September 23, 2025 • 10 mins
Filmed across six countries over two years, Chris tests his limits by drawing from cutting-edge science and the wisdom of elders to push himself like never before. With no previous experience, he learns to play the drums for a live performance with GRAMMY Award-winner Ed Sheeran in front of 70,000 fans; scales a dizzying nearly 600-foot climbing wall in the Swiss Alps to break out of his comfort zone and embrace risk; and takes part in South Korean Special Forces training, enduring electrocution and pepper spray to confront his long struggle with chronic pain and reconfigure his response to it — all to uncover tools we can use today to live healthier, happier lives.Joining him on the third episode of this transformative journey are neuroscientist and Professor Abigail Marsh and freestyle motocross legend Robbie Maddison. Inspired by his children’s carefree risk-taking, Chris pushes his limits and learns from experts how exposure therapy and Flow — a state of hyperfocus — can improve mental and physical health and showing how taking risks as adults can lead to a happier, healthier life.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I'm so glad that I'm getting the opportunity to share
a conversation with you guys, doctor marsh and doctor Madison.
And the reason why is because it goes back to
an experience that I had with Elton John where someone said,
do you want to talk with Elton John? Do you
want to talk to the road manager? And I said
the road manager? And I believe that that's exactly what
you guys are doing, Doctor, is that you guys have
also went to these six countries. You guys also spent
two years of your life on this project. I love
(00:22):
the fact that we get to see what you're investing
in it because just like Chris, you still have to
be you persevere, You've got to be able to grow
forward with this original idea.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Sure yeah, I really found this project an exciting one
to be part of. I'm a neuroscientist and psychologist at
Georgetown University, and I study fear in the lab. I'm
interested in not only what causes fear in the brain,
but ways that we can reduce our own fear of
taking on risks. And it's one thing to study these
things in the lab and to study the brain basis
(00:53):
of them. It's quite another thing to see the whole
process play out in real life, and to see Chris
tackling this amazing challenge that he really was quite nervous
to do, which was climbing a five hundred foot high
wall which was the face of a damn and the
Swiss Alps was incredibly inspiring. But it was also really
exciting from a scientific perspective to see that these principles
(01:15):
really do apply in real life.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Doctor Madison, what are you discovering? Because I mean where
you step into this, I mean it's once again it's
the outside looking in. I learned that in martial arts,
if you truly want to learn martial arts, be on
the outside of the mat, not on the mat.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yeah, you know it's I think where Chris and I
really struck a note together was he came to a
live show. He saw someone who's older than him, which
is myself, out there doing tricks that the younger gods
are doing, and he's like, how do you do this?
Speaker 4 (01:48):
How do you push yourself?
Speaker 3 (01:49):
And we got into some deep conversations and it really
kind of came back to our kids and how I'm
trying to be a great example to my kids.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Through example, not true words.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yelling at him not to try to get you know,
do what I say, not what I do. I want
to say, Do what I say, and do what I do.
And so together my kids are my best friends, and
we work together. We pay homeschool with us, so we
have a very blessed life. But more so importantly is
I'm there along the way to help them face their fears.
(02:22):
And kids aren't feel less, they just are more inclined
to take the risks. And I see my kids really
terrified of certain situations, and I remind them that they've
done the hard work, they've done the training, they're capable
of doing it, their technique is right, and now they
just need to educate their mind and get their mind right.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
So then I have my kids visualize.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
What they're going to do, and I say, don't do
it until you can visually see yourself doing it.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
And then let's keep.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Practicing in safety with safety measures so they can't get
hurt until you know that you can go without the
without the safety, without the pitch, without the harnesses. And
then once they are able to get their mind to
overcome the negative side of it, and then they can
picture it in their mind clearly, and then they go, Yep,
(03:12):
take up the leashes, set me free.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
I can do it. They land it? Whence they land?
That motion is what I.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Live for, Just to see the purity and their growth
and achieving something. It's so powerful, and that's just I'm
trying to steal that in my kids, to let them
know that this is how life is. It does It's
not just about this physical thing we're doing. Whether it's business,
it doesn't matter what you do. You have to challenge yourself.
You have to expose yourself into areas that create growth.
And through doing that in stay consistent. You may not
(03:41):
succeed the first time, but with consistent and from the
failures and learnings, you will be able to achieve your
goals and your dreams and where you weren't terrible of
when you started. But it all takes consistency, and so
that's what this series dives into a lot of that,
and we have great people like doctor marsh On there
explaining eurologically what's happening. And then I'm there as a
(04:04):
physical example for Chris to just chat him along and
speak to him as a friend, to encourage him to
his fears.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Please do not move. We're coming back with doctor Abigail
Marsh and doctor Robbie Madison. Coming up next, the TV
show Limited with Chris Hemsworth Facing Your Fear. We are
back with doctor Abigail Marsh and doctor Robbie Madison. Now
Doctor Marsh, I believe that fuel is fear, and when
(04:32):
I feel that moment of fear, the first thing I
do is I get into my defrag journals and I
start asking questions and questioning answers because you know, just
like Chris, we all have those moments where I'm going
to sit in front of a live audience and I'm
gonna play the drums for the very first time, and yeah,
the fear is there. But man, when you use it
as fuel, do you see it as fuel?
