Latest / Callum Walker | Figuring It Out / #67 - The Science of Dopamine: How to Control Your Energy, Mood & Focus

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#67 - The Science of Dopamine: How to Control Your Energy, Mood & Focus · Callum Walker | Figuring It Out

• 0:00
  Callum Walker: Hello, everyone, and welcome to the podcast. I have some sad news, some really, really sad news. If you're watching this on YouTube, as my podcasts are recorded and put onto YouTube, then you will understand what I'm about to talk about. If you're listening, I'm really sorry. But I actually bought this brand new fancy little gadget.
• 0:23
  It's called a gimbal. So it's it's basically it's glorified selfie stick. Yeah? It's a selfie stick that's electronic. It sees your face and it will follow your face so that it, yeah, effectively kinda keeps you in camera the whole time and it's like it's electronic.
• 0:44
  It's better than it sounds. K? I have not really kinda make it made it sound particularly well. But basically, was trying to work it and it's just a faff. It wasn't working.
• 0:53
  Obviously, I've done it wrong. But yeah. So back to the handheld back to the handheld podcast episode, which is a shame, but hey, we move on and we adapt. We are currently in January, January. And most people, whether it's yourself or if you're a personal trainer, online coach, gym owner, your clients will mostly be kinda like, you know, feeling that sort of January sort of feel of like, right, not necessarily the new year, new me, but time to make a fresh start, time to do things better this year and I'm gonna try new things.
• 1:34
  That's really interesting because I would genuinely say this is the first year I've ever experienced the feeling that I'm currently experiencing now. And me and Alice have been sharing the same sort of thing in terms of we haven't felt this this January rush internally of gotta set my goals, gotta change up how I'm doing things, gotta like, what is my intention for the year? Haven't really kind of experienced this. And and it's interesting because we've had this conversation between the two of us. And I think we both just realized that it's a really stupid idea.
• 2:14
  It's a really stupid idea to expect yourself in January to try and be incredibly motivated to change, to have get up and go, to have drive. And yeah. Why is that? And I think that so many people kind of fail in January purely off the back of it's a really really shit month to start something new. Like, mean, you're just off the back of a two week stint where you've had time away from work, most likely.
• 2:49
  You've disengaged mentally. You've probably eaten different things. You've probably exercised differently. It's also pitch black. Like, it's pitch black when you wake up.
• 3:01
  It's pitch black when you it not even finish up your day. It's pitch black at 04:00. It's cold. It's wet. It's miserable.
• 3:08
  How can you expect yourself to have all of this get up and go and drive to change everything when the outside conditions or mother nature is basically telling you to kinda do the opposite? I think one of the things that I've really really enjoyed doing recently since moving down nearer to London is, on my Mondays, I've really made an effort, a conscious effort to change my environment instead of almost kinda like having my Mondays working from home. I've actually gone into Central London and the other day I went to the Natural History Museum. I went on my own. And it's just something I really really love doing.
• 3:44
  But it was interesting because I was looking at, you know, all of the animals and the way in which they live, the way in which they function very very much in line with nature. And how, you know, when it's when it's summer, they're up, they're out, they're spending more time doing things. They're hunting, they're harvesting. But then when it's winter, they're wintering. You know, a bear goes into hibernation during the winter.
• 4:14
  A squirrel gathers all of its nuts so that it can eat during the winter. And I think we have this unnecessary expectation of ourself to not fit in with the seasons. I mean, it's winter right now. It's cold. It's wet.
• 4:29
  It's miserable. This is a time to almost kind of like in my my idea anyway to to to recharge, to to almost kind of like plant my seeds, to put everything in the right sort of place to be able to then go and to be able then you know, when the summer comes along. So yes. That's just like a little realization. But anyway, why did I kind of bring January up?
• 4:56
  So I'm just gonna sit now on on a little log. It's very very muddy today. So I won't be doing much of a walk. But why did I bring January up? Well, yeah, basically, I I was kinda interested because everyone's doing these sort of like, you know, thirty day challenges, you know, whether someone's doing like, you know, dry January or I know some people are doing like a thirty day ice bath challenge or whatever.
• 5:21
  And I've never done challenges. I've never really kinda seen them as a way to like kick start things or whatever. But I, I don't know what it was. I was like, do you know what? I'm I'm really interested in doing a specific challenge.
