



Fully in.

Letting go.





















These two phrases encapsulate the Wim Hof breathing technique, and at one level of analysis, this encapsulation supports a popular quote of The Renaissance Man, Leonardo Da Vinci, “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication”. Da Vinci was a student of life and of forms, of nature. It could be argued his total surrender, in devoting his life to understanding nature, through engaging with art, architecture, anatomy, among various other disciplines, was a fundamental aspect of the contributions of his life’s work. What motivated him to do so was his personality, as emergent from his environment. That is a lengthy exploration on its own. It is that same motivation, forged by circumstance, which brought us all, the Wim Hof breathing technique - a practical way to push against depression, and potentially to address, without external help, various causes of mental dis-Orders.









The circumstance is immensely unfortunate. It silences me, each time, to hear Wim speak about the indescribable, difficult, alienated world his life partner seemed to inhabit, through depression, and through a series of experiences which dissociated her from herself and world, and lead to her ending her life. It broke Wim’s heart, and will, as he described. Understandably so, such an experience silences me to the untrammeled Chaos of existence, which surrounds us, the unexplored dis-Order, which in its blurry, lack of form, can be terrifying to confront.













With great strength and courage, Wim decided to dive head first into that chaos. It did not follow, with this 36 year-old, Dutch man, of 1995, that we, as modern people, did not have a way, aside from medication, to confront such clearly uncharted, negative mental territory. Surely, Wim thought, or rather felt, negative experiences were apart of nature, and even patterns of negative experience, imprinted for years on the plastic brain, could be unlearned. It is of my opinion, and this opinion, in its observation of an archetypal narrative, is supported by scores of other, prominent figures in literature, psychology, and philosophy, that humanity has evolved specifically to confront chaos, and order it. Wim was so wisely, identifying a stratum of human experience which had not yet been ordered from chaos, in an evolutionarily, significant way. That suggests antidepressants, are not the cure to depression. I tend to agree with that suggestion, and you, reader, can readily find extensive research, that antidepressants alone, do not combat depression. He did not articulate the feeling, as such, at the time, but it was a profound [negative] feeling, which drove him to go out into the world, and explore, in aim of finding a catharsis, in nature, for this feeling. This yearning to find, in the chaos, a way to engage with nature, to be with negative feelings, and to create a space to recognize one’s ability to overcome them, was how Wim decided to become one with the cold. This narrative, which is near mythical in its construction, vivifies me, to say the least. Wim broke 26 world records, and changed what modern science knows about humanity’s ability to exercise voluntary control over the autonomous nervous system, because he decided to surrender to the cold. This act of surrender needed Wim to train himself, to swim in icy water for 5 to 7 minutes, with no need to breathe. Yes, that’s right, no NEED, to breathe. Wim also climbed Mount Everest in his shorts, among many other mind-blowing feats, previously thought impossible - and that is no exaggeration. What is phenomenal, and this is to the credit of Wim’s persistence to share his findings with the world, was Wim’s ability to combat the objections of the skeptics, Dutch and otherwise, university scientists included, by bringing scores of people, of different ages, body types, fitness levels, and within two weeks, have them ALL, begin to display the same abilities- to exercise voluntary control over the autonomous nervous system.









This story is what brings me to write this article. And it is time to unveil the breathing technique. This breathing technique is done with the aim of oxygenating your body, to a degree, where, afterwards, on finally letting go, you find you are able, to exist in a space, unlike any you’ve experienced before, where, for one minute and a half up to two and a half minutes - from my experience so far, you feel, truly, no need to breathe. The oxygenation of the body, I have noticed puts one in a state of peaceful alertness, or as that Bob Dylan song goes, “I’m not sleepy, and there is no place I’m going…"





One round of the breathing technique is composed of a succession of 25 deep in-breaths, breathing from the diaphragm, rather than the chest, and each is followed by a letting go, rather than a full exhalation. The round ends with a final letting go, where oxygen is free to be consumed by the body, and as such, no need to to inhale more oxygen arises, for up to a few minutes. I prefer practicing the breathing exercise laying down, on my back, on a solid surface, because I feel it promotes easier, deeper breathing.





