[HN Gopher] My customized Wim Hof breathing method
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       My customized Wim Hof breathing method
        
       Author : ugjka
       Score  : 130 points
       Date   : 2022-07-30 07:55 UTC (15 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (ugjka.net)
 (TXT) w3m dump (ugjka.net)
        
       | dr_dshiv wrote:
       | "Bathtub breathing" is pretty amazing for producing an altered
       | state.
       | 
       | Basically, position yourself so that a deep breath in lifts your
       | chest up and a breath out lets your chest sink. You can adjust so
       | you basically breathe along with the resonant frequency of your
       | body rising up and down in the tub. You get into a flow that is
       | driven by natural mechanics and it can really take the mind to
       | different places. Combines well with cannabis.
       | 
       | Safety note: don't drown.
        
         | muwtyhg wrote:
         | Expanding on why this is dangerous, doing these breathing
         | exercises in water is bad because the drive to breath (excess
         | co2 in blood) can be postponed via hyperventilating beforehand,
         | but this means you can still pass out from a lack of oxygen in
         | the blood. If this happens while you are in a bathtub, you will
         | drown.
        
         | windexh8er wrote:
         | Don't do this. The last thing you want to be in is water doing
         | breath work. I did a week long course with Wim Hof before he
         | got popular, they were very adamant that you _never_ do breath
         | work in water. This is just ignorant and dangerous advice. I
         | 've been doing breath techniques for over 5 years now and would
         | never do them in water even though I'm well practiced.
        
         | swader999 wrote:
         | Also don't try while driving.
        
         | ugjka wrote:
         | Yeah dude, better avoid doing these kind of things in water
        
         | jtbayly wrote:
         | I discovered this as a kid simply trying to relax in the tub.
         | Could sometimes leave my airways open but stop actually
         | breathing for long periods of time. Very relaxed state.
         | Probably the closest thing to an altered state of consciousness
         | I've ever had. Haven't done it in decades.
        
       | test87823 wrote:
        
       | manjunaths wrote:
       | |5) Deep breath in and constrict |your abdomen and chest and
       | |push the breath in the brain (DMT |breath) for 10 seconds
       | 
       | What?!
       | 
       | How do you "push the breath in the brain"?
       | 
       | It would have been nice if this step had been expanded with
       | explicit instructions.
        
         | ugjka wrote:
         | "pushing in the brain" means creating high pressure in the
         | lungs until you feel it in your head
         | 
         | I updated my blog just now accordingly
        
           | Enginerrrd wrote:
           | So like a valsalva maneuver? B/c we already have a word for
           | that.
        
             | RealityVoid wrote:
             | I think a valsalva maneuver keeps intra-thoracic pressure
             | high by closing up a bit lower the air pathways? At least
             | that is how I do it, it feels like it it bottled up at
             | about the place my larynx site.
        
           | [deleted]
        
       | fhackenberger wrote:
       | I'd suggest to look into Holotropic breathwork. The WH high is
       | ahmmm tiny in comparison ;-)
        
       | alar44 wrote:
       | Just smoke a joint. What the fuck is wrong with people these
       | days?
        
         | yomkippur wrote:
         | > Just smoke a joint.
         | 
         | > What the fuck is wrong with people these days?
         | 
         | horrible advice aside, you could benefit from becoming more
         | mindful and self-aware. clearly this crowd could use a lot of
         | that. empathy helps too if you were shown a lot of it growing
         | up.
        
           | alar44 wrote:
           | Oh thank you so much. I am in debt to your wisdom.
        
       | can16358p wrote:
       | As a big fan of WHM which dramatically affects my physiology and
       | psychology, I want to try this as soon as possible.
       | 
       | Question to ugjka: How many rounds of your customized method do
       | you recommend? I usually feel the most high after 3rd round, do
       | you think I need the same, less, or more?
        
