Dave Asprey Explains Why Fear Ages You Faster Than Time | DSH #1809

Summary

Podcast Summary: Digital Social Hour with Dave Asprey

Episode Title: Dave Asprey Explains Why Fear Ages You Faster Than Time
Host: Sean Kelly
Guest: Dave Asprey
Date: February 4, 2026
Episode: DSH #1809

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Overview

In this engaging episode of Digital Social Hour, biohacker and entrepreneur Dave Asprey returns to share his provocative views on longevity, male health, consciousness, and the real roots of aging. The conversation veers from the science of supplements and hormone optimization to the spiritual and philosophical—exploring the relationship between fear, aging, and our sense of reality itself. Asprey is unfiltered and candid, touching on sex and spirituality, the pitfalls of modern health thinking, and his personal journey from illness to vitality.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power of Consciousness and Surrender

• Dave begins by reflecting on access to intuition and knowledge, using altered states and neurofeedback:
  • “The most powerful things I’ve ever written was when I stopped thinking and I started knowing.” (00:00)
  • Distinguishes between channeling entities and accessing the collective consciousness through surrender.

2. Nicotine, Health, and Longevity

• Demonstrates a nicotine spray, discussing modern alternatives to smoking and praises nicotine for its neuroprotective effects at low doses:
  • “Nicotine, at least at the right dose, is unquestionably a longevity drug.” (01:27)
• Reveals he’s used it daily since 2008 and met with Philip Morris about the future of tobacco alternatives.
• Claims cultural effects—lower obesity in regions with higher nicotine uptake—are evidence of its positive metabolic impact.

3. Make America Hard Again & Sexual Health

• Discusses the “Make America Hard Again” movement and fertility crisis, linking reproductive health to overall aging and vitality:
  • “If you’re fertile when you’re supposed to be, that’s a sign that you’re aging properly.” (02:40)
• Advocates testosterone therapy, recounting his early start (from age 26) due to low levels, and debunks myths about permanent side effects.
  • “People say, ‘your balls will shrink and they’ll never grow back.’ Complete nonsense.” (04:05)

4. Hormones, Lab Tests, and Biohacking Tech

• Encourages young adults to get baseline sex hormone levels for long-term health.
• Describes how AI and his company Upgrade Labs integrate medical data for personalized longevity solutions.
  • “We’re using AI…With medical lab data and a bunch of performance data. Just tell you, okay, if this is your goal and this is where you are now fastest path…” (06:10)

5. Exercise Minimalism & Muscle Memory

• Claims only 20 minutes of exercise per week maintains his physique, credits muscle “memory” from youth lifting:
  • “If you’re in your 20s, go to the gym for six months and get a little bit ripped… When you’re 30, 40, and 50, it’ll be really easy to restore that muscle…” (07:25)
• Says ab strength and appearance stem more from diet and breathwork than gym routines.

6. Detox & Endocrine Health

• Discusses sauna and microplastics; recommends calcium D-glucarate for estrogen management due to environmental toxins.
• “Every guy in my family has man boobs except for me… I take that calcium D-glucarate because it makes the liver excrete estrogen more quickly.” (09:33)

7. Redefining Health & Habit Simplicity

• Challenges the host's view that “health” is the main goal.
  • “You should be healthy enough that health is not at the top of your list… So screw health, health is way overrated because it doesn’t mean anything.” (14:24)
• Suggests focusing on concrete goals (stress, muscle, energy) makes healthy habits sustainable and meaningful.

8. Sex, Energy, and Longevity

• Links libido, sexual fulfillment, and success:
  • “Sex is a longevity drug. The people I know who are in their 70s and 80s who have active sex lives, they love their life and they're youthful. Sex is a nutrient. It's as important as air and food for adults.” (21:14)
• Shares Daoist-inspired “tricks” for men to separate orgasm from ejaculation, boosting testosterone and energy:
  • “About eight seconds before you ejaculate, your butthole tightens. So relax your butthole.” (19:04)
  • “If you learn how to do that…you’ll be an epic lover and you'll have more energy and you'll make a bigger mark in the world.” (18:22)
• Recommends communication and intention in sexual relationships for mutual benefit.

9. Altered States, Psychedelics, and Spiritual Growth

• Asprey details training in meditation, breathwork, and various forms of conscious “energy work.”
• Considers biohacking a “Trojan horse” to get young people interested in consciousness and longevity:
  • “The things that make old people young make young people powerful.” (22:44)
• Advocates occasional use of psychedelics and neurofeedback for self-discovery—but warns against overreliance or escapism.
• “Most powerful inventors…had massive altered states practices… The structure of DNA was discovered in a dream.” (41:15)

10. The Nature of Reality: Space, Time, and Aging

• Argues that space and time are not “real” but are user interfaces constructed by our bodies:
  • “We can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt…space is not real and time is not real…our body is making a user interface to let you see the world.” (26:13)
• Explores flexibility of aging in historical records and claims a mindset free from fear and decrepitude is essential for longevity.

11. Fear, Ego, and Aging

• Asserts fear itself accelerates aging, linking it to mitochondrial “threat” responses:
  • “If you’re focused on not dying, that’s fear. And that means you keep your mitochondria in a state of fear.” (29:45)
• Practices peace, acceptance of death (reincarnation as a healthy belief), and moving beyond trauma to liberate energy.
  • “The opposite of fear is peace. So make peace with death. And then make peace with being hungry…make your lust…into just a sacred form of connection…” (29:50)

12. The Value of Trauma Work and Integration

• Shares how recognizing, integrating, and healing trauma transforms drive from anger to purpose; recommends EMDR, brainspotting, tantra, and proper integration after psychedelics.
  • “Healing’s an altered state. It doesn’t really matter how you get in the altered state, but you want to get into it with a conscious partner…” (48:06)

13. Channeling, Intuition, and Collective Knowledge

• Explains difference between pattern matching (cognitive) and intuition (precognitive/surrender).
  • “When I’m doing pattern matching, it’s a cognitive thing. When I’m doing energy work, it’s precognitive.” (00:00 & 40:12)

14. Spiritual Abilities, Autism, and Human Potential

• Dave posits some neurodivergent children may have special perceptive abilities, encourages acceptance of non-typical brains.
• Cites the Siddhis from yogic tradition as catalogued higher abilities emerging through spiritual practice.

