I've been lax in my meditation for most of this last year, and thought I'd look into other ideas for meditation. I found this Wim Hof somehow and have been looking into his breathing techniques and cold exposure. I started the breathing and cold showers today. I'll see if it helps me get refocused on my meditation and if I find any benefits to the breathing technique and cold exposure.
I did that for about 5 years quite awhile ago now. Some friends and I started in high school and continued through college vacations. We live next to Lake Michigan, and a couple years they had ropes to climb up the ice walls that had developed from the waves. The weird part is when you come out and it feels like you are walking on stumps as your feet have zero feeling. We actually were interviewed by the local news one year, but I am guessing due to the garb we had on and the fact that we were still incoherent from the festivities that night/morning they chose not to put us on the air. Another reason I am glad social media didn't exist back then.
EWOT is the ticket. EWOT with altitude switching, even better. Really blows the cobwebs out of your brain.
Coincidently I just started his breathing and cold shower methods 5 days ago. While it's only been a short period of time I must say there's something to it. I feel noticeably more alert and feeling of positivity. I did a little experiment with the breathing as I have done something similar in the past. I held my breath for as long as I could before the breathing method. I'm good for about 1m:30s, 1m:45s. The I did the 30 deep breaths as he suggests. Then held my breath again like 10 seconds later. 2m:30s and I just took a breath because I was kinda freaked out because I felt fine. Next day I did the same thing, 3m:30s. I'm like WTF. Next day same thing and every day since. I don't know what to make of it, but it seems quite amazing to me. The cold showers I have eased into it starting with a slightly warm shower and then easing it back. This morning I actually ended up with what I'd call cold water. Quite invigorating and not as bad as I thought. I will continue both breathing and cold showers. He has many videos, here is one of the more recent ones
The first week went pretty well, but after that I am having a hard time keeping focused during the exhale and hold. After the third deep breathing rep I am out to just over 3 minutes. Other than using it as a gauge of breathing technique I don't think going really long is the key. The cold showers are harsh for a few seconds and I'm good after that. I usually go for about 5 minutes, but wouldn't have a problem going longer, and anticipate doing so. I may even buy some bags of ice and try the ice bath. In the afternoon I have been doing my old, I guess traditional, form of quiet meditation and that has the same calming and head clearing effect. At the same time I am also having focus problems while doing it. I think that is why I drifted away last year as I was finding it harder to stay focused in my meditation, but when I think about it that is the time to keep working at it. I'll try to update again, and please feel free to update your experience here for information.
Relax the body, the mind will eventually follow. Too many people try to think their way into not thinking. Concentration and focus is not what you want. Slowing down your entire respiratory and cardio system is what you're after. Just breathe, but deeper.Think of it as falling asleep without sleeping. Let your mind go wherever it goes. Not claiming to be an expert, but that is what has worked for me.
You are right, and I have been forgetting to just let myself relax. I've been to concerned with getting focused, and if anything I probably end up tensing up. One aspect I have noticed is when I am reading I am better able to focus on what I am reading. I'm not sure how to describe the difference, but for me it is noticeable. I'm not skipping around and having to come back and read what I initially started reading.
As an update, I'm finding my quiet meditation to go better in terms of calming and overall feeling afterward. I know not a great description of differences, and not sure quite how to define the differences. I am thinking of switching when I do each. I am currently doing the deep breaths and hold when I wake up and the quiet meditation after I am done trading for the day. I have also found my breath hold times have decreased in length. I'm now under 3 minutes on the last hold, and I don't think I am doing anything different. That doesn't really concern me and I don't think is critically important. However it did peak my interest in the people that do the free diving. I am going to look into their practice techniques to see if I can expand my holds, but it will be outside of the Wim Hof methods. The cold showers actually are feeling good now. I believe I'm in full cold for about 3 minutes or so. I have been told I have Raynaunds Syndrome, where fingers and toes go nub and lose color like they are freezing, and yet when I do the cold showers after the breathing I'm not having the issue. I still have the issue when I am outside in the winter or cool wet days. It is fairly painful and takes a bit of time for me to get feeling and color back to my fingers. I will be enjoying this later today during and after snowblowing when the snow lets up here. That's an update for now.