Bulletproof Biohacking Conference 2015 - Bill Harris - Keynote Speaker

Awareness Creates Choice

What is awareness?• Observe how you create something as you do

it, seeing consequences

• A function of several brain areas, including PFC and limbic system

Three Choice Categories

• What you don’t have a choice about• What you can influence• What you could have a choice about

How does awareness create choice?

What could you have a choice about?

• You create it (it comes from you)• Enough awareness to observe yourself

creating it

The 4 things you could have a choice about• F

• Feeling/internal states• Behaviors• People and situations you

attract/become attracted to• Meanings

“Corollary” principleOnce you have a choice, you’ll always choose what serves you and drop what doesn't

Two challenges:• Creating enough awareness• Knowing where to direct it

Who has this kind of awareness (and how did they get it?)

Meditation research• Dr. Herbert Benson

• The Relaxation Response

Meditation Benefits• Health• Emotional health• Mental abilities

• Richie Davidson: “Attentional Blink”• Example of neuroplasticity

Brain Waves 101• Beta (focus to anxiety)

• Alpha (learning, joy,meditation, peace,focus and concentration)

Brain Waves 101• Theta (creativity, flow,

dreaming, memory,integrative experiences,power nap, stress relief,“oceanic oneness”)

• Delta (leadership,persuasion, achievement,kundalini experiences, oneness)

Brain Waves 101• Gamma

(lovingkindness)

• Gamma riding on thetawaves (flow state)

Neuroplasticity

Flow states• Completely absorbed in a task, “firing on all cylinders”,

motivated by the task itself, not the potential reward.

• “People are happiest when in a flow state.”

• “[During flow] time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.” — Mihalyi Csikszentmihalyi

6 Characteristics of Flow States

#1: Intense and focused concentration on the present moment

• PFC: source of “executive control” (data collection, prob. solving, learning from experience, pattern recognition, planning, risk/reward assessment, thought analysis, willpower, urge suppression, moral decisions

• Transient hypofrontality —> zero distractions, laser-beam focus on one thing


#2: Merging of action and awareness• Flow requires immediate and continuous feedback —>

adjustments in behavior

• No second guessing (hypofrontality)

• One action seamlessly leads to the next

• Awareness creates choice —> you choose the most resourceful action in each moment


Implicit vs Explicit systems

• Explicit: verbal, logical, linear, rule-based, conscious-awareness based…think it over and figure it out

• Implicit: intuitive, outside conscious awareness, non-verbal, non-linear, non-logical…linear thinking is sidelined (hypofrontality!)


#3: Loss of reflective self-consciousness

When lost in a task the superior frontal gyrus is deactivated…sense of being a discrete, separate self…locate ourself in relation to everything else

(An example of transient hypofrontality)

• Being lost in a task also deactivates the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex

• Responsible for self-monitoring and impulse control

• (Another example of transient hypofrontality)

• You act without hesitation, doubts, second guessing

• Your implicit system takes over

There goes your brain…Also deactivated: the posterior cingulate cortex

Deactivates during meditation

Responsible for the default network(source of daydreaming, self-reflection, the “wandering mind”)

Referring to “loss of reflective self consciousness” researchers said:“Meditation training may foster the ability to control the automatic cascade of semantic associations triggered by a stimulus and, by extension, to voluntarily regulate the flow of spontaneous mentation.”

Translation: Meditation quiets your mind (lowers “reflective self-consciousness”) and creates more choice over your thinking process.


#4: A sense of personal control or agency

over the situation or activity

• Extreme sense of personal mastery• You’re not the doer; activity is happening

through you

6 Characteristics of Flow States#5: Time distortion

• Lose track of time; time stands still, totally in the moment

• A product of hypofrontality: as parts of our PFC go offline we lose the ability to compute passage of time

• Brain stops multi-tasking; more data processed per moment

• Instantaneous creative insights…instant and brilliant decisions, remarkable physical coordination


#6: The activity is intrinsically rewarding

• Intrinsically meaningful, significant for its own sake

• Lacking in those who are hopeless or depressed

• In this state you stop blocking yourself from going for it

Meditation helps deactivate the parts of the brain that allow flow to happen.

Self-regulation and Willpower

One million person survey:• Greatest personal strengths• Greatest personal failings

Stanford Willpower Seminar

Two key predictors of positive life outcomes…

1. Intelligence

2. Self control

The Marshmallow Test

Walter Mischel and the Bing Nursery School

Throughout life, those who showed “high delay-ability” had…

Better grades and higher SAT scores (with an average increase in SAT scores of 210 points) Higher income Lower BMI (i.e., less chance of being overweight) Better social function Better cognitive function and greater intelligence More self-control in frustrating situations A greater ability to resist temptation Less distractibility Greater self-reliance More willingness to trust their own judgment A lower likelihood of becoming rattled and disorganized Fewer instances of being sidelined by setbacks; greater resilience and adaptability A greater ability to pursue and reach long-term goals Less drug use and other addictive behaviors A greater ability to maintain close relationships

fMRI tests• High delayers: Enhanced prefrontal cortex

• Problem solving, creative thinking, impulse control, executive function, self-regulation

• Low delayers: High limbic system activity

• Primitive brain area linked to desire, pleasure-seeking, addictions

High delayers: “Better mental brakes.”

Low delayers: “Driven by a stronger engine.”

The Dopamine Devil on your shoulder

• Limbic system’s secret weapon• Intense desire, arousal• NOT pleasure• Fixation on what triggered the dopamine• Tremendous motivation to act

Dopamine is a powerful drug!

What stupid things have you done for a squirt of

dopamine?

