The Untold Science Of Vibration Therapy & The “BioDrive” Breakthrough That Regulates Your Mind and Body, With Dr. Mike North

Reading time: 6 minutes

What I Discuss with Dr. Mike North:

• How his mix of engineering, personal tragedy, and wild innovation led him to create Shiftwave, a vibration-based system designed to reset and regulate the nervous system as a whole…02:09
• The way bodies reveal emotion through heart signals, skin responses, and tiny facial movements, and how this sparked his shift from healing tech to creating tools that read and regulate the nervous system…07:13
• The years of research, prototyping, and fine-tuning behind Shiftwave’s vibration technology, and how the zero-gravity chair with 18 transducers, blackout eye mask, and guided audio works to shift the nervous system into different states…12:59
• How Shiftwave integrates breathwork content, creates deep-rest “synthetic sleep” states, and delivers a power-nap level reset through precise vibration patterns that sync heart, brain, and nervous-system rhythms…21:42
• Why some users even sleep in the chair, how Shiftwave can boost deep or REM-like states, and why its effects feel far stronger than its quiet, minimal design suggests…27:02
• How Shiftwave’s fingertip sensor powers real-time “BioDrive” sessions that sync vibrations to your heart rhythm, guide coherent breathing, and even support advanced Wim Hof style breathwork…32:45
• The way Shiftwave stacks with recovery tools, therapy sessions, red-light blankets, and adaptogens, giving users better muscle blood flow, calmer emotional states, and even the ability to reach incredibly slow, coherent breathing…42:01
• His most surprising finding—the synthetic sleep state where all the body’s signals suddenly sync up, showing a calm, deeply restorative baseline most people rarely experience in modern life…38:19
• His step-by-step setup of the full Shiftwave Pro lab, wiring me with ECG, brain-flow, respiration, and EDA sensors, syncing everything to the new iPad controller, and showing how the chair runs real-time BioDrive sessions…51:25
• His live demonstration of Shiftwave Pro showing my real-time heart, breath, and stress data syncing with the chair, explaining how BioDrive adapts moment-to-moment, and revealing how custom programs evolve based on each user’s nervous-system patterns…1:00:48

In this fascinating episode, I'm joined by scientist, engineer, and innovator Dr. Mike North for a deep dive into the science of vibration therapy and nervous system optimization.

Mike North, known for his time as a Discovery Channel host and now the CEO and co-founder of Shiftwave, shares his personal story of how a tragic loss and an injured leg sparked an engineering journey that led to the creation of a high-tech chair designed to reset the human body and mind.

From the origins of vibration therapy in healing bone fractures to the exploration of biofeedback, heart rate variability, and nervous system states akin to synthetic sleep, this discussion blends cutting-edge technology, personal transformation, and hands-on experiments—including a live demo and biometric analysis—to help you understand how targeted vibration and breathwork can enhance recovery, focus, and overall wellbeing.

A four-time Discovery Channel host—including the hit series Outrageous Acts of Science—Mike North has taught at UC Berkeley, been published in Nature, and has developed technologies that bridge engineering and human performance.

Visit – Visit – http://shiftwave.co/bengreenfield for a discount

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Resources from this episode: 

• Guest Name:  
  • Dr. Mike North
  • Visit – shiftwave.co/bengreenfield for a discount.
• Podcasts:
  • The Best Breathing App Anyone Can Use To Auto-Regulate Emotions & Nervous System Through Easy, Guided Breathwork: Othership With Robbie Bent.
  • Conquer The Cold And Get Quantum Leaps In Performance In This Exclusive Interview With The Amazing Iceman Wim Hof
• Books:
  • Boundless, Ben Greenfield
• Studies:

  • Foundational Research (Mechanisms Informing Shiftwave's Approach):

    Heart Rate Variability & Respiratory Sinus Arrhythmia:

    • Shaffer F & Meehan Z. A beginner's guide to heart rate variability. Front Psychol (2020). https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00579/full

    • Lehrer PM et al. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia biofeedback training. Chest (2004). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15249457/

    • McCraty R, Atkinson M. Resonant frequency breathing and HRV coherence. Glob Adv Health Med (2012). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24278852/

    Emotion-Physiology Mapping (Russell Circumplex Model):

    • Russell JA. A circumplex model of affect. J Pers Soc Psychol (1980). https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1981-25046-001

    • Kreibig SD. Autonomic nervous system activity in emotion: A review. Biol Psychol (2010). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20573053/

    Whole-Body Vibration & Vascular Function:

    • Maloney-Hinds C et al. The role of nitric oxide in whole-body vibration effects. Phys Ther (2009). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19168718/

    • Cardinale M & Bosco C. Vibration as an exercise intervention. Exerc Sport Sci Rev (2003). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12882494/

    Tummo/Wim Hof Style Breathwork:

    • Kox M et al. Voluntary activation of the sympathetic nervous system and attenuation of innate immune response. PNAS (2014). https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24799686/

  • Shiftwave Internal Research (2022–2025):

    Not peer-reviewed; internal R&D and field observations.

    • Autonomic entrainment and “Synthetic Sleep” protocols – internal lab studies examining HRV shifts, slow-wave brain activity, and CSF pressure correlations

    • Athletic performance and recovery – field testing with NFL, NBA, and collegiate athletes

    • Humanitarian applications – observational use in Ukraine with first responders experiencing high stress/trauma

  • Effects of mindful breathing combined with sleep-inducing exercises in patients with insomnia
• Other Resources:
  • Othership

Upcoming Events: 

• • • Keep up on my LIVE appearances by following bengreenfieldlife.com/calendar!

Do you have questions, thoughts, or feedback for Dr. Mike North or me? Leave your comments below, and one of us will reply!