Spoon

Breathing

Wim Hof Breathing (WHM)

Thirty full breaths and one quiet hold leave you wide awake.

Also called: WHM, Wim Hof Method, Wim Hof breathing technique, power breathing

Wim Hof breathing is a breathing method of about 30 deep, rhythmic breaths, a breath hold after the last exhale and a 15-second recovery breath, repeated for three or four rounds. Dutch athlete Wim Hof made it one pillar of his method, next to cold exposure and commitment.

It wakes you up fast. You'll feel tingling and a little light-headed during the breaths, a deep stillness in the hold, and you finish alert and charged. Always sit or lie down on land: never in or near water, never while driving.

Pattern
About 30 full breaths, a hold on empty lungs, a 15 s recovery hold
Session
3 rounds, about 10 to 20 minutes
Good for
Waking up, energy and breath-hold practice
Level
Intermediate
Origin
Modern; created by Dutch athlete Wim Hof
Needs
iPhone or Apple Watch

How to do it

  1. Pick a safe spot on land, far from water and never in a vehicle. Sit or lie down and loosen anything tight around your belly. An empty stomach works best[1].
  2. Breathe in fully through your nose or mouth, belly first, then chest. Let the breath fall out without pushing. Keep a steady rhythm, with no pause between in and out.
  3. Take about 30 of these breaths. Tingling and light-headedness are normal; if they get strong, breathe slower and softer.
  4. After the last breath out, hold with your lungs empty until you feel a real urge to breathe. There is no target time.
  5. Then breathe in fully and hold for 15 seconds. Let go. That is one round.
  6. Do three rounds. Your holds usually grow longer each round.
  7. Finish with a minute of normal breathing. Wiggle your fingers and toes, then get up slowly.

Benefits

  • Wide awake and charged

    Three rounds leave you alert and clear-headed, ready for the day.

  • A rush of adrenaline you choose

    The fast breathing raises adrenaline, and you feel it. Trials measured the surge in trained volunteers during the breathing itself[3][4].

  • Deep stillness in the hold

    With your lungs empty and the urge to breathe delayed, the hold is quiet. Your mind goes still.

  • Holds that grow with practice

    Holds lengthen round by round and week by week, as your tolerance to carbon dioxide grows.

What the research says

Fast, full breaths blow off carbon dioxide faster than your body makes it. Blood CO2 drops, and the urge to breathe, which is driven mainly by rising CO2, arrives late. That is why the hold feels easy, and why it can end in a blackout with no warning[2].

The best-known study is a 2014 trial in PNAS[3]. Twelve men trained for about ten days in the breathing, meditation and cold exposure, and twelve untrained men served as controls. Both groups then got an injected bacterial toxin that briefly causes flu-like symptoms. The trained men had more adrenaline, lower levels of inflammatory proteins, more of the anti-inflammatory IL-10 and milder symptoms. The study was small, all male, and could not separate the breathing from the cold and meditation.

A 2024 systematic review in PLOS ONE gathered eight trials published from 2014 to mid-2022[4]. The adrenaline rise was consistent, and the smaller inflammatory response showed up again, most clearly when breathing was combined with cold. Results for quality of life and exercise were mixed. Trials had 15 to 48 people, 86% of participants were men, and the authors rated study quality very low. They call the immune effects promising and ask for better research.

None of these trials measured sleep or weight.

Why water and driving are off-limits

With your CO2 low, the signal to breathe comes late, and your oxygen can drop far enough for you to pass out first. The method's own site calls a faint on land harmless. In water, the same faint is shallow water blackout, a well-known cause of drowning[2].

It has happened. Relatives linked four drownings in 2015 and 2016 to the breathing, and in 2021 a man in Singapore drowned in a pool while trying the method[5].

Breathing is one part of the method

The full Wim Hof Method adds cold exposure and commitment to the breathing[1]. Spoon guides the breathing only. The American Heart Association and the British Heart Foundation advise checking with a doctor before trying cold therapy[5]. The method's own site also sets it apart from Tibetan Tummo: it has no religious components[6].

Tips

  • End the hold at the first strong urge to breathe. It is practice, not a contest.
  • Forcing the breaths can bring on ringing in the ears. Ease off and build up over days.

