This is a second part of a two parter dedicated to dopamine management with cold therapy and breathing. If you're interested in how cold exposure can boost your dopamine levels, head down to the previous post. Today I'll be talking a bit about breathing in general and also about power breathing technique created by Wim Hof.
There's only so much benefits of breathing, the first and the most obvious one is being alive :) Each one of us, on average, takes 23 000 breaths every day. Every time we breath in, we absorb oxygen, and on a breath out we expel carbon dioxide. Oxygen raises our blood's PH levels, making it more alkaline, whereas carbon dioxide lowers the PH, making the blood more acidic. Normal PH ranges somewhere in between 7.35 - 7.45, being pretty much slightly alkaline (basic).
Did you know that the word breath in an ancient Greek, means spirit or soul?
I can't stress it enough, with about 23k breaths a day, how much of an impact, correct technique of breathing has on one's life. Most of people don't even pay attention to how they breathe. Most common mistakes, that can affect health & mood are breathing through the mouth and doing very frequent, incoherent, shallow breaths. There's been studies on how breathing through the mouth creates an irregular pressure in the lungs, negatively impacting their condition, not to mention absorbing all the chemicals, that would otherwise be filtered in the nose. Also it's been proven that too frequent breathing leads to less oxygen absorption in the lungs. On top of it, incoherent breathing can greatly impact our moods. It's been shown that breath is what makes a difference between two extreme emotions eg. just 1 minute of coherent, deep breathing can make you switch from experiencing anger into experiencing actual pleasure.
Enough of the introduction, let's take a closer look at the breathing method mentioned at the beginning of this post, and how it can influence the levels of the dopamine molecule in your body.
Wim Hof Method Breathing
The breathing method consists of 30 to 40 power breaths, followed by a breath hold, followed by large breath, followed by a 15-second hold.
Step 1. Power breathing means large inhales and medium exhales. Go above 1 atmosphere when breathing in, and slightly below 1 atmosphere when breathing out. You wan't to build up oxygen in your blood, making it alkaline. If done correctly, you'll experience lightheadedness.
Step 2. After 30 to 40 power breaths you hold your breath. Do it for how long you're capable of - this is no competition. You'll notice that you won't feel the urge to breath, probably for the first 30 to 40 seconds, as all this oxygen that has built up in your blood will transmit a message to your body: we're full of oxygen; no need to breathe. During the breath hold, try to be in the moment. Notice the sensations. Relax. You might experience some tingling as well - it's completely normal. If it's your first time, most likely you'll be able to hold your breath for about a minute, but who knows, maybe you'll be able go over a minute and a half or even two minutes. Don't force it though.
Step 3. When you'll feel the need to take a breath, take a large one, and without exhaling, hold it for 15 seconds. Then slowly exhale.
Repeat these 3 steps three to four times. When you're done, just relax for a bit, let your breath stabilize.
Below you'll find a video breakdown of the method, where Wim Hof explains how's it done.
This breathing technique works in a very similar way to the cold exposure - by exposing yourself to a hormetic stress (or short term stress), which is proven to be beneficial, you're kind of forcing your body to flood itself with all different kinds of chemicals. Similarly to taking an ice bath, performing this breathing technique spikes the dopamine molecule levels up 250% and epinephrine levels up 530%. The hormonal boost amounts to that you'd get during your first bungee jump! And you can get that in the comfort of your home :) Every day! Any type of inflammation in your body? Boom! It's gone within a quarter of an hour!
My experience with the breathing method
I've been practicing Wim Hof method breathing on a regular basics since October 2020. Of top of benefits like improved immunity, increased productivity and focus, since it's a powerful meditation as well, I must say, I'm much more aware of my body, and of thoughts and emotions that I experience. I'm not so easily affected by every day stressors - whether they're mental or physical.
Let me know what you think and if you found this post helpful :) In the future I might be doing a more detailed description of the breathing method, with tips on how to get the most of it, along with quoting some interesting studies.
Have a good one!