Dr Brennan Spiegel (physician, gastroenterologist, and author of Pull) and Dr Lachlan Kent (cognitive scientist and founder of Mental Gravity) drop an emergency episode to unpack one of the most extreme acts of gravity defiance ever witnessed: Alex Honnold climbing a 100-plus-storey skyscraper without ropes.

Using Honnold as an “extreme phenotype,” they explore what his remarkable calm reveals about fear, anxiety, graviception, and mental gravity. Drawing on neuroscience, psychology, and lived experience, they examine how Honnold’s quiet amygdala, finely tuned salience network, and relentless present-momentfocus allow him to operate where most humans would be paralysed by fear.

The episode bridges elite performance and everyday mental health, asking: what can the rest of us learn—safely—from someone who literally does not fear falling?

1. Why Alex Honnold Matters

A real-world example of ultimate gravity resilienceFree-solo climbing as the most literal test of mental gravityAnxiety, fear of falling, and bodily panic stripped awayA window into the far edge of human psychological capacity

Fear, Falling, and the Brain

Amygdala
Honnold’s amygdala shows minimal activation to fear-inducing stimuli
Contrast with anxiety, chronic pain, IBS, and fibromyalgia, where the amygdala is hyper-vigilant

Salience Network & Anterior Insula
Detects what matters in the body and environment
Simulates graviceptive cues without triggering panic
Anchors awareness in the present moment

Being in the Moment—Taken Seriously

Honnold’s survival depends on microsecond-level presence
No anticipatory anxiety, no future projection
Finger placement, balance, and movement solved in real time
Presence as an adaptive skill—not a slogan

Gravity Sensitivity as a Continuum

Humans vary widely in tolerance for heights, G-forces, and risk
Too much fear → paralysis
Too little fear → danger
Healthy functioning lies in the middle of the curve

Mental Gravity, Anxiety, and Depression

Anxiety = anticipation of falling
Depression = being stuck or weighed down in the present
Honnold represents the opposite extreme: calm within gravity
Insights help reframe everyday anxiety as mis-tuned gravity perception

Training vs Talent

Honnold combines rare inborn traits with years of intense training
Physical: extreme strength, precision, endurance
Mental: emotional regulation, present-moment focus
Fear is not absent—it is managed and contained

What Can We Learn (Safely)?

Not to climb skyscrapers—but to train mental fitness:

• Cognitive Behavioural Therapy as mentaltraining
• Meditation as present-moment conditioning
• Breathwork, yoga, and grounding practices
• Social connection and rest as recovery
• Balancing effort and recovery (noovertraining)

Mental fitness = something you work on, not something you either have or don’t have.

One Percent Rule

You don’t need to be Alex Honnold
Channeling 1% of his presence, calm, and training can meaningfully improve everyday resilience

Timecodes

00:00 — Emergency episode & skyscraper climb
01:10 — Free Solo and gravity defiance
02:15 — Watching the footage & bodily reactions
02:45 — Fear, falling & butterflies
03:30 — Amygdala findings
04:20 — Anxiety, pain & hyper-vigilance
05:10 — Salience network & graviception
06:20 — Courage vs fearlessness
06:50 — Gravity sensitivity across populations
07:50 — Mental gravity & anxiety
08:50 — Training, not recklessness
10:00 — Being truly in the moment
11:10 — Depression, anxiety & time orientation
12:05 — Learning from extreme phenotypes
13:20 — Mental health in a steeper world
14:20 — Training for modern life
15:20 — Mental fitness beyond CBT
16:10 — Meditation, breath & balance
17:35 — One percent of Honnold
18:30 — Closing reflections

Resources

The Gravity Doctors: https://thegravitydoctors.com
Dr Brennan Spiegel: https://brennanspiegelmd.com
Dr Lachlan Kent: https://lachlankent.au
Book — Pull: How Gravity Shapes Your Body, Steadies the Mind, and Guides Our Health