15. Science, Skepticism, and Non-Physical Reality

• Casts doubt on static “science,” highlighting both its limitations and the growing evidence for phenomena like reincarnation, intuition, and energetic healing.
  • “All of science we have today is our best ability to make a story about reality. And it changes every five years.” (33:18)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Dave Asprey:

  • “Sex is a longevity drug. Straight up.” (21:14)
  • “Health is way overrated because it doesn’t mean anything.” (14:24)
  • “If you’re focused on not dying, that’s fear. And that means you keep your mitochondria in a state of fear.” (29:45)
  • “Space is not real and time is not real.” (26:13)
  • On ejaculation control: “About eight seconds before you ejaculate, your butthole tightens. So relax your butthole.” (19:04)
  • “When I’m doing pattern matching, it’s a cognitive thing. When I’m doing energy work, it’s precognitive.” (40:12)
  • “Biohacking is a Trojan horse that gets young people to care about longevity, because the things that make old people young make young people powerful.” (22:44)

• Sean Kelly (Host):

  • “That’s such an interesting take because you’re like the godfather of biohacking. And you’re saying this [about health not being the goal].” (13:30)
  • “I use the trauma to get to where I’m at, but I think it’s actually harming me now. So I want to address that.” (46:26)

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Important Segments & Timestamps

| Topic | Timestamp | |--------------------|-----------| | Accessing intuition vs. channeling | 00:00–00:23 | | Nicotine: health benefits & culture | 00:42–01:55 | | Fertility, testosterone, and biohacking | 02:01–05:14 | | AI and Upgrade Labs | 05:56–06:27 | | Exercise minimalism & muscle memory | 06:32–07:49 | | Sauna, microplastics, hormonal health | 08:37–10:37 | | Redefining health & personal goals | 14:20–16:13 | | Sex, libido, and energy | 16:13–22:02 | | Psychedelics, neurofeedback, spirituality | 22:06–26:12 | | The illusion of space and time | 26:13–27:01 | | Fear, mitochondria, peace vs. aging | 29:45–31:47 | | Trauma work & integration | 46:22–49:59 | | Intuition, surrender, pattern matching | 40:12–41:52 | | Spiritual abilities, autism | 38:28–40:47 | | Science, skepticism, reincarnation | 33:00–34:43 |

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Tone & Style

• Dave Asprey is unapologetically candid, weaving science, spiritual wisdom, and edgy humor.
• The discussion is both intellectually stimulating and accessible, moving between hard science, anecdote, and deep philosophy without losing clarity or energy.

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Final Takeaway

This episode is a masterclass in modern biohacking—blending physiology, spirituality, and experience. Dave Asprey’s core message is that true longevity and power require transcending fear, integrating intuition, optimizing biology, and embracing human potential far beyond the merely physical. The episode challenges conventional wisdom on health and aging, promising not only a longer life, but a fuller, freer, and more conscious one.

Recommended further action:

• Check out Dave's latest book Heavily Meditated for detailed protocols on altered states work.
• Visit the Biohacking Conference and Upgrade Labs for hands-on health optimization.

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For listeners intrigued by science, self-mastery, or just want to hear a fearless take on what it means to stay young in every sense—this is a must-listen episode.

Transcript

[Dave Asprey]

When I'm doing pattern matching, it's a cognitive thing. When I'm doing energy work, it's precognitive. The most powerful things I've ever written was when I stopped thinking and I started knowing.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Was that channeling, you think, or what do you think was going on with that?

[Dave Asprey]

Channeling is usually when you are connecting to another entity.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Dave Asprey]

And you're channeling an entity. I'm not channeling. I'm connecting to probably the collective consciousness. I don't know.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Okay.

[Dave Asprey]

But there's a skill. I learned this with neurofeedback, where you just stop. It's actually surrender. The best name for it.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Okay, guys, Dave asked me back on the show. You got the nicotine pouch today?

[Dave Asprey]

I got. I don't really like the pouches because of the microplastics. I've got a spray or. Oh, you got lozenges. Yeah.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Okay. The first time or last time you came on, you brought some nicotine.

[Dave Asprey]

I bought this at Heathrow because you can't buy it in the US you want to try some?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah, I'll try it.

[Dave Asprey]

Don't breathe in. It's minty.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

So just put it under your tongue.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

It is minty. Wow. Yeah. Nicotine.

[Dave Asprey]

This one hits you pretty fast.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

It's crazy to see how nicotine has changed over time, how people view it.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. I just met with the leadership team at Philip Morris.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Dave Asprey]

Last week in Paris, and they've. And they've taken about 70% of smoking out of the world. Like, the two biggest smoking countries now are mostly not smoking anymore because there's healthier ways to use tobacco and not get all the cancer and stuff.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Holy crap.

[Dave Asprey]

It's kind of cool. We're seeing a shift away from smoking because smoking is bad for you. But nicotine, at least at the right dose, is unquestionably a longevity drug.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah. Are you taking it every day?

[Dave Asprey]

Oh, yeah. I've been on it since about 2008, when. Wow. First research came out.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

That's impressive.

[Dave Asprey]

Just at very low doses, but it's. It's neuroprotective. It mimics exercise. There's a reason that you go down to Brazil and Argentina, and they're smoking a lot and they're eating everything and they're not fat. Nicotine does that.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

That's impressive, man. That's cool. You're also about this make America hard again movement. I want to learn more about that.

[Dave Asprey]

I'm all over that. We have a fertility problem. In fact, that was my very first book because the mother of my children was infertile. We met. She's a medical doctor, so we read a book called the Better Baby Book about what do you do before and during pregnancy to have smarter, healthier, stronger kids without autism? Hmm. And I think it was a bit ahead of its time. There's a new book out called the Preconception Revolution by Dr. Anne Shippy. And we need this, because when I was 30, it was, I hope we don't get pregnant.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Dave Asprey]

And now they're saying, we hope we can. And infertility is just a terrible problem. And it comes down to the same things we use for longevity and for biohacking are the same things you need for fertility. In fact, even my big diet book, the Bulletproof Diet, came out of the research on fertility, because if you're fertile when you're supposed to be, that's a sign that you're aging properly.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah. There's a sperm racing league now. Did you know that?

[Dave Asprey]

I don't know if I want to sign up for that.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

I was just gonna say you should sign up and prove your sperm quality there.

[Dave Asprey]

It was funny. You know, I'm also a massive proponent of testosterone therapy.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Really?

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. And I've been on testosterone since I was 26 years old.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Would you say that's kind of young, though, for doing that?

[Dave Asprey]

Well, if your labs show you have less testosterone than your mom, which mine did, then it was absolutely medically a good idea, and it changed my life.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Okay.

[Dave Asprey]

So I think everyone in their 20s should get their sex hormones tested, because if you're healthy now, you know the right level for you, because there are some guys, you need 1100 to feel good, and other people need 600. So the range is so big. And if you just don't know because you wait till you lose it, then you just have to shoot in the dark until you just feel good. And if, like, me, I was £300 in my mid-20s, well, then you're gonna have more estrogen, less testosterone, and the lifestyle stuff didn't fix it. So what do you do? You go on testosterone, and there's a lot of fear. People saying, oh, once you're on it, you have to be on it for life. It's complete nonsense. I did stop it for three years, and I got my levels up naturally, but not up as much as I wanted. And people say, oh, you know, your balls will shrink and they'll never grow back. Complete nonsense.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Your balls and shrink?

[Dave Asprey]

Oh, they do shrink, but you can stop that if you want to, but they grow back like that's how it works.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Balls grow back.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Wow.

[Dave Asprey]

I mean, if they can shrink, they can grow okay. They're just like a muscle.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

You had to stretch them out.

