Managing Addictions and Raising Resilient Children

Tools to overcome addictions and strategies for raising strong, adaptable kids through natural movement and play

April 24, 2025

64% of the best health hacks shared on podcasts go ignored

Each week, I pull the most important protocols and supplement recommendations from Huberman, Attia, and other experts and share what you missed in a 3-minute letter.

How to manage addictions

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM HUBS

This week's episode made me realize how much of addiction is not about the substance or the screen, but about our ability (or inability) to sit with discomfort.

Ryan Soave and Huberman talked about how addiction recovery starts with learning to tolerate distress. In the moment but also with tools you can build in your everyday life. Let me show you how this works.

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Addiction is a solution, not the problem: A dangerous one, but still just an attempt to find relief from pain. Soave says that an addiction is about "liking the effect produced" which is fundamentally about relief.

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When addiction takes over: When we face stress or triggers, our body releases adrenaline, which temporarily shuts down our rational brain. During this brief window, addictive urges take over because the part of our brain that would normally override them is offline. Most relapses happen in this critical period.

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Balance, not elimination, is the key: The goal isn't to prevent the stress response, but to activate your body's calming system alongside it. Recovery involves training your body to maintain clear thinking even during stress, not avoiding stress altogether.

Breaking addiction cycles requires two approaches that work together. Proactive tools are practices you schedule regularly to build your capacity to handle discomfort over time. Reactive tools are your emergency responses you deploy when your thinking brain goes dark. The most effective recovery combines both approaches.

✅ PROACTIVE TOOLS

1. Cold exposure: cold trains your body to handle discomfort without escaping it. Start with brief exposures (1-3 minutes) and don't dry off immediately to maximize benefits.

2. Yoga nidra or meditation: they build your nervous system's ability to return to balance after stress. 🔗

3. Community engagement: support groups or 12-step meetings can make a big impact. Don't isolate yourself or those around you that suffer from addictions. 🔗

4. HALT prevention: check if you're Hungry, Angry, Lonely, or Tired. These physical states increase vulnerability to relapse.

⚡ REACTIVE TOOLS

1. The 20-second rule: in the 20 seconds after an adrenaline spike. During those you're essentially operating without your rational brain. If you can just ride out those 20 seconds, you're far less likely to "do something stupid." 🔗

2. Breathwork: deep, slow breathing activates your body's calming response during moments of stress or craving. 🔗

3. Immediate outreach: have 2-3 support people you can contact immediately when triggered. The act of reaching out can help you survive the crucial 20-second window.

4. Change your environment: moving or changing location can break that cycle movement and location change can break the "I need it now" feeling.

🎧 LISTEN TO FULL EPISODE

Let Your Kids Be Wild (and Strong)

WHAT WE LEARNED FROM KELLY STARRETT

If you've never heard of Kelly Starrett, here's what matters: he's the guy professional athletes call when their million-dollar bodies start breaking down. Olympic gold medalists, NFL quarterbacks, NBA superstars all end up in his office for tips on movement and mobility.

In his latest podcast episode, Kelly unpacks data showing that our obsession with structured youth sports is producing a generation of injury-prone kids who can't even fall properly.

Here's how to raise more resilient children:

✅ WHAT TO DO

• Let kids play multiple sports until age 12. This builds a foundation of general athletic skills that will help them in the future.

• Set up a backyard play area with mats, cones, and dodgeballs. Creates opportunities for active play that promotes coordination and development naturally 🔗

• Start Olympic lifts around age 12. Children are more physically capable and receptive to learning technique at this stage. (Andy Galpin agrees).

• Let them fall on soft surfaces. Mats, grass. It helps them build confidence in movement and teaches how to fall safely. 🔗

• Encourage rough and tumble play. Helps kids learn physical boundaries, develop strength, and build resilience. Wrestling with siblings actually teaches important lessons 🔗

⛔ WHAT TO AVOID

• Don't cut play time for more academics. Movement enhances learning. Less physical activity actually reduces academic performance 🔗

• Avoid structured training for young kids. Diminishes joy of movement and natural skill development. 🔗

• Don't keep kids inside during bad weather. Exposure to elements builds adaptability. 🔗

• Avoid using food as rewards. Creates negative associations with nutrition and eating habits. 🔗

• Don't force competition on young children. Can kill intrinsic motivation. Some kids just want to move without keeping score 🔗

Kids already know how to move. We just need to give them more chances to do it.

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How to manage addictions

Let Your Kids Be Wild (and Strong)

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