What is Hypnosis? Dr. Andrew Huberman Explains | The Tim Ferriss Show

“Use the body to control the mind.”
— Dr. Andrew Huberman

Andrew Huberman, PhD is a neuroscientist and tenured professor in the Department of Neurobiology at Stanford University’s School of Medicine. He has made numerous important contributions to the fields of brain development, brain function, and neural plasticity. Andrew is a McKnight Foundation and Pew Foundation fellow and recipient of the 2017 Cogan Award for his discoveries in the study of vision. Work from the Huberman Laboratory at Stanford Medicine has been consistently published in top journals including Nature, Science, and Cell.

Andrew is host of the Huberman Lab podcast, which he launched in January of this year. The show aims to help viewers and listeners improve their health with science and science-based tools. New episodes air every Monday on YouTube and all podcast platforms.


About Tim Ferriss:
Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 500 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running.

Connect with Tim Ferriss:

[pattiepepper]

Huberman has such an organized and analytical way of explaining complex concepts simply. What a true genius. Thank you for explaining things to the masses so we can ponder our lives and the universe more deeply. Wonderful conversation!

[bruceboatner]

I am fascinated by the concept that the factors contributing to neuroplasticity occur simultaneously in the hypnotic state, rather than being separated in time by the waking/sleep states. That introduces a lot of interesting hypotheses.

[rosapatrinostro]

I quit smoking with hypnosis! That was 32 years ago ❤

[UKFIRE]

Really interesting excerpt thanks Tim - wasn't aware of the potential clinical uses of hypnosis

[susanjones]

Such a great combination, you and Andrew. Thank you Tim.

[kailashchandratrivedi]

That rolling of eyes with lids down is called "Shambhavi Mudra" in Yogic terminology!

[RT-zhiw]

Huberman is great. He provides so much info and is very thorough on his podacst. I would like to add that you can do hypnosis with a trained mental health therapist also - not just with an MD. In my state you would he hard-pressed to find a psychiatrist who does anything more than prescribe meds. You also can look for a therapist who does Ego State Therapy - as it has a hypnotic component.

[peakhypno]

Superb breakdown, easily digested. Thank you.

[davidspencer]

Thanks Guy need to listen to more conversation like this.

[threeofeight]

I like how when you’re on LSD when you go from outside to inside it becomes so intense and surprising. As if the fact that there is an inside is so new and different. Like a dream.

[Lifeinalignment]

My teacher describes hypnotherapy as (de-hypnotizing) we are all hypnotized to some degree. If you’ve ever watched tv, movies, the news, or believed other people’s stories and opinions you have most likely been hypnotized.

[dave]

Excellent description of the difference between Serotonin & Dopamine relative to the ingestion of Psilocybin/LSD & MDMA.
I will share an experience I had with LSD as a teenager (late 60's) and smoking. I was smoking a pack a day and enjoyed it until I dropped a hit of sunshine and when I lit my cigarette it became a "straw in a campfire... sucking up the smoke". It seemed so
patently absurd to do this at that moment, I quit and never smoked again; (I'd been smoking for about a year).
Now, consider that I joined the Navy about 6 months later and nearly everyone on my ship smoked and I never once felt the desire to smoke. Weed, yes. Tobacco no.

[littleones]

Tim should definitely do a full hypnosis session with Dr Andrew

[tanyaclark]

Tim - what are the most important questions to ask oneself?

[Watercolordragon]

I work with internalfamily systems in myself and in patients. Does hypnotherapists work in the same way or is more like an NLP thing?

[jjsmama]

I can’t do the closing the eyes while looking up thing. Darn

[ericsesame]

This may sound like a dumb question, but is there a difference between mentalism, hypnotism and/or hypnotherapy? Basically, Uri Geller versus Milton Erikson's work. It seems that there would be a difference between getting someone to think they are walking an elephant on a leash versus getting someone to stop smoking cigarettes. FYI, I only ask so my ignorance may turn into awareness and knowledge. 😂 Asking questions is the only way we can grow in understanding. Great video, thank you!

[clayed]

Does easy hypnotization correlate with ASMR?

[peterpiper]

i wish they can give concrete steps how we can effectively hypnotize ourselves - like change a bad habit.

[whiteorchid]

I was listening to a lecture by a UCLA professor who specializes in treating drug addiction. He drew a clear distinction between the manner in which pleasure is only a temporary state of mind that motivates a person to desire and seek more pleasure perhaps in an unhealthy compulsive manner. Whereas happiness is a state of mind in which one is fully content and therefore doesn't feel any desire let alone a compulsion to seek anything more. This is quite a significant observation that applies to many different aspects of compulsive behavior in human beings especially as it applies to the evil people do in pursuit of wealth and power.