These may be dubious claims to some.įor Wim Hof, a Dutch daredevil nicknamed “The Iceman,” it is the basis of his success. These breathing practices promise a kind of visceral self-knowledge, a more perfect melding of mind and body that expands our self-control to subconscious activities. This is part of the logic behind Lamaze techniques, the pranayamic breathing practiced in yoga and even everyday wisdom - “just take a deep breath.” Control breathing, the thinking goes, and perhaps we can nudge other systems within our bodies. To some, this duality offers a tantalizing path into our subconscious minds and physiology. We can leave it up to our autonomic nervous system, responsible for unconscious actions like our heartbeat and digestion, or we can seamlessly take over the rhythm of our breath. The respiratory system is somewhat unique to our bodies in that we are both its passenger and driver. Repeat.īefore consciously inhaling, you probably weren’t thinking about breathing at all. Feel the wave of nitrogen, oxygen and carbon dioxide press against the bounds of your ribcage and swell your lungs. Damage may not be immediately obvious gradual and non-acute brain damage like this is difficult to notice initially, however the effect is real and practitioners of any breathing method that involves hyperventilation should keep this in mind.Take a deep breath. The effect of a single instance would not be acute, but if you keep putting your brain in a hypoxic state (even if only moderate and not enough to cause fainting) over time then damage adds up (see studies of brain damage in mountain climbers, one example here - ).
Fainting is a protective measure, but you must realise that the brain is already in a hypoxic state by the time it occurs, so there will likely have been brain cell death. The blood is already saturated with oxygen, so more breathing just makes things worse as it gets rid of the CO2 that is required to allow this oxygen to be used by the body. The second control mentioned (urge to breathe from CO2) also obviously does not apply as hyperventilation is by definition breathing too much. The first safety control mentioned in this video (compensatory increased blood flow to the brain) does not apply as it is disabled via vascular constriction (another effect of low CO2 levels in blood). Low CO2 causes Haemoglobin to bond tighter to oxygen in the blood (Bohr effect - ), so even though the blood is saturated with Oxygen it is not released to the cells in the Brain/Body for use. Excessive exhalation of CO2, causing low CO2 levels in the blood 2.
Hypoxia from hyperventilation is caused due to the following sequence of events: 1. "The hyperventilation phase of Wim Hof could definitely cause brain damage over time due to hypoxia (low oxygen in the brain).
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