Yesterday, I held my breath for more than 3 minutes in two consecutive rounds while doing the Wim Hof breathing method. Honest to god, The WH breathing method has blown my mind.
It’s funny to think that I had been following Wim for more than two years before taking the breathing seriously. For some reason, I never took his methods seriously. I had done some cold shower exposure, but I guess I didn’t want to get better at it or wasn’t ready for it yet. Or maybe I wasn’t mentally strong enough to commit to the breathing and cold showers daily.
But now I’m doing Wim’s method for cold exposure and breathing, and it’s changing my life. I feel better; I’m better at dealing with stress and hardship in general. This stuff works for me. I will keep on doing the work until I’ve outgrown it or when I think I won’t need it anymore but right now breathing at night and the cold shower in the morning are regular parts of my morning and evening routines. Thanks, Wim, you, the man.
In this article, I want to share my experience with the breathing method and what I’ve learned over the past months of doing it.
Important Disclaimer: I’m not a medical professional. Please do not try any of this at home. I’m not saying all of this is safe. I’m experimenting for myself, and you should speak with a medical professional before you try any of the lessons and methods described below.
Lesson 1: Wim Hof Breathing during the evening is better than during the morning
I’m able to hold my breath longer in the night than in the mornings. I’ve read online that it differs for most people, but I guess the lessons here is that you’ll have to try many different times during the day and see which moments are best for you. I haven’t tried during the day as I think about it now. Maybe I should try that actually. You know what? I’m trying that tomorrow.
Lesson 2: Stress in your life has a drastic effect on your performance
I know it’s a no-brainer, but I believe it’s worth mentioning. Stress really affects my performance. On days when I had a long day, and I’m still carrying a lot of stress from the days work, my breath retention times will be significantly lower. Don’t stress about this. It’s okay that your retention times are longer one day and shorter the other. That’s fine. You will improve over time. Just stick with the habit, and it will serve you.
Lesson 3: Wim Hof breathing can melt stress away like snow in the sun
Even though stress harms my breath holds, I still do the Wim hof method anyway. I do it because when I do four rounds, my stress levels drop significantly. During the third and fourth round, I’ll feel it in my body. I start to relax, and I’ll feel my body sink into my yoga mat. My stress levels reduce with 50-90% during a Wim Hof breathing sessions of four rounds. I can honestly see that the Wim Hof breathing methods are more effective than meditation for banishing stress within a short time.
Lesson 4: Closing my eyes during the retention time lets me get into my body more
Wim’s breathwork is like a meditation on steroids. He says it himself in his new Book (check out this post with all his exercises from his new book), and you should view it as that. It’s a moment in which you alter the chemical balance in your blood. For me, this has relaxing effects on the body. It’s also very pure and kind of a forced moment of focus. Especially during the retention phase, you get deep inside yourself. Next to the focus, I’m also quite competitive, so I want to increase my time and do better. Closing my eyes helps me to focus better, and it helps to increase my retention times.
Lesson 5: Focus on your body / do body scans during the retention phase to keep on going longer
We belong in our bodies, but we live in our heads. Wim’s method lets me reconnect with my body in new ways. The heavy breathing and especially the breath retention periods really put you back into your own body. It’s a quiet moment to reconnect with your body and to listen to your body instead of listening to the constant chatter in your brain. The more you go into your own body, and the more you try to feel your body, the more you’ll stop caring for time. And the moment you stop caring for the time and the moment you quit listening to your inner voice and quiet the mind down, the longer you’ll be able to hold your breath. A good way to practice this is to do a body scan while you’re in the retention phase. I start at my hands and my fingertips and try to feel how they feel, and I do the same with my feet and the rest of my body.
Lesson 6: Never focus on your time during the first moments/ minutes of your retention phase
Lesson 6 is similar to lesson 5 in which I want to hammer home that thinking is not wrong, but obsessive thinking about the times you want to reach is not helpful. You want to have as little stress on your mind and body as possible during the breathing and the retention phase. When you start thinking about your time or the moment you know what time you’re at, you’ll start to lose focus on the now, and you’ll be gasping for air faster. The more you’re not focussed on your time, the longer you’ll be able to go.
lesson 7: The breathwork gives me the most bang for my buck when I try to hold my breath until I feel like I can’t go any longer
From what I know and what I’ve learned on the web, it’s practically almost impossible to die from holding your breath when you’re above water. That’s because your body has an automatic safety mechanism to get you to breathe. When you hold your breath for too long, you’ll blackout, and the automatic breathing will start back up again. This sounds very bad, but from what I’ve read, it’s not to bad. I never blacked out, yet, but I’ve had my fair share of convulsions and contractions of my stomach to get me to breathe. This feels very uncomfortable, but it’s not harmful. Also, when I hold my breath long enough, it really feels like I’m fighting imminent death. This sounds very dark gruesome but it’s not. I’m proud of myself whenever I get out of the retention time after holding my breath for a long time. It feels like an accomplishment, like I’ve beaten death. I’ve fought hardship during the retention phase, and I’ve survived the breath-hold.