         | ugjka wrote:
         | I didn't specify how many rounds precisely because you
         | generally feel when enough is enough and you can't do this
         | indefinitely because you get tired at some point
        
       | PhantomBKB wrote:
       | Don't mess around with your breathing without guidance. It can do
       | more harm than good.
       | 
       | Pranayama is an ancient Indian science passed down from saints
       | who received these teachings as divine visions. It didn't
       | materialize as a result of experimentation as many would assume.
       | 
       | Even practices like Sudarshan kriya (which makes use of
       | breathing) were passed down to Shri Shri as a divine teaching.
       | 
       | So my advice is to not experiment with your breathing unless you
       | have proper guidance and knowledge.
        
         | [deleted]
        
         | otikik wrote:
         | First of all, I agree that breathing is too critical of a
         | system to tamper with without a backup or assistance. I do
         | think that the human body has a degree of flexibility though
         | (we breathe heavily after exercise, and that's fine).
         | 
         | > Pranayama is an ancient Indian science passed down from
         | saints who received these teachings as divine visions
         | 
         | I don't meant to offend, but that doesn't sound like any kind
         | of science to me.
         | 
         | I am sure it has helped a lot of people and a lot of people
         | believe in it. But if it doesn't come from hypothesis,
         | experimentation, and, in the case of medical treatments,
         | clinical trials, it simply isn't science. Or "ancient science".
         | 
         | There's another kind of belief system which accepts axioms
         | coming from divine visions and divine teachings, though. It
         | rhymes with "pigeon".
        
           | PhantomBKB wrote:
           | > But if it doesn't come from hypothesis, experimentation,
           | and, in the case of medical treatments, clinical trials, it
           | simply isn't science. Or "ancient science".
           | 
           | Way I see it is, we humans are the most sophisticated
           | creatures on our planet. Our birth onto earth is a natural
           | process by all means. By natural, I mean we are a product of
           | nature after all. We humans try to understand the nature
           | around us including ourselves, which is what we termed as
           | science. Our scientific thought itself is a product of
           | nature, and they translate to our endeavors and curiosity to
           | unravel the secrets of reality.
           | 
           | These visions that I spoke about are nothing but the universe
           | speaking to these great rishis. By universe, I mean nature
           | itself. Nature is bestowing knowledge upon its own creations
           | to aid them in understanding itself! The same nature that has
           | imbued life into our bodies when we are born. The same body
           | which will eventually turn to soil after it has run its
           | course.
           | 
           | Now, you might wonder, why nature is not bestowing these sort
           | of gifts upon you? Frankly, I do not know myself. It is what
           | it is. On the bright side, nature has bestowed the most
           | fortunate gift of being born as a human being which almost as
           | a law of nature makes the heights you can go to limitless. No
           | other creature has the same benefits as human beings. We are
           | born with both curiosity to ask questions and intelligence to
           | analyze and infer profound meanings from their answers.
           | 
           | While "we", the ordinary humans live for about a 100 years
           | before forsaking our bodies, however there are people who
           | live for 1000s of years. It's a realm of possibility not yet
           | uncovered by modern science.
           | 
           | > There's another kind of belief system which accepts axioms
           | coming from divine visions and divine teachings, though. It
           | rhymes with "pigeon".
           | 
           | That only came into picture recently during the last ~2000
           | years. The ancient knowledge I am referring comes from way
           | before.
        
             | otikik wrote:
             | I don't doubt you believe what you wrote is truth, but
             | please try to imagine how they sound to someone like me,
             | who has never heard any of this. "People live for thousands
             | of years" is such an extraordinary statement that it simply
             | cannot be thrown around without backing it up with equally
             | strong evidence (at minimum, a list of names). The fact
             | that you present that as fact without any further
             | explanation is a worrisome sign. It's what someone in a
             | cult would do. Again, I mean no disrespect. Perhaps you
             | were just writing on your mobile and not willing to spend
             | longer time than necessary explaining your beliefs to a
             | stranger on the internet.
        
