Our Favorite Biohacks For an Optimized Mind and Body

The Qualia team is made up of scientists, medical practitioners, biohackers, and health conscious creators sharing our knowledge and techniques to help optimize the quality of your life—beginning with your mind.

Each year we research the latest neurohacking and biohacking trends and when we find a technique or tool that holds promise of increasing peak performance, we test that hack in our daily lives. 

Over the past year our team and members of the collective have tried numerous biohacks and we are excited to present you with our favorite biohacks for an optimized mind and body. Why? Because, in the words of Charles Darwin,“In the long history of humankind those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.” 

Here’s to prevailing, health optimizers.

In the long history of humankind those who learned to collaborate and improvise most effectively have prevailed.- Chares Darwin

Our Favorite Biohacks For an Optimized Mind and Body

Cold Therapy

"Cold therapy has become one of my favorite biohacks. I have a top opening freezer filled up with water that I use regularly. I feel a big difference in terms of recovery time from exercise but the biggest benefit for me is the clarity of mind it brings. 1-2 minutes in a cold plunge makes me much more alert and brings a sharpness to my thinking that lasts at least a few hours." - James Schmachtenberger, Co-founder

"On top of taking ice baths 2-3x per week for post workout recovery (extreme pickleball matches can take a toll), I've recently acquired the Ooler from Chili. My favorite feature is the programmable sleep schedules, which allows me to set the time I want my side of the bed to cool down, but also includes the "warm awake" feature, which wakes you by gently warming the bed temperature to trigger your body’s natural wake response." - Chase Imbert, Partnership Manager

Meditation

“Meditation helps me experience a blissful sense of connection and peace. The bonus is I get the health benefits of stress-reduction.” - Jacquelyn Loera, Public Relations and Media

“Meditation gives me a grounded peace and a cool perspective on the world.” - Bill Scuba, Director of Research

"I have trouble quieting my mind. The Tripp VR Meditation App is immersive enough that it makes entering a meditative headspace easier for me." - Darrell Grable, Director of Partner Sales

Emotional Processing

“Doubling-down on my emotional processing practices have been essential this year. My brain responds so well to active meditations and breathwork practices like Kundalini Yoga and EFT Tapping. I’ve been a teacher of these modalities for years, but truly felt the need to move deeper into my own practice this year to keep my brain and body from absorbing all of the stress and uncertainty we’ve been faced with. Gotta move it out!” - Lindsey Lekhraj, Collective Member and Founder of Embodiment On Demand

Gardening

"I transformed a part of my backyard into a raised-bed garden. I never would have expected that the desire to grow my own lettuce would lead me to my favorite biohack. The garden is full of so many lessons about patience, love, trust...important lessons about how systems operate and contribute. It forces me to be outside every day, getting sunlight, movement and fresh-air!" - Lauren Alexander, VP of Marketing

Strong Morning Routine

"Setting up my day with purpose and power from the get-go allows me to craft and create the day I want, regardless of what life throws at me. I get to decide how I want the day to go, what I want to get done, and the rest of the day just flows with ease from then on out. Starting out with peace and purpose makes life easy." - Ben Cote, Director of Brand and Community

Take a peek at Ben’s morning routine, here. 

Stacked Workout Tracker

"I use the Stacked Workout Tracker app to record what I did during my last workout so I can do a little bit more the next time. Using the rest timer so I can make sure I get sufficient recovery between sets when heavy lifting has been a game-changer." - Greg Kelly, ND, Director of Product Development

Combining HIIT Workouts With Breathwork

“Inspired by our October breathwork series, I challenged myself to apply Mark Divine's box breathing technique to each rest segment during HIIT workouts. Focusing on my breath has greatly improved my heart rate variability and total workout output. I've even noticed it’s easier to focus on my breath off the bike. The breathing method presented in Unbeatable Mind has been a game-changer for me!” - Tina Gammon, Marketing Manager

Intermittent Fasting

“The biggest game changer for my health and energy this year has been fasting. Between rotational intermittent fasting and an occasional prolonged fast, I feel more energized and healthy than ever.” - Liz Floyd, Collective Member and Founder of The Hive

Death Wish Coffee

"I received Death Wish Coffee as a gift and got really shaky and an upset stomach because it was too much caffeine before sitting down for work so decided to try it as a pre-workout drink. This coffee gives me the perfect early morning kick to get moving and I get in a solid 75 minute lifting session before 8AM every dang day...well almost:)." Angie Buckholz, People Operations

Do you have a biohack that’s been a game-changer for you this year? Tell us about it below and we’ll share it out with our Instagram community.