“What happens in the brain stem, the brain says, ‘There is no oxygen anymore.’ Then it triggers adrenaline to shoot out throughout the body. “If you oxygenize the body the way we do it, the oxygen gets into the tissue. For him, it enables seemingly superhuman feats of endurance, brought on, he says, by the physiological changes that his breathing techniques impart.īreathe properly, Hof claims, and oxygen levels in the tissues increase and adrenaline floods the body, granting strength that we didn’t know we had. Repeat as many times as you like.Ĭombined with repeated exposure to the cold, Hof says that his method will lead to tangible health benefits: more energy, lowered stress levels and an improved immune system.
Inhale again, as deep as you can, and hold it for 10 seconds. Then, take a deep breath and exhale hold until you need to breathe in. While sitting in a comfortable place, take 30 quick, deep breaths, inhaling through your nose and exhaling through your mouth. Sitting at home, you can easily try it for yourself. His website outlines the basics, although for more, you’ll have to pay. Now approaching his 60s, Hof has run marathons barefoot and shirtless above the Arctic Circle, dove under the ice at the North Pole and languished in ice baths for north of 90 minutes - all feats that he attributes to a special kind of breathing practice. These may be dubious claims to some.įor Wim Hof, a Dutch daredevil nicknamed “The Iceman,” it is the basis of his success. These breathing practices promise a kind of visceral self-knowledge, a more perfect melding of mind and body that expands our self-control to subconscious activities.
This is part of the logic behind Lamaze techniques, the pranayamic breathing practiced in yoga and even everyday wisdom - “just take a deep breath.” Control breathing, the thinking goes, and perhaps we can nudge other systems within our bodies. To some, this duality offers a tantalizing path into our subconscious minds and physiology. We can leave it up to our autonomic nervous system, responsible for unconscious actions like our heartbeat and digestion, or we can seamlessly take over the rhythm of our breath. The respiratory system is somewhat unique to our bodies in that we are both its passenger and driver. Repeat.īefore consciously inhaling, you probably weren’t thinking about breathing at all. Feel the wave of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide press against the bounds of your ribcage and swell your lungs.
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