yoga nidra practice shows improvement in sleep in patients with chronic insomnia: A randomized controlled trial: https://bit.ly/3zvZwtb Books Wherever You Go, There You Are: https://amzn.to/3TSnOFF The Harvard Psychedelic Club: https://amzn.to/3NkQ2qg Altered Traits: https://amzn.to/3wXsKj8 Other Resources Waking Up app: https://www.wakingup.com NSDR (Virtusan / Huberman): https://youtu.be/AKGrmY8OSHM NSDR (Madefor): https://youtu.be/pL02HRFk2vo Timestamps 00:00:00 Meditation 00:04:13 InsideTracker, Thesis, ROKA, Momentous Supplements 00:08:25 Brief History of Meditation: Consciousness, Psychedelics, fMRI 00:16:19 How the Brain Interprets the Body & Surrounding Environment; Mindfulness 00:26:07 Neuroscience of Meditation; Perceptual Spotlights 00:32:27 AG1 (Athletic Greens) 00:33:41 Interoception vs. Exteroception 00:42:20 Default Mode Network, Continuum of Interoception & Exteroception 00:53:30 Tools: Interoceptive or Exteroceptive Bias, Meditation Challenge 01:01:48 State & Trait Changes, Interoceptive & Exteroceptive Meditations, Refocusing 01:07:35 Tool: Brief Meditations, Waking Up App 01:10:30 “Third Eye Center” & Wandering Thoughts 01:20:46 Meditation: Practice Types, Focal Points & Consistency 01:24:10 Breathwork: Cyclic Hyperventilation, Box Breathing & Interoception 01:30:41 Tool: Meditation Breathwork, Cyclic vs. Complex Breathwork 01:39:22 Interoception vs. Dissociation, Trauma 01:47:43 Model of Interoception & Dissociation Continuum 01:53:39 Meditation & Dissociation: Mood, Bias & Corresponding Challenge 02:00:18 Meditation & Sleep: Yoga Nidra, Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) 02:11:33 Choosing a Meditative Practice; Hypnosis 02:14:53 Tool: Space-Time Bridging (STB) 02:25:00 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Social Media Huberman Lab is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions. Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac - https://www.blabacphoto.com

Understand yourself and those around you.

psychology

Psychology

mindfulness

Mindfulness

health

Health

meditation

Meditation

podcasts

Podcasts

In this episode, I discuss the biological mechanisms of the state changes that occur during different types of meditation and describe how to develop the meditation practice optimal for you. I explain key meditation principles, such as using specific breathwork patterns and adjusting your perception to specific locations along the continuum between interoception, exteroception and dissociation. I discuss how meditation practices lead to long-term trait changes and neuroplasticity, including changing your default mood, reducing baseline anxiety/depression, increasing your ability to focus, enhancing relaxation, improving sleep, and increasing your overall happiness level. I also explain the concept behind the “third-eye center,” what mindfulness is from a biological standpoint, the power of ultra-brief meditations and how to select the best meditation and time and duration to meditate to meet your need. I also explain a novel open-eyed perception-based meditation that may enhance focus, relaxation and task-switching ability. Whether you are a novice or an experienced meditator or simply interested in how our brain controls different aspects of conscious awareness and self-regulation, this episode should interest you.

#HubermanLab #Meditation #Science

Thank you to our sponsors
AG1 (Athletic Greens): https://athleticgreens.com/huberman
InsideTracker: https://www.insidetracker.com/huberman 
Thesis: https://takethesis.com/huberman 
ROKA: https://www.roka.com/huberman 

Supplements from Momentous
https://www.livemomentous.com/huberman

Huberman Lab Premium
https://hubermanlab.com/premium

Social & Website
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab 
Twitter - https://twitter.com/hubermanlab 
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hubermanlab 
TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@hubermanlab 
Website - https://hubermanlab.com 
Newsletter - https://hubermanlab.com/neural-network

Articles
A Wandering Mind Is an Unhappy Mind: https://bit.ly/3sMP64B
Brief, daily meditation enhances attention, memory, mood, and emotional regulation in non-experienced meditators: https://bit.ly/3zu83gf
Yoga nidra practice shows improvement in sleep in patients with chronic insomnia: A randomized controlled trial: https://bit.ly/3zvZwtb

Books
Wherever You Go, There You Are: https://amzn.to/3TSnOFF
The Harvard Psychedelic Club: https://amzn.to/3NkQ2qg
Altered Traits: https://amzn.to/3wXsKj8

Other Resources
Waking Up app: https://www.wakingup.com
NSDR (Virtusan / Huberman): https://youtu.be/AKGrmY8OSHM
NSDR (Madefor): https://youtu.be/pL02HRFk2vo

Timestamps
00:00:00 Meditation 
00:04:13 InsideTracker, Thesis, ROKA, Momentous Supplements
00:08:25 Brief History of Meditation: Consciousness, Psychedelics, fMRI 
00:16:19 How the Brain Interprets the Body & Surrounding Environment; Mindfulness 
00:26:07 Neuroscience of Meditation; Perceptual Spotlights
00:32:27 AG1 (Athletic Greens)
00:33:41 Interoception vs. Exteroception
00:42:20 Default Mode Network, Continuum of Interoception & Exteroception
00:53:30 Tools: Interoceptive or Exteroceptive Bias, Meditation Challenge
01:01:48 State & Trait Changes, Interoceptive & Exteroceptive Meditations, Refocusing 
01:07:35 Tool: Brief Meditations, Waking Up App
01:10:30 “Third Eye Center” & Wandering Thoughts
01:20:46 Meditation: Practice Types, Focal Points & Consistency 
01:24:10 Breathwork: Cyclic Hyperventilation, Box Breathing & Interoception 
01:30:41 Tool: Meditation Breathwork, Cyclic vs. Complex Breathwork
01:39:22 Interoception vs. Dissociation, Trauma
01:47:43 Model of Interoception & Dissociation Continuum
01:53:39 Meditation & Dissociation: Mood, Bias & Corresponding Challenge 
02:00:18 Meditation & Sleep: Yoga Nidra, Non-Sleep Deep Rest (NSDR) 
02:11:33 Choosing a Meditative Practice; Hypnosis
02:14:53 Tool: Space-Time Bridging (STB) 
02:25:00 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube Feedback, Spotify & Apple Reviews, Sponsors, Social Media

Huberman Lab is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user’s own risk. The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.

Title Card Photo Credit: Mike Blabac - https://www.blabacphoto.com

Welcome to the official Huberman Lab YouTube channel. 

The Huberman Lab podcast is hosted by Dr. Andrew Huberman, a neuroscientist and tenured professor of neurobiology and ophthalmology at Stanford School of Medicine. The podcast discusses neuroscience and science-based tools, including how our brain and its connections with the organs of our body control our perceptions, our behaviors, and our health, as well as existing and emerging tools for measuring and changing how our nervous system works.

Huberman Lab is frequently ranked in the Top 15 of all podcasts globally and is often ranked #1 in the categories of science, education, and health and fitness.