In the below video, Wim walks podcaster Joe Rogan through one round. The full interview is available on YouTube.









The quality of this state of being is primarily characterized by both peace or silence, and alertness. It is important that this state of being promotes those two qualities simultaneously. Anyone who has tried meditation, with the common misconception that the purpose of it is to empty the mind, knows that, in practice, it is quite difficult, maybe impossible, to do so, to perfection, or for long periods of time. On that note, the purpose of meditation is rather to become aware, maybe even, take a present interest, of your basic inseparability from your surroundings.









This is meditation, as described by Alan Watts, a prominent philosopher and prolific student, of zen-buddhist, and Tao teachings, among other schools of thought. An observation one would notice during such a meditation, is, “When I sit to contemplate, or take an interest, in the goings-on around me, I notice, the flow of my thoughts, washes away, with the goings-on around me, like the sound of cars passing by", and as such, one can promote a state of no-mind, or mushin. Mushin, in this instance, is not "empty mind", but rather, more profoundly I think, it’s the mind which doesn’t concern itself with one aspect of experience - usually that’s going to be thoughts, and rather drinks it all together. More romantically, you become time, because you are not concerned with an aspect of the river of time, and as such flow with it, and become the river. It may be useful to identify, if the illustration is not clear, that if you flow against the river, you are going to feel its current pushing against you, rather than be helped along by the energy of its flow. Those are two very different states of being. I am going to let the meaning of the contrast between those two images, arise for you, reader, on its own, should you wish to explore it, and the conclusion you can draw out of it, about the pointless effort of overthinking, as it is quite rewarding.





Below are words Wim repeats in his guided breathing clips. (I feel that both for conscious and unconscious reasons, he repeats these because they are important. In them, might be some unexplored, inherent wisdom, ready to be tapped into, through one’s own experience of the state of being promoted by the breathing technique.)





"Fully in, letting go."

"It’s about changing the chemistry, right now, in your body."

"Just stop. Witness. Without air in the lungs, you are able to stay, much more than you normally are, without breathing."

"Why? CO2 went down. O2 went up, and filled all the cells, and the pH levels go up."

"Then we are able to tap into the central nervous system, and then at the end we have the brain stem - the place of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland and the pineal gland."

"The pineal gland controls the secretion of adrenaline, and it creates adrenaline, in dangerous situations."

“Normally, we get into it, because of shallow breathing." (That is breathing that may lead to tight lungs, anxiety attacks, maybe even, in prolonged practice, depressive mood states.)

"It shows that the capacity to fill our lungs with oxygen is more than we normally use. As we do not use it, we do not access the full capacity of our physiology."

When I practice this breathing technique, I find I am resonating with the statement he repeats, “we do not access the full capacity of our physiology.” I explore this each time through the unique, objective experience of observing of my thoughts, emotions, and recent behaviors, which come up, of themselves, as thoughts do. There is a sense, that the Wim Hof breathing technique promotes this state of alert silence, because you promote awake-ness when you fill your blood with oxygen. I share Alan Watts’s description of meditation here, because I attempt to bridge, on the one hand the package of explored and unexplored territory, that is the Wim Hof breathing technique, and on the other hand, the power of letting go of the stream of your thoughts, and simply observing them, as a consequence of engaging with meditation.





Imagine then, that you may, should you choose to do so, be able to engage in creating a space for yourself, where, for 15 minutes - 30 minutes a day:

You ground yourself in your body, rather than in your thoughts;

You nourish in yourself an appetite for “just being”, rather than - {sleeping, or working, or worrying about the future, or feeling guilty about the past, or losing yourself in a series or a film};

You pull apart the fabric which holds the patterns of your behavior, and you weave into the music sheets of your days' rhythms, a beat of “this is me breathing, fully, and that’s all."

This is an awkward way of saying: "we do not access the full capacity of our physiology.” It seems there is a state of our physiology, which some philosophies, and religious or spiritual practices call meditation. It is awkward, because I think it has not been articulated yet, except maybe in the context of meditation, the purpose of which, as mentioned before, often escapes those who begin to practice it, or even moreso, escapes those who resist having a discussion about meditation, because of the implied mysticism behind it. Maybe a breathing technique, makes "meditation", or mushin, manifest in people, separate from any claim of spiritual transcendence, and maybe that is what is needed, to have an appropriate discussion about states of being, and begin to ask questions:

Why these states of being are accessible?

