In this solo episode of the Longevity and Lifestyle Podcast, Claudia von Boeselager—former investment banker, entrepreneur, longevity coach, and biohacker—reveals her personal, day‑to‑day brain longevity protocol. She opens by sharing her own transformation from burnout and chronic health issues to a 17‑year reduction in biological age, establishing credibility. The episode then walks listeners through her morning activation routine (sunlight exposure, gentle qigong, journaling, movement, and a 1‑3 minute cold‑shower) designed to set circadian rhythm, boost dopamine, oxytocin, and BDNF. She details her brain‑supportive breakfast, a nutrient‑dense mix of organic eggs or a super‑smoothie with creatine, collagen peptides, lion’s mane or reishi mushrooms, MCT oil, chia seeds, blueberries, and spinach, providing stable energy and gut‑brain barrier support. Mid‑day, she outlines a deep‑work protocol—90‑minute focus sprints, phone on airplane mode, breathwork, posture checks—and the use of wearables like the Apollo Neuro and NeuroVizr light‑and‑sound therapy to promote parasympathetic tone and neuroplasticity. Evening practices focus on play, timed nutrition (stopping eating 3‑4 hours before bed), sleep hygiene (blue‑light avoidance, magnesium, cool room, journaling) to support the glymphatic system and brain detox. She emphasizes data‑driven tracking via Oura Ring HRV, functional blood panels (inflammation markers, B12, omega‑3 index), and CNS Vitals cognitive tests. The episode includes calls to action for a free 5‑minute brain guide, personalized longevity coaching, and a curated list of brain‑health books (Bredesen, Willameyer, Kwik). Finally, she invites audience engagement through social media tags and a short insider email newsletter. Throughout, Claudia blends personal anecdotes, scientific rationale, and practical steps for listeners to build their own brain‑optimization protocol.
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Hey there, I'm Claudia von Boeselager, a former investment banker turned entrepreneur, longevity coach, biohacker, and mother of two. Once burnt out and overwhelmed with chronic health issues, I've transformed my life and helped thousands of people do the same. I've even reduced my biological age by 17 years. Yes, I'm 26 again. Now I'm here to share the tools, strategies, and inspiration to help you live healthier, happier, and longer. On this podcast, I interview world-leading experts in health, biohacking, mindset, and performance, and share personal stories and learnings to bring you the latest insights and tips. Think of this as your go-to space for real talk about all things health and optimizing your life. Ready to unlock your best self? Let's dive in. This is the Longevity and Lifestyle Podcast.
Welcome back, my friends, to the final episode of this special solo series, The Brain Optimization Blueprint.
I'm your host, Claudia von Boeselager.
Peak performance coach, longevity explorer, and passionate biohacker. Today I'm pulling the curtain and sharing something deeply personal and practical— my own brain longevity protocol. Over the years, I've interviewed some of the world's top neuroscientists, longevity doctors, and peak performance experts. I've tested countless protocols, tools, and biohacks, and through that journey, plus a very real need to manage my own ADHD, I've crafted a brain support system that keeps me energized, focused, and mentally resilient. So if you've ever wondered, what does Claudia actually do day to day to support her brain, this episode is for you. I'll walk you through my core habits, brain-boosting supplements, testing strategy, and favorite tech tools so you too can build your own protocol for clarity, creativity, and long-term cognitive vitality. Let's dive in. So by the end of this episode, you'll have some daily rituals that you can use from my toolbox to help stay focused and avoid burnout, some of my favorite supplements you'll learn about for cognition, resilience, and flow, brain training devices that have made a noticeable difference that I love, and how I support brain detox and neuroplasticity every single day. Let's begin at the beginning, the moment I wake up. So, morning activation, the focus foundation. As someone who has a tendency for ADHD if not managed, I need to be really intentional about setting up my brain for clarity and presence right from the start. So here's what my ritual includes daylight first thing. Number 1, within 15 minutes of waking, I either step outside or if I'm not able to, stick my head outside of the window, essentially to anchor my circadian rhythm and boost morning cortisol in a healthy way. Why? Because the morning sunlight increases alertness, improves mood, and helps regulate melatonin for deeper sleep later on the day. So if you want to optimize your sleep, it literally starts first thing in the morning. Number 2, my priming practice, which takes about 20 to 30 minutes. It's a combination of some gentle qigong and tapping, meditation, breathwork, as well as visualization and some 6-minute journaling or gratitude practice. If I have time, I obviously do a little bit more journaling as well. This combination activates dopamine, oxytocin, and even encourages BDNF, which is a key molecule for neuroplasticity and brain repair. You can't control the world, but you can control how your brain shows up in it, right? Then after this mind priming ritual that I have. I jump on a mini trampoline or do a Peloton ride or some sort of movement and activity to further stimulate BDNF. So it's— think of it as like the fertilizer for the brain— and really wake up my brain. Then one of my secret weapons is cold shower therapy. So at the end of my shower, I turn it cold for 1 to 3 minutes, and this increases dopamine science-backed, by up to 500% over a prolonged period of time. So this will elevate your mood, your focus, and it lasts for hours. It's invigorating. It will definitely help to wake you up, and over time it trains stress resilience too. And just think, if you do something hard first thing in the morning, how you're going to feel. And I'll give you an example. My 11-year-old had exams last week, and she did this as part of her protocol too. And I've told her that she's just— by doing the cold shower, she's probably done the most hardest thing that day, even though she had exams coming up. And she agreed. So it really sets you up to win if you do these little practices. And obviously over time, the more you do it, the easier it becomes as well. Next step is around brain-boosting nutrition. So my breakfast is strategic, and it's strategic because I look at it as fuel for cognition.
