| > 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. 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. |