RobbyP:None of what I've written or typed is medical advice.
Search engine title > Wim Hof Breathing: Methods, Benefits and More - Healthline
Article title > The Wim Hof Method: Boost Your Health with the Iceman’s Technique
www.healthline.com/health/wim-hof-methodArticle summary > It seems that Wim Hof method breathing allows conscious control of one's immune system, promotes antiinflammation, reduces anxiety and creates neurotransmittors in one's brain. It requires only the ability to breathe and relax.
Paraphrased additional safety precaution from Wim Hof > It's safest to do so laying or sitting down where you won't get hurt or drown from falling over.
Personal experiences summarized > The beginner's guided breathing video- doing so as instructed has always gone fine without incident since starting three years ago. Another guided breathing video titled "Breathe Along with Wim Hof"- this is a more advanced breath exercise. When trying to do it for the third time in a row without even a minute between the exercise, I have sometimes fallen unconscious for ten seconds.
Cold shower experince summarized > Been doing so for 5 years, most often for the past year. it's all about breath control, deep and steady, to make it go well. Singing is ok. I stop if and when shivering starts. Apparently they lower cortisol levels in the brain- there's at least one article saying so. At the start, when breathing as described, there is a sensation of some kind of fluid going out of my brain and down my spine, followed by a sense of ease and relaxation.
Did we read the same article? It specifically states that the autoimmune control, and anti-inflammatory aspects are not backed up by science.
That said, breathing exercises have long been proven a good source of stress management. Doing this won't hurt you, but it's not going to do everything it claims to do.