[Dave Asprey]

That would be the scrotum that's different.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Oh, you mean the actual balls?

[Dave Asprey]

Balls, yeah. So if you go into testosterone and you don't take things that raise two other hormones, LH and fsh, then the balls are like, we don't have any work to do, so they shrink. But balls are not particularly, like, useful in terms of, you know, they're not that attractive, let's put it that way. Yeah, And I have a study for you on that. Um, they took photos of hundreds of scrotums and showed them to a bunch of women and had them rate the scrotums on attractiveness from 1 to 10. And no scrotum ever scored over 5. So, guys, you can just chill. The scrotum is not an area of recreational interest.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah, that's a good study. Yeah, well said. What a great study, huh?

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Well, most girls don't even find penises attractive. Apparently you send a dick pic and they don't like that.

[Dave Asprey]

You might not be meeting the right girls. Really?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Well, you got the stem cells in here, so you're. You're cheating a little bit there.

[Dave Asprey]

You know, it's. It's kind of funny to make America hard again. If you're not waking up with a kickstand, there's something wrong. And it could be one of several things. It could be too much cortisol. It's probably a blood pressure thing, or it's a testosterone thing or a nitric oxide thing. And these are all hackable. And it's one thing if that happens in your mid-20s. Like, what is going on? And I had that happening in my mid-20s. Right. Oh, I didn't mention it could be porn induced. There's a lot of people with issues. For me, it was testosterone and nitric oxide. But once, you know, these are numbers. Lab tests are cheap and widely available. And really, even with chat GPT, you could solve this problem. It's not that. It's just not a big deal. It was a big deal to anyone.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Years ago using a lot of AI.

[Dave Asprey]

These days I use AI and Upgrade Labs, which is my AI longevity franchise company. Go to owninupgradelabs.com if you want to be a partner with me.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Come to Vegas, man.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. Oh, we'll probably get a franchise here.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Oh, yeah.

[Dave Asprey]

In fact, I think we're talking to somebody nice. And so we're using AI there with everything I've ever said and written and taught, along with a bunch of other data, with medical lab data and a bunch of performance data. Just, just tell you, okay, if this is your goal and this is where you are now fastest path and you come in and do the stuff, or we just tell you what to do.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

At home, you still doing the full 10 minute workouts for your, for your body?

[Dave Asprey]

I do 20 minutes of exercise per week right now.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

20 per week. Because that was our most followed clip. I don't know if you saw that, but really, people are hating all these gym bros, dude.

[Dave Asprey]

It's hilarious. I'm like, I, I think it's working. And in fact, I went on Diary of a CEO.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

That's a good show.

[Dave Asprey]

And he, he actually spiked the episode. He said, what? Yeah, he said, I don't believe you. I'm like, do you want to ask my assistant, my girlfri, like, like, how do you want me to prove this? But it, it's completely real. My. I travel like 90% right now. Wow. And if you have adequate testosterone, you have adequate protein and you do basic movements or you do the AI powered stuff I do when I'm at home, it just doesn't take much to put it on. I do have an unfair advantage. In my early 20s, when I was desperate to lose that a hundred pounds of fat, I went to the gym and I lifted for 45 minutes six days a week and did 45 minutes of cardio. I never lost a pound, but I put a lot of muscle on under the fat, right? And if you lift in your 20s, your body has muscle memory not for the movement, but for the ability to put on muscle. So everyone listening. If you're in your 20s, go to the gym for six months and get a little bit ripped. And that way when you're 30, 40 and 50, it'll be really easy to restore that muscle if you stop working out. But if you don't set it when you're young, it's harder to put it on when you're old. Right?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

So it's almost like riding a bike. You never kind of. Your body doesn't forget that, huh? Yeah, that's interesting. Um, what about lifting at an earlier age? Cause some people have mixed opinions on that. Stunt your growth.

[Dave Asprey]

You know, I've seen multiple, multiple angles on that. I don't think there's really enough knowledge on that.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Okay.

[Dave Asprey]

We know that extreme impact stress can cause the growth plates to close early. And I've seen over training stunt people's Growth, but over training usually is coupled with lack of sleep and lack of protein and lack of minerals. So if they're on vitamin D and they're on minerals 101, which is like a broad spectrum mineral formula, they're getting 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight, maybe a bit more. If you're still in your teens because you're still putting on mass, then you're unlikely to have that problem. It's not impossible, it's just much less likely.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Did you see Brian Johnson's new sauna study a couple months ago?

[Dave Asprey]

The one about microplastics? Yeah, microplastics, I did.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

What do you think of that?

[Dave Asprey]

Did you?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

That surprise you?

[Dave Asprey]

Um, not particularly. We've known Sonos are for detoxing just about everything. Um, what I would include in a protocol is a compound called calcium D glucorate, which can help your body get rid of microplastics as well as the synthetic estrogen that's in the plastic as well. It's been a part of my protocol for a long time.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah, I just got my blood work back. I had some estrogen levels that were kind of high. So it might be microplastics.

[Dave Asprey]

I'm thinking. Well, microplastics don't cause estrogen, but if you're touching a lot of plastic or BPA or fragrances and just all this stuff that's going to raise your estrogen, plus your testosterone converts to estrogen based in part on. On your sleep architecture, your circadian biology, and partly on genetics. So I tended to have a lot of estrogen. In fact, every guy in my family has man boobs except for me.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Really?

[Dave Asprey]

Right. And it's because, well, we convert. It's called aromatizing. You convert testosterone, testrogen, really easily. So if you're one of those people, you can block it. And that's what I do. I take that calcium D glucarate because it makes the liver excrete estrogen more quickly. So get on that. Your estrogen should just drop and you can buy that online.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Damn, I need to take that. My man boobs are coming in, man.

[Dave Asprey]

Oh, seriously?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Dave Asprey]

All right. In that case, take, take calcium D glucarate and take Chrisin C H R Y S I N. That'll help to block the testosterone from going in to estrogen. And see, like this stuff, I had to study all of it because, you know, 300 pounds, man boobs, arthritis, brain fog, chronic fatigue, high risk of stroke and heart attack, and pre diabetes before I was 30, I was just the worst case. And I'm walking around now. My lab tests, depending which ones you like, somewhere mid-30s to early 40s. And the calendar thinks I'm 53 and I'm count myself as 28 old because I'm gonna live to at least 180.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

That's still cool.

[Dave Asprey]

This is insane.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Like, I'm like, wait, you're 53?

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. And like, what?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

He's gonna zoom in. He's gonna zoom in on your own six pack?

[Dave Asprey]

Like, I'm pretty sure you just have to know how to eat and have the right hormones and things.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

You don't do any ab workout.

[Dave Asprey]

Let's see.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

No sit ups, no planks, no.

[Dave Asprey]

Wow.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

With the six pack is.

[Dave Asprey]

Six packs come from what? You. It's on your plate. It's not from going to the gym. I could have bigger abs underneath the lack of fat here, but I have strong abs. I do breath work.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah, right.

