Inside Dave Asprey’s Bulletproof Biohacking Lab

Hey, you guys!

Yowzers, I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to write this post!! I’ve been a little bit of a traveling nut lately – spent a couple of weeks in Southern California with my family and now I’m posting up in Thailand for 2 weeks. Currently writing this post poolside at my hotel in Bangkok, drinking coconut water out of a fresh coconut. I’m not kidding at all. I kind of want to punch myself. If you want to see what’s up in Bangkok check out my instagram for some fresh daily travel updates…as always. :)

Alright. So. Last month I had the INSANE honor and privilege to spend the weekend at Dave Asprey’s Bulletproof Biohacking Lab in Victoria, B.C. I can say without the shadow of a doubt that it was one of the coolest weekends of my entire life so far. And my life is pretty freaking cool so that’s saying a lot.

Dave Asprey is the founder of Bulletproof Coffee and the Bulletproof line of products and author of The Bulletproof Diet, which as you guys know I am a HUGE fan and supporter of.

I’ll start with the why and the how of it all, which makes me really excited and should also be a source of inspiration for all you bloggers and influencers out there. I was flown out to Dave’s Bulletproof Biohacking Lab for an all expenses paid biohacking retreat. All free. WTF? The reason is — I was one of their top 10 affiliates during a certain timeframe, so they flew us all out there to say thank you for supporting the brand. Getting that email was a total PINCH ME MOMENT!!! I love being an affiliate for amazing brands, and Bulletproof is by far one of my favorites.

Supporting your favorite brands pays off, my friends…and when you do it with authenticity and conviction, well…life gets real good. :)

Ok. So if you’re not familiar with Bulletproof or biohacking you can check out some of my favorite Bulletproof products here.

If you’re not sure what biohacking is, here are a couple of definitions:

Biohacking:

(v) To use systems thinking, science, biology, and self-experimentation to take control of and upgrade your body, your mind, and your life.

(n) The art and science of becoming superhuman.

So basically, the awesomest stuff ever.

Dave Asprey is one of the biggest pioneers in biohacking, and I’ve been a big supporter of his work for a long time. As soon as I found out about Bulletproof Coffee and I started looking into his blog and his supplements, I knew he was someone I wanted to keep up with. He’s extremely well-researched and he, like me, is obsessed with experimenting, optimizing, and seeing just how good it’s possible to feel.

So when I got the email saying I was being given an all-expenses paid trip to Dave’s house, where his Biohacking Lab is, and that I was going to spend the weekend with Dave, his team and a bunch of other biohacking enthusiasts…well it was a complete dream come true. Like, more than I ever could have imagined when I first decided to become a blogger.

Here’s what the retreat was like. (You can see the entire play-by-play of my trip on instagram).

We (8 Bulletproof affiliates + Dave’s affiliate manager, Ashley) arrived at Dave’s house in beautiful Victoria, BC in the morning and were directed inside a door that said: Bulletproof Labs: Warning: Everything in this lab can kill you. Waiver required. 

I knew it would be a good day. :)

We met Dave and went upstairs into the kitchen in his lab, that’s pretty much completely designed to make lots of Bulletproof Coffee. The Biohacking Lab, while on his property, is a separate building from the actual house where he and his family live.

Dave made us a huge blender full of coffee and we were all really excited. Drinking Bulletproof Coffee with the founder of Bulletproof Coffee. SO FUN. Yep, I was officially geeking out and trying not to show it (which was impossible…I have no poker face at all).

He also offered us capsules of Unfair Advantage and Bulletproof Protein Bars (my all time favorite protein bars).

After some chatting and getting to know each other for a bit, and a couple of super cute appearances from Dave’s kids (saying things like “Dad, can I help make the coffee?” and “Dad, I need to go do my brain training now!” Brain training! MINIATURE BIOHACKERS!), we went downstairs to get a tour of the biohacking facility.

First, he showed us his FLOAT TANK. IT IS MY DREAM TO HAVE A HOUSE WITH A FLOAT TANK ROOM! I bugged. I chose not to float because as you guys know I float almost weekly in NYC and I was even on Fox News being interviewed about float tanks recently (what), so I wanted to give some floating newbies a chance. Some of the other affiliates floated and loved it. I can’t believe Dave has a tank in his house and can float anytime. So freaking cool.  Read all about float tanks here.

