How I Do The Wim Hof Method: Breathing
Note: This is part one of a three-part series where an average, middle-aged dude — me — tells you my step-by-step method for how I do each…
Note: This is part one of a three-part series where an average, middle-aged dude — me — tells you my step-by-step method for how I do each of the three aspects of the Wim Hof Method. This post is focused on breathing, part two is about meditation and part three is about cold exposure.
Spring, 2019: I’m 46 years old and, over the past few years, starting to notice my age more. My stamina isn’t what it used to be, nor is my natural energy. Such is life; none of us are immune to the aging process.
That said, I’ve seen too many people who are older than me who seemed in better health. How did they do it? I wanted to know.
This is when I remembered seeing one such person, a wacky, extremely energetic Dutchman who I remembered only as The Ice Man and who I’d heard on a podcast with Russell Brand (also a man whose energy I admire and wish to emulate!). It had been over a year since I heard this, so I went to the archive and found it. The man’s name is Wim Hof and, at the start of the podcast, they spoke about how they had both just returned from a dip in the River Thames and I could tell Russell was even more energized than usual (and that’s saying something!).
But what struck me more was this guy was older than Russell yet he was the rare guest who had more energy than the impish comedian does.
And so it was that, after listening to him explain his “Wim Hof technique,” talk about his and many others’ experience of using it to improve their health and share the science supporting it, that I decided to give it a go. After all, it was free, it didn’t require any special equipment and, if it didn’t work, it was a natural, safe remedy which has been used by mankind in related forms for thousands of years, so what was the harm in trying?
Since I made that decision in May 2019, if my math is correct, I’ve done the Wim Hof Method just shy of 1,000 times. By no means does this make me an expert. The expert is Wim Hof himself. However, it does mean I’ve done it enough times to confidently say that if you want to improve your daily health in an efficient and free way, the method works.
Since I started using it, I haven’t been sick once. Now, my previous 46 years weren’t sickly ones, but I don’t remember one year in which I didn’t at least catch a cold (or two).
In addition, even in the actual doing of the method, I usually feel immediately better. I’ve seen sniffles evaporate after doing the breathing routines, felt anxiety lessen from the short meditations, and watched headaches dissipate from the cold showers.
In today’s post, I’m going to focus on the breathing aspect of the routine. I’ll be sharing the method I use, but, as Wim frequently points out, experiment and use what works best for you. This is just the routine I’ve settled into that I like.
Safety Tips for The Breathing Exercise
Wim has a few key safety points that need to be reiterated before we start.
Listen to Your Body, never force it. This isn’t about becoming the next Ice Man in a matter of days. It’s a matter of doing what your body is capable of doing. Take it slow, you will improve.
Always do the breathing exercises in a safe environment. Pretty simple, you can do it sitting or lying down. Don’t do it in a body of water or when operating a vehicle. No matter what you do, don’t do it in a vat of boiling barracudas. That’s dangerous.
Do it on an empty stomach, the method will have better effects. To tell the truth, I don’t always do this because I’m not sure I ever heard this one before. Chalk this up for why it’s good to watch beginner videos even when one isn’t a beginner!
Relax. Like Wim, I find I’m most relaxed when I lie down so usually I do this exercise lying down.
Enjoy the process and feel better afterward!
The Basics (My Style)
Lie Down Or Sit Up?: I usually lie down directly on my tatami mat with my head propped up with a pillow. However, sometimes I like to do the routine outdoors and I have two places — one is a small sandbar next to a river near my house where I lie down and the other is a park bench where I will sit up. (Note: If you do this practice outdoors and especially if you do it sitting up outdoors, there’s one more practice which I highly recommend, especially when things are chaotic in the world around you. It’s called grounding. All it means is you take off your footwear and put your bare feet on the Earth. Connecting directly to the Earth’s energies just adds to one’s ability to ground oneself, and thus the name. Give it a try — and don’t be afraid to do it in winter!)
How Many Rounds?: I do three rounds of 30 breaths. Most of Wim’s guides use 30 breaths, though there is a Wim Hof Method app that has settings for 25, 30, and 35 (and it used to go up to 40, but I found doing 40 really didn’t improve the experience, so why waste time, right?).
How To Breathe: Breathe fully in, in a three-part process — from the belly, through the chest, and into the head. Then just let the breath go. Don’t breathe fully out. (Watch Wim for a good demonstration). Again, I’m not perfect on this. For me, the key is to consciously start at my stomach and follow the breath up my body to my head. You’ll get the hang of it!
How to Breath, Part 2: Which is better, breathing through the nose or the mouth? Well, according to Wim, for beginners it’s best to start with the nose because it’s easier to control the breath. Fair enough, it’s his method, so go with that. However, below is what I’ve discovered works well for me.