       | mettamage wrote:
       | I use the WHM to get high on drum and bass parties. The
       | adrenaline that you have is higher than a first timer's bungee
       | jump when they are on their adrenaline peak [1].
       | 
       | [1] on the phone right bow but it is in the PNAS article about
       | the WHM suppressing the immune system
        
       | steve76 wrote:
        
       | philipwhiuk wrote:
       | The science for Wim Hof is very lacking.
        
       | mistrial9 wrote:
       | breathing is vital to life at the minute-to-minute level;
       | breathing 'exercises' of any kind are potentially dangerous;
       | using basic techniques to "get high" are inherently dangerous.
       | Please do not do try breathing exercises alone; find reliable
       | sources of information and practice.
        
         | yomkippur wrote:
         | It is no more dangerous than holding your breath in to hurt
         | yourself. Dolphins are capable of this but the human brain has
         | mechanisms to prevent this from happening.
         | 
         | It is hilarious reading all these armchair scientists warning
         | against a harmless breathing exercises that is proven to be
         | beneficial.
         | 
         | If not, it will help you gain mindfulness. So many comments on
         | here I feel like could benefit from that horrible danger of
         | growing aware
        
       | yellow_lead wrote:
       | "Getting high" off of a breathing method sounds a bit dangerous.
        
         | yomkippur wrote:
         | Getting intoxicated isn't the end goal but to relax the body
         | and mind to boost your immune system. I take you haven't even
         | read the article.
         | 
         | edit: so if you think Wim Hof is just getting recreational high
         | then you should continue taking whatever drug you are on such
         | as lead.
        
           | yellow_lead wrote:
           | The article doesnt talk about these benefits, only about how
           | the author was able to re-achieve the high they were seeking.
           | I take it you didn't read the article.
        
         | Quequau wrote:
         | I moderate a few hearing health forums. From time to time I see
         | people saying they got into this and damaged their hearing /
         | caused tinnitus.
        
           | Semaphor wrote:
           | Yeah, there are several threads about that in the subreddit
           | [0]. I did get the ringing in my ears when I first started.
           | The solutions normally given are a) You are straining
           | yourself. "Listen to your body" when to stop holding your
           | breath (No issues there for me) and b) Breath in through your
           | nose, out through your mouth.
           | 
           | Breathing in through my nose completely removed the ringing
           | noise for me.
           | 
           | [0]: https://old.reddit.com/r/BecomingTheIceman/
        
             | jtbayly wrote:
             | I got ringing afterwards when I tried it, found the
             | permanent tinnitus warnings and quit immediately. I wasn't
             | straining. I might try once more, being careful to follow
             | your suggestion.
        
               | Semaphor wrote:
               | Yeah, I was pretty scared as well and instantly googled,
               | saw the tinnitus warnings and became worried. Luckily,
               | the nose breathing helped, because I quite enjoy the
               | breathing exercises.
        
         | guzik wrote:
         | It is. Hyperventilation is the body's response to CO2 levels
         | become too low.
        
           | kuhewa wrote:
           | Hyperventilation removes CO2 from the blood
        
             | pcrh wrote:
             | ...which causes hypocapnia, which can be dangerous if
             | prolonged.
        
           | amelius wrote:
           | Can CO2 be measured in a simple way? (Like an oximeter in a
           | smartwatch measures oxygen)?
        
             | Enginerrrd wrote:
             | The desire to breathe in a healthy individual is a really
             | good proxy for CO2 levels based on a wonderful design with
             | distributed sensors throughout the body.
             | 
             | It is not a good proxy for O2 levels in healthy
             | individuals, but may be in people with COPD or other
             | chronic breathing problems.
        
             | ta988 wrote:
             | Yes there is some equipment to do transcutaneous pCO2 but
             | that's mostly used in sleep studies AFAIK. Most of the time
             | you use a blood test. I heard in some research they use IR
             | on expired air not sure how common that is. If you find a
             | "home made" way to get a (even just relative) pCO2 reading
             | I would be highly interested.
        
