In this episode of Bulletproof Radio, you’re going to hear about breathwork, epigenetics, and the effect of chronic stress on multiple generations of the species and what to do about it. You’re also going to learn why you should be touching yourself right now and what that actually means. (And no, it’s not what you think.) This is part 2 of my conversation with Dr. David Rabin.
Listen to part 1: Your Brain Thinks All Pain is the Same: Touch Therapy Can Help – Dr. David Rabin with Dave Asprey – #729.
“Breath and touch help us to restore a sense of control and agency in the present moment, by bringing us back to our bodies,” Dr. Rabin says. “Our minds can be anywhere. They could be the past. They can be in the present or the future, but if we’re not conscious of where they are, then they’re generally in the past or the future. So by focusing on that breath, focusing on the feeling of soothing touch, it instantly brings us back into our bodies, which helps us center us firmly in the present, which is literally the place where we have the most control of what’s going on in our lives.”
He’s been studying the impact of trauma and chronic stress in humans for more than a decade and has some ideas on how you can manage it. In our conversation, we look at new ways that psychedelics are being combined with psychotherapy.
“Psychedelic medicine is unique because it allows us, whether it’s MDMA or LSD, or psilocybin or ketamine, to step outside of that default mode and look back at ourselves, and really reappraise what it means to be us,” he says.
Dr. Rabin’s a neuroscientist, board-certified psychiatrist, health tech entrepreneur, inventor and researcher. In his clinical practice, he specializes in mental health disorders that can be resistant to treatment, like PTSD and substance abuse. He’s also co-founder and chief innovation officer of Apollo Neuroscience. Apollo is a new kind of wearable technology that delivers touch therapy, scientifically validated to lower stress.
“We need to remember the importance of touch in our lives because touch is the single most powerful way that we convey safety to one another,” he says. “It’s literally hardwired in our nervous system.”
Certain combinations of low frequency inaudible sound waves (vibration that you can feel but can’t hear) can safely and reliably change how we feel through our sense of touch. We then can measure those physiological changes in near real time.
Developed by physicians and neuroscientists at the University of Pittsburgh, Apollo delivers gentle vibrations of low-frequency sound that are clinically validated to improve heart rate variability (HRV), helping you to relax, sleep well, focus, and stay energized.
Enjoy the show! And get more resources at Dave.Asprey/podcasts.
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Follow Along with the Transcript
Links/Resources
Website: drdave.io
Instagram: instagram.com/drdavidrabin/
Twitter: twitter.com/daverabin
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/david-rabin-md-phd-0a066110
Apollo Neuroscience
• Website: apolloneuro.com/
• Instagram: instagram.com/apolloneuro/
• Twitter: twitter.com/apollo_neuro
Key Notes
- What is the kind of breathwork that is most effective for stress relief for people right now? – 1:26
- Why are we focusing on MDMA versus ketamine? – 9:33
- Forgiveness is actually a skill that I can practice and get better at it. And the more I practice forgiving myself, and forgiving others, the better I get at it and the better I feel. – 13:12
- Integration is this time period after the psychedelic experience, where, when the drug has worn off, it’s up to us to take everything we’ve learned from this mind-manifesting experience, – 19:24
- If we experience trauma, cortisol can be increased in secretion for a certain amount of time, and the receptor can be desensitized – 23:45
- If we could dose everyone with MDMA three times, maybe the next generation will be healthier? Is that true? – 28:32
- We are not even taught as children, especially in the US how to have nonsexual, intimate interactions with other human beings. – 31:32
- There’s lots of things that we can do to help stave off some of the sequela of the mental illness and emotional issues that come from being touched deprived. – 38:30
- The nice thing about Apollo is it can be used in conjunction with whatever else you’re normally doing – 41:53
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