Speaker 4 (04:50):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
You know, fear is as an emotion that we evolve
to fuel because it's useful. And sometimes it's useful because
it's helping us avoid, you know, potentially life threatening risks.
But fear a little bit of fear can also be
useful in sort of giving us energy and giving us,
you know, in small dose, is a sense of excitement
(05:14):
in novel situations. The problem comes up when people take
their fear too seriously, and they assume that it's speaking
the truth. So fear it's a useful signal, but it's
not always a correct signal. And sometimes, especially as we
get older, people get in the habit of automatically avoiding
anything that they're afraid of. And that's a terrible path
to go down, because the more you avoid the things
(05:35):
you're afraid of, the more afraid of them you get.
And so for most people, there's a real benefit into
identifying things that you're unreasonably scared of. So these would
be positive risks that we can take that might help
us grow, that might help us learn, that might give
us a sense of excitement, and tackling them head on
rather than avoiding them. And this is what psychologists call
(05:56):
exposure therapy, and it's the only known long turn way
to get rid of our fear of again reasonable things
to be afraid of. This is not like go plan traffic,
because that's scary, that's a bad idea, But you know,
climbing walls, climbing trees, public speaking, talking to strangers, that
kind of thing, and it works better than any drug
(06:18):
and reducing us sometimes eliminating our fear in the long term.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Doctor Madison. I live in a forest here in South Charlotte.
I'm out there with the deer every single day. I
know that they freeze when they see me. I've also
seen the goats that freeze when it becomes a fear
when humans face that. What do you do with someone
like Chris to get him to take that step? You've
got to move, dude.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Well, one of the things that my research has shown
is that people who take on impressive risks are usually
not people who are fearless. They're people who've learned how
to manage their fear, usually by focusing on the matter
to them, right, and what Chris was focusing on and
tackling this challenge was on what mattered to him, which
was taking on a challenge in order to achieve growth
(07:03):
and in order to also achieve something called a flow state.
And a flow state is this really enjoyable state of
mind when you're tackling a challenge that is right at
the limits of what you're able to do. And if
you're in a flow state, most of us have felt
at some point you sort of lose your sense of self,
you lose your sense of time, you become less sensitive
(07:24):
to pain and to fatigue, and Chris really wants to
achieve that state during the clim.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Oh my god, you talked about that flow statement. And
because one of the things that I studied in martial
arts is do not create a rock to put inside
your flow. You've got to study that flow and learn
to trust that flow.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Yeah, I I totally you know, I mean in sync
with you there and through what I do with the freestyle,
mitocross and jumping world records.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
You know, the flow is.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
You know, when I started rauding, some days I feel
very taught. I'm aware of maybe my little back's a
bit tired. And so proper preparation obviously allows you to
kind of go in there ready for the the the
fight in your case, or for the battle of or
for the writing experience in my case. But more so,
(08:18):
you know, it's just steven out of your comfort zone
and and and uh and and so when you have
these limitations that stop you getting into your flow state,
you once you get your mind right and you step
out of that kind of comfort zone and just believe
in yourself. You know your technique right, you know your
timing is right. You do some things to reassure yourself
that you're good and trust yourself. And once you know
(08:39):
that you can trust, then you're able to just kind
of let go of that fear and just trust. And
then once you kind of have that and and you
hit in your marks and you're trusting that these things
are happening and they are happening, and that's all part
of the building blocks that can really elevate your level
and that builds the confidence and and that's when growth happens,
(09:01):
and growth is healthy and uh and literally, you know,
comfort zones is just a prison that we live in.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
And if you're able to zone.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Then real growth happens and that's where happiness happens and
life starts to flourish.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Wow, you guys have got to come back to this
show anytime in the future. I love where your your
energy is and how this is more than just a
television show that you're actually reaching out to us as viewers.
You're challenging us. Go do it, just go do it.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
Yeah, not do what we do, do what you need
to do? What what? What? Your what? What? What challenges you?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
And doctor Marsh says, you know, it might be public speaking,
it could be swimming. My mechanic is terrified of water,
and I've helped him overcome that. I had a fear
for for heights as well, and now I skydive every
day as a as a hobby. It's really life changing
and life Abby explains, the only way to head this
(09:59):
up is to just up in there and face it.
