The NSDR protocol you've probably never tried is also the most effective

Hypnosis has a severe image problem.

Upon encountering the term, most of us think of a stage hypnotist making people do things they normally wouldn't do – barking like a dog, for example.

Conversely, self-hypnosis is about getting our brain into a state we want. As it turns out, it's the most effective "non-sleep deep rest" (NSDR) variant for promoting deep relaxation and deep focus at the same time. In short, it's a state of highly focused attention.

Prof. Andrew Huberman of Stanford University, who coined the term NSDR, compares self-hypnosis to a telephoto lens: "You're eliminating the surround. So it's a state of high focus, which normally would be associated with a high degree of excitement or stress. But hypnosis is a unique state, because you have a high degree of focus, but you're very relaxed." 

That's why hypnosis lets us guide our brain towards particular outcomes, including relieving stress, enhancing focus and falling (back) asleep. Conveniently, you don't need to consult a hypnotist to get those outcomes. Instead, you can just listen to a script. Huberman recommends two resources for getting started.

The first resource is an app called Reveri. It was created by Huberman's Stanford University colleague Prof. David Spiegel. Spiegel is the globally leading expert on hypnosis and even spoke on the topic at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Reveri has a free trial and offers scripts – spoken by Spiegel himself – on many topics, including relieving stress, enhancing focus and falling (back) asleep. While all of these are excellent and only take between four and 13 minutes, I particularly like the ones on focus. I use these during afternoons when struggling to make progress on challenging tasks.

The second resource Huberman recommends is the YouTube channel of Michael Sealey. To start with, Sealey offers a concise summary of what hypnosis feels like: "Imagine a fantastic and tranquil state of daydreaming, and that is very close to hypnosis". His YouTube channel provides free hypnosis scripts on a wide array of topics. While most of them tend to be longer, there is one on sleep that takes only 15 minutes. If you have problems falling (back) asleep at night, I highly recommend giving it a shot.

In a nutshell, self-hypnosis is the most effective NSDR practice for promoting deep focus and deep relaxation at the same time. It's unique because it enables you to guide your brain toward a particular outcome. So if you struggle with stress or focus during the day or with falling (back) asleep at night, Spiegel and Sealey's scripts are certainly worth trying out.

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Until next week,
Christian