Have you ever been so tired that you feel like your body and mind are moving in slow motion? There’s strong evidence of a connection between your breath and feeling sluggish.īreathing techniques might help wake you up. You’re also spending time focusing on your breath and removing distractions, which is a form of mindfulness meditation. When practicing the Wim Hof method, you are working to change your stress response. This fight-or-flight response is part of your autonomic nervous system, which regulates your breathing, heartbeat, digestion, and more. This is not helpful and can cause disease. While it’s helpful in such times, your body can end up in a perpetual state of fight-or-flight when you experience too much daily stress. The fight-or flight-response makes your body release stress hormones when an emergency happens. Breathing exercises can actually help you control your fight-or-flight response. This breathing method offers many benefits for your mind and body, which is why I like it so much. Hof combines this technique with focused meditation and cold therapy to further boost his ability to withstand extreme exercise.
#WIM HOF METHOD BENEFITS HOW TO#
Rapid breathing in a controlled manner! Here’s how to get started.
In this case, it means the literal sense of the word - hyper means extra or rapid, and ventilation means breathing. This isn’t the kind of hyperventilating associated with breathing into a paper bag or being overly excited, nervous, or scared. Wim Hof breathing is a technique using “controlled hyperventilation,” followed by a couple of slower, deep breaths.