Wim Hof–Style Breathing With Differentiated Arm and Leg Positions

Article Summary

This 46-minute guided practice combines Wim Hof–style breathing with Feldenkrais sensory learning and nine configurations of the arms, legs, and torso. The positions are used to differentiate the five lobes of the lungs, explore changes in the ribs and diaphragm, and compare how breathing is experienced through the two sides of the body. Because the practice includes repeated deep breathing and breath retention, it should be done only while lying or securely seated in a safe environment.

Important safety information: Wim Hof–style breathing can cause lightheadedness, tingling, altered motor control, and, in rare cases, loss of consciousness. Practice only while lying down or securely seated in a safe place. Never practice while driving, standing, swimming, bathing, showering, in or near water, or anywhere that losing consciousness could cause injury. Do not force the breathing or compete with the retention intervals. Resume normal breathing whenever your body asks for air. The official Wim Hof organization advises against this practice during pregnancy or with epilepsy and advises people with cardiovascular or other serious health conditions to consult a medical professional before beginning.

Independence statement: This is Al Wadleigh’s independent breathing exploration, inspired by Wim Hof–style breathing and informed by Feldenkrais sensory learning. It is not an official Wim Hof Method® lesson and is not affiliated with or endorsed by Wim Hof or Innerfire.

Breathing as an Exploration of the Whole Self

I enjoy Wim Hof–style breathing, and I have practiced it enough to appreciate both its intensity and its simplicity. You breathe repeatedly, exhale, hold the breath out, and then take a recovery breath. The structure is easy to understand. Yet within that apparently simple sequence there are many things a person can learn to sense.

In the Feldenkrais Method® of somatic education, we use variation to make differences perceptible. We change a movement, a position, a direction, or the relationship among different parts of ourselves. Then we compare. The comparison gives the nervous system information that repetition alone may not provide.

I created this practice by bringing that principle of differentiation into a Wim Hof–style breathing session. Rather than keeping the arms and legs in one position for every round, I place them in different configurations. Each position changes the organization of the ribs, chest, abdomen, spine, shoulders, pelvis, and diaphragm. Those changes provide a way to explore individual lung lobes, combinations of lobes, the two sides of the chest, and finally the participation of all five lobes together.

“There is a lot of potential that we can all have by bringing more awareness to how we’re breathing and what’s happening when we’re doing it.” — Al Wadleigh

The purpose is not to produce a perfect breath. The purpose is to sense how the breath changes when the organization of the body changes. At the end, you return to a more ordinary position and discover what has become easier, fuller, clearer, or simply different.

Recording details

• Presenter: Al Wadleigh
• Published: May 12, 2023
• Format: Guided breathing and sensory-awareness practice
• Runtime: Approximately 46 minutes
• Platform: YouTube
• Original channel: The Feldenkrais Store / AchievingExcellence.com
• Original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxEcug5HvFc

This practice is primarily guided through spoken instructions, but the video demonstrates the arm and leg configurations. Watch the setup for each new position before closing your eyes or directing your attention inward. Reviewed captions should be enabled for participants who need or prefer text support.

Preparing for the Practice

Set aside approximately 46 minutes when you will not need to rush into another activity. Begin lying on your back on a comfortable, stable surface. Use a folded towel or modest head support if needed, provided your head and neck remain comfortable and your breathing is unrestricted. Wear clothing that allows the abdomen, chest, shoulders, and hips to move freely.

Keep the safety instructions in mind throughout. The two-minute retention periods in the recording are timing containers, not goals you must attain. Early in a session, I may not remain without breath for the full interval myself. If your body asks for air, take the recovery breath. If any position is uncomfortable, modify it, bring the arm or leg back toward neutral, or stop and rest.

The practice begins with a scan of your contact with the floor. You sense the parts pressing firmly into the surface, the parts making softer contact, and the places lifted away from it. This gives you a baseline. After the breathing rounds, you return to many of the same sensations and make a comparison.

The Wave of Breath and the Recovery Movement

During the active breathing, I guide the breath as a wave through the abdomen, chest, and head. You can breathe through the nose or mouth. I prefer breathing through the nose because the air is warmed and moistened as it enters, but the important point in this practice is to find a pace you can sustain without strain.

After a series of breaths, you exhale and rest without breathing for as long as is comfortable. Sensations such as tingling or vibrating may become more noticeable as alkalosis builds in the system. Attend to those sensations without turning the retention into a contest.

When you need air, take the recovery breath and hold it briefly. During that recovery, I introduce a seesaw movement between the chest and abdomen. The chest flattens as the abdomen expands, and the abdomen draws inward as the chest expands. This alternation gives you a way to move the diaphragm intentionally and develop more powerful control over its movement.

“A slower breath allows for more space for your awareness to track what you’re actually doing and sense the nuances of what you’re doing.” — Al Wadleigh

The size of the movement matters less than your ability to sense the relationship. You are learning how the abdomen, diaphragm, ribs, chest, and back participate in breathing rather than forcing any one part to do all the work.

