Almost 3 months ago I began the daily breathing technique. (My typical morning is 5 rounds of 45 breaths, one minute hold, incrementing by 30 seconds.). I don't know that I feel the benefits at this point, but I'm willing to continue.
I live in Southern California, so I'm a typical 'temp wimp' and have been putting off the cold showers. (I have a tub, but no place to store ice.)
I've tried some 30 second cold water showers following regular 'hot' showers--which I was able to get thru, albeit not happily. 😏
I'd be the biggest ol' puss if I didn't at least TRY the cold immersion aspect....I guess I'm looking for some encouragement? Any of you sold on that part of it after resisting it for awhile?
And any advice on getting started on the cold immersion (shower in my case) would be appreciated.
And I'm curious how I should increment my breathing? I like the 20 min sessions in terms of length. Should I decrease the rounds and increase the breaths-per-session? Or should I bite the bullet and increase the rounds? Is it the number of breaths and the hold duration that's doing all the 'heavy lifting' (ie, from where the benefits accrue)?
I'm curious what your ideal breathing session numbers are like. And those of you that 'cold'--is that a daily thing? (I don't shower every day, but a quick blast every morning is do-able if there will be benefits.)
I’ve only been doing Wim Hof for about a month. I do cold exposure every day, usually a three minute cold shower. I’ve dramatically increased my cold resistance during this time.
Did you start the shower exposure gradually, or just...uh...jump in?
I started with like 15 seconds of turning the temperature down mildly at the end of a hot shower. It was easier to scale up than I expected though. I was doing 3 minute cold shower at my shower’s minimum temp within 2 weeks.
Wim says start with 45 seconds on day one and 15 seconds increments. Do ten days in a row. Incrementally get to two mins. I’m personally up to ten minutes of cold shower. I do after hot shower. Big breaths controlled breathing. And don’t think. Just do. Your body will know what to do if you continue to breath. Keep going buddy. Best of luck. ✌️💙
The main benefit of cold conditioning isn't as much "well being" but an increased strength to deal with adversity in general. Sure there is a "feeling better" as a consequence but not from the discomfort itself but from the fact you learn to keep your cool (sic) through the unavoidable shitty experiences of life.