Life as an Experiment - Breathing

Life as an Experiment - Breathing
Photo by Max van den Oetelaar / Unsplash

Experiment: Wim Hoff Breathing Technic.
Why: It is supposed to bring a lot of benefits to your health and life, change chemistry of your body and your autonomic nervous system.


When I started my cold shower experience, I end up discovering a guy called Wim Hoff AKA Iceman. He is known for being an evangelist about cold exposure, breathing technics, and meditation. He developed his method after facing the loss of his wife (suicide). He comments that his child kept him alive and the cold heal him. One of WH's pillar is his breathing technic, which consists of cycles of deep breathings and holding periods. After I watched the video What Happens During Wim Hof Breathing? , and I saw that breathing technic can change the chemistry of your body and your autonomic nervous system, I decided to give it a try, and I've been doing that since May 2022.

How it works

The technics start with 3 breathing cycles, you can change the time duration as your technics evolve.

The technic

  • If possible, practice this with stomach empty, sit down or lay down in a relaxed position.
  • Do not do this while swimming or driving. You may pass out.
  • 30 deeps breathing (Breath in, bally > chest, and Breath out );
  • After the last exhalation, hold (without air on your lungs) as long as you can.
  • When you feel the urge to breathe, breath in and hold for 15 secs. Then breath out.

What Expect during the breathing cycles

  • Feel your fingers and parts of the body tingling;
  • Feel the body temperature changing;
  • Relaxation and different sensations on your body.

Cycles

Cycle: Power Breaths (in-out) | Exhale & hold | Inhale & Hold | Exhale

  • Cycle 1 : 30x | 1:30s | 15s | release
  • Cycle 2 : 30x | 2:00s | 15s | release
  • Cycle 3 : 30x |2:30s | 15s | release

I recommend this Guided Wim Hof Method Breathing session with the Iceman himself.

So far...

So far it's been an interesting experience, what I'm most liking about it, is the sensation it causes on your body. It's really something different, controlling only your breathing. I'm exited for the long term results!