Hyperventilating for well-being?

Cold showers are hip, save energy and are supposed to be healthy. But for some people that’s not enough. They dive into ice water or hike – half-naked in winter. How does that feel? I’m doing the self-experiment: At a seminar in a Würzburg yoga studio, I got to know the Wim Hof ​​method.

It is named after its inventor, the Dutch extreme athlete Wim Hof, and consists of a combination of mental training, breathing techniques and an ice bath. The positive effects of such techniques are medically recognized, as is the case with saunas and meditation, for example.

I’ve been taking cold showers for a long time. Even if it takes an effort for me every time, it always feels good afterwards; fresh and awake. At some point, a friend drew my attention to the Wim Hof ​​method. Their goal: consciously generate physical stress impulses and come back to relaxation with willpower. The thesis: What works in extreme situations also works in everyday life, makes us more relaxed and happier. I became aware of the workshop in Würzburg on the Internet.

Before we go into the tub filled with ice cubes, we are welcomed in the »Glücksbringer« yoga studio by yoga teacher Linda Weyh and Wim Hof ​​instructor Patrick Weyh. The couple have three children and both describe themselves as very stressed relaxation experts. We are 13 participants, get hot tea and blankets, the heaters are turned up full. This makes for relieved faces – so for the time being it remains comfortable.

Gentle sounds and aromatic oils

Linda Weyh tunes us in with yoga; gentle sounds meet aromatic oils. Then her husband Patrick takes over and explains the sequence of Wim Hof ​​breathing. We should inhale and exhale relaxedly 30 to 40 times in an intense wave movement, then hold our breath; five rounds in a row. With the relaxation it is suddenly over. A driving beat booms out of the speakers, Patrick’s penetrating voice guides us. Breathing is strenuous and I tune out everything else. Holding your breath together feels deeply relaxing for me. After the last round: silence.

“You just hyperventilated,” explains Patrick Weyh. This changes the oxygen-carbon dioxide ratio in the blood and puts the body under severe stress. In the stillness of breathing, on the other hand, the relationship normalizes and the body relaxes. Consciously create an interplay between two important parts of the autonomic nervous system. According to Linda Weyh, the main roles are played by the sympathetic nervous system, which is activated during activity and stress, and its opponent, the parasympathetic nervous system, which ensures rest and regeneration. Linda: “We need both, but our life takes place too much in the sympathetic nervous system.” According to her experience, Wim Hof ​​breathing can teach you to switch from one state to the other.

“It’s not hocus-pocus,” say Patrick and Linda Weyh. They report how their everyday life has changed for the better as a result of the method. You don’t turn it up so quickly anymore, communicate more calmly with each other in partnership and family. The paradox is that relaxation is a burden for many at the beginning. Because, as Patrick Weyh explains: “Stress and anger are familiar to our bodies. If we leave this comfort zone, it scares and immediately generates new stress.« One has to get involved and first learn to enjoy the state of rest again.

I wonder if I too can use the method to change my everyday life in the long term. Next, the ice bath should show me new ways. Patrick Weyh explains how this works. »The temperature corridor in which we move is becoming narrower: air conditioning, electric blankets, functional clothing mean that we no longer feel extreme temperatures.« The cold stimulus is an instrument. With him you can learn to find new responses to stress.

Because if you can relax in ice water – an absolutely hostile environment – you can do it anywhere; that’s the theory. In addition, cold trains the finest vessels in the body.

So now it’s finally time to get into the tub, which is already available in the garden. We slip into bathing suits, the words summer, sun, beach fall. The first of the group disappears up to their necks in the ice cubes – don’t panic, don’t shout. After two minutes, he comes out crimson and warms himself by the campfire with slow movements.

It goes on in order. Some dip their heads, grin from ear to ear, chat. It’s my turn last – and I’m already freezing.

»Breathe with me«

My feet push through the ice cube cover into the water. Inhale, exhale, and then all the way in. I’m hyperventilating. And this time neither voluntarily nor controlled. Patrick Weyh’s face comes into view. “Breathe with me! Slowly!’ Yes, how? My body does what it wants. I strain, one breath. Then another and the initial panic goes away. “You can’t fight the cold. Let go!” And indeed. It’s exhausting, but it’s doable. It’s not even cold, because the swimming pool in the indoor pool is cold for me. This is so icy it feels vaguely like nothing.

“You put your bodies in mortal fear and overcame it,” says Patrick Weyh as we sit by the fire, dressed again and provided with hot soup. I’m shivering so bad I can barely eat. Others feel the same way, but we are happy and amazed and part with, despite everything, a warm feeling.

JENNIFER WEIDLE

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