15 Simple Behavioral Tools (Free guide!), Cold Showers & Newsletter Reco

Hello friends,

As part of my second Year of Creative Experiments, I've pulled together a short ebook of my favorite techniques learned from the Huberman Lab podcast.

If you're interested in learning how to use your nervous system's hardwired abilities to improve energy, focus, and motivation—I'm confident you'll get tons of value from this practical guide. Enjoy! 

🤸‍♀️ IN THIS WEEK'S STRETCH:

• Practical guide. 15 simple behavioral tools to boost energy, focus & motivation.

• Cold showers. And how increasing your body temperature drives alertness.

• Newsletter & Platform Recos. Including one that'll teach you how to live to 100.

⚡️ PRACTICAL GUIDE: 15 SIMPLE BEHAVIORAL TOOLS TO BOOST ENERGY, FOCUS & MOTIVATION

Almost everyone who listens to the Huberman Lab podcast says they love it, BUT the episodes are just so dense and long. How can you remember and implement it all?

You can't.

And you shouldn't! Not in the beginning, at least.

That’s why I’ve distilled the top 15 simple and foundational tips I’ve personally tried and tested over the last year. These are all grounded in scientific research, and, best of all, require no equipment or fancy gadgets. All you need is your body and mind.

I cover everything from timing your caffeine intake and widening your visual field to harnessing feelings of frustration and random intermittent reward timing for optimal motivation.

Every single technique has made a massive difference in my day-to-day productivity and energy levels.

For each one, I break it down into easy-to-digest segments:

• The recommended protocol

• The basic science behind why it works

• Practical tips for implementation

I can hear you screaming at your screen:

"WHAT do I need to do to get my little virtual hands on this incredible document?!!"

Super easy!

All you need to do is refer this newsletter to 1 person in your network. This can be a friend, estranged cousin, coworker, yoga teacher—anyone you think would appreciate this content. Once they subscribe, I'll send you a link to the guide.

I know, what a steal. 😉 Grab your referral link at the bottom of this email and spread the word.

Oh, and if you've never heard of the Huberman Lab podcast before, let me tell you—it's hosted by a Professor of Neurobiology at Stanford Medicine and consistently ranked #1 in the categories of Science, Education, and Health & Fitness. He knows what he's talking about. Yes, I've become a bit of a fangirl. I can't help it! The info he shares is life-changing.

❄️ TEMPERATURE MINIMUM & COLD EXPOSURE

Lots of reactions to the temperature minimum piece in the previous Stretch edition. I wanted to dig deeper into a question from Jonathan (who writes a great newsletter called The Now, by the way.)

Let me break down the question:

If, generally, we're most productive 4-6 hours after our temperature minimum (the time within the 24-hour cycle when our body temperature is at its lowest)—can we bring that time forward with techniques like an ice bath? That way, we'd be more productive earlier in the morning.

Here are some insights:

First, it's helpful to understand the basic structure of your core body temperature throughout a 24-hour cycle.

Your body temperature rises slowly during the two hours between your temperature minimum and the time you wake up.

When you wake up, your temperature shoots up more sharply and continues to rise until the early afternoon. Then, in the late afternoon and evening, our temperature begins to decline, leading to a decrease in core body temperature of 1-3 degrees as we approach sleep. That decrease in core body temperature is important for falling and staying asleep.

It's important to keep this baseline circadian rhythm in body temperature in mind because it helps us frame the effects of a cold shower and when might be the best time to do this.

For many people (not all), if you're going to do deliberate cold exposure like a cold shower, you're going to increase your core body temperature.

That sounds counterintuitive, but it's because your body and brain interact as a thermostat system.

When you expose your body to something cold, your brain will think: "Hold on—the external of the body is cold! I need to heat up the core body temperature."

Then when you get out of the shower, your body temperature will increase at a steeper rate than it would otherwise, and you will feel more alert. (And on top of that, there's an increase in the neurochemicals dopamine and adrenaline, involved in motivation and alertness.)

What that all means is that if you are doing your cold shower early in the day, you are going to get yet a further increase in core body temperature that will help you be more alert that morning and throughout the day. 

It also means you should avoid taking a cold shower late in the evening or at night. This is because you need your body temperature to decrease to get into a deep sleep and remain in deep sleep.

Conclusion: there's value in experimenting with taking a cold shower early in the morning, close to waking. You'll give your natural increase in body temperature an extra boost, helping you be more focused and alert early in the morning.

By the way, I talk more about the benefits of cold showers + practical tips in the guide (just 1 referral away 😉)

🔗 NEWSLETTER & PLATFORM RECOMMENDATIONS

I recently started following Long Youthspan, a newsletter focused on simplifying longevity science.

John, Long Youthspan's writer, is on a similar mission as I am:

Getting people interested in science and their own physiology by creating entertaining, engaging, and practical content.

I admire how he's able to take complex topics and scientific findings and break them down by asking simple questions like, "Why should we believe it?", "Why is this a big deal?", "But what could go wrong?".

Check it out if you'd like to learn how to live to 100. 🧓

P.S.: If you're thinking: "I'd love to sign up for another newsletter, but my inbox is already overflowing"... try Meco app. With Meco, you can enjoy all your newsletters in an app built for reading while keeping your inbox clean.

P.P.S.: Or maybe you're thinking, "Enough with reading other people's newsletters. I want to start my own!", definitely check out Beehiiv (the platform I use for this newsletter). The speed at which they're putting out new features is incredible. If you sign up, it'd be awesome if you used my referral link, which gives me a small commission.