           | jtbayly wrote:
           | Are you sure? I would expect it to be the response to high
           | co2 levels, since it removes co2.
        
             | fjdbeb76 wrote:
             | It's why breathing into a bag works. You need to slow your
             | breathing during hyperventilation to increase your CO2 back
             | to baseline. Not speed it up.
        
       | 28304283409234 wrote:
       | The colors on the site, dark letters on a dark(ish) background,
       | make it very hard for me to read
        
       | MonkeyIsNull wrote:
       | What this misses is that to keep the high going remove all breath
       | holding. It just becomes continuous circular breathing -- no
       | holds, no pauses. This has been popularized by a lot of different
       | people: Dan Brule, Leonard Orr, Binnie Dansby, Judith Kravitz. It
       | comes under various names like: rebirthing, transformational
       | breath and holotropic breathwork.
        
       | vmurthy wrote:
       | The author's blog post should come with a disclaimer :) .
       | 
       | A while ago I tried a few breathing techniques which were given
       | in a nice book [0]. I really enjoyed the after-effects of the
       | said techniques so I decided to mix and match some of them etc.
       | The effects were awesome .. at first.
       | 
       | After a couple of weeks, I started feeling very low for no
       | particular reason (no dietary changes or anything) and just
       | downright weird. I eliminated one factor after another and
       | checked if my energy levels were OK. I finally gave up the
       | experiment on breathing techniques and restarted what was in the
       | book. I am good, now.
       | 
       | So.. despite a sample size of one and a trial which wasn't random
       | or controlled (:)) , my advice on this whole thing : Get a
       | qualified teacher and do what is taught. YMMV otherwise.
       | 
       | [0]
       | https://www.amazon.in/gp/product/B07WSBS5S4/ref=kinw_myk_ro_...
        
         | philipwhiuk wrote:
         | Well that would require some critical thinking about the
         | pseudoscience.
        
           | dang wrote:
           | Please don't post shallow dismissals, flamebait, or name-
           | calling comments to HN.
           | 
           | If you'd like to make your substantive points without those
           | things, that would be great.
           | 
           | https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
        
           | sateesh wrote:
           | I presume you are calling the area of breathing techniques to
           | be pseudoscince. I too was skeptical but some of the
           | Huberman's podcasts and especially the one with Dr. Jack
           | Feldman [1], has changed my opinion about (breathing
           | techniques) and realise some of these do have a scientific
           | basis. 1. https://hubermanlab.com/dr-jack-feldman-breathing-
           | for-mental...
        
             | nradov wrote:
             | Prof. Huberman is an excellent source of information and
             | it's always worth listening to what he and his podcast
             | guests have to say. But be aware that he has a bias toward
             | action (interventions), which sometimes runs ahead of the
             | science and isn't fully justified from an evidence-based
             | medicine standpoint.
        
               | sateesh wrote:
               | I agree with that.But at the same time probably that's
               | what makes his podcast interesting to me. There are
               | actions that are suggested which I can take to make my
               | day/lifestyle better. As far as I recall most of the
               | actions he suggest are (zero or low risk ones) and there
               | is no harm in trying them. Some of the interventions he
               | suggested (like not drinking coffee as first thing in
               | morning, exposure to sunlight) have indeed helped me.
        
           | mekoka wrote:
           | About 20 years ago people used to say the same thing about
           | mindfulness and meditation. When looking for books at the
           | library or bookstore, you were guided to the spiritual or
           | esoteric section. It's been funny to see them slowly migrate
           | to the medical one.
           | 
           | Today we're living something of a renaissance for
           | psychedelics, with promises of therapeutic benefits for
           | myriad of mental issues. At the time they were forbidden,
           | someone came up with a breathing technique to induce the same
           | therapeutic effects (see Stanislav Grof, holotropic
           | breathwork), which is pretty much an offshoot of the same
           | original techniques Wim Hof expands from.
           | 
           | Connect those dots with critical thinking.
        
