Using Your Mind to Control Your Physical Health & Longevity | Dr. Ellen Langer

Andrew Huberman

Feb 3, 2025

Episode description

In this episode, my guest is Dr. Ellen Langer, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Harvard University and the world’s leading researcher on the mind-body connection and the power our thinking has on our physical health. She explains how specific ways of framing and asking questions about the world shape our physical health and rate of aging. Dr. Langer also explains how our perception of time and control significantly impact our rate of physical healing, hormones, immune system, and longevity. She describes mindfulness as a way of framing life, not simply a meditation or other practice, and discusses data showing how to use one’s mind to overcome health challenges and achieve remarkable outcomes. Dr. Langer is a luminary and pioneer in researching the relationship between the mind and body with scientific rigor. Her work and our discussion are applicable to women and men of all ages and walks of life.

Read the full episode show notes: https://go.hubermanlab.com/nbPy451

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*Dr. Ellen Langer*
Website: https://www.ellenlanger.me
Harvard academic profile: https://psychology.fas.harvard.edu/people/ellen-langer
Books: https://amzlink.to/az0fOvqL588CY
Blogs: https://www.ellenlanger.me/blogs
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ellenjlanger/
X: https://x.com/ellenjl
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ellen.langer
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenjlanger

*Timestamps*
00:00:00 Dr. Ellen Langer
00:02:57 Mindfulness
00:06:53 Mindless, Focus; Being Mindful
00:11:03 Sponsors: BetterHelp & Helix Sleep
00:13:41 Meditation
00:14:47 Choices & Longer Life; Mind & Body Unity, Exercise, Nocebo & Placebo Effect
00:25:39 Self, Mind-Body Interconnectedness
00:32:16 Acupuncture; Cancer & Healing, Probabilities, Tool: Tragedy or Inconvenience?
00:42:18 Sponsors: AG1 & Joovv
00:44:46 Brain & Predictions, Control & Mindlessness; Resolutions
00:48:09 “Should” Thoughts, Multitasking, Making Moments Matter, Work-Life Balance
00:56:55 Sleep, Stress, Tool: Perceived Sleep & Performance
01:01:58 Counterclockwise Study
01:06:15 Pioneering a Field, Change, Decisions & Uncertainty
01:16:47 Sponsor: Function
01:18:35 Making Sense of Behavior, Forgiveness, Blame
01:25:35 Technology, Human Drive; Tool: Noticing & Appreciating New Things
01:32:50 Art, Mindfulness, Education, Awards
01:39:30 Labels, Borderline Effect; Identity, “I Am”, Learning & Age
01:49:44 Sponsor: Our Place
01:50:56 Memory Loss, Vision; Chronic Disease, Symptom Variability
02:01:22 Deadlines, Constraints; Scientific Method & Absolutes
02:06:47 Covid Crisis, Uncertainty, Multiple Answers
02:12:06 Age & Decline?, Experience Levels & “Disinhibited”
02:18:18 Justice, Drama; Life-Changing Events & Perspective
02:25:45 Death, Spontaneous Cancer Remission; Will to Live
02:31:59 Mindful Hospital, Stress, Burnout, Tool: Mindful Checklist
02:36:32 Noticing, Choices
02:41:16 Coddling, Fragility, Social Media, Money
02:48:26 Tool: Playfulness
02:52:08 Nostalgia, Mindfulness; Tool: Gamifying Life; Parenthood & Work
02:59:17 Healing & Time Perception, Awareness & Neuroplasticity, Imagine Possibilities
03:07:12 Reviews & Critical Feedback, Others’ Opinions
03:12:00 Enlightenment, Flexibility, Expansiveness; Everyone Song
03:19:47 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow & Reviews, Sponsors, YouTube Feedback, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter

#HubermanLab #Science #Health

Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer

Mindsip insights from this episode:

Prioritize perceived sleep over actual hours for better functioning

Cognitive and biological functioning follow the perceived amount of sleep a person gets, not the actual hours slept, as shown in a study using a manipulated clock.

#cognition

#sleep

Experience living younger to reverse biological aging

When elderly men lived for a week in an environment retrofitted to 20 years earlier, they showed reversals in biological markers of aging, including improved vision, hearing, and strength.

#aging

#biological-age

Transform work mindset to achieve weight loss and better health

A study on chambermaids found that simply changing their mindset to view their work as exercise led to weight loss and improved blood pressure, without any change in their actual activity.

#exercise

#weight-loss

Reframe stress as inconvenience, not tragedy

To manage stress, ask yourself if the situation is a true tragedy or merely an inconvenience; you'll find it's almost never a tragedy.

#resilience

#stress

Shift perception of time to accelerate healing process

A study found that physical wounds healed faster when subjects perceived time as moving faster, demonstrating that our perception of time can directly influence physiological healing.

#healing

#mind

Leverage expectations to enhance vision

When the standard eye chart was reversed so letters got bigger instead of smaller, people were able to see letters they previously could not, suggesting expectations influence vision.

#mind

#vision

Wear uniforms to promote health and reduce age-related stress

Archival research suggests that people who wear uniforms throughout their careers are healthier, possibly because uniforms remove the constant age-related cues associated with changing clothing styles.

#aging

#stress

Understand perspectives to transcend blame and forgiveness

To forgive someone, you must first blame them; a more powerful approach is to understand their perspective, which removes the need for blame and forgiveness altogether.