The missing piece: Anxiety and the Wim Hof Method

Summary

The video script discusses the potential for rapid, intense breathing exercises to trigger anxiety by engaging the sympathetic nervous system. It suggests that while stress isn't inherently negative, excessive anxiety can be problematic. The script advocates for awareness and balance in stress management, using the concept of anti-fragility to illustrate how humans can grow stronger under controlled stress. It offers practical advice on adjusting breathing techniques to manage anxiety levels, emphasizing the importance of self-awareness and emotional detachment during practice.

Takeaways

• 😨 Fast-paced and hyperventilation-like breathing can engage the sympathetic nervous system, leading to stress and anxiety.
• 🧬 The body's stress response is similar to that experienced during extreme activities like bungee jumping, indicating the intensity of breathwork.
• 🤔 Instead of dismissing breathwork methods that cause anxiety, consider the benefits of controlled stress as part of our survival mechanism.
• 💪 The concept of anti-fragility suggests that humans can grow stronger under the right amount of stress, but it's crucial not to overdo it.
• 🔄 Balance is not a static state but a skill to be developed, especially in managing stress and anxiety.
• 🌟 Awareness is key to achieving balance; without it, the concepts of resilience and balance are empty.
• 📉 To manage anxiety during breathwork, one can adjust parameters such as the speed and volume of inhales and the length of exhalation.
• 🌀 Detachment from intense emotions during breathwork can help prevent them from controlling us, promoting a sense of calm.
• 🛑 If anxiety levels rise too high during breathwork, slowing down inhales or changing the breathing technique can help regain control.
• 🌱 Cultivating bodily and emotional awareness before and after breathwork sessions is essential for managing anxiety effectively.
• 🔄 The parasympathetic nervous system can be engaged through techniques like long, calm exhales to counterbalance the stress response.

Q & A

Can the 'whim up' method of breathing cause anxiety?

Yes, the 'whim up' method, characterized by fast-paced and hyperventilation-like breathing, can cause anxiety as it engages the sympathetic nervous system, which is our body's stress response.

What is the sympathetic nervous system and how is it related to the 'whim up' method?

The sympathetic nervous system is a part of our autonomic nervous system responsible for our 'fight or flight' response to stress. The 'whim up' method can activate this system, potentially leading to a state of high anxiety or panic.

Is there a counterexample to the claim that the 'whim up' method causes anxiety?

While the 'whim up' method can cause anxiety in some individuals, it's important to note that stress is a natural part of our system designed to help us survive. The method can be beneficial if managed correctly and not leading to constant high levels of stress.

What does the speaker suggest as an alternative to the 'whim up' method if it worsens one's condition?

The speaker suggests looking into alternatives such as the cyclic sigh or the physiological side if the 'whim up' method worsens one's condition.

How can one prevent anxiety caused by the 'whim up' method?

To prevent anxiety, one can cultivate awareness and make adjustments to the breathing parameters such as the speed and volume of inhales, the length of exhalation, and practicing detachment from intense emotions.

What is the concept of anti-fragility as mentioned in the script?

Anti-fragility is a concept by Nassim Taleb, suggesting that certain systems, including humans, can grow stronger under stress or disorder, as opposed to merely returning to their original state, like a rubber ball.

How does the speaker relate the concept of anti-fragility to the 'whim up' method?

The speaker relates anti-fragility to the 'whim up' method by suggesting that humans can grow stronger when under stress, and thus, the method can be beneficial if not overused or misapplied, causing excessive stress.

What is the importance of awareness in managing stress and anxiety during the 'whim up' method?

Awareness is crucial as it allows individuals to recognize when their anxiety levels are rising and make necessary adjustments to their breathing to maintain a controllable state of anxiety.

How can one find the right balance during the 'whim up' method?

Finding the right balance involves adjusting the parameters of the breathing technique, such as the speed and volume of inhales and the length of exhalation, while also practicing emotional detachment and increasing one's awareness.

What is the speaker's view on the concept of balance in the context of stress and anxiety?

