Guided Wim Hof Method Breathing on HackerTube: recommended by 10 Hacker News commenters across 7 separate months, 2020–2024.
tutorial · intro · evergreen
An 11-minute guided Wim Hof breathing session built around an expanding and contracting bubble to pace the breath. Wim breathes along with the viewer over ambient sound.
HN commenters share it as an easy-to-follow guided exercise for anxiety, stress, and recovery, with many reporting daily use.
“It's been very valuable to me.”
16 Hacker News comments link this video. Each one links back to its thread.
Here's[1] a Wim Hof breathing exercise with 56 million “views”. I've been doing it for two years now. I watched the video once (the narration is painful) and I've been doing it without guidance since. I've had been doing box breathing, some pranayama and reichian breathwork before I started doing this one, but somehow the Wim Hof one completely took over. It's been very valuable to me. [1] ▶ this video
in “Box breathing techniques and benefits” · View on HN
wim-hof is a life saver. I used during my covid battle as well. I had this video ▶ this video on loop when I was suffering with covid
in “5-min breathing workout lowers blood pressure as much as exercise, drugs (2021)” · View on HN
Won't help with a job specifically, but look into breathwork for anxiety. It might sound silly, but try it. Many exercises only take a few minutes. e.g. ▶ this video
in “Ask HN: How are you dealing with the job market anxiety?” · View on HN
If you're open to it, I'd recommend trying the Wim Hof technique. The combination of controlled hyperventilation followed by cold water exposure is something like a reset button. Here's a link [0] - just don't do the breathing exercises anywhere that passing out could cause problems; like when driving, in water, etc. 0 - ▶ this video
in “Ask HN: Comment here about whatever you're passionate about at the moment” · View on HN
I'm sorry. I got Omicron in January '22 despite being double vaxx'd, and I felt totally fine until 3-4 mo. later when I started to get recurrent dizzy spells, major fatigue, and bouts of anxiety, which are all very unusual for me. Checkup / bloodwork showed nothing. I am 41 y.o. who exercise regularly, does not smoke, rarely drinks, etc. So far I can still function and maintain a job, but it makes me wonder what's going on inside of me that 11 months later it's still causing these issues regularly. Our 4 y.o. son got it as well and although he was asymptomatic I am still very concerned about what the long-term effects on him may be. I am not a doctor and this is not medical advice, but I read a paper saying that hyperbaric oxygen therapy helped some people, so I've been using Wim Hoff breathing as a poor man's version. It does seems to help with the fatigue but not the vertigo. Best of luck. Wim Hoff Breathing: ▶ this video
in “The incidence of myocarditis and pericarditis in unvaccinated Covid patients” · View on HN
There are a lot of helpful tips in this thread and similar ones. Maybe I can add a bit about my own situation for perspective. 1. Become really good at your job. Be able to finish a task in less time than what is expected. Take the remaining time to relax and reduce stress. Don't engage in "bull**" tasks that are meant to make people seem productive. If you reliably deliver value in the important tasks nobody will mind. Find a niche in your team or company that makes you in particular valuable. For me that's writing code in a niche language where few people have experience and being able to teach others, ie. train colleagues in programming. Reduce your working hours if possible (4 days max of 9-5 per week). 2. Do some work on your mental attitude. Feeling guilty is a self-destructive path. Read [1]. If you're struggling with anxiety, I recommend meditation and breathing exercises (eg. [2], watch the video on safety before trying it). Get at LEAST some physical exercise (even just walking outside). Spend more time in the sun whenever possible. 3. Do stuff that makes you feel like a winner. Beat a difficult video game, set yourself a goal to lift x KG in an exercise of your choice or challenge yourself to do something you know you should be doing but makes you nervous. Find motivation outside of work. For me that's working on game development projects. Try to be persistent and get some work done before the workday starts. [1] [link] [2] ▶ this video
in “Ask HN: Feeling burned out at an early stage in my career” · View on HN
The best thing that stills my mind is concentrating on work (which could be linked to Csíkszentmihályi's flow state) or doing meditation. There are many different states of mind meditation can help induce and maintain. I think the basic categorisation splits meditation into two types: (a) concentrative/active and (b) receptive/passive. The fastest and most efficient technique I found is the Wim Hof breathing technique: ▶ this video
in “How to Quiet Your Mind Chatter (2021)” · View on HN
Hey man, try some breathing exercises and cold showers if you can - I watched this documentary [link] and then the original vice documentary: [link] and then tried the breathing: ▶ this video and cold showers and they've been helping a lot with inflammation! There are tons of benefits of cold showers, so if you can start doing that, that might already help a lot! Here's a bunch of results you could check out: [link]
in “Search engines and SEO spam” · View on HN
Here's a guided exercise [1], and a video with more explanation can be found here [2]. You shouldn't forcefully exhale completely; just let go of your breath. Also, sit or lie down; don't stand or do anything else. Initial scientific evidence related to auto-immune diseases here [3], although please don't mistake interviews with Hof with science. For example his comments about "charging your body with oxygen" and "alkaline blood" are completely off; a proper explanation can be found here [4]. [1] ▶ this video [2] [link] [3] [link] [4] [link]
in “Why Breathing Is So Effective at Reducing Stress” · View on HN
It's very incomplete actually... I've just found this video while navigating through Wim Hof's site - ▶ this video It's quite easy to do, btw... I'll try it for some days and see how it going to go...
