Huberman Lab
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Original episode
PodcastHuberman Lab
Publisher/creatorScicomm Media
Published
Shortcast updated
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About this episode
In this Huberman Lab Essentials episode, my guest is Dr. Elissa Epel, PhD, a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). We discuss how acute and chronic stress affect the body and brain, including their links to cellular aging and mitochondrial health. We also explain tools to reduce rumination, reframe stress as a challenge and build resilience, as well as how radical acceptance and a sense of purpose can help us navigate stressors we cannot change.
Read the full episode show notes at hubermanlab.com.
Thank you to our sponsors
AG1: https://drinkag1.com/huberman
Eight Sleep: https://eightsleep.com/huberman
ROKA: https://roka.com/huberman
Timestamps
(00:00:00) Elissa Epel
(00:00:22) Good & Bad Stress, Stress Responses
(00:01:55) Rumination, Body Awareness
(00:03:23) Tools: Mindset, Body & Environment
(00:04:51) Acute & Chronic Stress, Energy & Recovery
(00:07:44) Sponsor: Eight Sleep
(00:09:27) Healthy Aging, Purpose & Brain Health
(00:10:54) Stress Resilience, Threat vs. Challenge
(00:14:40) Tool: Reframe Stress, “Stress Shields”
(00:16:54) Sponsor: AG1
(00:18:30) Mitochondrial Health, Caregiving & Daily Mood
(00:21:24) Chronic Stress, Tool: Radical Acceptance
(00:25:19) Tool: “Drop the Rope”, Uncontrollable Stressors
(00:26:48) Uncertainty, Tool: Posture & Slow Breathing
(00:29:10) Sponsor: ROKA
(00:30:34) Taking Action vs. Letting Go
(00:32:55) Journaling, Narrative & Purpose
(00:34:15) Acknowledgements
Disclaimer & Disclosures
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Episode summary
This AI-generated Shortcast summary may omit nuance. Use the original episode when context or exact wording matters.
Welcome to Huberman Lab Essentials. I’m Andrew Huberman. Today, I want to get practical about stress: when it harms us, and when it can support health and performance.
Stress is the sense that life asks more than we have available. A response that rises and settles can protect us; trouble comes when thinking keeps it going. Our thoughts may be our most frequent stressor.
When I replay an upsetting conversation, should I reason through it or deliberately turn attention elsewhere?
First, notice how the mind treats every risk as a problem to solve. Check your body—clenched hands, perhaps—then use self-talk, movement, or a safer setting.
Feeling stressed is only one measure; your nervous system may stay watchful and burn energy without that label. For immovable events, including caregiving, acceptance reduces the cost of wishing reality different.
Like exercise, could manageable psychological challenge produce adaptation after recovery?
Yes. Repeated tolerable demands can build stress fitness. The same event becomes threat—“I’ll fail”—or challenge: “I can handle this.” Studies link challenge responses to better recovery and less inflammation. Find believable strength statements; sometimes, “be the lion,” not the gazelle.
Chronic caregiving strain linked to lower mitochondrial activity may help explain exhaustion. Still, ending the day with ease, confidence, or joy tracked with healthier patterns.
Ask whether you’re pulling a rope tied to a brick wall. Work when action helps; otherwise drop the rope, lean back, breathe slowly, and meet uncertainty with curiosity.
Thank you for making this work so usable. This is why the show remains a labor of love.
Thank you—and thank you for the podcast.
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