Don't face it relestly, don't do it in calculated way,
and uh and you'll change your life. I love it.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Will you guys be brilliant today?
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Okay, sir, thank you
I'm so glad that I'm getting the opportunity to share
a conversation with you guys, doctor marsh and doctor Madison.
And the reason why is because it goes back to
an experience that I had with Elton John where someone said,
do you want to talk with Elton John? Do you
want to talk to the road manager? And I said
the road manager? And I believe that that's exactly what
you guys are doing, Doctor, is that you guys have
also went to these six countries. You guys also spent
two years of your life on this project. I love
(00:22):
the fact that we get to see what you're investing
in it because just like Chris, you still have to
be you persevere, You've got to be able to grow
forward with this original idea.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Sure yeah, I really found this project an exciting one
to be part of. I'm a neuroscientist and psychologist at
Georgetown University, and I study fear in the lab. I'm
interested in not only what causes fear in the brain,
but ways that we can reduce our own fear of
taking on risks. And it's one thing to study these
things in the lab and to study the brain basis
(00:53):
of them. It's quite another thing to see the whole
process play out in real life, and to see Chris
tackling this amazing challenge that he really was quite nervous
to do, which was climbing a five hundred foot high
wall which was the face of a damn and the
Swiss Alps was incredibly inspiring. But it was also really
exciting from a scientific perspective to see that these principles
(01:15):
really do apply in real life.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Doctor Madison, what are you discovering? Because I mean where
you step into this, I mean it's once again it's
the outside looking in. I learned that in martial arts,
if you truly want to learn martial arts, be on
the outside of the mat, not on the mat.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Yeah, you know it's I think where Chris and I
really struck a note together was he came to a
live show. He saw someone who's older than him, which
is myself, out there doing tricks that the younger gods
are doing, and he's like, how do you do this?
Speaker 4 (01:48):
How do you push yourself?
Speaker 3 (01:49):
And we got into some deep conversations and it really
kind of came back to our kids and how I'm
trying to be a great example to my kids.
Speaker 4 (01:56):
Through example, not true words.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Yelling at him not to try to get you know,
do what I say, not what I do. I want
to say, Do what I say, and do what I do.
And so together my kids are my best friends, and
we work together. We pay homeschool with us, so we
have a very blessed life. But more so importantly is
I'm there along the way to help them face their fears.
(02:22):
And kids aren't feel less, they just are more inclined
to take the risks. And I see my kids really
terrified of certain situations, and I remind them that they've
done the hard work, they've done the training, they're capable
of doing it, their technique is right, and now they
just need to educate their mind and get their mind right.
Speaker 4 (02:42):
So then I have my kids visualize.
Speaker 3 (02:45):
What they're going to do, and I say, don't do
it until you can visually see yourself doing it.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
And then let's keep.
Speaker 3 (02:51):
Practicing in safety with safety measures so they can't get
hurt until you know that you can go without the
without the safety, without the pitch, without the harnesses. And
then once they are able to get their mind to
overcome the negative side of it, and then they can
picture it in their mind clearly, and then they go, Yep,
(03:12):
take up the leashes, set me free.
Speaker 4 (03:14):
I can do it. They land it? Whence they land?
That motion is what I.
Speaker 3 (03:19):
Live for, Just to see the purity and their growth
and achieving something. It's so powerful, and that's just I'm
trying to steal that in my kids, to let them
know that this is how life is. It does It's
not just about this physical thing we're doing. Whether it's business,
it doesn't matter what you do. You have to challenge yourself.
You have to expose yourself into areas that create growth.
And through doing that in stay consistent. You may not
(03:41):
succeed the first time, but with consistent and from the
failures and learnings, you will be able to achieve your
goals and your dreams and where you weren't terrible of
when you started. But it all takes consistency, and so
that's what this series dives into a lot of that,
and we have great people like doctor marsh On there
explaining eurologically what's happening. And then I'm there as a
(04:04):
physical example for Chris to just chat him along and
speak to him as a friend, to encourage him to
his fears.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Please do not move. We're coming back with doctor Abigail
Marsh and doctor Robbie Madison. Coming up next, the TV
show Limited with Chris Hemsworth Facing Your Fear. We are
back with doctor Abigail Marsh and doctor Robbie Madison. Now
Doctor Marsh, I believe that fuel is fear, and when
(04:32):
I feel that moment of fear, the first thing I
do is I get into my defrag journals and I
start asking questions and questioning answers because you know, just
like Chris, we all have those moments where I'm going
to sit in front of a live audience and I'm
gonna play the drums for the very first time, and yeah,
the fear is there. But man, when you use it
as fuel, do you see it as fuel?