[Dave Asprey]

Breathwork grows abs, actually. Oh, yeah. If you're doing like, like. Like the. The women. Yeah, the really strong abdominal breathing, like some of the yoga things where you, like, really, like. You really, like, suck it in.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Holy crap.

[Dave Asprey]

Like that. That's where real ab strength comes from.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

You can move your. I can't even move my belly like that. That's crazy. Just from breath work? Yeah, you got to teach me that one.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah, that's a really powerful one. Because if you have control of the three different kind of sections of the lungs, it also is useful in the bedroom.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Is it?

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Oh, yeah. I know you're an expert in that. You can last all day. All day.

[Dave Asprey]

I'm. I'm not. I'm not gonna say anything.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

We'll let the ladies talk about that.

[Dave Asprey]

You could ask the ladies, but they're all too tired.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah. And you train that too, which is impressive to me.

[Dave Asprey]

You know, you totally miss my dumb joke.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

No, I got it. I got it. I've. I've talked to some ladies about you.

[Dave Asprey]

Really?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Dave Asprey]

I'm actually. I don't sleep around, but I do have a few friends.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

I love it, man. So what's the main thing for you these days? I know you got the conference in May coming up.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah, the biohacking conference.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

I'm gonna come this year.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah, it's gonna be amazing.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

I can't wait. I've heard great things. Yeah, I talked to your title sponsor was on yesterday. Braintop.

[Dave Asprey]

Oh, yeah, he was speaking.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Really?

[Dave Asprey]

Patrick Porter?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah, Patrick.

[Dave Asprey]

He's been a sponsor for years, and we have 5,000 people who come and it's like a big party and they're all like high vibe people. And Steve Aoki did our, our concert last year and he'll probably do it again this year. And it's just, it, it's my favorite thing ever because everyone there is beautiful. And you'll see people 18 to 88 and all of them have like bright eyes and they're all just nice, like just. It's a community that I, I love.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah. Cuz we all got the same goals. We want to be healthier.

[Dave Asprey]

Right.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

So we're all working.

[Dave Asprey]

I don't think that's your goal, man.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Really?

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

What do you mean?

[Dave Asprey]

I think that if you wake up in the morning, your first thought is not, I want to be healthy unless you're really sick. I think you're thinking about your show. You're making your mark in the world and getting laid.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Getting laid is not the main because.

[Dave Asprey]

Your testosterone is low.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

It's 5 to 566, which is somewhat low.

[Dave Asprey]

Right.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

I want to get to like 800, I think.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah, that's, that's going to be different because that's what you're supposed to be thinking about. Yeah, right. If you are putting health at the top of your list, it's because you're sick or you're worried.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

That's such an interesting take because you're like the godfather of biohacking. And you're saying this.

[Dave Asprey]

And the reason I learned this is because I had the diseases you're supposed to get when you're 70. When I was in my 20s and I hung out with people in their 70s and 80s who taught me how to reverse them. And that's how I learned biohacking. It learned from my elders and I still do. I love hanging out with 80 year old doctors, man. They're wizards. They just know all this stuff. So yeah, that's, that's what it's about. It is, is not health. You should be healthy enough that health is not at the top of your list. And this is why selling health to people doesn't work very well. Right. Because everyone's like, yeah, I should want to be healthy. I should also want to like recycle. It's just not at the top of the list. So what you want to do is reduce friction. So it's really easy to be healthy. And if you just know what to do. Like I could drink mold free Danger coffee. See that?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

I missed it this year. Last year you guys were, I was excited for that.

[Dave Asprey]

This year we, in about a month are Launching an instant that is mold free, remineralized and all that. But it never goes above 36 degrees when I make. It takes three days to make it. And it tastes exactly like brewed coffee with none of the bad stuff. But okay, it's in the morning. You could drink normal coffee or you could drink mold free coffee. Same amount of time, cost about the same. A little bit more for the mold stuff because of the minerals, but it didn't take you any time. And you set yourself up. What are the most important five supplements you're going to take? You put them on the counter in a row. So they're just easy. And what people do is they make it complex and they think they have to do everything. True. So when someone comes into upgrade labs, what I do, I say, what do you really care about? And you don't get to say, I care about being healthy. Doesn't even mean anything. So what are the goals? Do you want to handle stress better? Do you want to be smarter? You want to live longer? You want more muscle? You want to lose fat? You want to increase your cardio, metabolic capacity, libido, sleep? Those are the big buckets. And pick one and pick two. And those are the only two you're going to work on. And now all of a sudden, all the crap just goes away because you have like a shining beacon of goals, focused. And it turns out it doesn't matter which one you pick, all the other ones improve too. But just focus on those. And then when you get there, like, all right, I got my kickstand back, I got the biceps, whatever your goal was, I can sleep through the night. And then you pick another goal. And so screw health. Like, health is way overrated because it doesn't mean anything.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah, I'm very fascinated. Because someone like you people, I think, would assume health is like your number one goal.

[Dave Asprey]

No, it's not. Freedom is my number one goal. And beauty and kindness, like, those are way more important. And all of those strangely drive health anyway.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

That's true.

[Dave Asprey]

So feeling great every day is my number one goal.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah, Health. Health span versus lifespan. Right.

[Dave Asprey]

Well, I have an issue with healthspan. I'm just gonna say this health span is for cowards. Whoa.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Hot take.

[Dave Asprey]

Every doctor who says that they're working on your health span is afraid to say that they want to extend your life. We don't want to just be healthy and diet 86 like an average person. That's dumb. I'm going to diet 186 and feel and look like I'm 35 the whole time. That's the goal. And I might not get there. I might look like I'm 45 or 55. Hell, I look like I'm 85. As long as I feel good, my brain works and my dick works. These are important parts of life. And the reason I talk about make America Hard Again, and I talk about libido, is in the east, we have chi, life force energy. That is libido. This is creation energy. Like, show me a low libido entrepreneur, and I'll show you an entrepreneur who's struggling in his personal life and in his company. And that's for men and for women. Show me a low testosterone woman and you'll have very similar answers. But with women, it may be a ratio of estrogen to testosterone. It's more complex. But bottom line is you should have libido and you should have some of that always. Because you don't have to put it into dating. You have to put it into the bedroom. You put it into making giant companies, into making a mark on the world. And one of the issues that really is a problem is porn and just frequent masturbation or even just frequent ejaculation. And people hate it when I say this, but guys can have sex and have an orgasm, but not ejaculate. And if you learn how to do that, which is out of Daoism or tantra, then every time you ejaculate, your Testosterone drops for 24 to 48 hours and your prolactin goes up. And some people are more or less sensitive to prolactin. Prolactin makes you lethargic and tired. So you get that will you respect me in the morning thing. No. A guy who ejaculated a couple times last night is not going to want to do anything in the morning because your hormones are jacked. If instead you learn, okay, I had sex, I had multiple orgasms, I didn't ejaculate. And now I like my life even more, and my testosterone went up even more. Now I'm ready to go. Right. It's a very different world.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Dave Asprey]

So learning that sex does not equal ejaculation and orgasm does not equal ejaculation. If you pick that up in your 20s, you'll be an epic lover and you'll have more energy and you'll make a bigger mark in the world.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

I want to get to that level one day. I'm sure it took you years to achieve that, though.

