Dr. Sara Mednick on How to Restore, Recharge and Reinvigorate Your Brain and Body EP 161

Dr. Sara Mednick joins me to discuss why bringing yourself to the downstate allows you to restore, recharge and reinvigorate your brain and body.

Professor Sara C. Mednick is a cognitive neuroscientist at the University of California, Irvine, and the author of The Hidden Power of the Downstate which was released in April and Take a Nap! Change Your Life. She is passionate about understanding how the brain works through her research into sleep and the autonomic nervous system.

* Purchase The Hidden Power of the Downstate: https://amzn.to/3AIzUKT (Amazon link)

* Purchase Take a Nap! Change Your Life: https://amzn.to/3OSFzSS (Amazon link)

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I discuss the Power of the Downstate with Sara Mednick in this episode of the Passion Struck Podcast

Sara Mednick joins the Passion Struck podcast to discuss why most people find themselves immersed in "upstate" moments that magnify our stress engines, but it doesn't have to be that way. Dr. Mednick shows us how we can assess the most repairing and restorative aspects of sleep through moments and activities that occur in our day-to-day by diving into the Downstate.

Dr. Mednick’s seven-bedroom sleep lab works literally around the clock to discover methods for boosting cognition by napping, stimulating the brain with electricity, sound and light, and pharmacology. 

• 0:00 Announcements
• 3:11 Introducing Dr. Sara Mednick
• 5:02 Becoming a sleep expert
• 10:13 The need to look at sleep holistically
• 13:27 What is the downstate?
• 17:24 How stress impacts sleep
• 22:20 Discrimination impacts the balance between the rev and the restore systems
• 25:48 Why does modern culture deny rest?
• 28:34 Regulating your upstate and downstate
• 36:29 How to become a downstate Maven
• 39:46 Importance of the Vagus nerve
• 45:54 How sleep disorders correlate with neurodegenerative diseases
• 49:47 Importance of sleep habits
• 54:28 Wrap up and synthesis

Where you can find Dr. Sara Mednick:

* Website: https://www.saramednick.com/ 

* Twitter: https://twitter.com/Sara_Mednick 

* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sara_mednick_downstate/ 

* LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saramednick/ 

Links from the show

* My interview with Katy Milkman Ph.D. on how to create lasting behavior change: https://passionstruck.com/katy-milkman-behavior-change-for-good/ 

* My interview with David Yaden Ph.D. on self-transcendence, psychedelics, and behavior change: https://passionstruck.com/david-yaden-on-self-transcendence-experiences/ 

* My interview with Michael Slepian Ph.D.:  https://passionstruck.com/michael-slepian-the-secret-life-of-secrets/

* My interview with Admiral Sandy Stosz on how to lead in unchartered waters: https://passionstruck.com/admiral-sandy-stosz-leader-with-moral-courage/ 

* My solo episode on why micro choices matter: https://passionstruck.com/why-your-micro-choices-determine-your-life/

* My solo episode on why you must feel to heal: https://passionstruck.com/why-you-must-feel-to-find-emotional-healing/

 

-- Welcome to Passion Struck podcast, a show where you get to join me in exploring the mindset and philosophy of the world's most inspiring everyday heroes to learn their lessons to living intentionally. Passion Struck aspires to speak to the humanity of people in a way that makes them want to live better, be better and impact. Learn more about me: https://johnrmiles.com. Stay tuned for my latest project, my upcoming book, which will be published in summer 2022.

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