Anyone using the Wim Hof Meditation Method?

[KIRUBAKARAN J]

I was searching this forum and was quite startled that it has not yet discussed here.

I learned about the Wim Hof Method a while back in one of the most famous documentaries about him, which is from VICE and dates back a few years. I tried doing the breathing exercises and never really maintained it as a habit with the consistency that is necessary to use it successfully.

After seeing the big wave surfer Laird Hamilton talking about it, I kind of got obsessed with it again and started using the Wim Hof Method again with the additional cold exposure training.

I like the feeling of the energy boost after doing the breathwork and also think it is fascinating how we can control our autonomic nervous system "only" through breathing.

I find it also a good alternative to standard meditation. I use the Headspace app and find it hard to focus on the meditation while the breathing works like an active meditation exercise for me.

It is hard to think about anything else then your body when it tingles and your brain feels like a napalm bomb exploded inside of it.

I am still experimenting with the right technique and wanted to know if anyone is using the Wim Hof Method as well.

Hi Kaizen502,

Since i have some experience with breathing exercises, i think i can reply.

If you read Yoga sutra from Patanjali, Breathing exercises(Pranayama) comes after Eyama(Do's) and Niyama(Don'ts) . It's a step by step approach. After that you can progress to breathing exercises. Going directly to breathing exercises skipping the two steps lead to deterioration of health and various health problems.

To get clarity on these, read books of patanjali(yoga) and Osho(meditation).
if you have queries, let me know.

 

[TheKeywordsGuy]

Been doing it every other day or so for about a year now. Calms you down like nothing else will, and you get a joyful feeling afterwards, at least I do.

Also, did it when we found out the GF had the rona. Mild fever for two hours, but I never actually caught it as I don't even have the antibodies apparently. And I dine out ALL the time and travel quite a bit.

 

[MJ DeMarco]

get retention times up to 4 minutes on a good day.

That's the exhale after 30 deep breaths and hold?

This guy was planning to write a takedown hit-piece on Wim Hof but ended up being one of his biggest supporters and writing two books about him.

The scientific data behind it is indeed, quite interesting.

 

[Antifragile]

I've been doing it for close to 4 years. Have not been sick since I started.

I start my day with 15 minutes of WHM Breathing (I use his app) and get retention times up to 4 minutes on a good day. Every day is different.

Also doing 3 minutes of cold shower daily - and I try to take a cold bath every week. But I have to admit I bitch out regularly on the bath. The dreaded few seconds when the ice hits your skin - it never gets any easier.

Scott Carney - the author of "What Doesn't Kill You" describes it as "the wedge". - very interesting book by the way. This guy was planning to write a takedown hit-piece on Wim Hof but ended up being one of his biggest supporters and writing two books about him.

I didn’t know there was an app for breathing.
I read that book when it just came out, did cold showers die a year and then stopped. But with this thread I want to return to it.
What’s the best resource? An app?

Edit: downloaded the app. It’s all clear now. Did breathing exercises and held on 1:42. Appreciate this thread starter and contributing posts for nudging me back to this. I remember years back it was transforming for my fitness. Running in winter months made possible. Thanks everyone.

 

[door123]

Just finished Wim Hof's book and had my first cryo experience. It was cold, but I can't say I felt any different afterward.

I'd like to try cold showers, but in Arizona, there is no cold water... only luke warm. I will need to buy ice.

I will also attempt the breathing exercises since I already meditate already.

I know what you mean by luke warm water. I live in California. Surprisingly, you can get a shower water chiller for under $600.

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[Antifragile]

I’m on Day 3. Nothing to celebrate yet, but it’s a start. Breath holds are still short, they are harder for me. But I’m very comfortable in a cold shower. Can be there for a few minutes and enjoying it. Not looking forward to ice bath.

 

[MattR82]

I'm referring to the time I can hold my breath. For more than a year I was doing it wrong, actually. I did the 30 breaths in through the nose and out of the mouth. But when you see Wim Hof doing it - he inhales through the mouth and out through the mouth.

I usually do 40 breaths instead of 30. Sometimes even 60 like in this YT video:

This is a GREAT video to go deep:

I can guarantee you'll be as high as a kite if you go along with this video. But for me it stopped working.


I long for the tingling and the feeling high. It goes away as you build your practice. The same with the cold showers, which is why you see people building contraptions with plastic bottles sewn in half and ice cubes that they attach to the 'douche nozzle'. Crazy how the body adapts.

