Wim Hof, Yoga & Ayurveda
I have been following the Wim Hof Method for several months, and incorporated it into my dinacharya, or morning routine. One of the key components of this method is a breathing technique which flows nicely right after my COLD shower (also a Wim Hof component).
After the cold shower, using the Wim Hof app, I lay down on my yoga mat and do four rounds of deep breathing, exhale hold, inhale hold and repeat. This in itself is a grand internal experience, but several times, I have gone above and beyond the usual.
I just stop breathing
I don’t know when or why, I just stop breathing. I don’t know what part of the breathing cycle pattern I am in – inhale, exhale, hold – I don’t know. I don’t know how long it has been, all track of time is lost. And it is the weirdest feeling! It’s out of the ordinary. I’ve not passed out, I’m conscious, just not breathing. For how long, I don’t know.
“Yoga takes you into the present moment, the only place where life exists.”
Then, in a flash, I realize I’ve lost the cadence with the Wim Hof breathing app, and I join the “breathing bubble” in progress. And the thought occurs…
…Spontaneous breath suspension
Spontaneous breath suspension. It is the perfect description of what happens. There is no other way to describe the feeling and phenomenon. While I won’t say it is Patanjali’s Kevala Pranayama, or fourth Pranayama, it just seems to fit the description. Maybe it is the very beginnings of it. All I can say is, it was a very transcendental experience.
Have you ever experienced anything like this? Either in your Pranayama practices or doing the Wim Hof Method? I’d be interested to hear about your experiences! Please comment below and share with us your thoughts!
Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras – Pranayama
Patajali gives four types of pranayama, the distinction between the four is based on the nature of the pause. The first one, the pause is after exhalation, the second one, the pause is after inhalation. In both the first and second, the yogi is making a special effort to hold the breath. In the third, where breathing is suspended whether after inhalation or exhalation, it depends on the practitioner; it requires no special effort to hold the breath.
The pranayama, which happens all by itself without any effort is the fourth pranayama.
The fourth happens spontaneously after years of practice of pranayama, sometimes referred to as the suspended breath. The absence of effort in maintaining the pause is common to both the third and fourth types of pranayama. For more information, check out this presentation I gave at Kaivalyadham for my yoga teacher’s training, “Pranayama – Hathapradipika versus Patanjali”
My Recommendations
You are stronger
than you think you are!
I don’t think I have ever heard a bad word about Wim Hof or his method. You can’t go wrong, so why don’t you give it a try?
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