This warm up should be repeated 15 times. Once all out, you should hold for a moment before repeating the process. This breath is to be held for a moment and then exhaled completely. Drawing in breath until you feel a slight pressure inside your chest. Many folks do the exercise immediately after waking up as the stomach is basically empty.

You sit in a comfortable position insuring that you can expand your lungs without any impediments. The first pillar is a breathing exercise which has been likened to controlled hyperventilation. Wim attributes his ability to do these amazing feats to his “Wim Hof Method”.įrom what I have read (and I could be wrong here – happy to be corrected), the Wim Hof method involves 3 pillars: Yes, that record has subsequently been broken by Josef Köberl of Austria who was embedded in ice for 2 hours, 8 minutes (?!?!?). For example he previously held the record for longest time embedded in ice ( 1 hour 53 minutes!?!). Mr Hof has set a number of Guinness world records for various activities involving exposure of the body to extremely low temerpatures. Wim Hof (aka the “Ice man”) is “a Dutch extreme athlete noted for his ability to withstand freezing temperatures” (Source: Wikipedia). And while I reluctantly agreed to, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprisedīecause there was actual real research backing up some of the claims! The method has never been clinically tested on Parkinson’s (as far as I’m aware), but researchers have had a look at the method and the results are worth discussing. It is difficult for anyone to give an opinion, let alone write a post about it.īut if people in the Parkinson’s community are experiencing some kind of benefits from a particular method, who am I to say otherwise or pour doubt on their experience given the lack of alternatives (I do draw a line, however, at dodgy stem cell clinics – they are all charlatans).īut recently a friend within the PD community asked me to look into the “Wim Hof method”. But for others, where I do have a little information I find myself rather conflicted.Ī lot of these online methods/techniques involve commercially-focused entities hidden behind a veneer of testimonials, and very few of them have any actual real science backing them. Many of these techniques I am unaware of and I can simply give a polite “ I honestly don’t know” kind-of response. “ What do you think of the _ method?” folks will ask. I am regularly asked to give an opinion (or write a blog post) about a method or technique that is being advertised online as a remedy for all aliments (including Parkinson’s). The author is simply fulfilling a request to discuss the topic. The author has had no contact with Mr Hof or any associated parties, nor is he aware of any clinical research investigating the Wim Hof method in the context of Parkinson’s. In today’s post, we will discuss what the Wim Hof method is, what research supports it, and potential issues with applying it to conditions like Parkinson’s.īefore we start: This post is notan endorsement of the Wim Hof method, but rather an exploration of the research that has been conducted on it.

This is dangerous ground for a blogger to tread on, but in the interest of stimulating discussion (and possibly research), we shall do our best. There have been numerous requests to explore more readily applicable research, which could be useful for the Parkinson’s community to explore (for example, diet and exercise). And while the breadth of the research is exciting and encouraging, the average reader may feel distant to the results of those studies as the experimental drug being tested is still a long way from possible regulatory approval. A regular theme of the SoPD website is the reviewing of novel phamarcological treatments that are being tested on models of Parkinson’s.

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