Silence Your "Lizard Brain" and Fall Asleep Fast

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Kennedy Saves the World

Episode: Silence Your "Lizard Brain" and Fall Asleep Fast
Host: Kennedy (FOX News Podcasts)
Date: June 25, 2026

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Episode Overview

In this insightful solo episode, Kennedy takes listeners on her ongoing personal quest to achieve better sleep—a struggle familiar to many. With her signature wit and candor, she revisits the topic of sleep hygiene, sharing the latest tweaks, hacks, supplements, and routines that have actually helped her fall asleep faster and stay asleep. Kennedy mixes practical advice with relatable confession, banishing sleep myths and focusing on science-backed habits while also poking fun at fads and her own nightly rituals.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Universal Struggle for Sleep

• Kennedy acknowledges the critical importance of sleep and admits it's an area she revisits frequently because of its impact on health, productivity, and mood.
  • She relates her personal need for “so much” sleep and describes the frustration of insomnia or waking up in the middle of the night.

    "So sleep, for whatever reason, I require it so much. And there are times where it almost completely eludes me." (00:14)

• She notes that running low on sleep makes her “brain start to get very, very fuzzy” and interferes with her ability to function optimally.

2. Hacks Kennedy Has Tried (and Abandoned)

• Dark Showers: Taking a hot shower in the dark for 5 minutes before bed.
  • She found it works, but dislikes the extra effort and mess before bed.

    “A nighttime shower is great, but it ends up extending the getting ready for bed process by sometimes a little too much.” (01:33)

• Viking Breathing: Described as a counting exercise that occupies the mind. Helpful, but not her favorite.
• Deep Breathing: Notes its value, but sought more consistent results.

3. Kennedy’s New “Sleep Stack”

Kennedy focuses on three main habits or tools for helping “silence the lizard brain”—her term for the primitive, anxious thoughts that spring up at night.

1. Wearing Socks to Bed (02:38)

• Kennedy follows the science that warming feet helps lower core body temperature, which sends sleep-friendly signals to the brain.

  "If your feet are warm, that means your core temperature will cool down. When it cools down, it signals to your brain that it is okay to fall asleep." (02:41)

• Acknowledges some people find socks uncomfortable—if that’s the case, “don’t even try.”

2. Magnesium Glycinate Supplement (02:52 & 05:32)

• Kennedy takes two capsules of Thorne magnesium glycinate about 30 minutes before bed.
  • She credits this with delivering the most significant improvement in sleep:

    “That, I think, is the one thing because I’ve been taking it for a couple months now and I have had so much more restful sleep, not waking up in the middle of the night.” (03:25)

• She stresses this is not a drug or addictive and recommends it for anyone struggling with sleep.

3. 4-7-8 Breathing Method (04:58)

• This controlled breathing technique (inhale 4 seconds, hold 7, exhale 8 through mouth as if through a straw) induces the parasympathetic nervous system and lowers cortisol.

  "If you do five cycles of that after your magnesium glycinate, it will allow your body and your mind to let go and let you fall deeply asleep." (05:24)

• Kennedy credits this habit with helping quiet nighttime worries and the "lizard brain."

4. Bonus: Silk Sleep Mask (06:50)

• She mentions a “thick puffy silk sleep mask” as an indulgent but highly effective addition.

  “…because it wraps around your head, including your ears, and it gives you just enough pressure... there’s something about pressure on your eyes that allows them to relax and go to sleep.” (07:08)

• Her favorite is the “drowsy silk sleep mask” (not a paid endorsement).

4. Practical Reflections on Insomnia & the 'Lizard Brain'

• Kennedy discusses the phenomenon of waking up in the night with swirling, anxious thoughts (bills, stress, etc.).

  “…when the evolved part of your brain is deep asleep and the lizard brain wakes up and is like, hey, I know what, let's panic about things that we have no control over.” (06:08)

• She argues these new habits help to let those worries go and return to sleep more easily.

