I learned about the Wim Hof breathing technique on Sunday December 16, 2018 and decided to try it the next morning. I had only heard of his cold water/weather stuff. Anyway, so Monday morning I held my breath for an amazing 26 seconds or so before trying the method. So this was my current ability. I forgot to check my time after the first round, but I remembered to after the second and third rounds. Those times were 2:58 and 3:18 respectively!!! I cannot believe that I was able to not breathe for that amount of time. This was done with my mouth closed and nose pinched so I know I wasn’t cheating.
Since then I have been able to not breathe for the longest time of 3:59! But, being able to not breathe is not the point and has not been the biggest benefit. Since starting this breathing every morning, I have found that I am much more relaxed and calm about everything. I worry much less and Kayla and the children have definitely noticed that I am much calmer and relaxed. I am falling asleep more quickly, sleeping more soundly and I believe it has been helpful in clearing up a tightness and burning in my thigh which was possibly meralgia paresthetica.
Here is a video of Wim explaining the breathing technique:
Have you tried this breathing technique to help with stress or anything else? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks!
Your results are insane. Hard to imagine not breathing for that long – I’m going to try this out.
It really is crazy especially knowing that I could normally just go for about 25 seconds. This morning I got to 4:52! But as I mentioned in the post, it’s not about that so much as it is about the feeling of relaxation all throughout the day. I’ve heard some interesting things recently about the benefits from simply breathing more deeply like this. It’s pretty cool.
I just tried this for the first time after your recommendation on the latest episode of your podcast. I’m going to incorporate it into my morning routine for a little while to see how I like it!
Good deal! I had a pain in my leg that went away after doing the breathing method for a while. It seems like the pain may be coming back though now after my break from the breathing…so if it does, I will probably bring the breathing back on a more regular basis.