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Wim Hof’s teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges

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Re: Wim Hof’s teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges

#81

Post by anonymouswacker »

coldtea wrote: post #78
anonymouswacker wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried them and not had results? Because there are a lot of N=1s anecdotes about it working for people, hence the large following he has. Wim’s techniques helped me quit medical marijuana, and drastically improved my productivity and general wellbeing, including my sex-life due to stress-induced ED. It is only one flavor of breathwork, but I think you could be doing a disservice to yourself to label it all a…

> Have you tried them and not had results? Because there are a lot of N=1s anecdotes about it working for people, hence the large following he has. Placebo, make-believe and self-dellusion often work, especially for the kind of people looking into a miracle cure, which is what such leaders tend to accrue...

That is sometimes true, and sometimes not.

Re: Wim Hof’s teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges

#82

Post by collyw »

coldtea wrote: post #78
anonymouswacker wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried them and not had results? Because there are a lot of N=1s anecdotes about it working for people, hence the large following he has. Wim’s techniques helped me quit medical marijuana, and drastically improved my productivity and general wellbeing, including my sex-life due to stress-induced ED. It is only one flavor of breathwork, but I think you could be doing a disservice to yourself to label it all a…

> Have you tried them and not had results? Because there are a lot of N=1s anecdotes about it working for people, hence the large following he has. Placebo, make-believe and self-dellusion often work, especially for the kind of people looking into a miracle cure, which is what such leaders tend to accrue...

If placebo works as well as many prescription drugs, why is it looked down upon so much?

Re: Wim Hof’s teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges

#83

Post by prox »

ta1234567890 wrote: post #19

When a friend first told me about taking cold showers everyday, I thought he was incredibly motivated and a little crazy. Then when I finally decided to look into it and did the breathing technique, I realized I might be able to take a cold shower. Now I've been taking 1-2min cold showers (after my regular hot shower), every day for the last 4 months. It gives me a huge boost of energy, way better than coffee. Also,…

That is because he got it from the Buddhist Tummo techniques.

>It has similarities to Tibetan Tummo meditation and pranayama, both of which employ breathing techniques.[25]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tummo

I won’t say he appropriated it, because he is quite open about it and adapted it, but it did not originate with him.

Re: Wim Hof’s teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges

#84

Post by te_chris »

Not Wim Hof, but during the pandemic I've switched from swimming indoors to outside in a local lake which is a open water swimming spot managed by the council. I switched in the height of the northern summer - so no need for a wetsuit when I started, water was up to 26degC. As the weather has worsened though, the water temperature has gradually declined and I've just kept swimming. Down thorugh 22, 20, 18, 16 and on to 13.8 the other day.

I'm finally going to put my wetsuit on, as the other day was VERY intense, but the benefits of being in cold water are incredible. I am an absolute convert. The high is comparable to certain A class drugs, it's the best thing I've done in years, and you get to stay fit as well.

Re: Wim Hof’s teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges

#85

Post by collyw »

scrozart wrote: post #14

This source is a lifestyle rag for people who hike, camp, etc. They're recently posted some super unscientific stuff about not wearing sunblock so you get all your Vitamin D.

Vitamin D is generated by exposure to sunlight, what is controversial / unscientific about that?

Re: Wim Hof’s teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges

#86

Post by [deleted] »

coldtea wrote: post #78
anonymouswacker wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you tried them and not had results? Because there are a lot of N=1s anecdotes about it working for people, hence the large following he has. Wim’s techniques helped me quit medical marijuana, and drastically improved my productivity and general wellbeing, including my sex-life due to stress-induced ED. It is only one flavor of breathwork, but I think you could be doing a disservice to yourself to label it all a…

> Have you tried them and not had results? Because there are a lot of N=1s anecdotes about it working for people, hence the large following he has. Placebo, make-believe and self-dellusion often work, especially for the kind of people looking into a miracle cure, which is what such leaders tend to accrue...

[deleted]

Re: Wim Hof’s teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges

#87

Post by chimen »

collyw wrote: post #82
coldtea wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Have you tried them and not had results? Because there are a lot of N=1s anecdotes about it working for people, hence the large following he has. Placebo, make-believe and self-dellusion often work, especially for the kind of people looking into a miracle cure, which is what such leaders tend to accrue...

If placebo works as well as many prescription drugs, why is it looked down upon so much?

It's being looked down by the same people that tend to believe in miracle cures. One has to make his own reality true in order to cope with society and scrutiny. Placebo is required in trials for new medicine actually, far from being looked down upon.

Re: Wim Hof’s teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges

#88

Post by madcol »

postcynical wrote: post #63
NalNezumi wrote: post #56

Ah Wim Hof, reminds me of my friend that had to fight crippling depression.(and still is fighting) He found out about the cold shower, breathing technique from Win Hof, and started practicing it. What worked better than cold shower was Ice bath in the frozen lake. I were very skeptical at the practice first but oh boy, the sudden freezing shock really do wake some survival instinct inside you out, and your mind becom…

I did cold showers upto 10minutes, cryotherapy -90 celsius upto 6min, hydrogen cryotherapy (-130 c) upto 4 min. And only the supercold hydrogen gave me a (very) noticable and pleasant endorphine boost. Haven't tried ice baths yet.

I remember participating in a study for a friend of mine where I had to go into a cryochamber and I remember 2 very distinct things

1. How warm -60c felt after walking around in -130c for a few minutes in just shorts and shoes.

2. How much I wanted to run once I got out of the chamber. I was not a runner and I never liked running but I really wanted to run.

I kind of want to do it again to feel that high. Cold showers got a smaller reaction but something similar.

I need to get back into cold showers again but I definitely felt best when I was doing cold showers, it's a cheap trade of a few minutes of unpleasantness for such a mood boost but it's hard convincing yourself to do it first thing in the morning though.

Re: Wim Hof’s teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges

#89

Post by DoingIsLearning »

pugio wrote: post #36

For those interested in going deeper into the incredible world of breathing techniques I recommend "Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art" [0]. Part personal account, part research summary, the book covers a lot of the world's ancient breathing traditions (including Wim Hof and his antecedents), as well as what modern science has to say about them. As with many other aspects of holistic health, it's incredible how We…

> exercise your jaw. This can help build wider mouths (new bone growth!) and open up your airways.

Do you have a citation for that? Jaw bone pretty much stops growing in your late teens.

Increasing bone density is not the same as actual bone growth. By that rational doing deadlifts would stimulate your leg bones to continue grow which is obviously untrue.

Re: Wim Hof’s teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges

#90

Post by rootlocus »

trabant00 wrote: post #50

> The Hof brothers are identical twins, but unlike Wim, Andre has a sedentary lifestyle without exposure to extreme cold. The scientists had them practice Wim's breathing exercises and then exposed them to the lowest temperature that would not induce shivering. They concluded that, "No significant differences were found between the two subjects, indicating that a lifestyle with frequent exposures to extreme cold does…

> The researchers cautions that the "results must be interpreted with caution given the low subject number and the fact that both participants practised the g-Tummo like breathing technique."
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