Is anxiety ruling your life? Take 10 minutes out of your day to try the Wim Hof Method, and watch your life change.
By Leslie K. Hughes
Anxiety. The one in the room who never passes the vibe check. The one who always rains on the parade. The one who never gets the invite but shows up anyway.
Hello, old friend.
I know I’m not the only person who has to deal with this unwanted guest, and I also know I’m not the only person who would love anxiety to take a hint and go TF away. However, anxiety doesn’t pick up on social cues. Anxiety strikes whenever it fancies, and oftentimes, it has the worst timing.
The good news is that there is no shortage of cures for anxiety. I’ve tried many of them, but nothing snaps me out of a wave of anxiety quicker than breathwork. I’m not talking just any breathwork, I’m talking specifically the Wim Hof Method.
The man behind this method, Wim Hof, is better known as The Iceman. He holds 26 world records for all the insane stuff he’s done but really takes the spotlight for his Guinness World Record for the longest ice bath. This man put mind over matter and sat in a bath of ice for 1 hour and 52 minutes. He’s also won the world’s fastest half marathon while barefoot on snow or ice, and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in shorts and tennis shoes in less than 2 days.
In short, this guy is superhuman.
But, according to him, you too can be superhuman by mastering breathwork. And it all starts with his free 10-minute video on YouTube.
I haven’t reached superhuman status yet, but I have found a quick way to cope with anxiety, and that makes me feel pretty damn accomplished.
Here’s how to do it.
The Wim Hof Method
1. Find a quiet place to sit or lay down. I like to start my day doing the Wim Hof Method, so I lay in bed with the lights off and the blinds open, and my phone on silent, of course. Absolutely no interruptions while doing this breathwork.
2. Start the first round of breathing. You do 30 deep breaths in through your nose, and out through your mouth. The breaths should be like a wave — start the breath by filling up your stomach and then let the wave of breath roll up to your chest, where you then breathe out through your mouth.
3. On the 30th breath, breathe in and then exhale, holding your breath for at least 1 minute, but ideally longer than that if you can.
4. Take a deep inhale after the 1 minute is up, hold that breath in for 15 seconds, and breathe out.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 twice for a total of 3 rounds of breathing. The breath-hold part should be at least 1.5 minutes for rounds 2 and 3.
If that sounds confusing, check out the Wim Hoff Method video on YouTube that walks you through the whole process. I still use the video to guide me so I don’t get distracted by looking at a timer and can truly focus on nothing but my breath.
When it comes to anxiety, I try to be preventative. So even if I’m not feeling that cloud of anxiety over my head, I aim to do this breathwork every morning to lower the chances of it creeping in later in the day. Trust me, you will feel the benefits.
Some Tips for Success With the Wim Hof Method
- If you feel your fingers and toes tingling when doing the breathwork, don’t panic — it’s fine.
- You DO have time for this every day. 10 minutes is manageable for anyone and everyone.
- To really elevate the experience, hop in a cold shower after doing the breathwork. You’ll be in a new state of mind to accept the cold. And you’ll love how alive you feel post-breathwork and cold shower.
- Use this method when you feel panic coming in, but also as a preventative tool.
Why Does This Work?
When anxiety strikes, our normal breaths tend to turn into short breaths that don’t truly fill up our lungs. Not surprisingly, this leaves us feeling out of breath — it’s that fight or flight mode activation. In addition to your breath changing, both your heart rate and your blood pressure go up. This is your body’s warning sign: “We are preparing for a threat.”
However, in modern-day life, we are not faced with as many life and death situations as our body has us thinking we are. So when anxiety shoots us into this zone, the best way out of it is by taking deep breaths. This “signals to the rest of your body that everything is fine.”
The calming effect this has on your body can seriously be life-changing. I know it sounds dramatic, but seriously go try it right now and I bet you’ll feel so much better.