Safety

  • Never in or near water: no pools, baths, showers, lakes or the sea. The hold can make you black out without warning, and in water that means drowning[2].
  • Never while driving, standing or walking, or anywhere a faint could hurt you. Always sit or lie down[2].
  • Skip it, or ask your doctor first, if you are pregnant or have epilepsy, heart disease, uncontrolled high blood pressure, an irregular heartbeat, a history of fainting or panic attacks.
  • Stop and breathe normally for chest pain, fainting or near-fainting, dizziness that lingers, or numbness that is strong or on one side. Get medical help for these.
  • Strong tingling or light-headedness means ease off, not push harder.
  • Never do it before swimming, diving or freediving.

WHM in Spoon

Spoon guides Wim Hof breathing round by round on iPhone or Apple Watch, starting at 3 rounds of 30 breaths, 2 seconds in and 2 out. The hold has no countdown and no limit: double-tap when you need to breathe (on Apple Watch, double-tap or tap the flag button), and a 15-second recovery hold closes the round. Spoon shows your last and longest hold as you go.

Turn on the voice guide and your iPhone coaches you through it: a short cue on each breath, the breaths left ("Ten more"), each new round, the hold time every 30 seconds up to 3 minutes, and calm coaching lines during the hold. Spoon is not affiliated with Wim Hof or Innerfire.

  • Adjust breaths per round (10 to 60), rounds (1 to 10) and pace (1 to 5 seconds in and out).
  • Optional hold target, off by default: cues 30 and 15 seconds before your time and a stronger one at it. It never cuts your hold short.
  • On iPhone, a pulsing orb that changes color with each phase, or a wave. On Apple Watch, a breathing circle.
  • Apple Watch taps your wrist on every breath, and harder as the hold and the recovery begin.
  • Recorded breath sounds keep time at the pace you set.
  • With an Apple Watch: live heart rate, then your breath and heart rate on one chart after the session.
  • Add it to a playlist. Sessions save to Apple Health as Mindful Minutes, never as workouts.
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Questions

Is Wim Hof breathing safe?

On land, seated or lying down, the main risks are light-headedness and fainting. In or near water, or while driving, it can kill: the breathing delays your urge to breathe, so you can black out without warning, and drownings have been linked to it. Skip it or ask a doctor first if you are pregnant or have epilepsy, heart disease, uncontrolled high blood pressure, a history of fainting or panic attacks.

How long should you hold your breath in Wim Hof breathing?

There is no target. After the last exhale, hold until you feel a real urge to breathe, then take a full breath and hold it for 15 seconds. Holds grow longer round by round and over weeks of practice. Never force a hold to reach a number.

How many rounds of Wim Hof breathing should you do?

Three rounds is the standard session: about 30 breaths, a hold on empty lungs and a 15-second recovery hold each. It takes about 10 to 20 minutes, depending on your holds. Add a fourth round only if you feel good.

Why do my hands tingle during Wim Hof breathing?

Fast, full breathing blows off carbon dioxide faster than your body makes it. Blood CO2 drops and your blood turns slightly less acidic for a while, which brings tingling and light-headedness. It fades when you breathe normally. If it gets strong, slow down.

Does Wim Hof breathing boost your immune system?

It changes the immune response in lab tests, but it is not shown to keep you from getting sick. In a 2014 trial, men trained in the method had a smaller inflammatory response to an injected bacterial toxin. A 2024 review found similar results in later trials, which were small, mostly male and often combined the breathing with cold exposure.

Is Wim Hof breathing the same as Tummo?

No. Tummo is a Tibetan Buddhist meditation that pairs the breath with a visualization of inner heat, traditionally taught by an authorized teacher. The Wim Hof Method is modern, and its own site says it has no religious components. Many online Tummo classes look like Wim Hof rounds: fast breaths, then a long hold.

Sources

  1. Wim Hof Method (Innerfire). Breathing exercises. wimhofmethod.com. wimhofmethod.com
  2. Wim Hof Method (Innerfire). What is shallow water blackout. wimhofmethod.com. wimhofmethod.com
  3. Kox M, et al. Voluntary activation of the sympathetic nervous system and attenuation of the innate immune response in humans. PNAS, 2014. pnas.org
  4. Almahayni O, Hammond L. Does the Wim Hof Method have a beneficial impact on physiological and psychological outcomes in healthy and non-healthy participants? A systematic review. PLOS ONE, 2024. journals.plos.org
  5. Wikipedia. Wim Hof. Wikimedia Foundation, accessed 2026. en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wim Hof Method (Innerfire). Tummo meditation: your inner fire and the Wim Hof Method. wimhofmethod.com. wimhofmethod.com

Updated October 2026. This page is for education, not medical advice. If you have a heart, lung or blood pressure condition, epilepsy, or you are pregnant, ask your doctor before you start a breathing practice with holds or fast breathing.