Wim Hof breathing day workshop

[Jodistrict]

I attended a Wim Hof day workshop.  During the first half of the workshop you are taught the Wim Hof breathing technique.  During the second part of the workshop, you are prepared for and then take a two minute ice bath.

Before you get into the ice bath, the instructor  tells you to clasp your hands in front of you, put your shoulders below the water, and breath deeply from the belly with a longer exhale.  I got into the ice bath and the shock and pain was excruciating.  My legs felt like they were frozen solid.   I was breathing so fast that I was hyperventilating and starting to faint.    I didn’t think I was going to make it.  About half way through, I started to naturally breath with slower and deeper breaths.  My body had found its rhythm.  It started to become more bearable.  The instructor was there all the time encouraging me else I wouldn’t have made it.   After I got out, there was a tingly feeling in my arms and legs and I could barely walk.   After you leave the ice bath, you go to the grass and perform an exercise that you are taught.  The purpose of the exercise is to warm up the blood in your extremities, so that this cold blood mixes with the warmer blood in the interior of your body.  If you go for a towel first, bad things can happen.

In my opinion, the ice bath is a valuable tool for testing and training your mind.  In two minutes, you are forced to confront a major shock to your body and you either relax and breath or you panic.  Wim Hof says that the cold is our teacher and instructs the body how to breath.  I found this to be true because after the initial shock and panic,  my body finally found its natural breathing rhythm and I could relax and deal with the intense body feelings.  

This is a the website.
https://www.wimhofmethod.com/

To find a workshop.
https://www.wimhofmethod.com/activities?category=fundamentals-workshop

 

[Lyubov]

Cool dude

I attended a holotropic seminar before where we did more breathing and didn't do cold exposure. I enjoy these events and they are helpful for starting a daily practice.