in “Wim Hof breathing technique can modulate immune response to pathogens (2014)” · View on HN
The article mentioned Holotropic Breathwork, which is a method Stanislav Grof came up with after no longer being able to use LSD for his research in the 1960s. I haven't taken a course in it, but it does seem similar to Wim Hof's technique, which you can follow along an intro of on his YouTube [1]. All of it is pretty similar to various pranayama techniques that have existed in the yogas for thousands of years though. Iyengar's Light on Pranayama is a good resource for the various practices [2]. While Wim Hof and Holotropic Breathwork are slightly different, the closest to them from the yogas would maybe be bhastrika pranayam (and here's a random guy on YouTube that comes up when googling it -- just skimming it and it looks basically like what I was taught [3]). Edit: I realized I didn't answer your question regarding how pranayama/breathwork compares to meditation. It's different than meditation (dhyana or jhana), but it's complimentary and there are elements that are similar. For instance, during pranayama practice you'll often have breath holds/retentions and during that time you'll be instructed to bring your awareness to something (a point on your body, on the awareness itself, etc). This is generally what you'd do in formal meditation practice too, but in this case it's for a much shorter period of time (the length of the breath hold). So in a way it gets you used to working with your awareness, to bring it internal for short periods of time many times. Many people will
in “Breathwork supports emergence of altered states of consciousness” · View on HN
Cyclic hyperventilation with retention is the same as wim hof breathing ▶ this video as I understood from Andrew Huberman
in “Cyclic sighing most effective at improving mood and reducing respiratory rate” · View on HN
I'm not a practitioner of Wim Hof's methods, but what was implemented in the paper is definitely not Wim Hof breathing. The paper describes 30x breaths with the inhale twice as long as the exhale, and a 15 second hold on the final exhale. Wim Hof's method has 30x equal-length inhales and exhales, and a one-minute hold on the final exhale [0]. Aside from there being a substantial difference between equal length inhales and exhales and an inhale that's twice as long as the exhale, the big idea behind Wim Hof's method is that that minute-long hold is very difficult, and trying to do it supposedly builds a certain kind of mental (really, holistic) discipline that a 15 second hold simply would not. 15 seconds is not hard unless you're pretty out of shape. [0] ▶ this video
in “Cyclic sighing most effective at improving mood and reducing respiratory rate” · View on HN
I too practice a customised breathing technique which is a combination of Sudarshan Kriya[1] + Wim Hof[2] while laying back on the floor. [1] [link] [2] ▶ this video 30 mins. Everyday after brush.
in “My customized Wim Hof breathing method” · View on HN
Yea I have just been practicing Sudarshan Kriya[1] + Wim Hof[2] + Surya Namaskar[3] (no push-ups and mountain climbing) for the past month. ~1 hour a day. [1] [link] [2] ▶ this video [3] [link]
in “My customized Wim Hof breathing method” · View on HN
▶ this video You can also download the Wim Hof app for free, which has a feature to guide you through the breathing exercise in a more personalized way.
in “Yoga and Breathing Exercises Aid Children with ADHD to Focus” · View on HN