Nine Rounds of Differentiated Breathing

Round One: Establishing the Baseline

The first round is performed lying on the back with the arms and legs in an ordinary resting position. This gives you an initial experience of the breathing wave and the retention period before the positions become more differentiated. Notice where the breath moves easily, where the ribs expand, and whether one side is already more apparent than the other.

Rounds Two Through Four: Differentiating the Right Lung

The right lung has three lobes: upper, middle, and lower. The next positions are organized to explore them in sequence.

With the right arm overhead, the ribs beneath the armpit and in the upper-right chest are spread. This allows more potential for the upper lobe on the right to expand. As the breath moves upward, you may sense the arm lengthening along the floor as a result of the expansion in the chest.

The following position changes the relationship of the right arm, elbow, ribs, and lower back to bring attention toward the middle lobe. You are not merely imagining a label on a diagram. You are using the change in position to sense where movement and pressure become more available in the middle portion of the right chest.

The third right-side configuration adds the leg and organizes the entire side from the foot and pelvis through the ribs and arm. As the lower lobe becomes more available, you may sense a line of lengthening through the right side. After these rounds, return the limbs to rest and compare the right and left sides of the chest, abdomen, back, face, arms, and legs.

Rounds Five and Six: Differentiating the Left Lung

The left lung has two lobes. Bringing the left arm overhead opens the upper-left ribs and directs attention toward the upper lobe. As on the right, the expansion of the chest may carry the arm farther along the floor without deliberate reaching.

The next configuration includes the left leg and organizes a longer relationship through the left side of the body. Follow the breathing wave from the lower trunk and hip toward the upper-left chest and arm. The intention is to sense the two lobes separately enough that their combined participation becomes clearer.

Round Seven: Bringing All Five Lobes Together

With both arms overhead and the legs comfortably spread, the practice becomes more symmetrical. You have already spent several rounds differentiating the lobes and the two sides. Now sense how all five lobes can participate together as the breathing wave moves from the abdomen through the chest.

This is where differentiation becomes integration. You have not divided the lungs in order to leave them divided. You have differentiated areas and relationships so that the participation of the whole becomes more apparent.

Round Eight: Breathing While Lying on the Stomach

For the eighth round, roll onto your stomach with the legs spread and the arms overhead. Place the forehead comfortably on the floor or on suitable support. The front of the abdomen and chest is now constrained by the surface beneath you.

This changes where expansion can be felt. Attend to the abdomen pressing into the floor, differences between the two sides of the chest, and expansion through the lower ribs, back, shoulder blades, hips, and neck. The floor supplies clear feedback about pressure and movement that is less available when lying on the back.

Round Nine: Returning to an Ordinary Position

Return to lying on your back with the legs long and the arms by your sides. Continue the breathing wave through the abdomen, chest, and head. Compare this round with the beginning. The breath may feel fuller, more complete, or more powerful while requiring less effort.

Move your attention among the five lobes. Sense whether you can accent the breath in a particular lobe and then allow all five to participate together. This final round is both a culmination and a test of what you have learned to notice.

The Final Comparison

After the last recovery breath, stop and rest. Return to the contact of the heels, pelvis, shoulder blades, elbows, and head with the floor. Notice whether the firmer contacts have softened. Sense the calves, thighs, ribs, and arms, and observe whether areas that were lifted have settled differently.

Then roll to the side, come to sitting, and gradually stand. Give yourself time. Sense the chest, legs, breathing, balance, and orientation. Notice whether the room looks, sounds, or feels different from usual.

“Carry this sense with you into the day. Take your time a little bit more slowly so that you can sense how this is changing your experience of yourself and your environment.” — Al Wadleigh

The final comparison is an essential part of the practice. The nine rounds are not only a way to breathe intensely. They are a way to develop awareness of how position, intention, movement, pressure, and attention influence breathing. The information becomes useful when you can recognize those relationships outside the exercise as well.

A Note About the Wim Hof Method

This practice uses a breathing structure inspired by the Wim Hof Method: repeated deep breaths, an exhaled retention, and a recovery breath. I also used the Wim Hof app to time and organize the rounds when recording the session.

The differentiated arm and leg configurations, body scans, side-to-side comparisons, attention to individual lung lobes, and seesaw movement of the chest and abdomen are my additions. They reflect my experience with Feldenkrais learning and my interest in using variation to make the organization of breathing more perceptible.

For official instruction in the Wim Hof Method, including its current safety guidance, consult https://www.wimhofmethod.com/breathing-exercises.

Related Resources

• Official Wim Hof breathing instructions and safety information: https://www.wimhofmethod.com/breathing-exercises
• Watch this guided practice directly on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxEcug5HvFc
• Explore additional breathing, movement, and Feldenkrais resources on AchievingExcellence.
  https://achievingexcellence.com/all-products/breathing/