Releasing Emotions through Wim Hof Method Breathing

Participant performing the Wim Hof Method breathing technique at a Wim Hof Method Fundamentals Workshop.

After about 4 years of what can only be described as a period of joy, lightness and peace, I recently went through a period of intense emotional pain. In fact, I’d say it was one of the toughest things I’ve ever had to go through so I wanted to share how I dealt with it and how the Wim Hof Method helped me during that time.

Thankfully, having gone through challenging times before, I was able to draw on all of the tools and knowledge I’d gathered over the years. In fact, even as it was happening, I was often still able see it as an opportunity for growth. And now, having come out the other side, stronger, happier and healthier, I can now be grateful for the experience and believe it was a necessary, even inevitable, thing.

I share some of these insights into the nature of the human mind in my Wim Hof Method Fundamentals Workshops but one of the tools that was of greatest use and fascination during this emotionally-challenging period was the Wim Hof Method breathing technique. 

For those of you who have already experienced it during one of my workshops, you’ll hopefully have experienced some physiological changes in your body as well as a stilling and slowing of your mind activity. Ultimately, culminating in a more peaceful, relaxed state physically and mentally afterwards. 

Now, on occasion, this breathing technique can cause emotions to bubble up to the surface and often I will notice people crying or laughing during my guided sessions, which is beautiful in itself. It’s hard to know exactly why this is though and sometimes the people that respond this way don’t even know why themselves. But my theory is that it helps to focus the mind and ‘open you up’ so to speak so that your emotions flow outwardly more easily. And that’s exactly what my experience has been.

I noticed that whenever I felt an emotion that wasn’t shifting, I would take myself off to a quiet place and start doing the deep breathing. After the first 20-30 breaths I could feel the emotion becoming more intense and bubbling to the surface. Then after 35-40 breaths, I would lean fully into it and let it all come out (instead of going into the breath hold) - without allowing the emotion to rise into the mind and control my thinking (which would further fuel the emotion).

Sometimes this would take a couple of rounds of deep breathing before it all came out. Fascinatingly, after doing this, my mind would often completely still and, on occasion, I would feel the urge to laugh. In fact, one time in particular, I laughed continuously for nearly 30 minutes! It was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. The feeling of joy and peace was all consuming and I just wanted to stay in that moment forever. It was quite incredible and to this day I don’t fully understand it. Although it instantly reminded me of The Laughing Buddha - famously depicted as a symbol of joy, peace and happiness.

My thinking is that by doing the 30-40 deep breaths it stirs up your emotions somehow and allows you to go deeper into them, all the way to the bitter end. And once there is no more emotion to process, the mind stills and joy, peace and happiness can return and flow back into your body and mind. Potentially healing you from the inside out.

Curiously, depending on how low I felt beforehand seemed to dictate the size of the high I felt afterwards before eventually balancing out to a more neutral state. Then after each time I did it, the resulting ‘high’ would lessen and eventually I wouldn’t feel the need to do it anymore.

It didn’t heal me over night, but each time the pain resurfaced, I used it to go deeper and really feel it without adding any further mind activity or stories to it. And it made me realise how powerful a tool the Wim Hof Method breathing technique is for healing emotional pain, possibly even trauma. And I hope it can do the same for you, should you ever need it one day. 

If you’re interested in learning this technique, you can do so at one of my Wim Hof Method Fundamentals Workshops which are bookable on my booking page.