[Dave Asprey]

You know, it takes about two years. Wow.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Just to Control the ejaculation process.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. You want to know the two tricks?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

It's breathwork, right?

[Dave Asprey]

Breathwork helps, like learning how to calm the system with breathing. But there's two specific things that you can do to stop yourself from ejaculating before you want to. And it's not grabbing the base and holding it, which is what they try to teach. Number one is about eight seconds before you ejaculate, your butthole tightens. So relax your butthole.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Okay.

[Dave Asprey]

Literally, just be aware of it. And. Oh, I'm noticing that. And then when you feel like you're getting really close, the body's expecting you to go real hard. So before you're too close, go real hard. And you kind of trick your body into thinking that you finished even though you didn't. So then when it would have told you to do that, it's like, oh, I already did that. So if you have those two things, you know how to breathe abdominally, how to relax your system, you can go a lot longer. Wow. And the thing that's going to happen is most women have learned that sex was good if the guy finishes right. And so if you say, I'm not going to, then they're like, I didn't do my job right. And so you got to have the conversation with your partner. And the easiest hack of all for that is tell your partner, I want you to help me do this. And it's going to be good for both of us because we're going to have more sex. It's going to be more fun. But I know that if I'm in charge, I'm probably going to finish.

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[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

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[Dave Asprey]

So sometime this week, I want to ejaculate. You pick the day, but don't tell me ahead of time. And when your ego is out of the loop, you can go all night. But if it's up to you, it takes a lot more willpower.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

So sex is high on your priority list in life.

[Dave Asprey]

If you want to care about the world, you should have libido. Yeah. Sex is really important. It's a longevity drug. Or I should say just for the clip. Sex is a longevity drug. Straight up. The people I know who are in their 70s and 80s who have active sex lives, they love their life and they're youthful. And the people who lost function, they're old. So this is a fundamental thing. Sex is a nutrient. It's as important as air and food for adults. Wow.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

And would you say just sex with another person or would you consider masturbation part of that?

[Dave Asprey]

I would consider sex with another person. There's a co regulation that's really important. There are practices in Daoism, and they're very different for men and women if you are celibate, where you still practice stimulation. And that's mostly to keep the organs healthy.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Man, you're becoming a monk.

[Dave Asprey]

Not a monk. Not at all. I'm single.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

I know. You got the 40 years of Zen thing.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. I have spent about six months of my life with electrodes on my head.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Jeez.

[Dave Asprey]

And each week of that training is equal to about 20, 30, 40 years of meditating every day.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Wow.

[Dave Asprey]

And I have traveled around the world and learned from monks and things. And it's funny because I've learned from the longevity world for the last 25 years. And I've also been training with shamans and weird monasteries all over the world because actually, this is why biohacking exists. When I came up with this name, I couldn't get young people to care about longevity. But just like you can't get people to care about health, you care, but you don't really care.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Right, right.

[Dave Asprey]

And I also have this consciousness journey that most people don't even know exists. So biohacking is a Trojan horse that gets young people to care about longevity, because the things that make old people young make young people powerful. And then if you know you're gonna live for maybe a hundred years and be fully in charge of yourself, maybe you should work on being happy. And that's where the consciousness work and the meditation and the breath work and psychedelics and tantric sex and all the things that were in my most recent book. Yeah, I meditated.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

That's why I like your approach. Because it's not just a physical thing for you.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. It can't be. The people who think we're meat robots, they're always unhappy. They don't live a long time. Right, right. So just understanding you're a spiritual being living in a meat body, you got to take care of the body, but you got to take of the spiritual being too.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

I think I'm due for another psychedelic journey. It's been like eight years for me. Oh, man, that's been a while. Yeah. I feel like I need some new perspective on life.

[Dave Asprey]

You could come and do 40 years of Zen.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

That's ketamine, right?

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah, ketamine's optional. And people have said even with no ketamine, like, this is the best plant medicine journey ever with no plants. Because just the neurofeedback, you go into these incredible altered states. And I actually don't have a dog in the fight. I. I want people to learn how to enter these. These precious states. And you can do it with fasting in a cave. Perfect. Done that.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Fasting in a cave.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Is that the darkness retreats I see.

[Dave Asprey]

Mine wasn't fully dark, but I fasted in a cave for four days. Darkness retreats are a way. Extended fasting is a way. Light and sound and vibration is a way to enter these states. Extended breath work, like holotropic or Joe Dispenza type of breath work. Those will get you there. Tantric sex will get you there. Conscious kink will get you there. And I guess there's different effects from different psychedelics, but most of them work, some with more danger than others. And then once you learn how to do this, like with neurofeedback or just with lots of time in a monastery, you can go into these states at will. Wow. And this is the goal. If you have to do 86 ayahuasca sessions, like, when are you going to notice it's not working again? In native cultures, if you're not a shaman, you might do it like two or three times in your life.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Dave Asprey]

Like it's a really sacred thing. And I don't like where I has gone in the U.S. yeah.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Some people are doing it weekly. Yeah, crazy.

[Dave Asprey]

If you're going to do that, just do DMT weekly. It's much, much safer.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Did you find the answers to life on Your DMT trip?

[Dave Asprey]

I did not. But it's a. It's a very special spiritual place.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

You didn't see the Matrix Matrix codes on the wall?

[Dave Asprey]

I've been interested in doing that with the lasers you're talking about.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah. Danny Goer shout out.

[Dave Asprey]

I haven't.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

I'll connect you guys.

[Dave Asprey]

Oh, that'd be fun. I have all the lasers and I have all the drugs. I just have to decide to do them together. Yeah, but that's fascinating work, isn't it?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah. You could see the codes on the walls. Crazy, right? Well, numbers can explain a lot in the world.

[Dave Asprey]

It's true. I mean the. The reality that we see through our bodies is just not the reality that's real.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

What do you mean by that?

[Dave Asprey]

Well, you can't see radar and you can't see infrared and you can't see most vibrations. You can see some of them and you can't see quantum fields or information fields, but they're there and we can prove they're there. So what that means is that your body is making a user interface to let you see the world. And it's a useful one. But we can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt using advanced math and quantum physics, space is not real and time is not real.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Wow.

[Dave Asprey]

They're just made up by our bodies because they're really useful so that we can do what we're here to do.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Space and time are not real. That's a mind blowing concept, right?

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. You should get Robert Lanza on the show.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

He's a quantum physician.

[Dave Asprey]

A book called Beyond Biocentrism. And the theory that best fits all the facts is that all of reality is made from our consciousness. Wow.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

So we are in the Matrix on.

[Dave Asprey]

Well, we make the matrix that we're.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

In and we each have our own. Right. It's not one. Or is it?