             | rayiner wrote:
             | > About 20 years ago people used to say the same thing
             | about mindfulness and meditation
             | 
             | I'd say that about mindfulness and meditation today:
             | https://neurosciencenews.com/mindfulness-problem-14196/
        
           | graderjs wrote:
           | Breathing exercises (and pranayama) are _not_ pseudoscience.
           | But the claim that they are _is_ pseudoscience.
           | 
           | As OP states you should be careful. Alternate nostril
           | breathing is a good general purpose one.
           | 
           | So is box breathing (aka Navy SEAL breathing).
        
             | dwringer wrote:
             | I don't think the above poster was claiming that breath
             | exercises are pseudoscience, I think they were referring to
             | the practice of claiming certain health benefits without
             | scientific studies backing the claims. There are very real
             | benefits that can be scientifically studied but there is
             | also a lot of grandiose exaggeration and wishful thinking
             | out there, as with every field of medicine throughout human
             | history. It requires great care to sort out such things and
             | that we learned to do so (at some level) is IMO one of the
             | greatest triumphs of the modern scientific method.
             | 
             | Now, whether science has more to learn from things like
             | pranayama is a different subject and I think there still
             | certainly _is_ much to learn. But that means IMO we must be
             | very careful in what claims we make and how we back them
             | up.
             | 
             | Edit: I'm not criticizing anyone or claiming anything does
             | or doesn't work, I'm simply advocating for a scientific
             | approach.
        
               | graderjs wrote:
               | > I don't think the above poster was claiming that breath
               | exercises are pseudoscience,
               | 
               | How do you know? Are you sure? There's a lot of that
               | (dumb reflex skepticism). Seems that's what they're
               | saying.
               | 
               | > It requires great care to sort
               | 
               | Care, a good teacher or information, experience, caution.
               | All agree.
               | 
               | In general I think the Indians really know what they're
               | doing in this space but in my experience a lot of Western
               | teachings of it tries to teach it dislocated from the
               | source of the knowledge and so it can be dangerous or not
               | healthy like in your experience.
               | 
               | All in all breathing exercises are a pretty subtle
               | practice and skill, and easy to do wrong, and surprising
               | how powerful they can be. I think people do need to be
               | careful when they press those buttons, because they have
               | powerful effects and if not done right they may be doing
               | the wrong things for that person: not a perfect analogy
               | but to give people an idea of the respect needed
               | analogous with taking the wrong prescription medicines.
               | 
               | But definitely I think people should do more because it's
               | beneficial. But got to do it right.
        
               | dwringer wrote:
               | > How do you know? Are you sure? There's a lot of that
               | (dumb reflex skepticism). Seems that's what they're
               | saying.
               | 
               | What? I don't know. That's why I qualified the statement
               | with "I don't think". Perhaps I misunderstood. But I
               | agree with the rest of everything you said.
               | 
               | > but in my experience a lot of Western teachings of it
               | tries to teach it dislocated from the source of the
               | knowledge and so it can be dangerous or not healthy like
               | in your experience
               | 
               | Sorry I think there's been some confusion, I made no
               | claims either way about anyone's teachings and have said
               | nothing about my own experience.
        
               | graderjs wrote:
               | > I made no claims either way about anyone's
               | 
               | No that was the second part of my comment where I'm not
               | responding to what you're saying specifically I'm just
               | adding on my own information. Taking the thread as an
               | opportunity, a jumping off point to share what I think.
        
               | dwringer wrote:
               | Sorry, then, I think I understand you better now and I
               | appreciate what you added. Thanks for your replies.
        
           | orzig wrote:
           | I think the most scientific response would be to take 10
           | minutes to try it. I hypothesize you will feel _something
           | different_ than you did in the 10 minutes prior. If you 're
           | being skeptical of a stronger claim of what these techniques
           | can do, I (and many who have tried breathing techniques) may
           | well agree with you, but you're going to have to be more
           | specific.
        
