I have continued to do the inhale and hold after the 3rd round and I get that feeling of calm from it at the end. When I exhale, I still don't have a big urge to breath in and more so force myself to take a breath back in. I'm not sure why that is but planning on seeing if I can find anything about this effect.
Timed again tonight, and my times are decreasing. 1.58, 2.09. and 2.11. Not sure if I am doing anything differently other than the inhale and hold at the end. BP was 85 over 60 with a HR of 59. Pretty low BP, but when I was doing it regularly in the past it was low also.
Interesting. Although I tried it your way, I find holding after the outbreath more relaxing. Holding on the inhale feels a bit...pent up, whereas holding on the exhale seems to be more consistent with "letting go." At least for me, anyway. Yeah, that's a fairly low BP. I took my BP a number of days ago several minutes after waking up. This was before the WHM breathwork, but after a bit of controlled slow breathing: And I thought mine was low!
I am on ~week 3 of forgetting to get a baseline for BP and pulse. I wake up and go into routine and forget I wanted to do it.
So the water was 8.8C this morning in these here parts. That's about 47.8F. The cold showers are getting progressively more intense as winter presents itself. After 2 minutes and 15 seconds (I wear a watch and time myself), the water was actually a bit painful to endure today, and letting the water spray on my head for any length of time left me with a brief ice-cream headache. How are you guys getting on with this stuff?
I haven't checked the temp on our water, but it is winter and I assume it is at least a bit colder than summer, or at least it feels like it to me. Before I first go under I take a breath in and as I go under I let the breath go in a long relaxed exhale. It seems to make it bearable. After I am in, I'm good for the duration of the shower. Days I shave it is from start to finish, somewhere in the 7 to 10 minute range I estimate. Days I don't shave I start with warmer water and then as I start to rinse off soap I go full cold, probably 3- 5 minutes. I have music playing when showering so have a rough idea of how long I am in the shower. Towards the end I let it run on top of my head until I start to feel that wonderful ice cream headache and then I go to the back of my neck. After a bit on the back of my neck it sometimes puts me into the same mode I feel meditating. I have no idea why that is, but it is a good feeling. If I can get someone from the family to come along I will take the polar plunge into Lake Michigan on New Years day. After about 30 seconds I can't fell anything from about my shins down and it feels like walking on stumps. The worst year for that was in the college days home from break during a brutal Midwest winter. You had to go in off ice cliffs and there were people with ropes to help you climb out.
No need to be, I had 4 coats on walking the dogs this morning. I probably need to prepare mentally for my dog walks.
"CaptainObvious, "Then came the magical moment when I was truly separated from my body. I realized, maybe felt is a better word, that while my mind and body are connected, they are two completely different things, and one does not really need the other to survive. It was as if what my body is, and who/what I really am are separate, completely separate. Things changed after that and suddenly it became a how long can I hold my breath contest, so I lost focus of the purpose to achieve the meditative state. I stopped it altogether shortly thereafter. " -------------- In reading this, I am wondering: Beyond the separation of mind/body did you experience anything else? bliss, peace? joy? I am puzzled as to why you would stop. Why not forget a contest of breath-holding time part and relax into mediation? Wasn't breath-holding only a pre-step to mediation?