Wim Hof & Meditation
 

I've been doing cold therapy for a little over a month and just started power breathing. Tonight I did a full power breathing routine before meditating and it works quite well. It puts one in a very relaxed and attentive state.

I'm going to try that now, thanks! I've been meaning to look into this guy at some stage but wasn't brave enough to face the cold showers.

You can search online for his free mini-class videos. It's three videos, roughly 25 minutes long, one on breathing, one on cold showers and the last on commitment.


Ease into the cold showers. I start with hot and that's where I shampoo and soap up. Then I transition to cold in three or four steps taking a minute or so to acclimate each step, the first one turning the cold water all the way up followed by gradually turning down the hot water until it's off. Then I go back to hot for a few minutes to open up the pores. The first week I didn't even turn the hot water all the way off. It gets easier as you progress.

The power breathing is interesting.It's 30-40 deep breaths followed by one more and holding that last exhale as long as possible followed by a deep inhale and holding that for 10-15 seconds. Repeat that routine three more times.

Thanks :smile: actually I've been taking coldish showers for the past few weeks anyway, just didn't get around to checking him out yet. Sounds great, I will definitely look at the mini course. I just hope it isn't one of those teasers that lures you in to a $5,000 course. Who am I kidding, of course it is :laugh: but I'll check it out anyway.

He gives the breathing technique in full and yes, there are several versions of of the video course for sale, but the top tier one is $299. The site doesn't really push it hard but just lets you know it's available. In my opinion it's not really needed because the Wim Hof method is breathing and cold therapy and that's it.

He seems like a really stand-up guy and there's a good interview on Joe Rogan's YouTube Channel. https://youtu.be/H2NtdOKn630

I e never studied his style of meditation but I've heard some of the crazy stories of him and his students in the freezing cold doing there meditation and not freezing to death lol. I haven't done anything as extreme as he has but the closest one I can think of was the time I was meditating in my garage and it was 68* and about 9PM I was in shorts and a undershirt and I went into a deep contemplation/ meditation and it felt like maybe 30 minutes had gone by then all of a sudden in a shocking way I snap to and started freaking out because I had a bit of steam coming off my body like if you have ever gone running in the winter and stop after heating up from the run and you can see the steam coming off your body
That's how it looked and I had soaked my shirt in sweat and my face was dripping too
And I was freaking out because apparently a cold front had blown in and it was now 2:45AM and 26* farenheit and I didn't feel the cold until I snapped to and so I'm sure it was quite the comical seen as I'm yelling fumbling to find my shoes to run back to my house lol definitely a experience I won't be forgetting lol

Yup, he's a crazy Scandanavian capable of performing superhuman feats like running a half marathon in bare feet above the Arctic Circle, same for hiking in the Himalayas, swimming under 100 yards of ice on a single breath, plunged in salt water just above the freezing point for some un-Godly amount of time, etc... There's definitely something to what he's preaching.

The cold showers are all well and good and have documented phisiological benefits, but what I'm finding very useful for my meditation practice is the power breathing routine. It relaxes both body and mind to a much, much greater degree than the few minutes I use to take doing a body scan prior to settling into a specific technique.

I have done those breathing exercises, they can be very effective if for instance you want to feel ''vibrations'' through your body. As easy as the practice is there is a surprising discipline required, at least for me, to make it a regular practice. I find it easier to do asanas and enjoy the increased agility I develop.

Apparently, I've heard that if one does this breathing for half an hour or longer it's akin to ayahuasca..

Definitely a tingling sensation associated with hyperventilating, and it increases with each round of the routine. I do four rounds at a pop. That eats up at least 10 minutes if not more. I haven't timed the entire routine, just several of the last exhalation holds.

What I find interesting is there's a balance between too much exertion and not enough exertion. I'm getting better at finding that balance and at the end of the last round I can hold the exhalation close to two minutes. It's also really helped my belly breathing technique. It's becoming much more natural.

My understanding is one benefit of both the power breathing and cold therapy is similar to fasting in that they are stressors that stimulate aspects of the body's defense and repair functions.

And yeah, I saw something on one technique of continuous breathing for at least half an hour, if not longer, resulting in something similar to a psychedelic experience.

Yes, fasting can be effective too. Nice that you can hold after exhalation for two minutes..

It's a really effective technique. Your thread has inspired me to do it more regularly, hmmm maybe half an hour? :tongue: :D