Next we got to check out the cryotherapy chamber, which of course I tried! It was my 2nd time trying a cryo tank. It’s basically like getting into an ice bath but without being in water. Here’s a blog Joel wrote about cryotherapy. Some of the benefits (there are many) of cryotherapy are decreased inflammation, healthier skin, increased metabolism, muscle/joint pain recovery, and more. It was super cold but not intolerable, and we were each only in there for about 2 minutes. Dave’s wife told me she gets in there daily!!! I’m so jealous. I need my own biohacking facility STAT. Official message to the universe…

Next up..the hyperbaric oxygen chamber. I actually don’t think any of us went inside this, we were too busy doing other things maybe. But apparently this chamber exposes you to pure 100% oxygen, and an increase in blood oxygen promotes healing in damaged tissue, fights infection and more. Read more about it here.

And of course he has an infrared sauna!!! I love infrared saunas. An infrared sauna’s radiant heat penetrates deep into the body and is incredibly detoxing. Here’s a blog I wrote about infrared saunas a couple years back, for more info.

Then there was this fitness machine we all tried and I can’t remember what it was called, but it was so hard!! I’ll try to find out the name of it, but here’s a photo of my friend Anthony on the machine. There are some photos of me on it somewhere too, I’ll try to get my hands on one of them.

I also tried the Bulletproof Vibe, which is a whole body vibration plate. I held a kettlebell while I was standing on it for a greater effect. It felt VERY TINGLY. Supposed to be great for the lymphatic system!!

 

There were a few more little biohacking toys like a slack line, a balance board, a balance ball, and more, but this blog post is getting way too long and has too many photos already so just trust me, it was a playground of biohacking fun. :)

After the biohacking, Dave went off to do his “brain training session” and we sat with Mark, who works with Bulletproof, and he taught us some incredible mindfulness techniques. It was really powerful, as he had us to exercises with partners and as a group, relating to one another from our heads vs. our hearts vs. our belly (center of awareness, or “hara” as he kept calling it). It was really amazing. When you start to notice how you’re relating to others (thinking thoughts vs. being heart-centered vs. being grounded in presence) it’s incredibly fascinating. 

Then we had lunch. Here’s a photo of mine. Super Bulletproof. Fish, salad, soup and rice. All drizzled with a generous portion of Brain Octane, of course. :) YUM.

After lunch we all went on a great hike in Victoria. It’s really beautiful there. Here’s a photo of the group and a photo of me and my newfound BFF Dave. ;)

After that we went out to dinner where Dave brought a zingy machine that hooked up electrodes to me and made my arms go numb. It is supposed to give you stronger muscles quickly. :)

The entire weekend was so incredible and I feel extremely grateful to have had this experience. Thank you to the whole team at Bulletproof!!

Our Bulletproof goodie bags:

Unfair Advantage

FatWater

Bulletproof Coffee

Brain Octane

Primal Pit Paste

Elk Velvet Antler

Who else was at the Bulletproof Biohacking Retreat?

Here’s a list of some of the awesome people I met there:

Anthony from Collective Evolution
Dr. Izabella Wentz and her husband Michael
Dana and Brent from Lyme Less Live More
Nick and Gen from The Great Anomaly

Ok, I think that’s it for now! Let me know if you have any questions. :) Hopefully this gives you a nice peek into the wild world of biohacking!!! There’s just too much to say for one blog post. The ONLY downside was that my Brain Octane didn’t make it through security back to the US from Canada. Thankfully my boyfriend sent me a bottle as soon as I told him it didn’t make it through!! That’s love right there.

If you are intrigued and want to dive in headfirst into the biohacking world, there’s a Bulletproof Biohacking Conference in Pasadena coming up at the end of October! You should check it out. I will be there if I’m back from Thailand by then. No promises. Depends on how much I dig Chiang Mai when I get there. ;)

WHEW!!!!!

Life is amazing. Let’s optimize everything!!!!!!!

Ok, I gotta go, I’m off to explore Bangkok. :)

Love,
Jenny