Three months ago I came across Hyde @RightBreathing on Twitter. He wrote a short guide called BreatheLess Walking. It’s a simple practice where you hold your breath on your next natural exhalation and walk. Count the steps as you walk. Every time you do it, try to walk a few more steps than before.
By engaging in light physical exercise while holding your breath with near-empty lungs, the body begins a process of oxygenation. Carbon dioxide tolerance is the skill being developed. CO2 plays a big role in getting more oxygen packed into your blood.
I’m not well-read on the science behind it, but my direct experience of doing the simple practice has been amazing.
One thing that made me want to start was Hyde sharing that after about a year of this he noticed his sleep reduced to 4-6 hours per night.
If there’s something that can gain me 2-4 hours more life per day, I want to do it.
I feel it working, although it is still early. I’ve not been as consistent as I would like, but in the times I have this practice yields immediate results. Body feels alive and responsive. The day after a good practice session I wake up very quickly – no snoozing or sluggishness. I wake up alert immediately. My morning wood also feels stronger, which makes sense given this practice leads to more oxygenation. I can’t say sleep duration is lessening yet though.
I find it interesting how critical he is of the Wim Hof Method, which I did try for a while but stopped because I would get light headed after sessions. It felt good having cold showers and doing push ups after the power breaths, but something didn’t resonate. Hyde says WHM is hyperventilation and the euphoric feeling or buzz is your brain being low on oxygen. You pass out so that major organs don’t shut down.
It seems sucking in so much oxygen would reduce oxygenation. The channels for absorption aren’t incentivised to become more efficient.
But by training with reduced oxygen – or greater CO2 in the blood, the channels for absorption become highly efficient. Whatever oxygen that is available is used fully.
I like the practice also because I can do it anywhere. I’ve not been constant with doing full session cycles but I do one or two cycles any time I am walking from one place to another. It’s great having a super simple practice I can do any time I walk.
Slowly the practice is becoming habit. That feels key. As the habit is integrated, i’ll step up the sessions to improve quality and duration.
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