Few weeks ago, I shared what I’ve been doing differently that may be keeping me healthier than usual and one of them was cold shower. I learned about the cold shower from Wim Hof, aka Iceman. I htink it’s actually pronounced Vim Hof in his native language of Dutch. If you don’t know him, he is a very fascinating person and so is his life story.
He has had multiple world records for sitting in the ice bath and swimming under the ice. He has climbed Mount Everest and Mount Kilimanjaro in nothing but shorts and shoes and ran a full marathon in a desert without water. His super power has been studied scientifically. There are many videos of his interviews and documentaries him which I recommend to watch. I’ll include the link to his YouTube channel below but you can easily Google him.
This week I’m going to show you his breathing technique. I didn’t include it in my previous video because I wasn’t practicing it on a regular basis. But now that breathing is of such importance, I have been practicing this every day to strengthen my body from inside including my lungs and my immune system. And there was a request from a viewer to do a breathing exercise for immune system.
The benefits of his breathing exercise include improved circulation, nervous system and immune system.
There are three parts to his breathing method. But before I begin, choose a safe place because you can go very deep and lose consciousness. Don’t ever do this in a place where you have to pay attention such as while you are driving your car or in and around water. Don’t do this while you are taking a bath.
The first part is to inhale fully into your belly, lungs and head, and exhale without forcing. Repeat this 30 to 40 times. The second part is to exhale and hold the breath as long as you can. And the third part is to inhale again and hold your breath. That’s one round. And repeat for three or more rounds.
Today I’m going to demonstrate one round because I don’t want to bore you with me just breathing. I’m going to use their app. There is an instructional video on YouTube that you can follow but it does 30 breaths and one minute of holding time.
I think it’s a great starting point but I like using the app better because it’s more flexible. It does up to 40 breaths and it comes with a timer so you can time how long you can hold your breath. This way I can see I can hold my breath longer and longer each round.
Let’s get started. I’m turning on his instructional voice while I’m doing this.
Take 30-40 breaths. (I did 40.) On the last breath, exhale and hold your breath as long as you can. Then inhale and hold your breath again for 15 seconds. Repeat this for three or more rounds.
How does this help strengthen your body? You can find the details on his website. But in short, this breathing exercise causes a positive stressor at the cellular level and it signals the body to strengthen to better deal with stress in the long term.
When I went to his live event last year, we did six rounds of this breathing exercise. And during the fourth round, I experienced a moment of nirvana. It’s hard to explain but it was like I was taken to a different realm.
Anyway, I’m doing this every day now to strengthen my body from inside. If I get sick, I want to recover faster. I feel like I’m closer to my lungs because I’m feeling and listening to their functions.
If you have any questions about this breathing method, please contact them as I’m just a newbie exerciser and I’m not a certified trainer.
Massage Monday #493 Wim Hof Breathing Method for Immune System http://bit.ly/mm–493