Huberman Lab Essentials: The Science & Practice of Movement — with Ido Portal
Podcast: Huberman Lab
Episode: Essentials: The Science & Practice of Movement | Ido Portal
Date: February 5, 2026
Host: Andrew Huberman, Ph.D.
Guest: Ido Portal
Episode Overview
This episode features a deeply insightful conversation between Andrew Huberman and renowned movement teacher Ido Portal. The discussion explores the science and philosophy of movement, play, perception, and the nervous system. Ido Portal shares practical and conceptual approaches to cultivating a movement practice, touching upon its psychological, neurological, and emotional dimensions. The conversation balances scientific mindsets with experiential wisdom, offering listeners both actionable tools and paradigm-shifting perspectives on what it means to truly move.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Defining Movement Practice & Its Entry Points
[00:00-02:45]
- Movement as an Open System:
Ido Portal emphasizes the decentralized nature of movement, stating, “It's an open system, it has no center, it's decentralized and it can be approached from anywhere. And that's its magic and that's the benefit of it.” (B, 00:46) - Awareness & Playfulness:
Portal encourages self-inquiry—becoming more aware not just of the body, but also of emotions and mind as forms of movement. “I also want to encourage the self inquiry. So when people enter movement practice, it is about education, bringing some awareness to the fact that they are living in a body, that they are living in motion…” (B, 00:51) - Movement as Education:
Movement is not just physical exercise but an “examination” that brings awareness to all forms of internal and external movement.
2. Incorporating Playfulness & Wordlessness
[02:08-06:36]
- Wordless & Non-Verbal Practice:
Portal recommends practicing awareness of motion without words—focusing on the sensations instead of intellectualizing. "The awareness of motion is a very good way to start to bring awareness to that layer. And that layer will start to get clarified more...the more you practice." (B, 02:47) - Influence of Moshe Feldenkrais:
Portal references Feldenkrais’ three core systems: the nervous system, the mechanical body, and the environment. - Movement in Everyday Life:
He shares pragmatic examples, like making walking through crowded streets into a movement practice or using dynamic chairs for children to increase motion and awareness.
3. Categories & Domains of Movement
[08:53-12:36]
- Beyond Labels like Strength, Speed, and Suppleness:
Portal warns against reducing movement to simple domains, stating that habitual “postures” show up physically, mentally, and emotionally. "You take someone who moves in a certain way and you teach him all these new sports or techniques. But essentially, if you look deeply and you're sensitive, you see it's the same postures that he will have to work with till the end of his life." (B, 08:53) - The Goal: Posturelessness:
The ultimate aim is “going beyond all postures,” breaking free of fixed ways of moving, thinking, and feeling. - Mastery & Virtuosity:
These higher stages involve reintroducing variability and chance—what Portal calls “true freedom.”
4. The Role of Vision and Focus in Movement
[12:36-16:41]
- Practice Varies Attention:
Exploring both narrow and panoramic vision during movement practices opens up new facets of awareness and performance. - Training the Eyes:
“We do not move the eyes as well as we think we do, because as long as you can see and move the eyes, people never think about it, that it can be trained, that it can be improved, etc.” (B, 13:09) - Strategic Use of Gaze:
Portal stresses the importance of “balancing out focus with panoramic awareness,” as modern life overemphasizes focused vision.
5. Listening and Movement: The Auditory Dimension
[17:52-20:16]
- Awareness of Auditory Space:
Portal dives into using auditory attention, suggesting that some people are naturally better attuned to this. “Thinking about hearing, the way that people use their ears, the way that people use listening...This is affecting people's motion. Even the shape of our face...” (B, 18:02) - Promoting Difference:
He calls for practices that enhance rather than suppress individual differences—freshness, not uniformity.
6. Adaptation, Improvisation, & ‘The Walk’
[20:16-25:26]
- Movement Reflects Identity:
The way one walks carries emotional and cultural information. “There is a lot of emotional things related to walk, like how I'm walking into a business meeting, or how I'm walking out of a bad situation.” (B, 21:36) - Nonlinear Movement:
Portal challenges the belief in linearity and efficiency, suggesting real biomechanics are far more complex and adaptive.
