The Wim Hof Method

[Siim Land]

How many of you are doing the Wim Hof method? What are your results and experiences?
For those of you who have no clue what I'm talking about, Wim Hof is a daredevil who does superhuman feats with cold exposure and other seemingly impossible tasks.

His breathing exercise triggers the body's survival mechanism whilst maintaining conscious control over the physiology. As a result, he's able to regulate his own nervous system and has taught many others to do the same.

I've made a video about explaining it as well.
 

What are your thoughts?

[ULFBERHT]

I've played around with it a little bit, but not extensively. I do take cold showers everyday, though.

I can say that the technique definitely feels very good. However, as of yet it hasn't helped me hold my breath for an incredible duration of time as he claims to have helped others do. Maybe I'm not doing it right or not often enough.

The reason I haven't added it into my regular routine is because out of all the habits on my list to start implementing, this one is probably the last out of a hundred. It would just be yet another thing to do. Some practitioners liken it to a meditation, but I am unwilling to suspend my more formal and traditional meditation habit for his method.

[Siim Land]

@ULFBERHT Yes, I agree with you in this regard. You get the most benefit from this method if you aren't already fit and healthy. It's meant to be used for those who are simply stuck in their own rut. It's too difficult to do those extra push-ups as well if your basal strength is quite high. 

[askdfjnak]

@Siim Land I've tried it for a few weeks, its excellent.

I improved the length I could hold my breath underwater by 50%. Previously I could only just barely swim across a 50m olympic swimming pool but after doing the exercises I could do 75m (1.5 laps). It is definitely good for short term improvements in physical performance. Now I wan to see what the long term effects of it might be.

I am going to be experimenting with cold water immersion in 2 weeks time to see if I can actually delay the effects of hypothermia. I have access to a large refrigeration unit and I will make an ice bath in it, but it's not turned on at the moment so I have to wait.

I have stopped doing the technique for the last 6 weeks so that I can get back to initial conditions and I will time how long I can stay in the water until my thinking becomes incoherent. Then I will do the exercises everyday and take an ice bath at the end of each week to note any improvements. 
 

I want to know if the ability to resist cold is improved by the breathing leading to greater autonomic control or if the body naturally adapts to cold temperatures on its own if you keep exposing yourself to it. That's why I am only taking 1 bath a week.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

Edited January 15, 2017 by Marc Schinkel
spells

[Siim Land]

@Marc Schinkel Hey, that's awesome. I would love to have my own cyrochamber At the moment, I have to settle with swimming in the sea and because of that I can't do it that often. 

Concerning your question, I would think it's a mixture of both. With the breathing you can achieve greater autonomic control over the body and increase thermoregulation, and because of that you can expose yourself to more colder temperatures, leading to adaptation. 

Definitely let us know of your experiment. I'm going to make a video about polar plunging in the future as well. 

[pluto]

Its fascinating how you can hold your breath much longer with no air in your lungs by using this technique.

I sometimes use it to quickly get myself into a meditative state.  Sometimes you see visions too, I'm guessing its natural DMT release within the brain like Wim Hof mention's somewhere. I feel there will be much more findings in the sacred breath and similar techniques in the near future.

Yogi's have known many breathing techniques for thousands of years to reach altered states of consciousness and take full control.

I feel this is only the beginning and Wim has just opened the door and witnessed the first layers.

[JKG]

6 hours ago, pluto said:

Its fascinating how you can hold your breath much longer with no air in your lungs by using this technique.

I sometimes use it to quickly get myself into a meditative state.  Sometimes you see visions too, I'm guessing its natural DMT release within the brain like Wim Hof mention's somewhere. I feel there will be much more findings in the sacred breath and similar techniques in the near future.

Yogi's have known many breathing techniques for thousands of years to reach altered states of consciousness and take full control.

I feel this is only the beginning and Wim has just opened the door and witnessed the first layers.

That sounds amazing. Thanks for sharing.

[Richard Alpert]

science isnt studying those yogis who dont eat, drink or shit.

i want to know what they are doing.

I have tried Wim´s method little bit. I guess it works, i havent used a timer.

I have a theory that any type of activity that puts youre body into a shock state gets similar style results, maybe not as good as wim´s.

I have been lately doing this

[askdfjnak]

@Siim Land
I just got his 10 week course and there is a bit more to it than the breathing. 
He explains how cold immersion is actually a necessary part of gaining better control of the body, it's not a cool trick that you can do once you've done the breathing. 

On 16/01/2017 at 3:36 AM, Siim Land said:

With the breathing you can achieve greater autonomic control over the body and increase thermoregulation, and because of that you can expose yourself to more colder temperatures, leading to adaptation. 

Right!

I will change my approach to do more regular ice baths.
 

On 19/01/2017 at 11:56 PM, pluto said:

I sometimes use it to quickly get myself into a meditative state.  Sometimes you see visions too, I'm guessing its natural DMT release within the brain like Wim Hof mention's somewhere. I feel there will be much more findings in the sacred breath and similar techniques in the near future.

