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15 minute writing timer. Ready. Set. Go. “At the end of the exhale, Breath surrenders to quietude. For a moment you hang in the balance — Suspended In the fertile spaciousness That is the source of breath. At the end of the inhale, Filled with the song of the breath, There is a moment when you are simply Holding the tender mystery. In these interludes, Experience opens into exquisite vastness With no beginning and no end. Embrace this infinity without reservation. You are its vessel. “Radiance Sutras.” Roche, Lorin. 2014. (p. 39) Breath has gotten a lot of air play in recent years. Everywhere we turn, someone is talking about how important the breath is and how it affects our bodies and minds. What a wonderful time to be alive. Really. I’ve spent many hours in training learning breathing methods so that I could use them and teach them. But this is not a post about any of of the breathing methods that I’ve learned in training and am certified to teach. This is a post about a breathing method that Wim Hof has popularized. It is a kind of intentional hyperventilating and I’ve been experimenting with it for the last 16 days. Why? Well, I have not studied Wim Hof at all or his methods even though I was doing ice baths. I wanted to do the ice baths “cold” so to speak and to treat them like a science experiment rather than following a program. However, after several ice baths where I stayed in water just above freezing (with huge ice chunks in the tub) in 2 degree Fahrenheit weather, I became hypothermic. Even when I didn’t’ feel “hypothermic,” often my core temperature would not record a reading on our thermometer because it was below 93 degrees Fahrenheit. This phenomena led me to search out how people like Wim Hof can stay in extreme ice water for extended periods of time. What I discovered is that Wim Hof can keep his core temperature nearly the same inside the ice bath as before he got into the ice bath. From what I read, much of this was attributed to a breathing technique he developed and that many of his followers use before they get in. It goes like this: Sit or lie down and begin to breath rapidly through the mouth. Breath in to the abdomen, then the chest, then out, then in, over and over…make a circle…feel it like a wave…imagine breathing into your pineal gland…over and over and over. You decided the number of breaths and then on the last exhalation you hold the breath out for as long as you like. Once you breathe in, you hold the inhale for 15 seconds, and then begin again. Since I have still been taking ice baths, I thought it would be worth giving the breathing technique a try. So, when I awoke one morning, before I even got out of bed, I began the breathing cycle. I decided to breath in and out 35 times before holding because that was the default on the free app. The first thing I noticed was that my body was resisting this type of breathing because it wanted to sleep. This is not a breath for sleeping (maybe…more on that later). I had to force the breaths and at first it felt awkward. But then…about 20 breaths in, I began to feel tingly all over and this was quite pleasurable. By the 35th breath, though, I was ready to take a break and was glad to hold the breath out. What I experienced and continue experience was a whole new world within the body and connected to the mind. I found myself daydreaming, floating around within my body, losing track of time, noticing places in my body that I haven’t noticed in years, and being very, very, very peaceful. For awhile. Of course, this is a limited time engagement and eventually a number of process kick in, some psychological and some physiological, that prompt the body to breathe. Being a person who loves challenges and experimenting with the body, I was pretty much hooked immediately and really enjoy keeping track of my breath retention times, what I am feeling, what I am noticing, where my limits are, how I can wisely challenge my limits, and so on. That first day (and every day since), I decided to do 4 rounds of the breath retentions (4 rounds of 35 breaths, hold out, breath in, hold in for 15 seconds, repeat…). By the time I finished the fourth cycle, I was alive!!! Vibrant. Energized. Invigorated. And also very, very calm. It is, during this small sample size, the most life-giving practice I have ever done upon waking in the morning. Even the ice baths have not energized my system like this. In so many ways, I have experienced a deep sense of equanimity (i.e., literally “even” “mind”) during this practice that is exquisite in its sensations and lasting effect on my being throughout the day. Not to mention that my core temperature stays pretty much the same inside or out of the ice. As I mentioned, I’m on my 16th day of this practice, and it continues to light me up in the morning, as well as relieve headaches I have had upon awakening and any congestion in my sinuses. It’s not a magic bullet, but it is somehow just the right medicine for my body right now. Once I finish, I sit in silent meditation for 10 minutes, then hit the ice bath for 3-4 minutes, then stretch and exercise, then jump on the trampoline, and finish with asanas before coffee, breakfast, reading, and then spending time with Noah and Sophia before school and work. While this practice does require us to face fears of not being able to breath (if we’re pushing our hold times), the moments of peacefulness have been worth my effort to face some of those fears. I’ll end the way I began: “At the end of the exhale, Breath surrenders to quietude. For a moment you hang in the balance — Suspended In the fertile spaciousness That is the source of breath. At the end of the inhale, Filled with the song of the breath, There is a moment when you are simply Holding the tender mystery. In these interludes, Experience opens into exquisite vastness With no beginning and no end. Embrace this infinity without reservation. You are its vessel. “Radiance Sutras.” Roche, Lorin. 2014. (p. 39) Time.