7. Variability, Evolution, and the Practitioner’s Responsibility
[25:26-28:05]
- Exploration Breeds Progress:
Scientific and personal advancement comes from exploring the edges, not just from mastering existing techniques. "We are the biggest improvisers around. Like that's what made us who we are, I think. And this is incredible what we can do with it." (B, 25:26) - Report, Not Gospel:
Information from science is just a report—listeners need to practice, adapt, and take responsibility for their own experience.
8. Proximity, Touch, & Peripersonal Space
[28:05-32:17]
- Working with Discomfort & Reactivity:
Portal recommends intentional exposure to and control within intimate physical distance to reduce unnecessary reactivity and anxiety. "If you're reactive, you're a slave. It becomes worse and worse and worse." (B, 28:05) - Touch Is Essential, Not Taboo:
Cultural, personal, and political boundaries mediate touch, often to the detriment of well-being and performance. "People are not touched and they don't touch enough. There is certain bubbles of peripersonal space. According to culture, according to environment, what is right, what is wrong." (B, 28:05)
9. Expanding Linear Exercise Into Playful Exploration
[32:17-37:42]
- Beyond “Icing on No Cake”:
Modern fitness often focuses on “hacks” or optimizing isolated components at the expense of holistic movement. "People want the icing. There is no cake. There is no cake. And it's just like industries of icing, icing, icing. On what?" (B, 33:16) - Investigative Mindset:
The most important aspect is curiosity — experimenting with stance, gaze, rhythm, and intent, even in simple practices like weightlifting or yoga. "It's about the examination. This is why it is a very good direction. And then you will need another one, another one. Don't get stuck on that foot in front and try to do with the eyes closed or with a different head posture. And you will see things arrive, unrelated things." (B, 33:16) - Playfulness and Research:
Adopt the attitude of a researcher or a child; explore variations for their own sake, without a rigid agenda.
10. Final Reflections: Embrace Exploration & Individuality
[37:42-38:28]
- Recognition of Individuality:
Huberman closes by praising Portal’s willingness to step outside received wisdom and continually explore. "You truly are. I don't think there's anyone that has been as willing to embrace existing practices, evolve them, create new practices, and to share so broadly..." (A, 37:42) - Portal’s Closing Words:
“Thank you very much. Thank you.” (B, 38:28)
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- On Movement’s Openness:
"It's an open system, it has no center, it's decentralized and it can be approached from anywhere. …I also want to encourage the self inquiry.” — Ido Portal, (00:46) - On Mastery & Virtuosity:
"It's true freedom because your focus is on the right thing. You don't point at the moon, look at your finger. And that's really, in essence, being a virtuoso for me..." — Ido Portal, (11:51) - On Playfulness in Science and Practice:
"We are the biggest improvisers around. Like that's what made us who we are, I think." — Ido Portal, (25:26) - On Linear Exercise & Exploration:
"People want the icing. There is no cake. There is no cake. And it's just like industries of icing, icing, icing. On what? What are you putting it on?" — Ido Portal, (33:16) - On Making It Your Own:
"With all the greatest information that I can give, the person will examine it and it might be not useful at all for him. This is the practitioner. Make it your own. Go practice..." — Ido Portal, (25:26) - On Individuality:
"The greatest compliment that one can give in science...we say you're an N of one. And you truly are." — Andrew Huberman, (37:42)
Key Timestamps for Noteworthy Segments
- 00:46 — Ido Portal: Approaching movement as an open system
- 02:47 — The importance of wordless, nonverbal experiences in movement
- 08:53 — Portal on habitual postures and the illusion of technical variety
- 11:51 — Discussion of mastery, virtuosity, and creative freedom
- 13:09 — Portal on the trainability of vision in movement
- 16:41 — The need to rebalance focus and panoramic visual attention
- 18:02 — Portal’s approach to auditory awareness in movement practice
- 21:36 — Emotions, identity, and the variation of the "walk"
- 25:26 — The necessity of improvisation and practitioner responsibility
- 28:05 — Touch, proximity, and controlling reactivity
- 33:16 — Critique of modern linear exercise, hacking, and playful exploration
- 37:42 — Huberman praises Portal's originality and legacy
Conclusion
This episode with Ido Portal offers a layered, experiential, and deeply philosophical understanding of movement. Listeners are encouraged to treat movement as an ongoing journey of self-inquiry: less about rigid categories or hacks, and more about mindful exploration, continuous experimentation, and acceptance of individuality. As Portal puts it, the invitation is to "explore, explore, explore"—making the practice of movement a living, evolving, and deeply personal art.