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I focus on brain supportive nutrients and adaptogens. Some of my go-tos include having either an omelet, organic eggs with lots of vegetables, or a super smoothie, which includes things like creatine for cognitive resilience and energy, collagen peptides, peptides, which are great for gut and brain barrier support, lion's mane and/or reishi mushrooms, which is great for neurogenesis and calm focus, healthy fat, fats like MCT oils or chia seeds. What else do I throw in there? Obviously lots of colorful antioxidants like blueberries or spinach, et cetera. So these are a superfood mix essentially that gives me stable energy and reduces decision fatigue for the day ahead. Next up are some intermittent, during the day, maybe at midday, flow, deep work, and parasympathetic anchoring. To stay focused throughout the day, especially managing things like ADHD, I create intentional space for flow. So, a deep work protocol is to make sure that my phone is on airplane mode and do not disturb. I try to do my work in 90-minute focus sprints when I need to go a little bit deeper, using a timer as well. And then there are breathwork, reset, and posture check-ins, right? So if we're hunched over, we're not breathing properly, the blood flow is not going to the brain properly as well. So just doing those little resets is really helpful. I wear my Apollo Neuro, which is a device that triggers your parasympathetic nervous system, right? So you're not in that fight or flight the whole time, especially if you're feeling a bit stressed, allows you to be calmer, focused throughout the day. You can wear it on the inside of your wrist or on the inside of your ankle as well. And then I try to do some sort of meditation and/or NeuroVizr brain training, which is a of light and sound therapy that is shown to stimulate neuroplasticity and help also research out of MIT last year. It helps clear amyloid plaque in the brain. So it's like really mental fitness, which is great. And as I mentioned, I like to do a meditation pause throughout the day and just this presencing and gratitude practice just to shift that state and away from the doing, doing to rebalancing and representing as well. Keeps me grounded. It helps calm the overactive mind that can otherwise happen as a serial entrepreneur. Then looking into the evening and some things like play, nutrition, and brain detox strategies. So play, I think, is so underrated. For kids, it's essential, and we forget to do it as adults. So finding time in the day for play, for laughing, for joy, being silly, not taking life too seriously, I think is so fundamental. And then looking at nutrition, so stopping to eat 3 to 4 hours before bedtime. This is something I learned from Dr. Satchin Panda, circadian rhythm expert, that it's so fundamental to have that break between when you finish eating and bedtime so that your body can focus on brain cleanup, not digestion, when you sleep. And so why is this? Well, during deep sleep, your glymphatic system kicks in. This is your brain's detox mode. It clears metabolic waste, including beta amyloid and tau proteins linked to cognitive decline. So this is what happens when you get good quality sleep. It's almost like the laundry of your brain, cleaning out and freshening things up, which is so powerful. This one shift alone can massively upgrade mental clarity and sleep quality. Also, what's really key is sleep hygiene, which equals cognitive recovery. Sleep is my non-negotiable brain upgrade, super important. I used to not prioritize it, and now I definitely feel the difference when I don't get a good night's sleep or there's some issue issues or not enough sleep, it is so imperative. And what I really try to do is get that 8 to 9 hours of quality rest. And part of that is minimizing blue light anytime near bed. So you're looking at 1.5 to 2 hours before bedtime and avoiding blue lights, no screens or emails 1 hour before bed, especially things like social media, which just try to cause these dopamine responses and can increase cortisol levels as well. Taking a magnesium supplement for calm close to bedtime, 10 minutes of breathwork or light stretching, and temperature control. The best is to sleep in a cool room or a cold room, and if you need to, just have an extra cover and blanket on. And if you have a lot of things going on in your mind and tend to wake up feeling a bit anxious during the night, some journaling or, you know, your 6-minute journal reflection to focus on the wins of the day, the positives that happen, to really anchor those good things in. And just to really see sleep not just as rest, but it's rebuilding. It's during deep sleep that your brain consolidates memory, balances hormones, and resets for the next day. Also, testing and tracking— know thy brain— is quite important too. I regularly review my HRV scores via my Oura Ring. I do functional blood work looking at inflammation markers, B12, omega-3 index, and there are other tests available like the CNS Vitals for cognitive performance. Knowledge is power, especially when it comes from your brain, and it's great to establish a baseline so you can test as time goes on.
