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Wim Hof breathing technique can modulate immune response to pathogens (2014)

pnas.org

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Re: Wim Hof breathing technique can modulate immune response to pathogens (2014)

#21

Post by pge »

misiti3780 wrote: post #17

I just finished the book "Breath" by James Nestor. The book was very interesting and talked a lot about some of this but I was wondering if anyone has done any research on the book,I walked away feeling like there was a possibility that a lot of it was bullshit

google the Buteyko method (which is the subject of much of the book). Not surprisingly, the claims made by its practitioners do not hold up to rigorous testing.

Re: Wim Hof breathing technique can modulate immune response to pathogens (2014)

#22

Post by udfalkso »

darth1 wrote: post #13

There is a great discussion of this paper on Rhonda Patrick’s podcast: https://www.foundmyfitness.com/episodes/pierre-capel She also has a episode where she interviews wim himself.

If you're short on time you may find these notes useful:

https://podcastnotes.org/found-my-fitness/found-my-fitness-p...

https://podcastnotes.org/found-my-fitness/found-my-fitness-p...

Also this episode of James Nestor discussing breathing on the Joe Rogan Podcast may be of interest:

https://podcastnotes.org/joe-rogan-experience/joe-rogan-expe...

(Disclosure, I work on Podcast Notes)

Re: Wim Hof breathing technique can modulate immune response to pathogens (2014)

#24

Post by boxfoxdox »

With the risk of sounding esoteric or self-help I have to admit that both cold showers and wim hoff breathing method have at least made me less stressed out and more resistant to cold and sudden change of temperature.

It started out of curiosity while in my meditation conscious living mood about a year ago, but ended up something I exercise daily since it just feels good to me.

Most notably I noticed that my legs where no more chilly or sweaty with no reason and that my hands are not as cold all the time they where before. As for breathing I noticed that I am much more relaxed on the days I do it then I don't but can't attest to weather this is just some placebo effect or not.

And I notice that I feel much less fly like effects than previous years or if they appear they last no longer than half a day.

Re: Wim Hof breathing technique can modulate immune response to pathogens (2014)

#26

Post by drieddust »

Wim hof have achieved great things practising the ancient practice of pranayama which is actually a part of yoga. Yet he presents it as if he "discovered" it. This is pure intellectual dishonesty.

Yoga's actual name is ashtanga yoga which means it has eight limbs[1]. Contrary to popular belief Yoga is not about just twisting your body into weird poses. That aspect is called ASANA and what Wim Hof claims as his discovery is called pranayama which is a fully developed science of breath control practices by Sadhus and monks for centuries.

YAMA – Moral disciplines

NIYAMA – Positive duties

ASANA – Posture

PRANAYAMA – Breathing techniques

PRATYAHARA – Control over senses

DHARANA – Focused concentration

DHYANA – Meditative absorption

SAMADHI – Enlightenment

I think there is strong bias going on here in the comments. Two of the comments mentioning yogic origins of this practice are dead. So I present 2 videos as an example. First video[2] was captured by Indian soldier in -45 degree temperatures of himalayan border. Second video[3] captures another sadhu who lives naked under snow without any protective gears

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashtanga_(eight_limbs_of_yoga)

[1] https://youtu.be/8Xbi4Qrf9mE

[2] https://youtu.be/FcUdEkPa-2c

EDIT: Second video added.

EDIT 2: Major edit explaining yogic origins of this practice.

Re: Wim Hof breathing technique can modulate immune response to pathogens (2014)

#27

Post by smegger001 »

DoofusOfDeath wrote: post #19
arberx wrote: post #16

n=12 lol

n=12 sounds small to me, but I don't have the statistics background to really understand its significance. Does it basically mean that the confidence intervals are way wider than we'd expect with a larger study size? If so, by how much?

also has anyone independently reproduced the results?

Re: Wim Hof breathing technique can modulate immune response to pathogens (2014)

#28

Post by Imanari »

All I can say is that Wim Hof breathing makes me feel real good. It wakes me up and calms me down at the same time, its very pleasant. This effect is both physical (you feel energized) and psychological (your thought quiet down and you become more present).

Re: Wim Hof breathing technique can modulate immune response to pathogens (2014)

#29

Post by windexh8er »

dr_dshiv wrote: post #5
jasonshen wrote: post #2

Wim Hof "Iceman" definitely gives me "cult leader" vibes but cool to see this research get published in a very reputable scientific journal. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaMjhwFE1Zw

I get the same vibes! But I think he is almost weirdly legit.

I've been to a week long expedition in Poland to study with Wim a few years ago. I wouldn't go as far to say that it feels or is cult like at any point. I think the Internet, and some perspectives of those who have written about him, may give that impression. But Wim is about sharing, not bringing you into his fold and sucking resources out of you. Wim has a large personality which can work against him in some regard. I learned a lot from Wim and his instructors and I have better understanding of myself. I would highly recommend his excursions to anyone that has an open mind that's interested in learning about themselves and meeting like-minded people in the process.

A couple good resources for you to check out if you're interested. Scott Carney does the best job of dispelling Wim as his original intent was to basically shine the light on Wim's snake oil in "What Doesn't Kill Us" [0] (spoiler: that is not the end result). Scott recently released a new book called "The Wedge" [1] that incorporates some of Wim but a lot of other practices and people that fit into the idea that we have more control than we realize and getting out of our comfort zone has healthful benefits. Being in 100% climate controlled perfect environments doesn't always help us. The other one I'd recommend is James Nestor's new book called "Breath" [2].

[0] https://www.scottcarney.com/what-doesnt-kill-us [1] https://www.scottcarney.com/the-wedge [2] https://www.mrjamesnestor.com/breath/

Re: Wim Hof breathing technique can modulate immune response to pathogens (2014)

#30

Post by leoh »

I've been using the mobile device made by Heartmath lately — https://store.heartmath.com/tech/. It looks at HRV (heart rate variability) and gives you a realtime plot, thereby offering visual feedback about how my breathing is affecting how steady the time between heartbeats is. Hearthmath calls low HRV "coherence" and getting into a lower HRV state (i.e. via regular, smooth breathing; maybe 1 in/out breath each ~10 seconds) is strongly associated with enhanced levels of calm and clarity — and I would strongly suspect (though can't know for sure) that similar effects would be seen as in the paper w.r.t. the immune system. I've found it exceptionally helpful.

I am on and off a long-term meditator (for about a year I was meditating as much as 2 hours a day). Some people don't achieve deeper states of calm and contentedness, in spite of meditating often (I've encountered this among serious practitioners of zen, for example; this happens to me sometimes, too) and I strongly suspect that lowering HRV would help.

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