I agree, I haven't gotten that deep into it myself but during his retreats it sounds like some people go through deep subconscious purification  (I've linked to the part where they talk about that)

 

 

[Siim Land]

@Marc Schinkel Yes, there's definitely more to the Wim Hof method than meets the eye. He not only uses his breathing techniques to gain greater control over his autonomic nervous system while being exposed to the cold but also does a lot of visualization exercises. For instance, while running barefoot on ice, he would visualize the soles of his feet being soft and warm. 

And then there's the Tummo breathing technique practiced by Tibetan monks. They would put wet towels on their body while meditating in their mountain caves and make the freezing water evaporate by creating inner fire within themselves. That's also accompanied by intense visualization and concentration exercises. Our subconscious mind is a powerful thing and the power of BELIEF can quite literally change our response to physical stimuli.

[pluto]

Well said^

[Mahabbeh]

i started 4 weeks back to do the Wim Hof Method, not as an everyday practice, but at least 4 times a week. and i'm sharing based on my experience only,  

i set mornings , meditate for 5 to 10 minutes, practice it , and then sent meditating for another 10 minutes after finishing .

what i've noticed is the energy that i have after finishing, ( feel i want to jump , can't set still ), i can hold my breath relatively more than before , almost 2 minutes now, and  i can do more push ups after breathing and holding my breath . than the regular push ups . 

i'm taking cold showers ( not that cold , as i live in warm place ) around 20 degree temperature.  and i will put the method in testing soon , as i'm traveling to trek in  cold place with high altitude after 10 days. 

 

 

 

[askdfjnak]

On 16/01/2017 at 3:36 AM, Siim Land said:

I'm going to make a video about polar plunging in the future as well.

Awesome, I want to see some titanic action in there  
 

 

[Siim Land]

Haha, Leo didn't know the Wim Hof Method. 

[askdfjnak]

On 01/02/2017 at 3:47 AM, Siim Land said:

Haha, Leo didn't know the Wim Hof Method. 

Yeah, it's strange he died though. In his past life he got plenty of practice:
 

 

[askdfjnak]

My set up is ready. I’ve cut the top off a 1000L IBC tank that I have put into this industrial freezer. I call it the ice cube. I have filled it with water and a few bags of salt. There is also some chlorine to keep it sterile.

The temperature varies from 0.2-1.5C (~32-35F) (measured over 3 days).

 

 

I have only done 3 dives into it but I can say without a doubt that this is going to take my equanimity to the next level. I'm going to incorporate it into my daily meditation cycle.

I thought I was going to be cool and calm the first time I got in but my body just surged with pure adrenaline as the water closed in around me.

For the first minute my entire system is just screaming NO! But that graduates into an uber-cool Zen like dive into subconscious space after that.

I haven't stayed in much longer than 4 minutes because that's when I stop shivering. Things could get dangerous after that.

Time to become superhuman!

#stoked
#whosclarkkent

[khalifa]

@ULFBERHT

I've tried wif hof method months ago, I felt like there were no benefits of it if i were to eat right before doing it or somewhere around an hour or 6 hour range, It's best done on an empty stomach like a long fast, perhapsa skip morning and done at mid day would show you the most benefits give it a try.

 

 

@Marc Schinkel

How about getting one of these instead

 

 

 

 

[askdfjnak]

@khalifa

Cool, I didn’t know that was a thing.

I would save my money though.
Temperature /= Heat.
Water will conduct heat away from your body much faster than air because it has a much higher specific heat capacity and higher thermal conductivity.

Also, the thermoreceptors on your skin sense heat loss/gain not temperature. That’s why a glass of 25C water feels colder that the 25C room it is sitting in.

So that cryochamber and my water tank would probably feel the same and have the same effect on the body. Mine is very cheap though. (free actually)

[Siim Land]

@Marc Schinkel I'm not that fancy, I just prefer going to the sea. Today was a perfect day to go for a little swim. 
 

 

[InfinitePotential]

Buteyko method is far superior IMO and advocates pretty much the opposite of what Wim Hof does for breathing exercises (Buteyko method has you breath calmly and less and sustain slight air hunger for a while, Wim Hof method has you hyperventilate and breathe more for a while).

I can see the Wim Hof method giving you some quick energy but most people today breathe far too much.  Consider a healthy, fit individual vs an obese unhealthy individual both after walking up the same flight of stairs.  The healthy individual will be breathing far less and more calmly and easily than the obese individual.  It's more important to get your unconscious breathing pattern to be such that you breathe slowly, rhythmically, calmly, and far less than almost everyone in modern western culture is breathing today.  This will have a hugely positive impact on both body and mind.

"A perfect man breathes as if he is not breathing" - Lao Tsu

I'm all in for the cold exposure stuff though.