         | CommieBobDole wrote:
         | Isn't that really sort of a turbocharged version of the hedonic
         | treadmill? Anything that makes you feel good, if you do it
         | enough, becomes the new level of 'normal' and you feel worse
         | when you're not doing it. The better it makes you feel, the
         | more intense the effect.
        
         | tsomctl wrote:
         | I have a family friend that recently had 2 strokes. The doctors
         | are confused because he has none of the risk factors for a
         | stroke. Really, he pretty closely follows this:
         | (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32143344). However, he's
         | been practicing breathing exercises for years and his resting
         | heart rate is ridiculously low.
        
           | tmountain wrote:
           | Are you suggesting that the breathing exercises are to blame?
        
           | Kenji wrote:
        
       | spaetzleesser wrote:
       | I have tried Win Hof and and other yoga pranayama several items
       | with good success at first. But every time after a few weeks I
       | develop a serious cough coming deep from my lungs. It's probably
       | because of the dry air in Nevada and New Mexico but I don't know
       | how to deal with this.
        
         | omnimus wrote:
         | Humidifier. Don't use ultrasonic one - that will kill you.
        
           | TedDoesntTalk wrote:
           | Why do ultrasonic humidifiers kill?
        
             | rogerclark wrote:
             | Instead of yielding pure water vapor like evaporative
             | humidifiers, ultrasonic humidifiers vaporize microscopic
             | droplets of water, which can contain minerals and other
             | contaminants. In areas with very hard water (Nevada, for
             | instance) this means breathing in salts all day.
        
               | muwtyhg wrote:
               | A simple solution is using distilled water then, correct?
        
       | crtxcr wrote:
       | The following resources provide some background towards the
       | original Wim Hof method:
       | 
       | https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24799686/
       | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9071023/
       | 
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpTG02x6w5o
       | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWHRumILOOk
       | 
       | In short, the breathing increases epinephrine (adrenaline), which
       | causes a spike in anti-inflammatory cytokines, and decreases
       | inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-a.
       | 
       | It should be added that on the web I found several reports about
       | increased tinnitus symptoms, which usually subside after the
       | breathing is stopped, but for some it was permanent. This is why
       | I am not doing it regularly, as I also get some ringing, but
       | thankfully it was not permanent.
       | 
       | Nevertheless, I find this very method very exciting. I am glad
       | Radboud took a look into it. However, I would love to see
       | clinical trials on the method at last.
        
         | ffhhj wrote:
         | > "pushing in the brain" means creating high pressure in the
         | lungs until you feel it in your head. Do NOT push the air
         | literaly into the airways in your head, that will cause
         | tinnitus
        
       | gits1225 wrote:
       | I too practice a customised breathing technique which is a
       | combination of Sudarshan Kriya[1] + Wim Hof[2] while laying back
       | on the floor.
       | 
       | [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tX0M6EveGY
       | 
       | [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tybOi4hjZFQ
       | 
       | 30 mins. Everyday after brush.
        
         | BN1978 wrote:
         | I respect your practice dedication. I am curious - what are the
         | benefits you get from doing it everyday?
        
           | gits1225 wrote:
           | I'm fit.
           | 
           | I also practice Surya Namaskar[1] + 2 minute push-ups[2] + 2
           | minute mountain climbing after the 30 mins breathing.
           | 
           | [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKzkc3FWx7g
           | 
           | [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYbHEcYbHmI
        
       | bergenty wrote:
       | I'm mildly annoyed that this is called the wim hof method and not
       | pranayama (specifically bahi kumbhaka) when he practiced yoga for
       | years before he came up with this. The whole process is lifted --
       | the hyperventilation followed by the holding your breath on the
       | exhale.
        
       | brador wrote:
       | The high comes from cutting oxygen to the brain, with all the
       | side effects that brings.
       | 
       | Do not do this.
        
         | ryanwaggoner wrote:
         | Do you have a source that this kind of mild hypoxia is harmful
         | to the brain, or is that just your conjecture? You may be
         | right, but I'm skeptical. Starvation isn't great for us, but
         | there are many health benefits associated with fasting.
        