The speaker views balance as a skill rather than a fixed equation. It requires awareness and the ability to adjust to the chaotic and disordered nature of real life, rather than adhering to a rigid standard.

What are some可控的 parameters during the 'whim up' method that can help manage anxiety?

可控的 parameters include the speed and volume of inhales, the respiration rate, the length of exhalation, and the practice of emotional detachment to manage anxiety effectively.

Outlines

00:00

😨 Anxiety and Breathing Techniques

This paragraph delves into the potential of intense breathing methods, such as the 'whim up' method, to trigger anxiety. It acknowledges that such techniques can indeed cause anxiety and suggests alternatives like the cyclic sign or physiological sides for those affected. However, it also presents a more nuanced perspective, explaining how fast-paced breathing engages the sympathetic nervous system, which can mimic the 'fight or flight' response. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of awareness and balance, drawing on the concept of anti-fragility, where stress can be beneficial if managed correctly. It critiques the extremes of avoiding stress entirely or constantly seeking to toughen up, advocating instead for a balanced approach to stress and anxiety.

05:02

🧘 Balancing Stress and Breath Work

The second paragraph continues the discussion on stress and anxiety, focusing on the importance of finding the right balance during breath work sessions. It uses the analogy of balancing objects with different sizes to illustrate the concept of awareness and skill in managing stress levels. The paragraph suggests that feeling anxiety during breath work can be a positive sign of awareness, and it's crucial to make adjustments to maintain control over one's emotional state. It outlines specific techniques to control the autonomic nervous system, such as adjusting breathing speed, volume, and respiration rate, and emphasizes the importance of emotional detachment to prevent being overwhelmed by emotions. The summary concludes by stressing the need for cultivating bodily and emotional awareness before and after breath work sessions to manage anxiety effectively.

Keywords

💡Hyperventilation

Hyperventilation refers to breathing that is faster or deeper than normal, often leading to a decrease in the level of carbon dioxide in the blood. In the context of the video, it is associated with engaging the sympathetic nervous system, which triggers a stress response akin to a 'fight or flight' reaction. The script mentions that intense breathwork can cause panic attacks or high anxiety levels due to the adrenaline surge similar to those experienced during extreme activities like bungee jumping.

💡Autonomic Nervous System

The autonomic nervous system is a part of the peripheral nervous system that regulates involuntary bodily functions, such as the heart rate, digestion, and respiratory rate. The video discusses how fast-paced breathing activates the sympathetic branch of this system, which is responsible for the body's stress response, while also mentioning the parasympathetic branch, which is responsible for 'rest and recovery' mode.

💡Stress Response

The stress response is the body's reaction to a stimulus or threat, preparing it for action. The video script explains that hyperventilation-like breathing can trigger this response by activating the sympathetic nervous system, potentially leading to anxiety or panic attacks. However, the script also explores the idea that stress itself isn't always negative and can be part of a healthy, anti-fragile system that grows stronger under pressure.

💡Adrenaline

Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is a hormone and neurotransmitter that increases heart rate, blood flow, and energy supplies, preparing the body for action. The script uses adrenaline as an example to illustrate how intense breathing exercises can elevate anxiety levels to the same extent as extreme sports like bungee jumping.

💡Panic Attack

A panic attack is a sudden episode of intense fear or anxiety that reaches a peak within minutes and includes physical symptoms such as a pounding heart, sweating, and shortness of breath. The video script suggests that the intense nature of certain breathing exercises can induce panic attacks in some individuals due to the activation of the stress response.

💡Anti-fragility

Anti-fragility is a concept introduced by Nassim Taleb, which describes systems or individuals that not only withstand shocks, stresses, or volatility but actually benefit and grow stronger from them. The video script uses this term to argue that humans can become stronger when under stress if it is managed correctly, contrasting this with the idea of simply avoiding stress.

💡Resilience

Resilience is the ability to recover quickly from difficulties or to adapt to change. The video script implies that resilience is an important factor in managing stress and anxiety, particularly in the context of breathwork, and that it can be developed through awareness and practice.

