Regenerative Raving: Learning How to Optimize the Human Experience at the 2024 Biohacking Conference
If you've ever been to a conference, you know that the days are painfully long, the rooms are lackluster and there's an overload of redundant information. Biohacking Conference, however, doesn't fit that bill.
Presented from May 30th to June 1st by Bulletproof Coffee founder Dave Asprey, who is revered as the "father of biohacking," the conference united thousands in Dallas to explore the depths of their own longevity and human optimization.
What is biohacking, exactly?
"Biohacking is about taking control of your own biology, using science, data and technology to upgrade your health and performance," Asprey explained matter-of-factly.
While "biohacking" may seem like a vague buzzword these days, it carries much more weight than one. Its underlying goal is to maximize the human experience by implementing long-term practices which, over time, yield positive results for our overall wellbeing—or, as Asprey puts it, "to become the CEOs" of our own health.
Whether you're far along on your wellness journey—you wear blue light glasses, cold-plunge, utilize feedback technology—or you're new to the biohacking movement, there's a lot to learn.
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How does biohacking relate to raving?
Take a second to think about the last EDM show or festival you attended. Every event includes an abundance of lights, sounds and movement all melding into a breakneck, highly stimulating experience. Opting to add stimulants or depressors—as so many ravers often do—makes for a potentially straining evening on your system, leaving you depleted long-term.
But that doesn't have to be the case. You can biohack all of the above.
Lights and Sounds
Whether you're sweating the night away at an underground warehouse party or raving under the electric sky of the EDC Las Vegas festival, light and sound are in excess at electronic dance music events.
While you may enjoy the barrage of lasers cascading across your retinas and the bass drops rattling you to your core, exposure to these stimuli for prolonged periods of time can cause irreversible damage to your eyes and ears. But there's a simple hack for that.
Human Connection
How does one optimize human connection while raving? To start with, energetics are everything. If you're being negative, it's more likely than not you'll experience negative interactions.
Or let's say you're a highly-stimulated person by default. Large crowds and an excess of energy in the festival space can be overwhelming. Biohacking offers strategies to shift these frequencies.
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Stimulants and Depressors
Last, but certainly not least, let's talk stimulants and depressors. While alcohol and substances have long been inextricably linked with the EDM scene, consumption often results in suboptimal long-term affects even though they seem desirable in the moment.
During an informative talk dubbed "The Sober Curious Revolution: Redefining the Art of Sobriety with Clarigenics and Non-Alcoholic Rituals," Cameron George explained that whenever we choose to alter our state, we are relieving ourselves in the interim but causing negative effects to fester and take shape later on. George likened it to "putting yourself into debt."
Not only is partying in that manner expensive, but it's also harmful to your body and unsustainable. It's a means of altering your emotional and mental state by masking.
Hacks for Regenerative Raving
Do you want to rave 'til the grave like this woman?
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Biohacking for ravers (of any age) is all about making conscious decisions that align you with who you strive to be in the long-term so you don't succumb to short-term pleasures, which result in long-term pain both physically and mentally.
Hack: Lights and Sounds
When it comes to combating the effects of an excess of lights and sounds, there are simple solutions.
Whenever you attend an event with loud and potentially damaging music, just use ear protection. A study conducted by EDM.com last year indicated that 49% of concert attendees do not use ear protection at shows; it's a simple but vital hack to prolong your hearing. And to protect yourself from lights, simply bring a pair of shades.
Hack: Human Connection
At a music festival, the potential for human connection is literally all around you. If you're in a negative state of mind as mentioned above, there are practices you can adopt to shift your mental state naturally. One is mindfulness. Look around you and take in where you are, notice that your life indeed doesn't suck, then express sincere gratitude.
If you require more of a physical tool to help balance your energy and boost performance, Leela Quantum Tech assists in optimizing energy levels. The WAVwatch is another unique way to shift your ability to connect, as this device biohacks our internal state using frequencies.
If you're feeling overstimulated, one simple yet effective solution is to breathe. Taking full, deep breaths will help regulate your system and can bring you back to a calmed state. You can also use essential oils such as lavender and ylang-ylang to soothe the senses.
Meditation is another overlooked hack for optimizing your ability to connect. During his talk at the Biohacking Conference, Dr. Joe Dispenza stated that "meditation means to be familiar with." By making space between your thoughts, you become familiar with your sense of self and connect better with others too.
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Hack: Stimulants and Depressors
"We are drawn to altered states of consciousness as a means to seek safety, clarity, pleasure and meaning in our lives," George explained.
All things considered, it's not our fault that we've been programmed to believe that after a long day of work, we deserve a beer or a glass of wine. And at social gatherings, we drink because it helps us connect. But is that really true? After all of those drinks, is that really you?
Even chart-topping artists such as Sophie Hawley-Weld, one half of the Grammy-nominated duo Sofi Tukker, speak openly about sobriety. In a conversation about their launch of Novo Fogo, a non-alcoholic Cachaça brand, she said she believes most people would be better off consuming less alcohol or knowing that they don't have to drink.
"Some people won't go to the concert because they're like, 'Well, I don't want to drink tonight,'" Hawley-Weld said. "Figure out how to enjoy it without the alcohol... that will unlock a whole other part of yourself."
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As you continue down the health and wellness path, you may also find a shift in the types of shows you choose to attend. Did you know there are substance-free events that feel like a rave, but wherein everyone is clear-minded? These often are devoid cellphones as well, ensuring all in attendance are fully present.
Following the Biohacking Conference, EDM.com caught up with Pavel Stuchlik, a conscious DJ, music producer and breathwork instructor at the helm of his own spiritual wellness events company, NOA|AON, which produces transformational retreats around the globe.
"What we are doing is providing an alternative route for those who are done with that [drug-centered] way of [raving]," said Stuchlik, who instead prefers to provide "a way to still socialize and experience the love for music, but without all of the side effects."
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There are many ways to alter your state of consciousness that don't involve indulging in harmful substances. Strategies for hyper-sobriety include Clarigenic Elixers, Brain and Body Optimization, Mindfulness and Neural Retraining, Health-Centric Human Connection, Creative Expression and Goal-Oriented Challenges.
Implementing these hacks into your raving regime will ensure you are regenerating and not depleting with each imminent event.
Asprey's annual Biohacking Conference returns May 28-30, 2025 in Austin, Texas. If you're interested in learning more about the summit and its namesake, navigate here.
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