• 5:35
  Now it's really, really hard to, for me to kind of find a challenge that I almost like And I really love how he very much kinda like ties things in, from a mentality perspective with utilizing health and fitness as a way to really, put yourself in the best possible physical and mental state. But I remember him kinda talking about potential challenges someone can do, and it was like, you know, intermittent fasting, ice baths, going for a walk exercise, yoga, all he was listing all of these things. And I was like, I do that. I do that. I do that.
• 6:21
  I do that. I that. I guess because, like, I've been so fascinated and driven to go and find, you know, the best tools that I can possibly have access to and fit into my lifestyle to really kind of improve my overall mental state. I've just kind of done so many things, but there was one I hadn't really done. And by hadn't done, mean haven't done consistently.
• 6:42
  There's one physiological tool that I have seen immense benefit from, but, just haven't kind of yeah. I got myself into a momentum where it becomes part of my daily life. So I was like, do you know what? I'll I'll go and give some form of challenge a go. Now what is that challenge?
• 7:01
  It was breath work. So for those of you who have been following the podcast for a while or know me, I'm a huge Wim Hof fan. I really, really am a huge Wim Hof fan. I started doing cold water therapy a long time ago. By a long time ago, I would say nearly three years ago.
• 7:21
  In terms of a physiological tool to automatically and rapidly change your mental state, jumping in an ice bath is certainly probably the most potent I've come across. But, if you're not familiar with Wim Hof's philosophy and his method, he also talks about, the importance of breath work and doing the doing the breathing. Breathe, motherfucker. That's what he says. It's quite funny because, like, you'll have all of these kinda like aficionados who were like, do I breathe through the nose?
• 7:56
  Do I breathe through the mouth? How do I do this? And he's like, just fucking breathe. I love that. I love that because, you know, there's a little lesson in that where, you know, we can get so wrapped up in the intricate details of how do I do this perfectly that we don't do the thing.
• 8:12
  Just do the thing and then figure it out as you come along. Sorry, as you go along. But anyway, he talks about the importance of breath work. And if you haven't done a Wim Hof breath work session before, yeah, it's it's an incredible experience, I must say. It is an incredible experience.
• 8:32
  It's, yeah. It's something I haven't really kind of felt before. The feeling is, intense. I know some people probably feel it a little bit more intense than I do. They can feel it from like an emotional perspective, but physically it is a very very very intense exercise.
• 8:51
  Now how how how how can it help you? Well, I'm I'm a week into my breath work challenge where I'm doing a Wim Hof breath work session every day for thirty days. Now, I say I'm a week in. I'm technically ten days in. But unfortunately, I had a couple of days that I missed because my two best friends came down.
• 9:12
  And I was playing golf and it just didn't fit in with my life, but I'm not beating myself up and going, oh my god, the challenge is over. I'm like, I'm going to do thirty days worth of breath work as closely lined as possible. So if you do find that you're committing to a specific time frame or whatever, just because you miss a day doesn't mean that you fucked it up. Remember, one hot day doesn't make a summer. It's a collection of all of these things.
• 9:35
  So, just because you had a day where you've missed out on something doesn't mean it's a failure. So again, you know, one of my favorite sayings recently has been it's only a failure until it becomes a lesson. So again, what's the lesson within that? You know, just because you've messed up once doesn't mean that you've messed up the whole plan. So anyway, kinda come back to the breathing side of things.
• 9:59
  So I've done I've done seven days so far. I'm on day 10. So today will be the the the the eighth day within a ten day period of doing it. And what's been my kind of feedback so far? I think, first of all, it yeah.
• 10:16
  In terms of your ability to become present, doing that breath work, doing a a Wim Hof style breath work where you heavily focus on the inhale and decrease the focus on the exhale. So it's very much a doing that repeatedly for a period of time. After the session, my ability to be present is significantly heightened. You know, you get very very intense feelings of tingles, warmth, potentially energy during the actual kind of breath work session. But I think the thing I've noticed the most has been the benefits carrying on into my daily life just almost kind of like my awareness has significantly increased.
• 11:09
  So being able to notice my feet touching the floor, I've certainly noticed my breath more. And I think if anything, what that's allowed me to do and can really really help you, has been if you're more of a emotional responder. So let's say that when things happen, you kind of snap in terms of your reaction. You very quickly react as opposed to respond to things. It has helped immensely because what it's done is it's almost kind of created a gap between stimulus and response.