           | [deleted]
        
           | ta988 wrote:
           | The benefits of fasting aren't that clear.
        
             | diydsp wrote:
             | Maybe another 146,000 papers [0] would start to clarify?
             | 
             | [0] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=fasting
        
             | ryanwaggoner wrote:
             | I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that there's a
             | large body of research showing many benefits to fasting.
             | That, plus anecdotal evidence from myself and others, is
             | all I have to go on :)
        
         | yomkippur wrote:
         | When somebody on HN says don't do something, it usually comes
         | from a place of misinformed half baked knowledge of the subject
         | so I say ignore these alarmists who think people are going to
         | kill themselves _by holding their breath_ after increasing
         | oxygen in blood by several folds.
        
         | 1001101 wrote:
         | I tried this a while back with a pulse oximeter on. Didn't like
         | what I saw. Was my first and last time.
        
       | dav_Oz wrote:
       | The high is nice but the main thing I took away - when doing WHM
       | some years ago - is to tolerate the CO2 buildup by relaxing and
       | calming myself. The breathing pattern can help induce this; for
       | me additionally learning to breath comfortably through the nose
       | was a big help. But to tolerate CO2 (and with it physiologically
       | adapting to it) is mainly a mental challenge to put your mind
       | into a place where you stay calm enough not to panic when the
       | urge to breath is trying to overwhelm you.
       | 
       | It really translates well to high-intensity sport exercises where
       | at a certain exertion I was trying to breath _too hard_ and _too
       | early_ with the mouth open in an attempt to take in as much air
       | as possible and paradoxically feeling even more suffocated. Also
       | great for a relaxed swimming experience.
       | 
       | I feel once I began to apply breathing techniques into various
       | activities throughout the day that I now got a deeper
       | connection/appreciation/understanding/confidence for modulating
       | my breathing. And WHM can certainly jumpstart that experience.
       | But I personally wouldn't recommend to just chase the next high.
        
         | phonypc wrote:
         | There's no buildup of CO2 with these breathing techniques.
         | Quite the opposite.
        
           | sateesh wrote:
           | Can you please elaborate. If you hold your breath and don't
           | exhale for a longer period there will be CO2 buildup in the
           | body.
        
             | bix6 wrote:
             | Scroll down a bit. There's a section explaining what
             | happens.
             | 
             | https://www.wimhofmethod.com/breathing-exercises
             | 
             | "When we breathe in, we take up oxygen and release carbon
             | dioxide from our blood. Our blood is usually already fully
             | saturated with oxygen (about 99% saturation) and breathing
             | deeply does not raise that saturation. Breathing deeply
             | does, however, release a lot of carbon dioxide. This, in
             | turn, lowers the "urge to breathe".
             | 
             | The brain stem, specifically the pons and medulla
             | oblongata, is sensitive to carbon dioxide. Having too much
             | carbon dioxide in the blood will trigger your brain stem to
             | breathe. By removing carbon dioxide from the blood through
             | deep breathing, this impulse to breathe from the brain stem
             | is lowered.
             | 
             | In short, the lower the level of carbon dioxide, the longer
             | you can hold your breath. The impulse is just not triggered
             | yet."
        
               | sateesh wrote:
               | The explanation seems contradictitory. Initially it says
               | "Breathing deeply does, however, release lot of CO2".
               | Later it says "By removing CO2 from the blood through
               | deep breathing ....".
        
               | kuhewa wrote:
               | Releasing CO2 from the cardiopulmonary system is removing
               | it from the blood, no contradiction.
        
               | amelius wrote:
               | And how does deep breathing remove CO2 from the blood?
        
               | sateesh wrote:
               | This won't happen if you are holding your breath, right.
        
               | drjasonharrison wrote:
               | It's confusing to me too because if the blood is 99%
               | saturated with oxygen is there only 1% CO2? Is
               | hyperventilating getting to 100% or further?
               | 
               | Are we talking about the same numbers as a (calibrated)
               | O2 optical saturation monitor reports or something else?
        