And finally, I love the last part of the retention phase because it just blisses me out. It sometimes feels like I’ve used MDMA. I get similar sensations, most notably a lot of tingles all over my skin. Like 1000, small needles are pricking my skin all over my body. It’s probably the effect of low oxygen levels in the blood, but I like it. It relaxes me.
Lesson 8: Do your first swallow as late as possible to increase your retention times
Swallowing will become a thing once you start with the Wim Hof breathing method. When you dig online, you’ll see many different opinions on swallowing during breathwork. I tend to press my tung into my palate, and I like to hold it there. Not cramping my tung but just holding it there gently. It also blocks my airway. Holding the swallow in as long as possible is the first big hurdle I cross during the retention phase. The moment I swallow, I know that I need to breathe quicker.
Lesson 9: Take something to think about into your breathwork
You’ll have some amazing clear and vivid thoughts during your breathwork, especially after your retention periods. Use these clear moments to come up with new ideas or new solutions for the things you’re facing in life.
Wim’s breathwork will put you into another mental state. Use this mental state to unlock new ways of looking at a personal situation. For myself, I’ve come up with the habit of coming up with new tweets that I post directly after my four rounds of breathing. It’s part of my 30 days Twitter challenge, go follow me!
Lesson 10: Create a comfortable place to lay down where you can relax
Comfort is obvious, but it’s key. As I said, Wim’s breathing method is like a meditation. You want to be comfortable when you’re meditating—the same counts for breathing. I use a thick yoga mat I bought on amazon for 20 dollars. Next to that, I have a high-quality meditation pillow for my head to rest on. When It’s cold, I might even pull a fleece blanket out to increase the comfort level even more. In the future, I will try out a weighted blanket because I’m reading a lot of good reviews on weighted blankets. So I might check that out int the future, and I’ll let you guys know how it goes. Also, I know some people prefer to lay flat on the ground with their heads and bodies, but I wouldn’t say I like it that way.
I want to feel some comfort when doing breathing. But try it out both and see what work best for you.
Lesson 11: During your last out-breath before your retention phase try not to blow out all the air in your lungs
When you keep some air in your lungs during your final out-breath, you’re able to hold your breath longer. I did not find this out myself. I actually found this tip on Reddit, and I’ve tried it out for myself, and it works. On my last in-breath I take the biggest breath I can and then on my last out-breath I force out 90% of air, and then I hold my breath. The big inhale at the end also works better for me.
Lesson 12: If you’re a beginner use the Wim Hof Method app for five free guided breathing exercises
I really got into the Wim Hof method after I downloaded and started to use Wim’s app. Wim has a free app out for iOS and Android, which explains many of his breathing, cold exposure, stretching, and mindset methods. Download the app and check it out. You get five guided breathing sessions for free. After those first five guided breathing sessions, I got hooked to buy the yearly plan for 40 bucks. At least I think it was that much, but I could be wrong. It was worth the money, though. Wim has saved me thousands of euro’s in medical bills I guess, and his methods will keep on doing so in the future so very much worth it for me.
Bonus lesson: Drink some water before breathing because your throat can go dry
This is self-explanatory but try to drink around a half a litre of water before you do your breathwork. My house is pretty dry most of the time, and when I’m laying on the ground, the air is dry and cold. My throat can get scrappy from all the heavy in and out breathing, so a lubricant throat helps a lot. I have my Hidrate Smart Water Bottle with me at all times, and when my throat starts hurting or becomes to dry, I take quick sips in between new rounds. But 90% of the time I can go without drinking any water in the rounds. Everyone’s experience may differ, which is okay.
Finally I would highly recommend you read the latest book from Wim Hof.
I’ve also written a short review of Wim’s latest book in one of my latest articles. Go check that article out if you’re also interested in the many exercises on breathing mindset and the cold from that book. I’ve laid out most of his methods that he explains in his book.
I hope you go with peace and like Wim says himself: Have a good night or a good day and a good life.