[Dave Asprey]

Well, it. If you get really down to the quantum realms like that we're all one, so there is no separation.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Geez. That is crazy.

[Dave Asprey]

We just don't see it. You're not supposed to see it when you're in a body.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah. So if time isn't real, what causes aging?

[Dave Asprey]

Probably our mindset. If you go back in the like, say the Bible. Methuselah lived 969 years. Noah's 400ish years. And so we have all these records in India. Even in recent times. There's a guy that's pretty well documented. 185 years old.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Wow.

[Dave Asprey]

Have a book about him from his. The grandson of his caretaker was He a monk? He was a guru of some sort. I don't know if he was a full monk, probably more like a sadhu. But what we're finding it is that a lot of it is just what we think of for aging and part of my mission with biohacking, just what I share, the picture of yourself when you're old, if it involves canes and wheelchairs and tubes and not knowing your name, well, you're making that reality. Yeah, that's not where I'm going.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

So with Brian trying to achieve immortality and other people, like, would. Would you ever want that? Like, I feel like you wouldn't.

[Dave Asprey]

You know, when I wrote, when I wrote my big longevity book, it's called Superhuman, I went really into this and it was radical when I went on the news and said, I'm going to live to at least 180 and it did all the big shows and whatever. And people have a hard time conceiving of that because they just think you'd have paper thin skin. It's like, no, no, I'm going to look and feel like I do now to the best of my ability. Right. And so it's about shifting paradigms. But immortality is a curse. Like, there's lots of old myths about that. Right. So the idea that death is a bad thing is completely absurd.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Agreed.

[Dave Asprey]

Death is a state change and there's no reason to be afraid of it. The decline that some people think happens before death is something that we want to avoid. So, Michael, I'd like to die at a time and by a method of my choosing. So when I'm done, I'm done. I have no issues with that.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Onto the next.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. And that said, I have a lot of good stuff to do.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Dave Asprey]

Right. So fearing death, though, is very dark. Because if you live in fear, it doesn't work. The reason it doesn't work, it's. It's kind of funny. Heavily meditated became the top selling philosophy book in the country. It's a meditation book. Wow. And I'm like, what is going on here? And it's because a lot of Buddhist scholars are saying, Dave, the theories in there make the ego make sense. So your mitochondria create your egoic behaviors. And they're running this operating system that says, number one, if something is scary, run away from kill or hide and turn on all the threat stuff. And they're seeing this long before your brain gets any signal. And then the next thing they do is they say, is it food? Can I eat it? And then the next Thing is, these are all F words is, can I hump its legs? It's like fear of food, fertility, friend, forgiveness and order. So if you're focused on not dying, that's fear.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Whoa.

[Dave Asprey]

And that means you keep your mitochondria in a state of fear.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Holy crap. Kind of ironic, right?

[Dave Asprey]

It is. So the opposite of fear is peace. So make peace with death. Right. And then make peace with being hungry. That's called fasting. Right. So you don't feel like you're going to die if you don't get a taco. And then make your lust and only fans into just a sacred form of connection with one or more people, that. That nourishes you and that becomes a source of energy and nourishment as well.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Connection, right?

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. And what's left after that is a ton of energy for your community because all life, including mitochondria, they take care of each other. They're a big community of little bacteria in your body. And then humans take care of other humans and the world around us, and so does every other life form. So this is all happening before your brain gets a signal of reality.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Wow.

[Dave Asprey]

And after that, if you do everything right, you have enough energy left for forgiveness, which is the process we use to be less fearful so you can have more peace. So when you meet someone who's just radically powerful and radically peaceful, that's sustainable. If you're radically powerful and radically angry or radically fearful, that's not sustainable. Right. You'll hate your life and you'll age more quickly.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Interesting. Have you figured out how to eliminate fear or do you still experience it?

[Dave Asprey]

I don't on a regular basis experience fear. And that's because when I was younger, I did everything that I was afraid of on purpose. Oh, wow. And then with the 40 years of Zen neurofeedback I've gone through, and anything that you're afraid of, it's just aversion, it's just ego. So there's altered states you can go into where you kind of run a worst case scenario to figure out, like, okay, what would it be like? And you actually replay that in your head and then you go into an opposite state. It's like a exalted state that cancels out the fear. So my goal is I don't want to be afraid, but I would like my body to, you know, not fall off a cliff or jump if there's a tiger. Right. So you want protective responses. But dwelling on fear, I don't do that. Like it's. It's not a thing. And if I do, I slap electrodes on my head and go, what am I doing wrong in there?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

I definitely fear death for, because I would grew up Christian and I feel like a lot of religious people struggle with that, you know, so I grew up that way. I, I would say still I'm a little scared of it, but I try not to think about it.

[Dave Asprey]

You ever seen of your past lives?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yes. Not like visually, but psychics have told me.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. So if those exist, then the story you have about death isn't accurate.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

True.

[Dave Asprey]

Right. And I would suggest this for everyone. Decide that reincarnation is real and this is the only rational choice to make. Okay. It doesn't matter if it's actually real because if you tell yourself, look, if I screw up, I get a redo, you'll just be less afraid in this life. And if an atheist and it all ends, it doesn't matter. You told yourself that you get another do over so that you just have a better life. Right. And if you believe you're going to go to heaven or hell, you might consider reincarnation because there's lots of evidence for it. Yeah, but the reason that, that it's a beneficial belief is just the peacefulness that comes. You know, what if I don't do it right this time? I'll just start the game over again. And that appears to be how reality works.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

So you believe in karma then?

[Dave Asprey]

I believe in reincarnation and I believe that sometimes people are working through karma and other times they're not.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah. You mentioned evidence for reincarnation as science. Proof that there's something there with the soul, with the reincarnation process.

[Dave Asprey]

I'd like to say that science has proved things, but trusting the science has been a little bit risky over the last five years. Right.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

You're not wrong.

[Dave Asprey]

And this is funny. I was on stage at a consciousness conference and I said, mark my words, I'll be misquoted on this, but science is bullshit. And the New York Times misquoted me, of course.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah, they clipped that part.

[Dave Asprey]

My, my story though about that is that all of science we have today is our best ability to make a story about reality. And it changes every five years. Like all the stuff we think we know that science knows, it's just our best interpretation and it will improve. And it's improving very quickly because of AI. So there are lots and lots of cases of, especially kids under five accounting for incredible detail about their last life. There's one I'm remembering from one of the Books about it where the kid was between three and five, he was talking about his friend in an airplane and he was in World War II, and they found the guy and they, like, way too many details.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Wow.

[Dave Asprey]

And there's thousands and thousands of documented cases of things like this. And there's guys like, yeah. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who's who? I've did his breath work for five years and I've interviewed him a couple times. And when he was 3, he memorized the entire Bhagavad Gita, which is basically the Hindu version of the Bible, and was teaching when he was five.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Wow.

