I see many newcomers ask if x minutes breathholds are enough. How long should the cold shower be? Is one ice bath a week enough?

I have been practicing the WHM for 4 years now. So how long are my breath holds? How long are my ice baths?

Fact is… I don’t know.

And neither should you know.

As Wim says:

Feeling is understanding

In the beginning that’s something everyone takes as a given, but many are still busy counting breaths, stopping breathholds, ponder about the right amount of ice baths.
It takes time to really understand the meaning of these three words. It took me a long while, too. And I’m still working on it.

And granted, the app encourages you to stop your time, measure your progress.

But the real progress is not in the time you can hold your breath. It’s in how you go through life. How you perceive challenges. How you interact with your environment. How your body fends off illness.

Feel and understand

Why don’t you do your next breathwork without a timer. Without a phone. Without even counting breaths. Take the “let it go” literal.

Put on some nice music, and breathe. You will feel when you are ready for the retention.

You will feel when you’re ready to breathe again.

Do your next ice bath or shower without a timer. Don’t push it. Get out when you feel “the smile” appearing on your face.
Your body knows, your mind knows. When it starts to feel nice your body has done it’s work, your mind is relaxed. That’s all that the ice wants to teach you.

That’s how you get out of your head. That’s how you feel the magic.

Do you agree?
Did you try it?
How does it feel?