How Wim Hof Continues to Defy Science
"Now, slowly but surely, science is catching up" - Wim Hof
Apart from a few yogis in the East who practiced pranayama exercises thousands of years ago, the autonomic nervous system was believed to function automatically and independently in the West.
That was until a Dutch breathwork practitioner named Wim Hof climbed Mt. Everest in board shorts, ran a half marathon barefoot on ice, and ran a full marathon through the Namibian desert without a drop of water. Scientists then began to question how he was doing what he was doing because it challenged their current belief systems.
His response was simple: by using specific breathing exercises and meditation/visualisation techniques, he could access parts of his autonomic nervous system that changed his biological response to stress.
This was a bold claim and the scientists knew it. So, they decided to put him to the test and run some live analysis. If he passed, it was set to change what they believed so there was a lot riding on it. And because of that, the test was strong: Wim Hof was to stand fully submerged in an ice bath for as long as possible.
Prior to that moment, many scientists believed that once a person’s body temperature dropped below 90 degrees Fahrenheit there was no turning back. However, as Wim Hof’s dropped to 88 degrees, he started breathing, meditating, and visualising it back up to 94 degrees Fahrenheit which allowed him to stay neck deep for 1 hour and 44 minutes.
This earned him the Guinness World Record and there wasn’t anyone who could debunk it because it was happening in front of their eyes.
After the study was released, other scientists interested in health and neuroscience wanted to see if he could control and access his immune response in the way. So, after some legal papers had been signed, he was hooked up to monitors and tubes and injected with a virus.
The scientists then waited to see what happened next…
Although Wim Hof did report feeling a pang of nausea as the virus entered his bloodstream, through the same process of breathing, meditating, and visualisation techniques, he walked away squeaky clean.
As a direct comparison, if you or I were to be injected with the same virus, we’d almost certainly get sick. We might even berate those silly scientists for conducting such an experiment on us in the first place.
From tragedy to triumph
Wim Hof’s life is a fascinating one for many reasons but one that interests me is that he has a twin brother. His twin, respectfully, can’t perform the same feats that he can which raises the question — Are his extraordinary achievements pure coincidence or is there something else going on?
Something else did go on. His wife tragically jumped from an 8 story building leaving him alone to parent their 4 young children.
After years of despair and grief, he one day walked into an icy lake and stayed there. Under the ice, he felt a peace that he hadn’t experienced since his wife decided to take her own life so he kept going back day after day until he started to feel better.
With more time he even began to enjoy himself. It was around this time that he started pushing himself further and further until he got to the point where he could sit outside in the freezing cold all night long in nothing but shorts and not be affected.
Later, he would melancholically say: “I couldn’t help my wife through her darkness but I can now help millions of other people through theirs.”
Although Wim Hof’s achievements are extraordinary he claims that “anyone can do it” and he’s being genuine. That’s because he once learned it himself from an ancient technique called tummo meditation.
Tummo means inner fire and back in the 8th century Tibetan monks in sub-zero temperatures were using tummo meditation to keep themselves warm at night.
A part of this technique involves focusing on key parts of the body while visualising flames or fire. Another part involves controlling the breath. This combination allowed them to relax in extremely cold conditions and even get a good night’s sleep resting outside on top of rocks.
Down lineage from those monks were people who taught Wim and it’s what he used to conquer the ice.
“In Tibet, temperatures can drop to -17 degrees Celsius, yet the monks slept like babies. Later on, in a magnetic resonance study, they found out that during meditation, the monks had an unusual blood flow in the brain area. They concluded that this allowed the brain to take over body functions like temperature and metabolism.” — Wim Hof
Tummo breathing has other benefits too. Aside from raising our core body temperature, it also lowers our pain perception, boosts the immune system, enhances the learning and memory centres of the brain, and helps treat stress-related conditions such as high blood pressure, insomnia, depression, and anxiety.
It also strengthens the vagus nerve which supports proper organ functionality. So, it’s a win-win from all angles.
The good news for ordinary people like you and me is that we don’t have to go into sub-zero temperatures or be plunged into an ice bath to experience the same benefits. That’s one of the joys of breathing — it can be practiced anywhere in the world, by anyone, and at any time. So, it’s always accessible regardless of age, gender, location, or body type.
Below is that 800-year technique made famous by Wim Hof.
Tummo Breathing
Find a nice comfortable position with your back straight (sitting or lying down)
Bring your hands together in front of your chest and begin to rub them energetically.
Place your warm hands over your navel.
Inhale deeply while pulling your shoulders back, expanding your rib cage.
Exhale loudly through your mouth and bring your shoulders forward.
Repeat this inhale-exhale for 10 breaths.
On your last inhale, hold your breath in for 10 seconds while keeping your shoulders square. Close your eyes and imagine your inner fire.
Exhale and switch to gentle breathing for 5–10 breaths.
Repeat this sequence 5 more times.
On your last inhale, hold your breath for 30 seconds, and then exhale slowly and relax.
“When you go into the cold, you cannot think. You have to be. You learn to be… to be the best version of yourself” — Wim Hof