There are strategies for increasing willpower and self-regulation

HUGE shortcut: Increase your awareness (develop your PFC, override the stupid “I want it now” limbic system decisions).

Hot vs CoolHot system

• Limbic system (think “dopamine”)• Survival, quick responses, impulsivity

• No consideration of consequences• Activated by stress, bad feelings

Hot vs CoolCool system

• Rational. cognitive, reflective, learn from experience

• PFC, can supervise the hot system• Future-oriented, self-control• Strengthened by meditation• Creativity, imagination, flexibility, strategic

behaviors

Hot vs CoolStress:

• PFC and hippocampus shrink• Limbic system grows

Heart Rate VariabilityWe all want a regular heartbeat, right?

Heart Rate Variability• A measure of resilience: Adjust

physiological responses; respond and recover

• Relaxed Sympathetic NS• Strengthened Parasympathetic NS

High Heart Rate Variability:

• High threshold for stress• Calm SNS• Strong PNS• Strong PFC• Increase PFC oversight over limbic system• Meditation/Holosync increases HRV

Meditation, Holosync, and HRV

HRV of traditional meditator (maxes out at 695)

Average HRV = 200s


HRV of intermediate Holosync user(maxes out at more than 5,328–767% more than the traditional meditator)


HRV of advanced Holosync user(maxes out at more than 12,430–1788% greater than the traditional meditator, about 6000% greaterthan the average non-meditator)

With enough awareness (strong PFC,

strong PSN) you will enjoy:• Awareness, creativity, focus, pattern recognition, learning

ability, memory, better decisions• Slow aging process• Greater emotional resilience, higher stress threshold• More willpower, self-regulation• Less anxiety, fear, anger, sadness, depression,

confusion, reactivity, etc)• End bad habits, addictions• More energy, more productivity

What does it take?

Matthieu Ricard (“World’s Happiest Man”)50,000 hours of meditation

The World’s Happiest Man

• 50,000/ 30 years = 1,667 hrs/yr• 1667/365 = 4.57 hrs/day =

4 hrs 34 min per day, everyday,for 30 years!

The World’s Happiest Man

• 20 years: 6 hrs 51 min/day• 30 minutes a day: 284 years!• 10,000 hrs @ 30 min/day: 56 years, 9 mo,

22 days

Holosync®

How I created it…

Brain entrainment• Beat frequency• BF starting point• BF rate of change• Carrier frequency

Brain entrainmentTwo categories of effects:

• Acute changes in mental/emotional state, mental abilities

• Permanent changes in awareness

Holosync research• Dr. Vincent Giampapa — Anti-aging biomarkers

• Cortisol

• Stress hormone, immune function, bone formation; loss of collagen; wound healing; high blood sugar; damages hippocampus; accelerates aging; fight or flight

Holosync research• DHEA

• Precursor hormone• Key determinant of physiological age, disease

resistance• Buffers stress hormones• Memory• 100 mcg/dL increase in blood Levels: 48%

reduction in cardiovascular deaths

Holosync research• Melatonin

• Sleep hormone• Powerful antioxidant, free radical scavenger

• Steals electrons from other molecules• Organisms age because they accumulate free

radical damage over time• Reduces cancer deaths• Powerful anti-inflammatory effects• Protection from radiation

Holosync research• Cortisol: down an average of 46.47%• DHEA: up and average of 43.77%• Melatonin: up an average of 97.77%

Holosync research• University of Western Australia (Perth)• Effects of Holosync on Chronic Fatigue

Syndrome• “Holosync significantly reduced perceived stress, symptom

severity, emotional distress, cognitive difficulty• “Fundamentally modify neurotransmitter bidirectional

communication, interrupting psychophysiological habitual responding…”

• Translation: Greater neurotransmitter communication and interruption of habitual responding —> greater awareness creates more choice

Holosync researchRoyal Sunderland Hospital, Great Britain: Holosync and Pre-Operative Anxiety• 108 patients completed State-Trait Anxiety Inventory prior

to surgery

• One group listened to 30 minute Holosync soundtrack, one listened to identical soundtrack w/o Holosync, a control group read or watched TV

• After 30 minutes, they retook the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory

Holosync research• Holosync group: State anxiety decreased

by 26.3%• Placebo group: State anxiety decreased by

11.1%• Control group: State anxiety decreased by

3.8%

Holosync research• Journal of Alternative and Complementary

Medicine Holosync Study• 30 minute Holosync soundtrack for 14

days followed by 46 days of 60 minutes Holosync soundtrack

• 94% compliance

Holosync research• Significant positive changes:

• “A decrease in trait anxiety occurred, reflecting an improvement in the participant’s perceived reaction and ability to cope with stress and anxiety in general.”

Holosync researchWorld Health Organization—Quality of Life Brief scale

• Physical/psychological health, social relationships

• Fatigue, pain, sleep, worry, fear,ability to concentrate, sadness, feelings of safety, security, acceptance or alienation.

• Holosync users demonstrated “significant improvement” in quality of life scores

Holosync research• Profile of Mood States testing instrument

• Decrease in total mood disturbance, tension and anxiety, confusion, fatigue

Holosync research• Lower levels of IGF-1 linked to slowing the

aging process, reduced degenerative aging, extension of lifespan

• Increases anti-aging effects of calorie restriction

• Decreases growth of cancer cells

Holosync research• Lower levels of dopamine

• Excitatory neurotransmitter

• Lower dopamine correlates less anxiety (craving and desire are toward the fight or flight side of the fight or flight/relaxation response scale)

Holosync researchOverall, study participants showed improvements

over the course of the study in the following:

Thank you! (That’s ENOUGH!)

Bulletproof Biohacking Conference 2015 - Bill Harris - Keynote Speaker

Science