[Dave Asprey]

So, yeah, that he came in with that. That's crazy, right? So I don't have any doubt in my mind. And by the way, I grew up in a atheist family. It was agnostic computer science rush. I didn't believe any of this stuff until reality.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Until the psychedelic trip.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. It wasn't even psychedelics. It was more breath work. The first time I experienced that stuff and I didn't believe it, I'm like, I'm just hallucinating. But sometimes when, if you're working with two or three psychics and they don't know each other and they all say.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

The same thing, that's what happened to me.

[Dave Asprey]

Isn't that weird?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. That's not weird. That's science.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

No, I did two different past life readings.

[Sponsor/Ad Reader]

Yeah.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

They never met each other. Same past lives, dude.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

What are the odds of that?

[Dave Asprey]

There are people who can read it. And it's funny. We have super tasters. You know about these?

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

The taste buds or.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah, they can taste more flavors than everyone else. They've become like chefs and Somalias. And we have these people who can see more colors. There's a hyperchromatism or something. So they can see more than 20 million colors, and they're just better visually. We don't have any problem with that. And there are people who hear better. Right. And we have people with synesthesia. You know, I have a friend who can smell truthfulness. Like, really? Yeah. His. Essentially, each of the senses should go into a certain part of the brain, but they can get crosswired. So we accept all of these scientifically, but we have a hard time knowing that some people are good at seeing dead people. Yeah, I know what the brain waves of people who can see dead people look like.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

What do they look like?

[Dave Asprey]

I'm not gonna tell. It's part of.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

But it does seem to be genetic, though, right? Because psychics seem to run in family.

[Dave Asprey]

Lines from what I've seen, yes, it is true that in, in families, especially in the maternal lineage, but not always it, it can run. So I think it's, it's genetic. So if your mom was a witch and you have a long line of herbalists who hang out under moonlight, there's a good chance that you have some healing abilities. It doesn't mean that it won't skip a generation and things like that, but you see this over and over. So sometimes I'll ask people, you know, where are you from? Like, where are your people from? And if you're a Romanian gypsy, probably a good chance you have some abilities. It's just, it's just how it works. And I don't even know why that deserves. Skepticism versus curiosity. Yeah. And, but like I said, I was skeptical about all this. That's just where I am now because I've, I've looked at so many people's brains and you take like the most ardent skeptic and you show them altered states work even without psychedelics, and suddenly like, the world's more complex for me. I had made and lost $6 million before I was 30. I'd been married and divorced at the same time, and I'd even tried being famous. I was an entrepreneur magazine when I was 23. It was the first guy to sell anything over the Internet. And I was so freaking miserable that I went to this 10 day workshop and I did holotropic breathing, which was a replacement for lsd. And I went on a journey. And I came out of this going, my God, the world is so different than I thought it was.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Wow.

[Dave Asprey]

Like, I just didn't know how to sense any of this. And it turns out you can train your senses or your mind or your field. I don't even know what it is to feel other people and just know things and all that. And over time, if you're on any spiritual path, these kinds of things can and do emerge. And there's a freaking manual on this. These are called the Yogic Siddhis, Yogic Cities. S I D H I. And the Yogic cities are a little bit less than 50 documented abilities that emerge in humans as we're on the path to enlightenment. Really these are things like the ability to heal other people, to read other people's thoughts, telekinesis, things like that. And no, these are not common. In fact, if you take random people and you look at that, you say this doesn't happen. If you take trained meditators, they can do it in a very statistically Valid way. So the chances of it being random are many billions to one. So people who train their consciousness can do things that people are untrained can't do. That's kind of cool.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah. Do you see a link with that in the recent outburst of autism? Like, it seems like these kids have abilities. Some of them.

[Dave Asprey]

I think some of them do. And like we talked about in our last interview, you know, I had Asperger's syndrome, which people don't like that name anymore, but that's what it's called. Sorry, guys. And if you got triggered, that means that.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Why is there such a trigger these days? Asperger's.

[Dave Asprey]

I think. I just. Someone told me just last week, apparently Asperger had an association with the Nazis, so they want to, like, cancel the name of the thing. Whatever.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Like, my dad got diagnosed with up Asperger's.

[Dave Asprey]

Oh, no kidding.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

At 60?

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Late diagnosis.

[Dave Asprey]

It. It's funny. I mean, I can. I can spot people who are not neurotypical, and they're some of the most interesting, fun people.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Very interesting.

[Dave Asprey]

I. I very much appreciate all of. All of my friends who just have those kinds of brains, and I can switch between that kind of thinking and the kind of thinking that I normally reside in today. But I. I do think that some of those kids have incredible abilities. And part of it is, like, look, when you're. When you're first inside a body, like when you first are growing in the womb, you're supposed to be able to learn the senses in a normal way. And there's something called mechanoreceptors in your fascia and your collagen. And most people with autism have defects in those. So we just don't sense the world in the right way. And then we have problems with the lining of our nerves that come from neuroinflammation. And then we have power problems in our brain. So these kids are saying, there's too much noise. I can't sense the world very well. So where do I put all the energy? Let's put it into growing the inner abilities.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Right.

[Dave Asprey]

So there's an argument for that. Some of these kids are very, very perceptive, and they just can't. They can't communicate very well.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yep.

[Dave Asprey]

The difficulty, though, is that a skeptic will say, well, they're just really good at pattern. Pattern matching. That's not it. And I know this because I had a brain like that, and I don't have a brain like that now when I'm doing pattern matching, it's a Cognitive thing. When I'm doing energy work, it's precognitive. The most powerful things I've ever written was when I stopped thinking and I started knowing.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Was that channeling you think, or what do you think was going on with that?

[Dave Asprey]

Channeling is usually when you are connecting to another entity.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Dave Asprey]

And you're channeling an entity. I'm not channeling. I'm connecting to probably the collective consciousness. I don't know.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Okay.

[Dave Asprey]

But there's a skill. I learned this with neurofeedback where you just stop. It's actually surrender would be the best name for it. You stop thinking, there's no thoughts, and you just allow. And then you just know.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Wow.

[Dave Asprey]

And some of the things I've written that hadn't been written before and hadn't been validated yet. Like, well, this is what I intuited. And here's the puzzle pieces from existing science that supports this theory. And then a few years later, someone might test the theory.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Interesting.

[Dave Asprey]

It's because of all this advanced altered states work that you can tap in and when you talk to really powerful inventor or I can't talk to them because they're dead. But guys like Tesla or Royal Rife or Edison and all, even Ben Franklin, they all had massive altered states practices like the way Ben Franklin would invent. He would hold a couple marbles over a pan and he'd take like a little nap. And as soon as he fell asleep, the marbles would fall into the pan and wake him up. So he wanted to catch that mental state Right. Between being awake and being asleep.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Wow.

[Dave Asprey]

And come back so he could remember it. Right. And how many inventors had a dream? That was the answer. That's how we discovered the structure of DNA was a dream.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Really?

[Dave Asprey]

My grandfather was a co inventor of the process we used to make plutonium, called the Purex process. It came to him in a dream.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

No way.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. This is how it works.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

That's crazy.