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Memorable Quotes & Moments

• “If socks are annoying for you to sleep in, you won't do it. So don't even try.” (02:46)
• “I am not a fan of drugs. I don't even like taking Benadryl. I took a Benadryl on a flight to Fiji and... I wasn't mad at it because it was a 10 and a half hour flight from LA. But the magnesium supplement has been so helpful and so beneficial...” (05:40)
• “That is my sleep stack: socks, 4-7-8 breathing, magnesium glycinate. I want you to try them. No harm, no foul. This is not something that will trip you up or get you addicted.” (06:28)
• "I wish you pleasant sleep because good deep sleep really supercharges your brain and the rest of your day and it makes all the difference in the world.” (08:00)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:09 – Introduction & importance of sleep
• 01:20 – Kennedy’s past sleep hacks (dark showers, Viking breathing)
• 02:38 – “Three things that actually work” introduction
  • 02:38 – Wearing socks to bed
  • 02:52 – Magnesium glycinate supplement
• 04:58 – The 4-7-8 breathing technique explained
• 06:08 – Navigating "lizard brain" anxiety at night
• 06:50 – Silk sleep mask recommendation
• 08:00 – Final encouragement and closing thoughts

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Tone & Language

The entire episode resonates with Kennedy’s humorous, down-to-earth, and energetic approach. She’s candid about her own struggles (“my brain starts to get very, very fuzzy”), pokes fun at health trends, and is openly enthusiastic about practical hacks that actually work. The advice is realistic, reassuring, and never preachy, with a tone best described as “relatable science-backed experimentation.”

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Summary

Kennedy’s episode is a relatable and practical guide to improving sleep without gimmicks or medication. Her “sleep stack”—wearing socks, taking magnesium glycinate, practicing 4-7-8 breathing, and using a weighted silk sleep mask—is framed as effective, accessible, and free from side effects or dependency. This episode is especially valuable for anyone wrestling with insomnia or those seeking simple, actionable changes to silence anxiety-driven “lizard brain” thoughts at night. Kennedy’s trademark humor and honesty make the advice all the more compelling.

Transcript

[A]

Foreign.

[B]

Hello and welcome to this episode of Kennedy Saves the World. I revisit this topic several times a year because it is so critically important. It is the most important thing you can do pretty much during your day, and that is sleep. So sleep, for whatever reason, I require it so much. And there are times where it almost completely eludes me. And part of that is behavioral, Part of that is the way I plan my life. And sometimes I do too much and don't factor in enough sleep. And then there are times where I am almost so exhausted and my nervous system is just bombarded. And even if I can fall asleep, I wake up at three in the morning for an hour and a half and that is a bummer. So I am constantly looking for hacks and trends and tips and ways to actually fall asleep and stay asleep because it makes such a huge difference as, you know, when you get a full seven to eight hours of sleep a night, when you try and skate by on six, at least for me, my brain starts to get very, very fuzzy and doesn't have the same grabbing mechanism that it does when I am well rested. So. But how do you get well rested? I have figured out a few things that actually work because as you know, as I've talked about before, I've tried everything. So there will be reels and trends that I see. Like dark showers where you take literally a warm to hot shower in the dark for five minutes before you go to bed and somehow it's supposed to signal your body that it's time to go to sleep. That works, but it's also a pain because you have to towel off. And if you're like me, you have to use your La Roche posay urea lotion mixed with your ordinary glycolic and slather that all over your skin and let it air dry. And it just, you know, a nighttime shower is great, but it ends up extending the getting ready for bed process by sometimes a little too much. Sometimes she just want to go to bed. So I'm no longer doing the dark shower, the Viking breathing I was doing a little bit, but you can Google that and find out what it is. And it, I think what that does, it's just a counting exercise that keeps your brain kind of occupied and bored long enough to finally let go. I think that's what that is. There is something to deep breathing. But I have found three things lately and I'm kind of setting the other stuff aside that I've talked about in the past. Three things that I think actually work One, you wear socks to bed because if your feet are warm, that means your core temperature will cool down. When it cools down, it signals to your brain that it is okay to fall asleep. I find that the socks actually work. If socks are annoying for you to sleep in, you won't do it. So don't even try. Number two, and this has been very important for me, I take two magnesium. I don't know if it's glycanate or glycinate. It doesn't matter. G, L Y C I N A T E. I use the brand Thorne. I get it on Amazon. I take two a night about a half hour before bed with the rest of my vitamins and nighttime I take vitamin adkin, I take omega, I take raw calcium and I take the two magnesium glycinate glycanate capsules. And that I think is the one thing because I've been taking it for a couple months now and I have had so much more restful sleep, not waking up in the middle of the night. And I think that has something to do with it. Don't go anywhere more. Kennedy Saves the World right after this.

