A group of people who practice the popular “Wim Hof” breathing technique gathered in Kingston, Ont., Sunday to test their mettle with a quick dip into Lake Ontario.
It may have been snowy and blustery, but it wasn’t enough to deter these folks who got together at Portsmouth Olympic Harbour.
They floated in the below-freezing water for five minutes using the Wim Hof method of breathing.
“What this technique shows is, it’s like a self-defense system against the cold, where the cold actually makes you stronger, it makes you feel healthier,” said Kingston Wim Hof organizer Albert Nerenberg.
Popularized by Dutch motivational speaker Wim Hof, the method focuses on using breathing techniques to surmount the body’s reaction to extreme cold.
For Will Deanike, it’s his first time joining the group’s “December Challenge,” which is in its third year.
“I think it’s up here, just sort of telling yourself and learning the techniques from the experts will help you get over that hump, that initial ‘get me out of here’ kind of thing,” said Deanike.
Everybody began the exercise with ten minutes of breathing exercises before moving on to what’s called the “fire up” stage, which involves music, dancing and getting warmed up before finally taking the plunge into the -4 degrees Celsius water.
The group was going for two records — the biggest group to stay in the water for five minutes and the biggest group-laugh in the cold water.
While they fell short of the mark for the biggest group, Nerenberg said he’s proud of the fact this has gone from just him and one other person floating in the frigid waters to nearly 40 people, including one who came all the way from California.
“What’s really exciting is there’s a lot of common spirit. These are lively people who take responsibility for their own health and are out here to just do it, and are fearless and excited,” Nerenberg said.
For the Kingston Wim Hof-ers, it brought a whole new meaning to the term “chilling out.”
Comments