|
|
|
|
|
|
by bitexploder
1311 days ago
|
|
|
I have gotten into Wim Hof and other breathing techniques. There is definitely something more to it than woo and sentiment. The way you can interact with and stimulate your nervous system through breathing remains unique to me in the scope of ways to interact with the body. I have also been into cold water immersion for many of the same reasons. Can dig up some posts I did on wim hof cheat sheet and cold water immersion on my blog (see profile). In fact, that is about all I wrote on my blog thus far, mostly as notes to myself and for close friends when they ask what I am up to in the health and fitness realm. CWI and Breathing are my future and I find huge benefits to it in my martial arts pursuits (brazilian jiu jitsu, staying calm, managing my energy in tough sparring matches, etc.). I find the breath work to be more useful than meditation. Now any time I find stress I immediately recognize my breath and start controlling it, almost sub-consciously. Driving, tough spots in matches, just getting deep into a problem and not getting it. The breath is always there. Okay, maybe it is a little woo, but the more focused breathing activities are not and actually trigger physiological response, and these reminders of the breath are reminders of those states. |
|
|
I'd just like to note that you're literally describing mindfulness meditation and its effects, there. That's what interoceptive meditation is all about - focusing on your internal state - and breath is an excellent medium for that focus.
Anyone that believes that Wim Hof breathing is woo should literally just spend the three minutes to do a round of it and see the effects by themselves. It is immediately obvious that there is a clear effect on the body from just breathing the right way.
For anyone wanting to try, here is the video I used when I started getting into it: https://youtu.be/lwlEJ2O-6HM
(Don't necessarily pay too much attention to that creator's other videos, he's not very science-based overall.)
Just do the first round and you'll see an undeniable effect on your body and mind. I mean undeniable, not something subtle and small.
Now, the specific effects of it all can be debated. I'm rather doubtful of some of the claims made of it, and it's very clear that a lot of non-skeptical people flock to this sort of thing, so that's expected. But there's something to it, for sure. Try it the next time you're about to do something high-stress, such as public speaking. The difference for me is night and day.
I also recommend people check out NSDR. Here is what I use: https://youtu.be/AKGrmY8OSHM
It's a bit subtler, but there's a definite effect. Supposedly it has similar effects on learning as sleep. Whether that's true or not, it's a tool you can try out yourself and decide whether or not it's helpful to you.