• 11:43
  So what do I mean by that? Let's say that my partner, Alice, for example, goes and says something that I don't like that hurts me emotionally. Previously, would snap back, say something that I regret. Whereas what's interesting and again, this has only been within seven days. What's interesting is that instead of immediately snapping and responding, I've almost kind of had like a bit of a gap to go, hold on.
• 12:09
  You're about to say that and that was a lot about that was about to land you in shit. Let's not say that. Let's say something a little bit different to prevent any form of negative outcome happening. And most of the time that negative outcome happening is me being in the doghouse and I don't want to be in the doghouse. It's just created that gap to be able to see things more rationally, to be able to see things more logically, and I think that that is an incredibly powerful tool.
• 12:40
  Because again, I think there's a saying from Viktor Frankl where, he says between stimulus and response, there is a gap. Within that gap is our ability to choose our destiny. And I agree, because you're able to separate yourself from your own subconscious mind, from your own thoughts. And that's what I find exercise does. And by exercise, I also kind of really mean exercise in a more mindful way.
• 13:03
  So, you know, I've always kind of like trained with, headphones. I've trained almost kind of like, you know, listening to music all of the time. But more recently, it's been interesting because, I haven't really kinda trained with headphones on, and I've done a lot more kinda like mindful exercise. So when I've gone for a run, I've been outdoors, and I've really started to notice, like, you know, the sound of my feet, the the feeling of my feet on the floor, the sound of the birds. I've been able to kinda notice things around me and again just become more and more and more and more present.
• 13:35
  So yeah. So that's almost kinda like, you know, my initial feedback so far from, yeah, the first week of doing, Wim Hof breath work every day. And I think there's also a really kind of important tool for you as well here. You know, I I think that one of the best things that we can really do is use our body to put us in the state that we want to be in. So what do I mean by that?
• 13:59
  And again, kind of in line with the seasons here. You know, there there's a time to be alert and awake and aware, and there's a time to be more calm and, and relaxed and potentially tired. You know, this is a time to go and this is a time to stop. And I think that, like, what's become clearer and clearer and clearer for me has been using our physiology, using our body in a way to put us in the state that we want to be in. So something as simple as, for example, if I want to be more awake and alert, what I want to do is really kind of spike adrenaline.
• 14:34
  So how can I do that? I can do high intensity exercise. I can also jump in an ice bath. But what I can also do in line with the breath is focus on my inhales. So if I wanna be more alert, awake, and aware, what I wanna do is spike adrenaline.
• 14:51
  I wanna increase adrenaline. So, again, another thing that does that is coffee. So coffee makes you more alert, awake, and aware. And partly the way that it does that is by increasing adrenaline and increasing dopamine. And remember, dopamine gets converted into adrenaline.
• 15:08
  So, so yeah. So by using the breath and focusing on inhales, inhales, I can actually kind of put myself in a place where I'm increasing my level of alertness. Now how do I do that? Well, what's interesting is that when you are inhale dominant, so when I'm focusing more on longer inhales, so what that does is that it increases the secretion and the production of adrenaline. So when I want to be more awake, when I want to be more alert and focused and driven, I will switch up my breathing to focus on inhales.
• 15:49
  But then on the flip side, if I want to be more relaxed, calm, and chilled out, what I'm going to do is instead of jumping in an ice bath and going in the cold, I could go into a sauna and go in the heat. So what's interesting is that when you end on a sauna, when you do a sauna afterwards, it very much kind of relaxes you. But on the flip side, when we're looking at the breath, whereas focusing on the inhale very much kind of increases our adrenaline, increases our drive and that, awakeness and alertness by focusing more on the exhale. So instead of going, what I can do is I can by focusing on my exhalations, what that does is it decreases the production of adrenaline. It activates what's known as our parasympathetic nervous system, which calms us down, which chills us out.
• 16:48
  So if you want to be in more of a relaxed state, so before I'm going to sleep, very much kind of focus on being exhale dominant. So I focus on doing a deep breath, but then a very long exhale that calms me down. So again, whenever you're experiencing a stressful situation and you need to be more calm, you need to be more relaxed, you need to be more centered and grounded, switch up your breathing. Focus on the exhalation. Whether but on the flip side, if you want to be more alert, awake, and aware, focus on the inhalation.
