Navigating Stress Through Self-Awareness and Techniques

This chapter explores the significance of the default mode network and heart rate variability in managing stress. It emphasizes practical techniques such as breathwork, mindfulness, and experiential therapies, offering insights into the unique challenges faced by high-profile clients dealing with public scrutiny.

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This episode reveals the ancient health protocols Western medicine forgot, and how they are now being used to heal stress, rewire the nervous system, and radically improve human performance.

Watch this episode on YouTube for the full video experience:

https://www.youtube.com/@DaveAspreyBPR

Host Dave Asprey sits down with Mona Sharma, a renowned Ayurvedic practitioner, celebrity wellness expert, and functional medicine advocate who grew up in a Canadian ashram. Mona combines ancient Vedic practices with cutting-edge science to help her clients, including Will Smith and other high-profile figures, achieve high performance, emotional resilience, and deep-rooted healing. She translates the 5,000-year-old system of Ayurveda into practical strategies anyone can use to optimize health in today’s chaotic world.

Together, they explore how Ayurvedic biohacking techniques like breathwork, circadian alignment, detoxification, and herbal medicine are now being validated by data in neuroscience, mitochondrial biology, and functional medicine. They also dive into trauma, stress rewiring, nervous system resilience, and how to build your own modern “ashram” for healing and longevity.

You’ll learn how to shift from hypervigilance into calm, how to optimize vagal tone, and how ancient practices like tongue scraping and ghee detox intersect with modern tools like cold therapy, nootropics, sleep optimization, and self-quantification.

If you care about biohacking, neurohacking, longevity, or want to understand how emotional states shape mitochondrial function, this episode is packed with grounded insight and powerful takeaways. It offers a masterclass in approaching health through both spiritual and systems biology perspectives, while avoiding burnout and noise.

You’ll also hear how Mona:

• Reversed her own heart condition after failed surgeries and medication

• Guides high-stress clients using Ayurvedic principles and modern lab testing

• Connects vagal nerve stimulation, breathwork, and emotional detox for lasting nervous system regulation

• Uses personalized nutrition, pulse reading, and lifestyle upgrades to treat the root cause

• Brings ancient healing into modern wellness spaces like Upgrade Labs

This is essential listening for anyone exploring Smarter Not Harder protocols, blending functional medicine with high-level biohacking, and finding sustainable ways to enhance vitality without relying on pharmaceuticals or performance fads.

Dave Asprey is a four-time New York Times bestselling author, founder of Bulletproof Coffee, and the father of biohacking. With over 1,000 interviews and 1 million monthly listeners, The Human Upgrade is the top podcast for people who want to take control of their biology, extend their longevity, and optimize every system in the body and mind. Each episode features cutting-edge insights in health, performance, neuroscience, supplements, nutrition, hacking, emotional intelligence, and conscious living.

Episodes are released every Tuesday and Thursday, where Dave asks the questions no one else dares and brings you real tools to become more resilient, aware, and high performing.

SPONSORS:

-Calroy | Head to https://calroy.com/dave for an exclusive discount.

-ARMRA | Go to https://tryarmra.com/ and use the code DAVE to get 15% off your first order.

Resources:

• Dave Asprey’s New Book - Heavily Meditated: https://daveasprey.com/heavily-meditated/

• Mona’s Website – https://www.monasharma.com/

• Mona’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/monasharma/?hl=en

• 2025 Biohacking Conference: https://biohackingconference.com/2025

• Danger Coffee: https://dangercoffee.com

• Dave Asprey’s Website: https://daveasprey.com

• Dave Asprey’s Linktree: https://linktr.ee/daveasprey

• Upgrade Collective – Join The Human Upgrade Podcast Live: https://www.ourupgradecollective.com