https://www.newyorker.com/science/elements/can-you-warm-yourself-with-your-mind Skip to main content The New Yorker * Newsletter To revisit this article, select My Account, then View saved stories Close Alert Sign In Search * News * Books & Culture * Fiction & Poetry * Humor & Cartoons * Magazine * Puzzles & Games * Video * Podcasts * Archive * Goings On * Shop Open Navigation Menu To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories Close Alert The New Yorker Science and Tech * The Skeletons at the Lake * How Childbirth Went Industrial * The Rabbit Outbreak * Welcoming Our New Robot Overlords Elements Can You Warm Yourself with Your Mind? The human body generates its own heat. Some people can adjust the thermostat. By Jessica Wapner February 18, 2022 * * * * * Save this story for later. Two monks sitting crosslegged on the floor practicing gtummo meditation. Monks practice g-tummo meditation, a technique used to stay warm in cold temperatures, in the documentary "Advanced Tibetan Meditation." Photograph courtesy Russ Pariseau * * * * * Save this story for later. It's been chilly in the Catskills, where our family lives. The chickens are under threat of frostbite, the dog has to be pushed outside, and our jeans are bulky from long underwear; the weather app shows negative numbers in the evenings. Cold is something we are subject to--it hurts, and all we can do is dress for it. I can't prevent the storm that encases my car in ice any more than I can disperse the sticky air of a subway station in July. And yet hints of another world push back against the cold. In 1981, Herbert Benson, then a physician at Harvard Medical School, travelled to the Himalayas to take the temperatures of three Buddhist monks. The monks had been living in near-solitude for nearly a decade, in small stone huts without heat or insulation at elevations of six thousand feet or higher; they'd been practicing g-tummo, a secret meditation technique, every day for several years. Benson attached disk thermometers to several parts of each monk's body, during meditation or afterward. In a study published in the prestigious journal Nature, he reported that, while meditating, the monks could increase the temperature in their fingers and toes by up to seventeen degrees Fahrenheit. Scientists had previously documented the possibility of a person heating her own extremities using biofeedback, but those temperature increases had been slight. Here was evidence that a person could be his own furnace. New Yorker Favorites * The German experiment that placed foster children with pedophiles . * How an immigrant from Turkey turned Greek yogurt into an American snack. * Can you parachute twenty-five miles and survive? * Trader Joe wrote a memoir. * The regal Hollywood power of Bette Davis. * Personal History by Steve Martin: finding out what funny is. Sign up for our daily newsletter to receive the best stories from The New Yorker. Jessica Wapner is a co-host of the podcast "One Click" and the author, most recently, of "Wall Disease." More:MeditationMonksResearchTibetAnimalsWinter The Daily The best of The New Yorker, every day, in your in-box, plus occasional alerts when we publish major stories. E-mail address [ ] Sign up By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement. The New Yorker Sections * News * Books & Culture * Fiction & Poetry * Humor & Cartoons * Magazine * Crossword * Video * Podcasts * Archive * Goings On More * Customer Care * Shop The New Yorker * Buy Covers and Cartoons * Conde Nast Store * Digital Access * Newsletters * Jigsaw Puzzle * RSS * Site Map * About * Careers * Contact * F.A.Q. * Media Kit * Press * Accessibility Help * Conde Nast Spotlight (c) 2022 Conde Nast. All rights reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The New Yorker may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Conde Nast. Ad Choices * * * * * Do Not Sell My Personal Info