Breathing: A concept that comes naturally to us.
Yet, how many of us – consciously – breathe?
As human beings breathing, we share similar experiences in our daily lives including:
Stress. Movement. Creativity. Rest.
What if we could use one breathing technique to improve our performance in all of these experiences?
And also… be a natural anti-inflammatory?
As we are collectively shifting towards more time to ourselves, in contained spaces, with more free time to explore different ways of experiencing life, this breathing method aligns with us at the perfect time and now Wim Hof has become a household name at this Artist Residency in Nicaragua.
When we first learned this breathing technique from Julien Desforges, we became inspired to utilize this technique in our everyday lives. We then integrated this practice in our weekday schedule before morning yoga and continue to reap the positive benefits of this method. This method is so simple, that we are now able to incorporate it whenever we feel called to “boost” our daily performance in life — and we aren’t just talking about circus performing (although we do find circus performing to be fun as well!).
In this post, we share 5 benefits of how this simple breathing method improves our daily lives with some helpful links for you to explore more.
And the best part? All you need is Your breath. A safe space to practice. A simple technique with minimal equipment necessary? Count us in!
Who is Wim Hof?
You may be wondering, “Who is Wim Hof and how credible is this?”
Wim Hof, also known as ‘Ice Man’, has broken 62 Guinness Records with multiple stunts including one where he stands in a cylinder filled with ice for over an hour… he certainly walks the talk of his nickname. He is also known for walking with bare feet in the snow with minimal clothing using this method. This method has sparked scientific studies that prove how effective this method is, and now artists, athletes, and people of all professions benefit from this technique!
Wim Hof Method
Although many of us aren’t planning on walking in the snow with bare feet anytime soon, we can all relate to stress defined as a physical, mental, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension.
With this method, we are able to navigate stress in a healthier, more controlled manner, simply through consciously controlling our breath.
Another concept that we share as humans is movement. Sometimes we exert more energy through movement, which requires our body to recover from this extensive effort. Recovery can sometimes be longer than we expect, resulting in decreased performance in other areas of our life and accumulated stress. This breathing technique helps our body disperse toxins and relieve stress, resulting in an improved body – mind – spirit recovery.
Benefits of Wim Hof Breath Work
Expand Creativity
Creativity: the ability to produce original and unusual ideas, or to make something new or imaginative. Overall, we as humans utilize creativity in all professions of life, whether we realize it or not. Creativity allows us the ability to perceive challenges as opportunities and we can actually improve our creativity.
When we navigate our stress in healthier ways, we are with more energy to tap into the flow state, thus improving our creativity.
Improve Rest
Rest. Everybody needs rest. Rest is how our body rejuvenates after a day of movement, creativity, and stress. Do you ever wake up feeling groggy, not as rejuvenated as you wanted to?
This technique helps us to take control of navigating stress, improving body recovery after extensive movements and improves our creativity – which results in improved rest that helps us to feel more energized as we rise for another day.
Self-Awareness
This particular phase in our lives is quite unique, as many of us are choosing to explore other natural techniques. We want to self-heal while we self-isolate and physical distance. In addition, we are more aware of how the disease affects our bodies and we are choosing to be proactive about this – simply through consciously breathing.
Reduce Inflammation
This particular breathing technique is a natural anti-inflammatory. Inflammation is defined as a vital part of the immune system’s response to injury and infection.
There was actually a scientific study conducted in December 2019 involving patients with axial spondyloarthritis, a chronic inflammatory condition, and utilizing this breathing technique, along with meditation and exposure to cold, enabled the patients to voluntarily modulate their innate immune system.
To learn more about the science behind the Wim Hof Method, you can click here.
Promote Healing
Ahhh, breath. Breathing is a concept that all of us naturally do. Now we have explored how this breathing method helps us to heal in various ways. We’ve chosen to list a few benefits here and the list goes on!
Practice this method for yourself and let us know in the comments how you personally benefit from this technique! We are grateful for techniques like this to help facilitate self-healing, as we collectively heal.
If you’d like to explore more ways we’ve been healing individually and collectively since being in quarantine, check out our recent quarantine live streams.
Learn how Momentom Collective applies this knowledge of health and wellness at our residencies.
