Why Isn't Everyone Doing This? with Emily Fletcher

104. Why Isn’t Everyone Feeling Safe in Their Body? with Dr. Dave Rabin

Jan 6, 2026

Join Dr. Dave Rabin, a board-certified psychiatrist and neuroscientist, as he explores the crucial role of safety in healing. He delves into how touch communicates safety through the vagus nerve and why vulnerability is essential for transformation. Dr. Rabin shares insights on the power of psychedelics, emphasizing that true healing starts with the nervous system. He also discusses practical self-touch techniques and the innovative Apollo device that simulates soothing vibrations, merging ancient wisdom with modern neuroscience.

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INSIGHT

Touch Acts As Instant Safety Signal

Touch is a hardwired safety signal that calms the vagus nerve and shifts the whole mind-body state.
Dr. Dave Rabin calls this instant perspective change “magic” because it can transform mood rapidly.

INSIGHT

Trust Your Body Over Devices

Wearables and lab measures are training wheels, not replacements for bodily intuition.
Dr. Dave Rabin urges people to learn to listen to internal signals over raw device readouts.

ADVICE

Practice Self-Touch Daily

Use non-sexual self-touch like hugging yourself, rubbing your chest, or rubbing your ears to activate soothing pathways.
Try accessible practices such as Qigong, breathwork, or deliberate self-touch when others aren't available.

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What if the missing ingredient in healing isn’t effort, insight, or intensity — but safety? In this episode of Why Isn’t Everyone Doing This?, Emily sits down with psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and stress researcher Dr. Dave Rabin for a deep, grounding conversation about trauma, healing, psychedelics, and the nervous system.

Dr. Dave explains why the body must feel safe before real transformation can occur, how vulnerability is not a weakness but a biological gateway to healing, and why many modern approaches to growth fail because they bypass the nervous system entirely. Together, they explore the science behind touch, oxytocin, the vagus nerve, and the body’s innate pharmacy — and why regulation, not catharsis, is what allows change to last.

This conversation bridges cutting-edge neuroscience with ancient wisdom, reframing healing as a process of listening, softening, and restoring trust in the body. If you’ve been doing the work — meditating, journaling, therapy, breathwork — but still feel tense, guarded, or dysregulated, this episode offers a radically compassionate reframe.

In This Episode, We Explore: •Why safety is the foundation of all healing •How the nervous system responds to touch and presence •What “psychedelic” really means (beyond substances) •Why vulnerability is biologically necessary for change •The role of oxytocin, the vagus nerve, and regulation •Ancient medicine meeting modern neuroscience •Learning to trust the body over external metrics

Key Moments: 00:00:00 — Why vulnerability is the gateway to healing 00:04:18 — Redefining “psychedelic” through neuroscience 00:09:42 — Why safety must come before transformation 00:15:36 — Touch as the fastest language of the nervous system 00:22:14 — Oxytocin, trust, and the biology of calm 00:29:08 — Why willpower doesn’t heal trauma 00:36:41 — Eastern wisdom finally validated by Western science 00:43:27 — Self-touch, co-regulation, and restoring agency 00:50:12 — Listening to the body vs. outsourcing intuition to devices 00:57:19 — Building safety as a daily practice 01:04:03 — What real integration actually looks like 01:11:22 — Healing as remembering how to feel safe again

About Dr. Dave Rabin Dr. Dave Rabin is a board-certified psychiatrist, neuroscientist, and co-founder of Apollo Neuroscience. He has spent over 15 years researching chronic stress, trauma, and non-invasive healing modalities, including MDMA-assisted therapy, touch-based regulation, and nervous system resilience. Website: www.drdave.io Instagram: @drdaverabin

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