💡Balance

Balance, in the video's context, refers to the state of equilibrium between opposing forces or elements, such as stress and relaxation. The script suggests that balance is not a fixed state but a skill to be developed, particularly through awareness and the ability to adjust one's response to stress.

💡Awareness

Awareness, in the script, is the conscious recognition and understanding of one's thoughts, feelings, and surroundings. It is presented as a crucial component in managing the stress response during breathwork, allowing individuals to adjust their techniques and maintain a controllable state of anxiety.

💡Breathwork

Breathwork is a practice that involves specific breathing techniques to achieve various mental, emotional, or physical benefits. The video script discusses the potential for breathwork to cause anxiety but also emphasizes the importance of awareness and adjustment of techniques to manage this and achieve a balanced state.

💡Detachment

Detachment, as mentioned in the script, is the practice of observing one's thoughts and emotions without becoming attached to them or being controlled by them. It is suggested as a method to manage the intense emotions that can arise during breathwork, allowing for a more controlled and balanced experience.

Highlights

Contrasting breathing methods like the Wim Hof Method can cause anxiety.

Fast-paced and hyperventilation-like breathing engages the sympathetic nervous system, leading to a stress response.

Adrenaline levels during intense breathing can rise to levels comparable to those of bungee jumping.

Stress is a natural part of our system and can be beneficial if not chronic.

A balanced view of stress is needed, avoiding the extremes of constant stress or total avoidance.

The concept of anti-fragility suggests that systems can grow stronger under the right amount of stress.

Exposure therapy is an example of how gradual exposure to stress can be therapeutic.

Balance is not just an equation but a skill that requires awareness and practice.

Finding the right scale of stress is crucial for those sensitive to the Wim Hof Method.

Breathwork can be a tool for developing emotional and bodily awareness.

Adjusting the speed and volume of inhales can help manage anxiety during breathwork.

Detaching from emotions during breathwork can prevent them from controlling the practitioner.

Long, calm exhales can engage the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation.

Physiological techniques can be used to calm down after intense breathwork.

Cultivating awareness is key to managing anxiety and finding the right balance during breathwork.

Practitioners should adjust their breathwork parameters based on their awareness and anxiety levels.

