Benefits of Breathing: A Step by Step Manual on Completing the 'Wim Hof' Method

Wim Hof, a.k.a. the Iceman! This man has traversed glaciers, Everest, the Tundra...sometimes even stripping down to his jocks in 10 degrees below freezing. How is a man of his age still able to force his body through this duress, and how he able to handle these unlivable conditions for any period of time?

The Iceman claims he has a method, a method base partly on science, and mostly on the will of the mind in conjunction with the body. This post will teach you how to complete the Wim Hof method in one sitting, and after learning this exercise, I hope you will be enlightened (enough to do it everyday)!

Hof's explanation of this method is a precursor to why you are doing it at all; this is a heavy breathing exercise just to forewarn you. This healing activity is based on the belief that no disease nor toxin can live in a fully oxygenated space within the body. When the lungs pump the heart, and the body has full blood and air flow, Hof believes this trains and adapts the body to produce more oxygen regularly.

This sounds a bit extreme in terms of it's healing nature, but completing the exercise will truly free your mind. I have never reached higher levels of relaxation and painlessness after completing the Wim Hof method my first time. Your body will adapt after doing this exercise once, but understand that this may not be the easiest task, there will be a lot of deep breathing and some light headedness...just know this before embarking.

Step 1:

This is an exercise that should eventually be done standing up, but I recommend laying down for your first time. Elevate the head with pillows, and remain lying on your back with your arms facing downwards aside your hips.

Step 2: I usually settle in with a solid 30 seconds of deep heavy breathing. Nothing uncomfortable, just get a good source of air flow in your lungs before beginning.

Step 3:

Now you begin the exercise. For 15 breaths, you will breathe deep and very rapidly, make sure the lungs are fully taking in air. One deep breath in all the way, and rapidly fire out the exhale...a single breath in and exhale out should only be taking slightly more than a second. You want to allow the air to pass through to your stomach, so as you rapidly breath it is your stomach compressing and not your lungs. If it is only your lungs moving up and down and not your belly, you are not correctly doing the Wim Hof method.

Step 4:

After the 15 breaths, you may feel lightheaded, and you will surely feel a rush of blood to your head. You may want to rest here, but this is where the body turns up the Central Nervous System in allowing yourself not to rest. After the deep breathing hold your breath for as long as you can. After your first set, you can see that it actually isn't painful holding your breath, in fact if you surprise yourself with how long you are holding, do not fret, simply keep holding and free your mind! You can not suffocate by holding your breath, so push yourself and maximize your oxygen intake!

Step 5:

This step is for your to vary the exercise to match your lung capacity. If 15 breaths is too little, increase the rep, if is too much, vice versa... Complete two more reps, increasing in the amount of breaths taken and exhaled. If you start with 15, trend upward with 30 and 45, holding your breath for as long as you can after each rep.

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The first time I completed this exercise I felt almost euphoric, the pins and needles in my head were comforting, almost as though a million tingles were flowing at once through my mind. Please give this method a go yourself, it works to keep my stress levels down, and my breathing has improved steadily. As you evolve try it standing up, ignore the signals of quit, and focus on breathing and achieving success!

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