This is going to be a small piece informing you of firstly Wim Hof and then his revolutionary breathing technique and practices. The reason I decided to write this article is because the breathing technique itself is incredibly useful in everyday situations and also to help us find greater mindfulness through meditation. I am no expert in this field, but I am incredibly interested in science and physiology. Hopefully I can provide you with a base of information that you can then push on and find more for yourself if you find this exciting.

So who is Wim Hof?

"The Iceman, is a Dutch extreme athlete noted for his ability to withstand extreme cold. He has set Guinness world records for swimming under ice and prolonged full-body contact with ice, and still holds the record for a barefoot half-marathon on ice and snow. He attributes these feats to his Wim Hof Method (WHM), a combination of frequent cold exposure, breathing techniques and meditation." - Wiki definition

He appears regularly on YouTube podcasts, radioshows, and does his own Youtube and twitter videos to raise awareness of his method.

My favorite appearance of his was the recent podcast with Russel Brand. He explains in detail the scientific evidence behind the methods and also his mindset on life. He is an incredibly interesting person, he has full confidence in himself and a care free attitude, which i feel most of us would benefit greatly from. The video is quite lengthy, so If you can try it at 1.5 speed.

The breathing technique and Methods

Firstly the essential breathing technique, it allows him to control his body's temperature as well as the mindset of pure mindfulness. Mindfulness is the ability to be completely at one with yourself, you have no thoughts, stresses, worries or joys, just completely alone in your mind. He harnesses this to complete his endurance tasks and always tells his students to focus on nothing when in the cold.

The breathing techniques' steps:

The first phase of the technique involves thirty cycles of breathing. Take a powerful breath in, fully filling the lungs. Breathe out by passively releasing the breath, but not actively exhaling. Repeat this cycle at a steady fast pace thirty times.

After completion of all the cycles of controlled hyperventilation, take another deep breath in, and let it out completely. Then, hold the breath for as long as possible. When you feel that you have to breathe, take a full deep breath in. Hold the breath for around 15–20 seconds then let it go. Repeat this three times.

This is a full walk through video of the breathing technique:

The other part of the method is cold exposure, this can mean anything from cold showers to climbing Everest in shorts which Wim Hof achieved in 2007. This could mean for you that you wear one less layer when going out walking or even turning the heat of in the house every now and then.

Health Benefits & Science

The scientific evidence

Several studies have shown that exposure to cold increases brown fat and the capacity for non-shivering thermogenesis (production of heat). Reduction of white adipose tissue, the form of fat related to obesity. There is evidence that brown adipose tissue may reduce the risk of diabetes through uptake of glucose and lipids.

Radboud University Medical Center created a way of measuring the immune response in humans. They were impressed by Hof's cold resistance. So they took blood samples before and after a regimen of breathing, meditation and an 80-minute full-body ice bath, and found that afterwards there were greatly reduced levels of proteins associated with the immune response.

They injected an endotoxin that was designed to test the immune response. Most subjects respond with flu-like symptoms. Hof had no flu-like symptoms. Moreover, after he had trained random volunteers for a week, they too had reduced symptoms.

The scientists the effect on the immune system to a stress-like response. In the hypothalamus, stress messages from the brain trigger a release of adrenaline, which increases the pumping of blood and releases glucose, both of which can help the body deal with an emergency. It also suppresses the immune system so lower symptoms and inflammation.

The Health Benifits

Many health benefits have been claimed by the Wim Hof method:

• BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM
• IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH - RELIEVE STRESS - DEAL WITH DEPRESSION
• INCREASE PHYSICAL PERFORMANCE - WORKOUT RECOVERY
• MORE ENERGY
• BETTER SLEEP
• INCREASE WILLPOWER
• BOOST CONCENTRATION
• IMPROVE COLD TOLERANCE

Some are backed by science directly, whereas others are more logically linked.

Some great videos to watch

As I previously mentioned there is an huge amount of content surrounding the Wim Hof method on YouTube, here is a few of my favorites:

My sources

https://www.wimhofmethod.com/benefits
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wim_Hof
https://medium.com/@harrystead17/breathe-like-the-iceman-how-to-use-the-wim-hof-method-8048fe9591de