Transcripts

can contrast breathing like the whim up

method cause anxiety and if so what can

we do to prevent it and the short answer

to this is yes it can cause anxiety and

if it worsens your condition overall

then maybe you should look into other

Alternatives like the cyclic sign or the

physiological side but if you want to

hear a more complex and nuanced answer

to this question grab a cup of coffee or

tea and stick around for a while fast

paced and hyperventilation like

breathing engage our sympathetic nervous

system a part of our autonomic nervous

system that is our stress response and

puts us in a survival mode much like we

need to fight or flee from danger and if

you know the women of matter breathing

you know that the breath work can be

pretty intense so intense that some

people can get a panic attack or a state

of high anxiety that's not very

surprising because when you look at the

data from the many studies that were

done on this topic you see that

adrenaline can rise to the same level as

someone who goes bungee jumping for the

first time

just from breathing I don't know about

you but I wouldn't be so surprised to

see someone get a search of anxiety or a

panic attack when they are about to jump

several hundred meters down a bridge but

instead of dismissing the whim up method

too quickly let's look at the counter

example we sometimes forget that stress

is inherently a part of our system that

helped us survive in the past from

danger so stress isn't necessarily

something bad and it sometimes really

useful what is bad if you are constantly

stressed or our anxiety level rises too

much so instead of seeing stress as

black and white we can draw a granular a

more granular picture and draw a

spectrum where we have two extremes on

one side you have

a panic attack really high level of

anxiety and on the other side you have

total relaxation or sleep when I look

around me and mostly in the internet I

find generally to

loud voices one is that we are too weak

and we constantly need to grind to

toughen up the other one is that we need

to find work-life balance and avoid all

stress but to me those two perspectives

sound more like a culture we subscribe

to rather than a useful navigation

system for our lives in my opinion what

is missing is awareness without

awareness both resilience and balance

become empty containers let's take Nasim

talab's concept of anti-fragility as an

example anti-fragile systems get

stronger when under pressure or disorder

a rubber ball for example is not

anti-fragile because when you put

pressure on it and release it again the

rubber ball goes back to its normal form

our muscles on the other hand will get

stronger if you put enough pressure on

it that's the whole concept of

progressive overloading and strength

training or another example would be

exposure therapy in psychology where

gradual exposure to a feared or

traumatic situation can help with mental

treatment so bottom line here is we

humans are anti-fragile which is good

news because we can actually grow

stronger when under stress but at the

same time we can easily miss the mark

and put too much stress on our system

and this is what stress-sensitive people

experience when doing the whim of method

breathing so having the awareness of the

right amount of stress is very crucial

in other words we need to have the right

balance but what does this really mean

you can create balance if you put the

same weight

on both sides of a scale and you can

also create balance or lift the heavy

weight if you use a long lever point

where you can balance with little very

little force a relatively heavy weight

but I find those two concepts not very

useful for real life because real life

is messy chaotic so a better way to look

at this is to dismiss that balance is an

equation and rather see balance as a

skill if you accept that the world is

chaos and disorder we can take

responsibility and start honing this

elusive skill called balance I call

balance an elusive skill because without

awareness you go back to a black and

white perspective let me explain if I

hold a bottle with a large surface area

on the palm I don't need a lot of

awareness to

balance this bottle and not let it fall

on the floor so I don't really need to

have a skill of balance on the other

side of the spectrum is when I want to

balance a small pencil

no matter how hard I try to balance it

on my palm I will fail within a second

[Music]

my awareness is simply too poor or too

crude for a delicate pencil so the

secret lies in finding the right scale I

start by balancing a larger object and a

pencil in the right awareness Spectrum

this way I need to concentrate to keep

the balance but I'm able to do it for a

few seconds then a little longer

gradually I can narrow down my awareness

and adjustment and increase my balancing

skill to a level that was impossible

before that's how you get better by

spending time in the right awareness

Spectrum if we take this analogy back to

our breath work it's actually a good

thing that we feel our anxiety rise

because it means you're at least aware

of it so now we need to find the right

adjustments to keep the balance of being

in a controllable state of anxiety

during our breast work session let's

look at the dials we can control on each

side of the autonomic nervous system

during our breathing the

hyperventilation like and fast-paced

breathing will engage depth sympathetic

nervous system our stress response and

then we can control the speed and volume

of our inhales and also our respiration

rate additionally we have the ability to

detach ourselves from the Intensive

using it's sort of the same skill As

relaxing in an ice bath by really

sensing the anxiety or whatever emotion

arise but without putting a label or

meaning on them we can disembat

ourselves from these emotions so we feel

them but we don't let them control us on

the other side of the spectrum our

parasympathetic nervous system our rest

and recovery mode will be engaged with

the threshold or generally with long

calm exhales by minimizing body tension

and detaching ourselves from how long we

can hold our breath we can further calm

ourselves down if the breast hold time

is too short to calm yourself down you

can do a few physiological thighs after

your recovery breath to calm you further

down by doing a double inhale

and a long exhale where the exhale is

about twice as long as your inhales and

then when you have calmed enough down

you can start the next round with all

these parameters that you can control it

all boils down to your awareness however

are you of your respiration movement

the speed and volume of your inhales how

you exhale after a deep strong inhale

and all other things that you can

control during the warm-up method

breathing when your anxiety levels rise

too much try slow down your inhales if

you breathe through the mouse try to

inhale through the nose to make the

breathing a little less intense but just

like balancing a stick

it is very bad advice if I would suggest

always move your hand to 10 o'clock if

you lose balance likewise I can't

recommend you always adjust the same br

ief parameter so it doesn't matter if

you are an advanced practitioner or

you're plagued with anxiety during your

breath work I would always cultivate

press bodily and emotional awareness

before and also after whim of method

breathing session