               | nradov wrote:
               | Hyperventilation doesn't significantly increase blood
               | oxygen saturation. A healthy person near sea level will
               | already be close to 100% so there's no room for increase.
               | This is normally measured using an optical sensor.
               | 
               | Blood O2 and CO2 percentages don't sum to 100%. O2
               | saturation refers to the percentage of hemoglobin
               | molecules which have oxygen bound. Only some CO2 is
               | transported bound to hemoglobin.
        
             | curun1r wrote:
             | It's probably more accurate to say there's a build back of
             | CO2. Wim Hof uses hyperventilation to lower blood CO2 level
             | well below normal so that when you do the breath hold, a
             | big chunk of the time is spent just returning CO2 to that
             | normal level.
             | 
             | This is in contrast with other breathing exercises to do
             | cause an actual build up of CO2 to levels well above what
             | feel normal. Freedivers call these CO2 tables and they're
             | used to build CO2 resistance and increase breath-hold
             | times.
        
           | windexh8er wrote:
           | To expand it can be better understood looking at the Bohr
           | Effect [0]. It's related to the efficiency of unloading the
           | oxygen the body has access to.
           | 
           | [0] http://www.pathwaymedicine.org/bohr-effect
        
           | amelius wrote:
           | This seems incorrect. If your body burns O2 without breathing
           | you will inevitably end up with more CO2.
        
       | kojeovo wrote:
       | I'll stick to drugs
        
         | yomkippur wrote:
        
       | groffee wrote:
       | Wim Hof is to breathing science as tic-tac-toe is to Go. It's for
       | stupid westerners.
       | 
       | Go to the source:
       | http://www.yogebooks.com/english/atkinson/1903sciencebreath....
        
         | dang wrote:
         | Please don't take HN threads into flamewar. You can make your
         | substantive points without any of that.
         | 
         | https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
        
         | chrischattin wrote:
         | Taking quite the liberty with the term "science" eh?
         | 
         | But then again, I'm a "stupid westerner". The scientific method
         | isn't a western creation or anything like that...
        
         | credit_guy wrote:
         | Or maybe not. The whole claim that yoga breathing can help cure
         | all things is about as solid as the claim that rhodiola rosea
         | is a miracle plant. Or chamomile. Lots of people will swear by
         | it, but the scientific evidence is zero.
        
         | dementiapatien wrote:
         | Your wisdom and compassion shines through.
        
         | spaetzleesser wrote:
         | And tic tac toe is way easier to learn for beginners. I have
         | done yoga in a serious manner for almost 20 years but I have
         | never seen a clear path for learning pranayama. This may be a
         | problem with the way yoga is taught in the West but I think Win
         | Hof deserves credit for developing and publicizing an easy to
         | learn and effective approach to breathing techniques.
        
       | hinkley wrote:
       | I moved to Seattle initially to get away from cold winters. Fast
       | forward fifteen years and I'm gardening in light rain at 55deg
       | with no jacket on. And not just, "let me finish this and go have
       | some soup" but going out after the rain has already started. It's
       | quiet and nobody bothers you, it's not that cold as long as you
       | don't stop moving, and weeds are easier to pull.
       | 
       | My dad gets out his jacket when it's 50deg and dry, I'm still
       | trying to decide if short sleeves were a bad idea. When I was a
       | kid I was essentially nonfunctional if I was cold and we argued
       | about that numerous times.
       | 
       | Capillary structure in the skin plays a role, but there's a lot
       | of mind over matter there as well. I have some strong doubts
       | whether random people can learn to be like Wim Hof, but I don't
       | doubt that random people can learn to be _more_ like Wim Hof.
        
       | thunkle wrote:
       | While practicing, right when I start to get lightheaded and my
       | vision gets a little sparkIy, i have an uncontrollable mini panic
       | attack until my vision returns to normal. It's anything but
       | relaxing in my experience.
        
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