Are they important to include in one’s life, through practice?

What exactly is their utility?

How can we prove or disprove the utility for all people, supposing this is universally accessible, but has not been explored yet?









Dr. Carl Jung, German psychoanalyst, and potentially one of the most intelligent men of the 20th century, so aptly said, about psychedelics, “beware of wisdom that is not earned.” Dr. Jung knew well the power of psychedelics to influence one’s state of being, and this, understandably, lead to the attraction psychedelics intrinsically held. Psychedelics promise spiritual or transcendent experiences. And although that seems to be the case, people, especially young adults, who wish to simply trip, and escape reality, rather than transcend themselves through observation, in aim of becoming a more awake contributor to humanity, for example, fail to learn the true wisdom of a transcendent experience, because they are looking for something else, which might not be there.





There is an inherent wisdom for me, which may not be noticed by all who try the Wim Hof breathing technique. The wisdom- a tangible key to a truth of life, is that this is a gateway to that meditative state. When you notice your thoughts as just goings-on, you can notice yourself to be somewhat of an objective observer to your thoughts. It is as if "being time”, as romantic as that sounds, allows one to experience one’s thoughts as a state of being, and decide whether or not one likes or subscribes to that kind of thinking. Then you can go about changing who you are, in real time, rather than, have the world change you, through oppression and stress, or stay the same because of an inflated sense of ego. Buddhism calls this state of being satori, or enlightenment.





In the silence following a few rounds of the Wim Hof breathing technique, you are so grounded in your body, rather than in your mind, or in your thoughts, which is the case most of the time, from my subjective experience. It follows then, that you access a more fundamental state of reality. I think it is more fundamental, because it allows you to maneuver against your ego- your collected sense of self thus far, with the higher aim of transcending yourself, or changing for the better, through noticing unhealthy, unhelpful patterns of thoughts and behaviors. As a writer, I learned, in research and in practice, that ALL stories follow that archetypal journey of change; it is significant for me to make this connection, because the truth, as opposed to lightning, strikes all in the same place. If drama, religion, philosophy, psychology, and now Wim Hof are all speaking, each in their own language, of the fundamental importance of taking ownership of change, and that it arises so clearly as a natural, human phenomenon: to face fear, and transcend, I feel obliged to pay attention.





From my own experience, I have noticed thoughts that I might, as an objective observer, consider misogynistic, for example, but that really only live in the space of my mind. I see these thoughts as an immature manifestation of my natural, biological attraction to women, but more fundamentally, as dis-ordered, yet to be ordered, by more relationships, which would allow me to design, more carefully, a vision, or a higher resolution map, of the territory of love, of what endless values, and blessings a relationship built on love can reward, one who surrenders to it fully, rather than "that girl is pretty, I wish for her to bring me joy, but really pleasure. I hope she notices me, so we can live in a Cinderella castle, forever happy.” I know I am not living a life that is that immature. I am happy that that is the case, but I notice near subconscious, inclinations to fit myself, in the narrative I had forged for myself, as a child, who endlessly watched Disney movies, where love was equated with: saving the most beautiful princess, from danger. This is one small iota of an example of patterns of micro-attitudes, and small, supposedly inconsequential decisions made, but as a sum of the parts, make me who I am. This way, I can change through small steps, one poor, noticed behavior or cognition at a time. This makes small lies more apparent, more important to address, and it makes inner thoughts more transparent to me, as I see them in the bubble of my ego, from the outside, from the perspective of that objective observer. All this arises when I practice 15-30 minutes of “me breathing fully, and that’s all.” What is beautiful is that that is segmented by silence, like true, silence.









There is no way I can share with you what the present moment feels like, but to urge you to look for that silence. To be in the present moment, is to live in the possibility of always changing for the better, of finding in yourself, the most authentic, legitimate You, who can transcend fear, patterns of negative thoughts and maybe, just maybe, order chaos, more optimally than all the ancestors, who came before you, and who worked so hard to get you to where you are.





Thank you Wim, for your immense contribution to my life.