Speaker 4 (04:50):
Absolutely?
Speaker 2 (04:51):
You know, fear is as an emotion that we evolve
to fuel because it's useful. And sometimes it's useful because
it's helping us avoid, you know, potentially life threatening risks.
But fear a little bit of fear can also be
useful in sort of giving us energy and giving us,
you know, in small dose, is a sense of excitement
(05:14):
in novel situations. The problem comes up when people take
their fear too seriously, and they assume that it's speaking
the truth. So fear it's a useful signal, but it's
not always a correct signal. And sometimes, especially as we
get older, people get in the habit of automatically avoiding
anything that they're afraid of. And that's a terrible path
to go down, because the more you avoid the things
(05:35):
you're afraid of, the more afraid of them you get.
And so for most people, there's a real benefit into
identifying things that you're unreasonably scared of. So these would
be positive risks that we can take that might help
us grow, that might help us learn, that might give
us a sense of excitement, and tackling them head on
rather than avoiding them. And this is what psychologists call
(05:56):
exposure therapy, and it's the only known long turn way
to get rid of our fear of again reasonable things
to be afraid of. This is not like go plan traffic,
because that's scary, that's a bad idea, But you know,
climbing walls, climbing trees, public speaking, talking to strangers, that
kind of thing, and it works better than any drug
(06:18):
and reducing us sometimes eliminating our fear in the long term.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Doctor Madison. I live in a forest here in South Charlotte.
I'm out there with the deer every single day. I
know that they freeze when they see me. I've also
seen the goats that freeze when it becomes a fear
when humans face that. What do you do with someone
like Chris to get him to take that step? You've
got to move, dude.
Speaker 4 (06:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Well, one of the things that my research has shown
is that people who take on impressive risks are usually
not people who are fearless. They're people who've learned how
to manage their fear, usually by focusing on the matter
to them, right, and what Chris was focusing on and
tackling this challenge was on what mattered to him, which
was taking on a challenge in order to achieve growth
(07:03):
and in order to also achieve something called a flow state.
And a flow state is this really enjoyable state of
mind when you're tackling a challenge that is right at
the limits of what you're able to do. And if
you're in a flow state, most of us have felt
at some point you sort of lose your sense of self,
you lose your sense of time, you become less sensitive
(07:24):
to pain and to fatigue, and Chris really wants to
achieve that state during the clim.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
Oh my god, you talked about that flow statement. And
because one of the things that I studied in martial
arts is do not create a rock to put inside
your flow. You've got to study that flow and learn
to trust that flow.
Speaker 4 (07:41):
Absolutely.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
Yeah, I I totally you know, I mean in sync
with you there and through what I do with the freestyle,
mitocross and jumping world records.
Speaker 4 (07:53):
You know, the flow is.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
You know, when I started rauding, some days I feel
very taught. I'm aware of maybe my little back's a
bit tired. And so proper preparation obviously allows you to
kind of go in there ready for the the the
fight in your case, or for the battle of or
for the writing experience in my case. But more so,
(08:18):
you know, it's just steven out of your comfort zone
and and and uh and and so when you have
these limitations that stop you getting into your flow state,
you once you get your mind right and you step
out of that kind of comfort zone and just believe
in yourself. You know your technique right, you know your
timing is right. You do some things to reassure yourself
that you're good and trust yourself. And once you know
(08:39):
that you can trust, then you're able to just kind
of let go of that fear and just trust. And
then once you kind of have that and and you
hit in your marks and you're trusting that these things
are happening and they are happening, and that's all part
of the building blocks that can really elevate your level
and that builds the confidence and and that's when growth happens,
(09:01):
and growth is healthy and uh and literally, you know,
comfort zones is just a prison that we live in.
Speaker 4 (09:09):
And if you're able to zone.
Speaker 3 (09:12):
Then real growth happens and that's where happiness happens and
life starts to flourish.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Wow, you guys have got to come back to this
show anytime in the future. I love where your your
energy is and how this is more than just a
television show that you're actually reaching out to us as viewers.
You're challenging us. Go do it, just go do it.
Speaker 4 (09:31):
Yeah, not do what we do, do what you need
to do? What what? What? Your what? What? What challenges you?
Speaker 3 (09:37):
And doctor Marsh says, you know, it might be public speaking,
it could be swimming. My mechanic is terrified of water,
and I've helped him overcome that. I had a fear
for for heights as well, and now I skydive every
day as a as a hobby. It's really life changing
and life Abby explains, the only way to head this
(09:59):
up is to just up in there and face it.
Don't face it relestly, don't do it in calculated way,
and uh and you'll change your life. I love it.
Speaker 1 (10:08):
Will you guys be brilliant today?
Speaker 4 (10:09):
Okay, sir, thank you
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