• 17:27
  So, know, again, if we kinda like, you know, wrap this whole thing up, this is time to be awake. This is time to be asleep. When you want to be more awake, alert, and aware, utilize physiological tools. If it's high intensity exercise, if it's doing cold water therapy, if it's focusing more on your inhales to increase adrenaline, then that's where we can start to utilize those tools to make us more awake and alert. Whereas if on the flip side, I want to be more calm, I want to slow down as opposed to speed up, I'll go in the heat.
• 18:00
  I'll have a hot bath or a sauna or a hot shower. Or I will focus on using the breath by using exhales because that activates our parasympathetic nervous system. It calms us down. So almost kinda see it as there's time to go fast and the time to go slow. And what I'm going to do is use my body to put myself in the state that I want to be in.
• 18:25
  If I want to be fast, I will do this. If I want want to be slow, I will do this. So yeah. So that's been my main lesson so far of the last kinda like seven to ten days of doing my breath work. And also, you know, just to kinda wrap up the theme of January.
• 18:44
  You know, I just spoken about this where in terms of like my real kind of goals and where I'm really kind of going like, right, okay, you know, I'm going to drive and go go go go go. Again, going to more fast mode as opposed to slow mode. What I'm going to do is really kinda start doing that around the spring time. One of the things sorry. Always actually kinda I always say things and then remember things going back.
• 19:07
  Again, if we kinda look at like from an exercise point of view, I've kinda spoken about, you know, there's a time to be fast and time to be slow. You can use exercise for that. You can use your breathing. But also you can regulate your nutrition to be able to do that. So again, if we kinda look at two neurotransmitters, two chemicals that the body really likes to use to get into this state, have dopamine and then we have serotonin.
• 19:29
  If we look at dopamine, dopamine is very much go, move, move towards this specific thing. In order for us to have movement, we require production in the presence of dopamine. But on the flip side, we have serotonin, where serotonin is very much kind of responsible for staying put, being content, staying here. So effectively, we kind of look at it as dopamine is go and be fast, whereas serotonin is slow and and stay where we are. Now what's interesting is that you can consume certain foods or you can eat your meals in a specific way to increase the production of dopamine or to increase the production of serotonin.
• 20:11
  So what's interesting is that when you are eating foods that are higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates, specifically higher in the amino acid tyrosine, what happens is that that can increase the production of dopamine. So during the day when I wanna be more awake, alert, and aware, I will eat food without carbs. Whereas in the evening, if I want to, again, increase the production of serotonin, I will go and have foods that are high in L tryptophan, which is an amino acid that gets converted into serotonin, or I'll eat foods that contain serotonin. One of those is a kiwi. So I'll eat those foods higher in carbohydrate in the evening, to increase the production of serotonin and calm myself down.
• 20:58
  But again, of in more of an elongated sort of like phase. It's the winter right now. I'm eating more carbs than I normally would, because I want the production of that serotonin because I'm chilling out. I'm calmer. I'm slower.
• 21:12
  Whereas when it comes to the spring and the summer, I'll be more ketogenic Well, I probably won't be having as many carbohydrates because naturally that's going to increase my adrenaline, it's going to increase my dopamine, and it's going to put me in the state that I want to be in to be able to do the thing that I want to do at that time. So again, we can really, really use all of these tools. We use our body. We use our nutrition. We use other physiological things to put ourself in the situation that we want to be in so that we can do what we want at the best of our ability.
• 21:43
  And it's interesting. So I'm trying to open the gate here. It's interesting because I was on a podcast a few weeks back with my good friend Michael Lennon, who's also part of ECA. So part of ECA. He is ECA.
• 21:56
  I am part of ECA. Where yeah. He asked me this question of what is your definition of high performance? And I think that, again, with that, performance is very much being able to do the best that you possibly can. Yeah.
• 22:15
  Actually, my definition is changing here. Yeah. Sorry. What was the answer that I gave? The answer that I gave was I think high performance is being able to do the best that you possibly can for something that you legitimately enjoy.
• 22:28
  So when I'm trying to execute tasks that I really enjoy, I'm able to do the best that I possibly can and enjoy that task at the best possible level. And I think that being able to utilize all of these physiological tools to do that is a very, very beautiful thing that we have available to us. But you know what? It doesn't cost anything. How cool is that?
• 22:47
  Never forget, if every one of your clients gave you just one new client, you've doubled your business.