What if you could wake Wanna wake up every day feeling unstoppable, limitless energy, razor-sharp focus, and a body that's biologically years younger? This is your invitation to upgrade your life. For those that don't know me, I'm Claudia von Boeselager, former Goldman Sachs investment banker and serial entrepreneur turned longevity and peak performance coach. After reversing my biological age by 17 years and counting, I now help high achievers like you do the same. My peak performance and longevity coaching is designed exclusively for visionaries, entrepreneurs, and leaders who refuse to settle for burnout, fatigue, or suboptimal health. Together, we'll optimize your energy, longevity, and performance so you can thrive in business and life. This is a bespoke, science-backed coaching experience integrating cutting-edge biohacking, longevity science, and high-performance strategies tailored to your unique biology and goals. If you're ready to unlock your next level, let's talk. Book a complimentary exploratory call now. Just answer a few quick questions to get started. Head to the show notes for the link, and I I look forward to speaking with you.
I also want to share with you my brain longevity book list, what I highly recommend. So if this episode sparked your curiosity and you're ready to dive deeper, here's a few of the most powerful resources I recommend for anyone serious about optimizing their brain. So by Dr. Dale Bredesen, The End of Alzheimer's Program and The Ageless Brain. These two books are really, really powerful. I'm almost finished with Ageless Brain, but The End of Alzheimer's Program was fundamental in supporting my mother in her dementia journey and understanding about brain health and what can be done to prevent it and reverse cognitive decline. Also, from my dear friend Dr. Kristen Willameyer, her book Biohack Your Brain is a powerful blend of science and accessible action steps that can be taken, from neuroimaging to nutrition. She makes brain optimization not only possible but empowering. And another book I also love is by Jim Kwik, Limitless. So this is about meta-learning, learning how to learn. Jim's got such a powerful story, and he teaches how to upgrade your brain through mindset, habits, and practical tools for learning at any age, which is so important for keeping your brain fit and healthy. And these books are part of my personal collection, and I often revisit them for both my own learning and when supporting my VIP coaching clients. Think of them as your ongoing brain gym, always ready for when you want to level up. So, some final thoughts for you. This isn't about being perfect. It's about consistency with intention. I didn't create this protocol overnight. It's a result of decades of trial, burnout, recovery, and refinement. But the key takeaway your brain can heal, adapt, and thrive when you give it the right inputs. And whether you're a parent, an executive, or an entrepreneur juggling it all like me, when your brain is supported, everything gets easier. I hope you enjoyed this episode. I hope you enjoyed the series. Would love to hear from you. So if you tag me @longevityandlifestyle on Instagram about your key takeaways or what you'd love to hear more about, I always love to hear from you, dear audience. Thank you so much for listening.
Hi everyone, it's Claudia again. Before you take off, would you like to get a short email from me to you several times a month with top tips, insights, and strategies to help optimize your life, health, and business? This could be interesting posts or articles I've read on life and longevity optimization, cool biohacking or lifestyle products that I've discovered, and other fun things to help you be at your best. It's a very short piece of inspiration for you. So if you want to receive it, check it out by going to llinsider.com. That's llinsider.com and leave your email to get the next one.
