Wim Hoff Breathwork, General Breathwork
Wim Hoff breathwork exercises can be found on YouTube, such as here: https://youtu.be/tybOi4hjZFQ?feature=shared.
I have only tried this particular exercise.
That said, I'd love to share you my experience practicing Joey Hauss's breathing techniques while on Kyle Cease's Absolutely Everything Pass, something I find amazing and that I have found helpful since in my life.
Breathing techniques can help heighten the energy level in the body when you need it. THis is how I have used it and it's been epic when it happens, though like all things, a lot of the fun comes from momentum, so you shouldn't abuse it too much... unless you want to - it'll forgive you.
Anyhow, there are several breathing muscles. The chest breathing muscles, abdominal breathing muscles, shoulder breathing muscles, and back breathing muscles. I have never found the back ones useful, at least so far.
You can direct your breath to one of these areas by placing your hand there and breathing into that area.
The abdominal area is connected to the adrenal system, and one's survival instincts. Breathing into there can turn on one's reptilian brain, which is a useful practice for those under the curse of compulsive thought and self-doubt to shut off their frontal cortexes for a little.
I found it useful, together with all the services of AEP, back when my life first all fell apart and I was arrested in July 2022 for meditating by the side of a river in a slightly dangerous-seeming place, though I found it safe since I exercised, I knew how to swim, etc., where someone thought I would jump into the river. - I didn't know about the social norms. - so yeah, one month of chaos followed, people gave me pills which I eventually quit as my leg was twitching and it was just destroying my momtivation, not least because almost everyone also seemed to no longer see me as trustable as I am, being off, and they gave me pills that didn't help just because an authority told them, and saw everything I did and loved and practiced every day weird.
I had to stop, having literally no energy, taking more of these pills a day, a lot of practices and things, and it took a while to recover from that, and I honestly also felt like I had to get angry and stop caring as much since nothing just worked. It was my first time in a while having people be that mean... but that kind of stopped when there was this session and I honestly just felt mad, which I rarely did, but I found all this good-lookingness of things just stupid, I guess, and saw AEP in that session like that too, and was just angry, and also playing a strategy game on a tablet I'd not thrown away when I quit all technology about invading countries and winning at things so as to feel better and focus on that and cope. However, a lady was having a really powerful release, and just started crying, and I could honestly relate to her so much, and I think I started crying too, and my little wall fell apart.
For the record, I will never forget the fun times I had in AEP. Although I decided to move on once I felt better, watching a video by Kyle about finding your voice and already having been thinking about that more, I decided to go out there on adventures, like the biking one I mention in the section on exercise, and I'd already started meditating again.
It is true that I had challenges, like one time I wanted to meditate and my cat was there, and I felt like she would just bother me and make even this thing feel off, and at the time, doing meditation again more, it was the only thing that brought me peace, so I wanted to, so as to meditate by myself just push my cat out of my room by force.
That said, she displayed such integrity, and refused to go. She refused to let the time where I'd focused on her less in early 2020 because I was focused on self-care, waking up early, literature, and having an amazing life at the time, and so on, happen again.
- At least, that's how I thought about the story, though now I realize it wouldn't have been bad even if I did that, and it's totally my choice, and there's love for everyone in the Universe.
I've rarely gotten that perfectly in my life until recently. The Universe doesn't have a limited amount of love or happiness, because happiness is within us! Sincerity, happiness, are just our natures, but as Kyle says, meditation [and inner adventurous work in general] is about removing all of the junk. [Foreshadowing the next section.]
Now, what are the breathing techniques, you might ask.
The one I will never forget is the one that heightens the level of energy in your body, and can allow you to feel the conductivity of energy through your body, the more awake you are to that happiness and flow of life in your body.
It involves breathing into your abdominal area, holding the breath and moving it into your chest, and then releasing it.
You repeat this simple exercise 30 times. It may seem like a lot, but you'll enjoy it. At first, it will take longer to do this properly, so you should take your time, and later you'll be able to just breathe in, hold, move the breath up, and release in less than 2 seconds.
There are relaxation exercises and energy level heightening exercises.
Relaxation exercises are about breathing into each of your muscles. Joey did it with us in this order 15 times: Chest muscle, abdominal muscle, shoulder muscle, back muscle.
The abdominal area corresponds to the adrenal system, and takes you from the frontal cortex into the lymbic part of the brain. The reptilian brain.
Breathhold allows one to access more of their brain --- the reptilian brain acting as the physical correspondent of what we may call a "lever" for turning on the link between the conscious and subconscious --- a state of Alpha brainwaves.
This Alpha brainwaves is a state of relaxation, imagination, and even intuition. They link the conscious to the subconscious, allowing one to experience their traumas directly rather than resisting them, and to experience an incredible degree of healing, an increase in care. Relaxation.
As to the shoulder and back muscles, I have no idea! The chest ones correspond to regular outlook.
This relates to the 7 chakras, through which consciousness can see the world. The lower three chakras, not imbued by higher intelligence, act as survival-focused, and do not comprehend the reality of love - corresponding to the heart chakra - and the higher realms of wisdom - corresponding to the throat chakra - and psychic powers, corresponding to the third eye chakra.
Energy level heightening exercises are done using the so-called breath of fire, which we discussed above.
As to my favorite greater exercise, for now, in it the breath of fire is done 30 times, with a one minute breathhold following, for three rounds in a row.
The last breathhold may take one minute and thirty minutes, and of course, if one gets tired along the way one can do less breaths of fire, or shorten the breathhold time and just release the breathhold earlier, getting the time up over time. One minute is just the ideal, the eventual minimum you can go to.
I always, back in AEP, loved to prolong my breathholds a bit longer, and finish just about when Joey almost finished the free time afterwards, and I generally loved to do the breathhold exercises longer... I think it felt peaceful...
Haha! You'll enjoy it!