[A]

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[B]

The third thing is four, seven, eight breathing. And this is something that I do throughout the day because it activates your parasympathetic nervous system, which is the thing that gets you out of fight or flight. And it's also the thing that will reduce your cortisol because if you have too much cortisol in your system, that will also disrupt your sleep. So 4, 7, 8 breathing is where you breathe in slowly for four counts, you hold your breath for seven counts and then you breathe out like you're blowing through a straw. The four in through the nose, four counts, hold your breath for seven counts and breathe out like you're breathing through a straw through your mouth for eight counts. And that if you, if you do five cycles of that after your magnesium glycinate, it will allow your body and your mind to let go and let you fall deeply asleep. And I swear the magnesium supplement lets you stay asleep and it feels natural. I have never taken sleep aids. I am not a fan of drugs. I don't even like taking Benadryl. I took a Benadryl on a flight to Fiji and that helped. So I wasn't mad at it because it was like a 10 and a half hour flight from LA. But the magnesium supplement has been so helpful and so beneficial and that with the deep breathing and the socks, I think that that is my new sleep stack. And I am constantly going back to the. Well, if, you know, if, if I have two or three nights where I have that hour and a half of sort of insomnia and interrupted sleep and, you know, God only knows what it is. It could be too much caffeine late in the day, it could be bills that are due. It could be, you know, life stress and the little ruminations that wake you up, that normally when your prefrontal cortex is firing on all cylinders during the day in your waking life, you can kind of calm those things down. But when the evolved part of your brain is deep asleep and the lizard brain wakes up and is like, hey, I know what, let's panic about things that we have no control over. If you can let go of those through the mindful breathing, in addition to the thing that calms down your nervous system and allows you to sleep, that for me is the stack. And I know that is like a trendy, silly term that everyone uses for their peptides and their supplements, blah, blah, blah. So I'm just gonna go ahead and use it. That is my sleep stack socks478 breathing magnesium glycinate. I want you to try them. No harm, no foul. This is not something that will trip you up or get you addicted. And I know it works because I ran out of the magnesium and I forgot to bring it with me when I went on an international trip lately. And that, seriously, who. That helped me sleep. The other thing that is, this is an indulgent purchase. A silk cushiony sleep mask. And if you can find a silk mask, because it wraps around your head, including your ears, and it gives you just enough pressure. And I think there's something about pressure on your eyes that allows them to relax and go to sleep. So I do sleep with a a thick puffy silk sleep mask. And I probably have five different sleep masks under my bed that I have been trying and rotating and so far I like the drowsy silk sleep mask best. No one is paying me. They totally should. Don't you think people should pay me for these phenomenal super scientific endorsements? Well, there you go. So I wish you pleasant sleep because good deep sleep really supercharges your brain and the rest of your day and it makes all the difference in the world. If you can learn to let your worries go at nighttime while you're sleeping, then you are much better prepared to tackle them when your brain and your body are fully awake and ready for action. This has been Kennedy Saves the World Night night. I'm Kennedy. Listen ad free with a Fox News Podcast plus subscription on Apple Podcasts and Amazon Prime. Members can listen to this show ad free free on the Amazon Music app. Oh, go ahead and leave me a review while you're there. I'd love to hear what you have to say. You've been listening to Kennedy Saves the World on the Fox News Podcast Network.