And one thing that is REALLY crazy is that when you get into the higher retention times that for example, the time between 3 minutes and 4 minutes of breath-holding feels like 10 seconds. It's INSANE. I still haven't figured out what that is. You hear the ping of the app announcing 3 minutes and then just afterwards the ping for 4 minutes. Time speeds up within the exercise.

Try doing 100 breaths in and out. Just 2 rounds. I've only done it once, in a group, and it was much stronger.

I struggled badly with the chest freezer ice bath the first few times. When I took it a bit easier and didn't put my arms in at the beginning it made it a lot easier. Then eventually it wasn't an issue.

 

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[Mattie]

I haven't tried is techniques. They had a documentary on him in the Netherlands I watched on the Television. I'm not really into cold showers. Michigan has a lot of snow. I've walked on the snow barefoot before. Doesn't really sound any different then some of the YT self-guided meditations I taught myself with in the past. I don't have that list anymore though since it was back in 2011-2016 I listened to most of them.

 

[Antifragile]

View: https://youtu.be/VakjjfgdMEI

 

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[Simon Angel]

Yes.

Breathing (breath holds):

Breathing is a whole different animal, nothing like I've experienced before. It gives you longer term energy. The oxygen absorption seems to be better. On my regular 5km runs I can keep similar pace but breathing through nose. I've never been able to do that before the breathing exercises.

Cold Showers:

How do I describe this... Imagine your first cup of coffee, you feel energy but that's it, usually just energy. Your body seems to have a boost but your mind isn't any crisper. That clarity I get from a very cold shower, when I stand there with water going on my forehead I feel the contraction of a few muscles in my face. I don't feel cold - like feeling of shivering when you are indeed cold - I feel the cold temperature yet I am warm. I usually take 3 minutes (give or take) and after I am done, I feel clarity of mind. My mind is crisp. My energy is up (temporarily).

I recommend you start with the app. Timer there starts off with barely 10 seconds. It took me 3 months to get to 3-5 minutes and not feel cold (feel the cold, but be warm).

Another way to go about is to just soldier on through it your first time. The first 10 seconds are always the hardest but after that, I can easily stay for 290 more.

There's a video about Wim Hof's seminar teachings by "Yes Theory" on youtube. He makes a group of cold exposure virgins jump into an ice-cold spring naked after which they chill inside (literally) for 10 minutes.

Apparently, he does this to prove to people that it's all in the mind. That we all have that primal strength/survivability inside us without working ourselves up to it gradually.

I believe the only exception is for people with heart conditions. I think he starts them off with 2 minutes of cold exposure with gradual increases.

 

[Antifragile]

@Simon Angel - I don’t believe that to be true.
My research points out to two key items:
1. The ice bath is different from cold showers. It triggers a different response. Don’t mix the impact of the two.
2. Even Wim Hoff’s app starts you off very slowly. Why? Because from my research, it takes time to gain brown fat that is used for heating your body up while in cold conditions. This is a gradual process.

 

[Simon Angel]

@Simon Angel - I don’t believe that to be true.
My research points out to two key items:
1. The ice bath is different from cold showers. It triggers a different response. Don’t mix the impact of the two.
2. Even Wim Hoff’s app starts you off very slowly. Why? Because from my research, it takes time to gain brown fat that is used for heating your body up while in cold conditions. This is a gradual process.

What kind of "different" response?

I've never taken an ice bath. Well, at home at least. But from what I've read the difference is that the cold shower is tougher on the body since it continuously splashes really cold water all over you. On the other hand, whenever you're submerged in an ice bath the heat from your body forms something akin to a "warmer circle" of water around you which makes it easier to stay for an extended period of time.

Is that what you meant? That the dudes who jumped into the ice-cold water and stayed for 10 minutes probably wouldn't have been able to stay for 5 minutes under the showerhead their first time?

 

[Antifragile]

Ice bath is much colder water.

Exactly. Full submersion into ice water for 10 minutes without training or preparation sure sounds like a recipe for hypothermia.

Take it slow, build up brown fat for heat and enjoy it along the way.

 

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[Simon Angel]

Well that's fair enough, I'm biased by the fact that I've never in my entire life had shower water anywhere near as cold as an ice bath. Whatever floats your boat then I spose.

I come out of an ice bath looking red and have a bit of pain along the way haha, at least to begin with, that's impossible for me to replicate with just a shower.

Haha yeah, my shower is definitely cold enough for that!

 

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