[Dave Asprey]

And we just try to deny all this and it's. It's absurd. This is how. This is what being human is.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

A lot of people just brush off their dreams.

[Dave Asprey]

They. They really do. And dreams can be just random. Like if you have strange vibrant dreams, look for mold toxins. Right. But there's a difference in the character of different dreams. And some people I know, they do a lot of their work in the world. When they're asleep, they're doing meditation stuff. So I would just say if you want to live a long time or you're going to be really powerful in the world. You've got to access all of your abilities, not just the rational ones. But having rational abilities is really good. When people are traumatized and stressed, we think thinking is very useful. It's unique in humans the way we can do it. It's just very slow and it's very subject to bias. Because these little mitochondria that really control our bodies, they allocate power in a meaningful way. And you have about 20 different ways to solve a problem in your brain. And they're going to pick the lowest power problem solving algorithm. And they're going to do that based on how much power they have and how safe they feel. And it takes a long time to really analyze and think about and ponder. Or you could just say it feels like this. However your body decides to let you think is going to feel like it's real. This is why we get these stupid things like if cortisol is bad, then you should have zero cortisol. That will kill you. Or, you know, if eating too much food makes you fat, eating no food will make you thin. We make these very basic assumptions and we just fight for them to be true. So your ability to deceive yourself because your mitochondria are low on power or because they're stressed and afraid, it's a problem. But if you have more peace and more energy, you actually make much better decisions cognitively.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Right.

[Dave Asprey]

But when someone's always in their head, it's because they have ptsd usually.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah. They make emotional decisions. Right?

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. Well, it's different. You'll make an emotional decision, but you'll think about it. The thing is, the emotions happen first, so the emotions set the tone of reality. Then your brain gets to think about it for a while. And it believes the emotions.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Dave Asprey]

And it makes up stories to justify them. So when it comes down to just being a high performance human, you want to not think about things all the time. You want to be able to just have a peaceful awareness of things and then think about it consciously instead of unconscious. And unconscious thinking is when you ruminate and like how many times, especially, I mean, when you're under 30. What did that person say about me? What do they think about me? Just all that stuff.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Living in the past. Yeah.

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. And it's quite often people are doing that in their 60s too. Jeez. But if, you know, if you're on a path of personal development and you do the work in your 20s, you do your PTSD work or whatever, trauma work, you have your family systems, your attachments and things like that. It's very easy to do that today. There's so much knowledge out there. Then you get to this place where you know something didn't go your way, that's all right. And it's just. It's okay. And it doesn't keep you up at night for sure. And then you realize that there's an inner knowing, this intuition, and that happens before you can think of. And for most of us, the process is that something happens in the world around you. And then there's a brief and very like low power, kind of a quiet knowing about what to do, followed by a much stronger emotion and followed by a thought to justify that or to cancel it out. So most of us are taught, since we're little kids, to immediately shut down our intuition so we can think about it. And the process of waking up is learning to notice the intuition and to pay attention to it and then to think. And that's a nuanced skill. This is why time in nature, having absolute darkness at night and having time without a screen, it allows that part of your brain to just go, what's really going on? And to get those little glimpses of awareness. And if you practice, you become stronger.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

I took a Sarah Godfrey's trauma test. I got a really high score.

[Dave Asprey]

I believe it.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

And part of me is like, I use the trauma to get to where I'm at, but I think it's. It's actually harming me now. You know what I mean? So I want to address that. So what's the approach there for getting rid of that?

[Dave Asprey]

Number one, tons of respect for. For even noticing that I was on a really similar path. All the success I had, that $6 million that I made in my 20s that came from exactly that. Like, I'm going to prove I'm good enough to the bullies and all that. Yeah. And anger and resentment and things like that is I'm going to improve. It'll actually grow a company just fine. But you'll be miserable, Hate your life, and you want to have good relationships and it'll eat you up and you'll probably get cancer or some other nasty disease. So the trick is to do the work so that you shift from the trauma state to a state where you're being pulled in the direction of your mission. And that was what I did around age 30. Right. Starting with that holotropic breath work and all the neurofeedback work that I've done, Just all the different altered states work, in addition to just fixing My biology with all the longevity work. And so how would you do that? I think the shortest path for you might be if, you know, like the bullying instances and things like that. There's always stuff with parents too.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah.

[Dave Asprey]

Is do some emdr.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Okay.

[Dave Asprey]

Or brain spotting. These are quick and easy things you can do with a therapist. And this is all altered states work. It works really, really well. And then this will be controversial. Take a tantra class.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Tantra?

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Okay.

[Dave Asprey]

You can have profound healing with really, really good conscious sex.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Really?

[Dave Asprey]

Yep. Either sex tantra or conscious gank. Either one. And these are both energy work practices that involve working with another person to learn to co regulate your system with them. And there's lots of different ways to manipulate the body so that you go into this other dimension. And that's where healing really happens. Healing's an altered state. And it doesn't really matter how you get in the altered state, but you want to get into it with a conscious partner. And if it's an intimate partner, great. Or if it's a therapist or a facilitator, that's really important. The other thing that's just critical, if you're doing emdr, brain spotting, you already have a therapist. But if you're doing psychedelics by yourself or with a couple friends, you've got to do the integration. Because here's the problem. When you go into these altered realms, you end up learning things. And your mitochondria have the ability to make you feel forget. Your ego can do that. And in, in Buddhism, it's one of the hindrances is forgetfulness. It's like it's in there, but the brain won't show it to you. Right. So if you do like Aubrey Marcus, 87. Okay. Well, each time you do that, the ego gets stronger because it got all the knowledge, but you didn't get to remember it. So the trick is you have to write it down or you have to talk to someone about it. So you have a witness and it's documented because then your ego won't let you forget it because it'll get caught hiding it from you. This is why people come to 40 years, as in there's small groups of about five people and you talk about what you just did. It's the same thing. You wake up from a dream. If you tell someone, you remember the dream, you don't tell someone, it's gone. Well, psychedelics are the same way. Breath work is the same way. So making sure that you get the benefit from it in your consciousness instead of in your ego is just so important. Otherwise it can go dark.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Yeah. I know people that have gone down the dark psychedelic path. It sucks to see because they want to heal and get over their trauma. But it.

[Dave Asprey]

It does. And there can be addiction with ketamine. The other psychedelics are just not addictive. Like it's it. You can be like escapism kind of things. But you're not going to get addicted to lsd. There's plenty of evidence.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Well, Dave, it's always fun with you, man. We'll link the conference, the book, anything else you want to wrap up with?

[Dave Asprey]

Yeah. Come to the biohacking conference. We've got the leaders in longevity and in consciousness, all the human performance stuff. And it's the most fun I've ever had. And I would invite people, read heavily meditated. It won't change my life if you buy the book or not. This is my most important book ever. Cause it's got the recipe for this kind of work in it. And this is really how you live a long time.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Awesome. Thanks, brother.

[Dave Asprey]

Thanks my friend.

[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

Seeing you.

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[Host (possibly a podcast host or interviewer)]

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