Celebrate small victories. Your thoughts are a choice. Move towards fear. Lean into your negative experiences. No matter what the question is, action is the answer. Meditate. Breathe deeply. These are well-known concepts and mantras that many people have assimilated, through experience or through training. But what is the scientific explanation for why all these practices and beliefs work so well? What is happening on the level of the brain? On this episode of Health Theory with Tom Bilyeu, recognized neuroscientist Andrew Huberman details the science behind successful strategies for life change. This episode is brought to you by: WHOOP: For 15% off your order, go to https://www.whoop.com and use discount code HT at checkout. Better Help: Get 10% off your first month at https://betterhelp.com/impacttheory NETGEAR: Learn more about Orbi WiFi 6 at netgear.com/bestwifi Ultimately our thoughts are a choice [1:13] The brain creates an abstract representation of everything that’s out there in the world [4:52] There two pieces of your brain that are outside of your skull and spinal cord [7:23] Viewing screens after 11 PM suppresses dopamine and punishes the brain [9:25] Action in pursuit of a goal stimulates neural rewards [11:36] Dopamine reward cycles can provide you with endless energy [14:21] The reasons why it’s so important to celebrate small victories [16:25] How to unlearn negative experiences [21:10] Using lateralized eye movements while recounting negative experiences helps [25:01] Forward movement is absolutely the remedy for trauma and fear [28:03] Stress and agitation are meant to be triggers for action, not forms of suffering [31:31] It’s not easy to suppress negative thoughts, but you can replace negative thoughts [34:21] Always reward incremental steps that are about forward action [37:37] Andrew explains hypnosis and why it works [40:08] Andrew explains why slow, diaphragmatic breathing works so well [43:48] Andrew shares the one thing he would have most people change in their lives [51:16]   FOLLOW ANDREW:   WEBSITE: hubermanlab.com  INSTAGRAM: https://bit.ly/2AEiQZr  TWITTER: https://bit.ly/2yg1NMy  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices