How To Get High (Wim Hof Method)

[Omni]

Titlebaited but not really, it's a good way to convince people to do a form of a more 'intense' meditation.

Figured some people here may find this useful.

 

Edited December 20, 2017 by Omni

[pluto]

Nice I'd like to add this video as well it explains it very well

 

[Heart of Space]

I never really found much benefit to the breathing and I've done a lot of it.  However, cold submersion has been very helpful.  

[pluto]

3 hours ago, Heart of Space said:

I never really found much benefit to the breathing and I've done a lot of it.  However, cold submersion has been very helpful.  

Personally, I have found the breathing to be an effective method to put yourself in a deeper state of meditation much quicker. I also feel smoothly energized after the breathing similarly to how you feel when you do Qi-Gong, Tai chi, Yoga or other forms of breath-movement synchronization. The breathing before a cold shower seems to effect cold tolerance quite significantly as well.

Edited December 20, 2017 by pluto

[Omni]

On 12/19/2017 at 9:32 PM, Heart of Space said:

I never really found much benefit to the breathing and I've done a lot of it.  However, cold submersion has been very helpful.  

Would you give me some more depth on some cold submersion that you've done - maybe even some reactions you've had to the cold?

I've been recently exposing myself to the cold elements a lot more recently for more intensified awareness practices, but I'd like to hear your results on it.

[Lauritz]

@Omni

I do cold showers throughout the year. But they only get interesting during the winter. I naturally start breathing deeply even without having heard of the wim hoff method. 

Last week I wanted to take it up a notch and go swimming in an open lake. It had already been snowing heavily and the water temperature was probably close to zero. The effects on consciousness were pretty intense. Sensory perception became a little shaky but super present and I felt euphoric. I noticed also that thoughts almost stopped as I surrendered to the experience (pain). I also noticed calmness and stillness immediately afterwards. I had to laugh as I recognized that I actually floated in nothingness. The water being me and all of experience not happening somewhere in space but just in the now. It is difficult to explain but I know this experience from psychedelic trips. Kind of this Escher-like portrait feeling, where you have no particular perspective. 

But I do not recommend it if you are not prepared. It is intense and your feet and hands become painful quickly if you do not cover them.

 

On the physiological side of things this practice is supposed to be very healthy. It is a challenge to the body which strengthens the immune system if approached correctly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_swimming#Health_benefits

[Omni]

7 minutes ago, Lauritz said:

@Omni

I do cold showers throughout the year. But they only get interesting during the winter. I naturally start breathing deeply even without having heard of the wim hoff method. 

Last week I wanted to take it up a notch and go swimming in an open lake. It had already been snowing heavily and the water temperature was probably close to zero. The effects on consciousness were pretty intense. Sensory perception became a little shaky but super present and I felt euphoric. I noticed also that thoughts almost stopped as I surrendered to the experience (pain). I also noticed calmness and stillness immediately afterwards. I had to laugh as I recognized that I actually floated in nothingness. The water being me and all of experience not happening somewhere in space but just in the now. It is difficult to explain but I know this experience from psychedelic trips. Kind of this Escher-like portrait feeling, where you have no particular perspective. 

But I do not recommend it if you are not prepared. It is intense and your feet and hands become painful quickly if you do not cover them.

 

On the physiological side of things this practice is supposed to be very healthy. It is a challenge to the body which strengthens the immune system if approached correctly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winter_swimming#Health_benefits

I'm notorious for hating the cold - I'm the guy who throws 75 on the thermostat while wearing sweatpants and a hoodie in spring. I've been doing cold showers more recently as well as going outside without a shirt on for a few minutes (yeah I know - such a bad ass right? Lol.)

Anyways.. yesterday I was sitting on the sun porch while it's probably 10-20 degrees with my sweatpants rolled up to my knees - and no shirt on. - I read 3-5 pages of this book i'm currently reading which took around 10-15 minutes to get through, while trying to maintain a deep breath, read properly and keeping a straight back to undo my terrible posture - By the end of it I was feeling extremities of 'anxiety-induced' constriction that I feel mildly while meditating for a certain period of time. But here my hands became almost completely non-functional, my mouth had clenched shut (not my jaw) - It would be hard for me to talk, and my left eye was twitching badly to the point where I could barely keep it open to read.

To me, this didn't feel like typical 'shivering because i'm cold' and it felt like much more than that, but I'm not a physician and I recovered after about 10 minutes of being inside room temperature - Not sure what your take is on this experience but i'm interested.

I probably won't be doing a lake-dive in the winter any time soon, as I don't feel I'm ready by any means, but I'll certainly be working towards that point.

[Faceless]

Doesn’t a method imply thought, time, ego? 

[aurum]

@Omni @Faceless

You guys are pointlessly arguing in every thread. It needs to end.

[Omni]

52 minutes ago, aurum said:

@Omni @Faceless

You guys are pointlessly arguing in every thread. It needs to end.

You came a bit late to the party.

[Lauritz]

2 hours ago, Omni said:

I'm notorious for hating the cold - I'm the guy who throws 75 on the thermostat while wearing sweatpants and a hoodie in spring. I've been doing cold showers more recently as well as going outside without a shirt on for a few minutes (yeah I know - such a bad ass right? Lol.)

 

Yeah I can agree, I do not like constant slight cold exposure as well. And I actually dislike cold showers in the summer more than in the winter. When it is really cold your body starts producing enough stress hormones so you probably do not feel it as much

 

2 hours ago, Omni said:

By the end of it I was feeling extremities of 'anxiety-induced' constriction that I feel mildly while meditating for a certain period of time. But here my hands became almost completely non-functional, my mouth had clenched shut (not my jaw) - It would be hard for me to talk, and my left eye was twitching badly to the point where I could barely keep it open to read.

Oh wow that sounds intense I never had such a bad reaction. But when I went swimming in the lake I had a few moments where it felt like I would pass out. So I really advice not doing it alone.

My guess would be that your reaction was caused by hyper-ventilation. The german wikipedia article on the topic states that it causes lower blood circulation to the brain. I guess what is said about this whim hoff breathing is exaggeration and misinformation to a large degree. The low C02 concentration in the blood causes constriction of the blood vessels in the brain not an increase. So the brain actually gets less oxygen compared to normal breathing. 

 

 

[Omni]

3 hours ago, Lauritz said:

Oh wow that sounds intense I never had such a bad reaction. But when I went swimming in the lake I had a few moments where it felt like I would pass out. So I really advice not doing it alone.

My guess would be that your reaction was caused by hyper-ventilation. The german wikipedia article on the topic states that it causes lower blood circulation to the brain. I guess what is said about this whim hoff breathing is exaggeration and misinformation to a large degree. The low C02 concentration in the blood causes constriction of the blood vessels in the brain not an increase. So the brain actually gets less oxygen compared to normal breathing.

That actually makes a lot of sense.. Going to be experimenting with this in mind - Thank you, brother

[pluto]

6 hours ago, aurum said:

@Omni @Faceless

You guys are pointlessly arguing in every thread. It needs to end.

They must see through what they are meant to learn from each other

[Heart of Space]

On 12/26/2017 at 10:35 AM, Omni said:

Would you give me some more depth on some cold submersion that you've done - maybe even some reactions you've had to the cold?

I've been recently exposing myself to the cold elements a lot more recently for more intensified awareness practices, but I'd like to hear your results on it.

I started initially with a few minutes of cold shower at the end of a warm one.  I've moved up to submerging myself in my pool now that it's winter time. I do about 10 minutes in the water at about 40 degrees F.  The pain sort of creates a large motivation to stay in an intensely focused state, so that the pain of the cold sort of disappears.  

The benefits I've noticed are an increase in physical and mental energy, better mood, and it puts you into a mindful and lucid state of consciousness which is a great way to start the day.  There are also many physical health benefits such as increased immune function and heavy anti-inflammatory effects.  

I highly recommend meditating a bit, getting into the cold water for 10 minutes and then meditating when you get out for a while.  You'll likely have great results.  

[Heart of Space]

On 12/20/2017 at 1:22 AM, pluto said:

Personally, I have found the breathing to be an effective method to put yourself in a deeper state of meditation much quicker. I also feel smoothly energized after the breathing similarly to how you feel when you do Qi-Gong, Tai chi, Yoga or other forms of breath-movement synchronization. The breathing before a cold shower seems to effect cold tolerance quite significantly as well.

Yea funny enough this thread reminded me that the wim hoff breathing method was a thing so I started trying it again.  I think it does something, but it's fairly subtle.  I agree about the meditative state though, it definitely relaxes me in a way that's ideal for meditation.  I sometimes get a mild euphoria after 4 to 5 sets.  Idk, it will probably be something that I experiment with here and there.  

[Omni]

10 minutes ago, Heart of Space said:

I started initially with a few minutes of cold shower at the end of a warm one.  I've moved up to submerging myself in my pool now that it's winter time. I do about 10 minutes in the water at about 40 degrees F.  The pain sort of creates a large motivation to stay in an intensely focused state, so that the pain of the cold sort of disappears.  

The benefits I've noticed are an increase in physical and mental energy, better mood, and it puts you into a mindful and lucid state of consciousness which is a great way to start the day.  There are also many physical health benefits such as increased immune function and heavy anti-inflammatory effects.  

I highly recommend meditating a bit, getting into the cold water for 10 minutes and then meditating when you get out for a while.  You'll likely have great results.  

Great to hear and thanks for your response! - My immune system is impeccable naturally, so I wonder if it will do the opposite for me lol

Either way I will be conditioning myself throughout the next few weeks to be able to really withstand the cold - so I appreciate your information.