The Wim Hof Method

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More Alive, Surprising, and the Key to Lung Expansion (and a long life)

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Listen Instead of Reading

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Reading Time: 1 min 30 sec

I hope the next 22’ish breaths are the most nourishing of your day.


4 THOUGHTS

1. Breathing Pattern and Mental Status

“Mental status (anxious versus calm) is reflected by breathing pattern and it is believed that conscious regulation is key to achieving control over mind/mental status.”

- Shreya Ghiya, Int. J. Res. Med. Sci. (2017)

Here is an excellent reminder that to regulate our mental states, we must first start by learning to consciously regulate our breathing 🙏

2. Surprisingly, It’s Not During Meditation

“Surprisingly, it is not during meditation that you make progress in meditation; it is during the rest of the day. What you do in meditation is get the power, install the dynamo; the actual work is done after you open your eyes, get up, and go out into the world.”

– Eknath Easwaran, Passage Meditation

What a great reminder that, ultimately, we make progress in meditation (and breathing) by bringing the results into the world. So here’s to carrying the calm, attentive, and joyful state we achieve during practice into our everyday life so we can truly advance 🙏

3. Key to Lung Expansion and a Long Life

“What Stough had discovered…was that the most important aspect of breathing wasn’t just to take in air through the nose. Inhaling was the easy part. The key to breathing, lung expansion, and the long life that came with it was on the other end of respiration. It was in the transformative power of a full exhalation.”

– James Nestor, Breath

What a great reminder of the power of a full exhale. By pushing more air out, we can get more in, improving lung capacity and (hopefully) lengthening life span 👏

4. It Will Lead You Where You Need to Go

“Follow the breath. Lean into it. The breath goes everywhere, and it will lead you where you need to go.”

- Wim Hof, The Wim Hof Method

That sounds like perfect advice to follow this week 🙏

1 Quote

“You’re more alive when body and breath are permeated with the energy of awareness.””
— Larry Rosenberg

1 Answer

Category: The Nose

Answer: Research has suggested that stress hormones oscillate between the left and right sides of the body in connection with this.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the nasal cycle?

In good breath,

Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”

P.S. my worst fear too

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Amazon Associate Disclosure

I’ve been recommending books for almost 6 years. Yet somehow, I just discovered that I could be an Amazon affiliate [face-palm]. In any case better late than never. Now, any Amazon link you click is an affiliate link. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. So, if you’d like to support my work, buying books through these links is helpful : )

* An asterisk by a quote indicates that I listened to this book on Audible. Therefore, the quotation might not be correct, but is my best attempt at reproducing the punctuation based on the narrator’s pace, tone, and pauses.

 
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One Minute Stress Relief, Taste the Soup, and Positive Feelings

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Listen Instead of Reading

If you enjoy listening, you can subscribe to the audio version on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Audible so you don’t even have to look at the email 😊

 

4 Thoughts



1. Wim Hof’s 1-Minute Stress Relief (no hyperventilation needed)

“What I do for stress is one minute of humming and breathing. This always works for me. It taps into your parasympathetic nervous system—where the peace is inside—and calms down your hectic sympathetic nervous system.”

- Wim Hof, The Wim Hof Method

It’s not all big breathing for Wim. He says to deal with stress, we can simply set a timer for one minute, breathe in deeply, and hum in any way we’d like during the exhalation. Repeat until the timer goes off. Easy and highly effective 👏

2. Moving from Self-Explanation to Self-Expression

In learning, self-explanation is a powerful tool. Explaining a topic in your own words makes you think deeply and discover what you really understand about it.

In breathing, self-expression is paramount. It’s less about words, and more about expressing concepts through you, in your unique way, to feel beyond the words.

So here’s to less explanation, and more expression, this week 🙏

3. Taste the Soup: Breathing as a Can-Opener for the Life Force

“So how do you access the Life Force? You need tools. Imagine a can of soup. If you want to know what the soup tastes like, reading the side of the can won't help; you need to actually taste it. Unless you have the hand strength of a superhero, this is impossible without a can opener.”

- Barry Michels and Phil Stutz, Coming Alive

Breathing exercises are like can openers for the life force all around us.

It’s fun to read the ingredients, but tasting the soup is even better 😊 🍲

4. The Most Valuable Resource to Our Species (plus a gratitude breathing meditation)

“Oxygen, in fact, is the most valuable resource to our species. … Consider the last time you thought to yourself while taking a breath, ‘This is great! I have an abundance of the most valuable resource known to our species, and I don't even have to work that hard to get it.’”*

- Drs Jason Selk and Ellen Reed, Relentless Solution Focus

Try using that phrase next time you start a breathing practice, or anytime you need a break from all the negative mental chatter: “I have an abundance of the most valuable resource known to our species, and I don’t even have to work that hard to get it.” <— 👏👏👏

1 Quote

“The breath is also our life force. No organ in the body can function without the supply of oxygen we get from the cycle of breathing in and breathing out.”
— Bhante Henepola Gunarantana
 

1 Answer

Category: Positive Feelings

Answer: Positive feelings (such as awe & gratitude) occur more frequently and easily when this is higher, providing a physiological reason why slow breathing helps us have more positive emotions.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

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Question: What is respiratory sinus arrhythmia?

