4 Degrees and 4 minutes!
On the one hand, being drawn to shiny new things is a weakness and on the other hand, it helps me to try new stuff I wouldn’t normally do. So, when a girlfriend asked if I wanted to attend a Wim Hof breathing method workshop which includes an ice bath I was in!
Why did I say yes?
I have become very curious about how we breathe and the impacts on health for a little while now. Slowly building my curiosity, knowledge and experimenting with small habits.
In July I attended workshops offered at my local Yoga Studio Human.Kind. The workshops were called Thrive – the science of a healthy life and over 4 weeks we had separate workshops on Breath, Sleep, Heal and Movement.
During the breath workshop, we practiced psychological sighs. It is a slow breath in through the nose and a sigh out of your mouth. Repeat 1-5 in a row and it can start to tip the balance in your body to enter your rest and digest. I practice when stopped in my car at traffic lights, through my day before meetings, so easy.
I learned about screen aponia. Being on a computer screen for a lot of my day or watching TV at night my breathing becomes irregular. I may hold my breath. A tell-tale sign, I sigh. How do I know? I recall sitting at my desk at work and my peers commenting, “that was a big sigh”! It has never occurred to me.
Our nose is for breathing. Since that workshop, I have been experimenting with taping my mouth at night. It is weird. I will admit it made me a little anxious at first. I still have a high percentage of nights where I put the tape on but by morning it has been removed. I will continue this habit as I have noticed that I do sleep for longer periods when nose breathing versus mouth breathing.
Still waiting for my Whoop to arrive so I can get better data on sleep.
I remember our facilaitor saying, breath control equals emotional control. You know I was now totally interested.
We were given books as resources in this workshop. I then went on to read the first one of the list called Breath by James Nestor and loved it.
If this topic is something of interest, the others mentioned were, Breathe in and Out Loehr & Migdow, Perfect Breathing Lee & Campbell, The Healing Power of a Breath by Brown & Gerbarg.
In August I commenced a 5-week course on presentation skills called Beyond Words. Interestingly in this course we focused on posture, breath control and went through breathing exercises each week, focusing on diaphragmatic breathing.
I am interested in regulating my parasympathetic nervous system (rest, digest, reproduction). To do this I added Yoga Nidra to my weekly routine, twice a week and if possible, a Yin class once a week. I remember asking the teacher why you have this floating, almost drunk feeling after class. The breathing and restorative relaxation helps you to dial down your nervous system.
From James Nestor’s book, he says the perfect breath when you are at rest is about 5.5 breaths per minute. That’s 5.5-second inhales and 5.5-second exhales.
‘The yogi’s life is not measured by the number of his days, but the number of his breaths,’ B. K. S. Iyengar
Which leads me to the Wim Hof Workshop. Which is led by Kym Burls the only Wim Hof instructor here in Adelaide. Kym’s knowledge and the way he conveyed information was great. If you attend one of his workshops you will not only get all the theory but the practical is invaluable.
I enjoyed the theory and it complimented James Nestor’s book. He helped me understand oxygen and carbon dioxide. If you are exercising and out of breath instead of trying to suck in as much air as possible, try a couple of short holds of your breath.
He explained that in the Wim Hof Breathing patterns you get to reset your entire body. During the practice you move from fight and flight (sympathetic nervous system) states to relaxation (parasympathetic nervous system). It is in these state that we create growth. We need stress to evolve and adapt and grow. In the practice when we inhale, and inhale hold this activates your sympathetic nervous system. When we exhale and exhale hold, we active parasympathetic nervous system. Finally, at the end we spent time in meditation. Just like you would cool down after a workout.
After the breathing session, I was feeling a bit seasick (best way I could explain it). Kym mentioned spending more time in the meditation and less on the breathing. I like how the practice can be adapted for your needs. I got the message that it is more about commitment and consistency.
Last part of the workshop was the cold bath. I watched the inspiring groups of people go before me and I was in the last group. I got into the 4-degree tub quickly and then started to hyperventilate. I did try to breath through my nose but that didn’t work at first. With Kym and Seth’s support I was told to hold my breath. Then I was able to get some control to breath in and out through my nose. Staying in the tub for 4 minutes and getting the wonderful benefits that Kym told us about.
Some gyms have cold baths – we had our workshop at Fast Twitch, and they have both cold baths and Saunas available. Kym did mention outside of summer, and as along as sea temperatures are below 16C you would still be getting the benefits from being in the cold water.
I am looking forward to implementing further breathing learnings not only for daytime but better sleep. Currently reading Wake up to Sleep by Charlie Morely – breathing is also a large part of this book. Anyone have any other tips please reach out, I would love to learn more.
“No matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or strong you are, none of it matters if you’re not breathing properly.” James Nestor
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