Bryan’s Mixed Breathing Routine: For round 1, I do the first 15 inhalations through my mouth and the second 15 through my nose. For round two, I reverse it: the first 15 through the nose, the second 15 through my mouth. And for round three, I really live up to the mixed name — ha, ha — by doing the first 10 through my mouth, the second 10 through my nose, then 5 through my mouth, and the last 5 through my nose.
Why Do Bryan’s Mixed Breathing Routine? Simple: It works for me! Okay, you want a bit more than that. Sure. I find that when I breathe through the mouth, I’m able to get the oxygen to most of my body better than I can through my nose. However, when I breathe through the nose, I’m able to get the oxygen into my head better plus breathing through the nose helps me clear up any congestion or runny nose issues I have. This isn’t something I’ve done a detailed scientific study on; it’s just what works and feels right to me. Have fun with this and experiment! For all I know, I’ll write an article a year from now about a new technique I’m using!
What To Do After 30 Breaths?: Now exhale in the same way you’ve been doing, and then stop breathing. This is my favorite part! Why? Unlike many forms of meditation, when you are watching your breath, in the WMH “retention” round you don’t even have to do that! It’s just total chill-out time! It’s so relaxing! Now, you may feel some tingling in your body or some temperature changes, it’s all good. Just be with it. (Note: The Wim Hof Method app uses a “retention timer” for this. However, we are not retaining the breath. Rather, we exhale and then stop breathing. Your next breath will be an inhale.)
How Long Do I Hold My Breath?: This gets back to safety point #1, listen to your body. This can be a bit tricky. Why? Well, I’ve found that my mind (my ego) will sometimes tell me, “Dude, you need to breathe.” But that’s just because normally we are breathing to survive. And it’s our ego’s job to keep us alive! However, this is where if you’ve gone into this routine relaxed, you’ll have better success of just observing the thought of “Dude, you need to breathe” and checking in with your body to see if that’s really true. Do not worry, you will know if you need to breathe! Your body won’t lie! (Note: The following is something I do which Wim himself might advise against. So keep that in mind. However, one of the reasons I prefer doing this in the morning is when you hold your breath, you increase adrenaline and this is a natural way to wake oneself up. Thus, my method is on the first round, I hold my breath until it feels natural to release it; on the second round I will usually go 10–15 seconds beyond that natural “comfort” zone (and this is often about 30–40 seconds beyond round 1) and, on the final round, I’ll go 20–30 seconds beyond that natural comfort zone (like round two compared to round one, this tends to be about 30–40 seconds longer than round two). Sometimes I’ll have to move my body around to deal with some of the discomfort. Now, going too far with this can lead to some negative health impacts so I’m debating being a little more conservative with this practice. That said, again, listen to your body and recognize that, so long as you aren’t underwater, you cannot kill yourself by holding your breath too long. All that will happen is you will blackout and your body’s automatic processes will then take over and you will start breathing again. Still, folks, I’ve never come close to blacking out and I doubt you ever would, either. You won’t feel at all comfortable long before that stage, thus so long as you remember to “listen to your body,” there are no worries here. Anyway, if you are feeling groggy give this technique a go! I have found it works well to give some immediate juice. In addition, I try not to drink coffee until after lunch (because I want to make the best use of my body’s natural waking state and not crash myself early), so this is a great way to get a kick-start to one’s day while holding the caffeine kick in the tank for later.)
Should I Time My Retention?: Again, it’s up to you! If you use one of these beginner videos (slower breathing, normal breathing), Wim has the retention set to a period of time for each round. I use the Wim Hof App on my iPhone (about $40/year) and it has a retention timer. Not only can I keep track of my results, but the app allows you to take notes. I record things like: where I did the routine, whether I did it sitting or lying, how much sleep I got, and how many buffalos I ran over with my bike that day. Still waiting on that last one.
When Should I Do This? Broken record time — it’s up to you! That said, in general, I like to do it in the morning, usually within an hour or two of waking up. But I’ve used the method in the afternoon, the evening, and even in the middle of the night when suffering from insomnia. It’s strange how it works because in the morning I find the method energizes me, but at night it helps me relax. I think it’s simply because it puts the mind more in tune with the body.
Final Thoughts
And that’s it, folks! Before I finish, I want to explain why I’m taking the time to share this with you. First, like Wim and many of those who have practiced the technique, I think this simple and — again, free! — technique is revolutionary.
We are living through a global health crisis and one of my frustrations has been how little attention has been paid to a holistic response to this crisis. From my perspective, so much of the problem relates to the fact that many of our modern cultures are decidedly unhealthy ones. Yet the good news is, with things like the Wim Hof Method, we have techniques that can help us become healthy rapidly. Unfortunately, one of the reasons we aren’t seeing our public health officials promote such techniques is because, well, they aren’t going to make them or their friends in Big Pharma wealthy.
Okay, before this turns into a political column, I’ll just end by encouraging you to give this breathing technique a try and let me know how it works for you!
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