In good breath,

Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”

P.S. I have a headache

Breathing for Diabetes Online Course ($99):

If you love learning about breathing, want to live a healthier life, or just want to support my work, I think you’ll really enjoy this class (diabetes or not).

 
 

* An asterisk by a quote indicates that I listened to this book on Audible. Therefore, the quotation might not be correct, but is my best attempt at reproducing the punctuation based on the narrator’s pace, tone, and pauses.

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

Each Monday, I curate and synthesize information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing. It’s a fun way to learn something new each week.

 
 

Breathing for Diabetes Class, Mystics, and How to Reach the Ideal State

 
 

🎧 Listen Instead of Reading 🎧

If you enjoy listening, you can subscribe to the audio version on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Audible so you don’t even have to look at the email 😊

 
 
 

4 Thoughts


1. Calm & Energized: How to Achieve the Ideal Physiological State

“[Breathing] allows you to function at peak energy, yet without the physical and psychological costs of anxiety and adrenaline overload. In other words, being calm and energized is not only possible through the breath, but it is also the ideal state.”*

- Emma Seppälä, Ph.D., The Happiness Track

I’m a double espresso kind of person. I got through graduate school drinking 5-hour energies 🤦🏼‍♂️ But that’s not a sustainable way of living.

Enter the power of breathing practices. They optimally fuel your cells with energy (oxygen) and activate the calming parasympathetic nervous system.

Calm yet energized: “the ideal state.”

2. How to Enter Mystical Traditions w/o 20 Years

“Do you want to enter into the most mystical of traditions and gather their fruits?  Forget studying difficult languages and going into a cave for twenty years.  Just breathe on the sofa in the morning before breakfast.”

- Wim Hof, The Wim Hof Method

This made me laugh, but it’s also pretty accurate—not just for Wim’s method. It applies to slow breathing. To alternate nostril breathing. To all the techniques.

Breathing is a shortcut into mystical traditions. All you have to do is “breathe on the sofa in the morning before breakfast.” : )

3. A Renowned Scientist on Slow Breathing and HRV Biofeedback: Why isn’t Everyone Doing It?

“It’s a nondrug treatment with very powerful effects. It’s easy to learn. Why isn’t everyone doing it?”

- Paul Lehrer, Ph.D.

From Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind over Body

I often feel crazy talking about all the benefits of slow breathing. But, here’s a pioneer in slow breathing and HRVB research expressing the same sentiment.

It’s cheap, easy to learn, and has “very powerful effects.”

Indeed, why isn’t everyone doing it?

4. Thich Nhat Hanh on Finding the Best Practice for You

“Only by using your intelligence and putting the teachings into practice can they bring you happiness. Please base your practice on your own life and your own experiences, your successes and your failures.”*

- Thich Nhat Hanh, The Heart of the Buddha’s Teaching

Although this passage is about applying the Buddha’s teachings, I think it’s perfect advice for breathing, too.

Of course, we have to learn from others. But no one recipe fits everyone. So it’s ultimately up to us to base our practice on our own lives and experiences. 🙏

Extra: Breathing for Diabetes Workshop

I’m hosting my first-ever Breathing for Diabetes Workshop. I’m super excited, as it distilled 4 years of research and application into about 2 hours of fun : )

It’s happening virtually on March 5, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. eastern, and it’s $99.

  • If you can’t make this time, no worries, you get full access to the recording plus audio downloads of everything after the workshop.

  • As a bonus, you also get immediate access to a pre-recorded 40-minute Wim Hof and Diabetes Mini Masterclass when you sign up now.

You can learn about everything you’ll get below. I hope to see you there!

 
 
 
 

1 QUOTE

“Bearing all this in mind, welcome present circumstances and accept the things whose time has arrived. Be happy when you find that doctrines you have learned and analyzed are being tested by real events.”

- Epictetus

 
 
 
 

1 ANSWER

Category: Breathing Muscles

Answer: Humans are the only mammals to keep this parallel to the ground, even during walking and running.

…

(Cue the Jeopardy! music.)

…

Question: What is the diaphragm?

In good breath,

Nick Heath, T1D, PhD
“Breathing is the compound interest of health & wellness.”

P.S. LinkedIn contact requests be like

 
 
 

* An asterisk by a quote indicates that I listened to this book on Audible. Therefore, the quotation might not be correct, but is my best attempt at reproducing the punctuation based on the narrator’s pace, tone, and pauses.

Sign Up For The Breathing 411

Each Monday, I curate and synthesize information from scientific journals, books, articles, and podcasts to share 4 thoughts, 1 quote, and 1 answer (like "Jeopardy!") related to breathing. It’s a fun way to learn something new each week.