Pillar two ยท Activating
Ben Holt signature technique
Dynamic breathwork
The big one in this pillar, and Ben Holt's own. Built on the Wim Hof method, which came from Tummo, the Tibetan practice monks use to heat the body in the Himalayas. Forty controlled breaths, then holds.
Before you start
- Set up first. Lie down, or sit somewhere soft. Water, a blanket and comfortable clothes within reach.
- If you faint easily, or you have had panic attacks, do this one lying down.
- Mornings. It is a stimulant, and done late it will sit between you and sleep.
- Always finish with something from the relaxing pillar. This winds the system up on purpose and you want it back down before you carry on with the day.
- If holding your breath frightens you, or you are working with severe trauma, leave this one for now and stay with the relaxing pillar. It will still be here later.
01 · Explanation
02 · The flow, beginner
03 · The flow, advanced
The pattern
- 01Forty controlled breaths through the mouth. Fully in, then let it fall out. Do not push the exhale.
- 02After the fortieth, breathe everything out and hold on empty.
- 03Stay completely still to begin with.
- 04When the stress response arrives, shake your hands out and move however you need to. Keep holding.
- 05Big breath in, then sip a little more air on top of it. Hold at the top.
- 06Let it go on an Om. That is one round.
- 07The recording guides the rounds and the timing. Follow it.
- 08Finish with a relaxing technique, then lie still for five or ten minutes.
The Om at the end is not decoration. It stimulates the vagus nerve and settles the body and mind back together, which is why this practice leaves you ready to meditate rather than wired.
Daily is fine, and it is best first thing. Practised every morning it changes what your body can do.
The nervous, anxious wave on the empty hold is the hormesis arriving, not something going wrong. Stay still, then shake your hands and move if you need to, and keep holding until the big inhale. You can do more than you think you can.
How it lands
Tingling in the hands and the face after the first round, then a wave of nervous anxiety on the empty hold. That wave is the whole point. Past it you come out light, warm and very awake.
What it does
- Brings inflammation down
- Wakes the immune system up
- Boosts stamina and athletic performance by clearing CO2
- Alkalises the blood
- Builds lung capacity, which tracks with longevity
- Leaves you ready to meditate rather than wired
- Boosts immunity and brings inflammation down
The science
Every part of the round does a bit of everything. Each step also has one job it does best, and that is the easiest way to remember it.
The forty breaths: inflammation
Fast, full breathing blows off carbon dioxide. CO2 is what keeps your blood slightly acidic, so as it drops your blood pH rises for a while. That shift is the tingling in your hands and face, and it settles within minutes of breathing normally again. In an eight week trial, people with an inflammatory arthritis of the spine who added this style of breathing, cold exposure and meditation saw their inflammation markers and disease activity come down. The group that did not train saw no change.
The empty hold: immunity
Holding on empty is a deliberate dose of stress, and your body answers with a surge of adrenaline. That is the hormesis you feel as the nervous wave. In a 2014 study, researchers gave men a piece of E. coli bacteria that brings on fever, chills and headache for a few hours. The men trained in this breathing had more adrenaline, more of the body's own anti-inflammatory signal, less of the inflammatory ones, and far fewer flu symptoms than the men who were not. Their immune systems still answered. They just answered cleaner.
The full hold: lung capacity
Your lungs peak in your mid twenties. After about 35 they lose a little every year: the diaphragm weakens, the lung tissue loses its stretch and the rib cage stiffens. The big breath and the sip on top take the lungs and ribs to the end of their range every round. That matters because the Framingham Heart Study, which has followed thousands of people since 1948, found that lower vital capacity, the most air you can move in one breath, predicted heart disease and an earlier death.
The Om: the nervous system
The vagus nerve runs from the brainstem to the heart, the lungs and the gut, and it is the main line of the rest and digest side of your nervous system. A long, slow exhale works it, and humming carries vibration through the throat and ears where its branches run. In a small brain scan study, chanting Om quieted the same regions that electrical vagus nerve stimulation does. It is why the round leaves you calm and clear rather than wired.
Read the research
- The immune study: Kox and others, PNAS, 2014
- The inflammation trial: Buijze and others, PLOS ONE, 2019
- Vital capacity in the Framingham study: Kannel and Hubert, 1983
- Lung capacity and aging: American Lung Association
- Om chanting and the brain: Kalyani and others, 2011
- The vagus nerve: Cleveland Clinic
The rest of this pillar
- 30 reps a set Priming breath Wakes the body up. Morning, or before training.
- 1-5 minutes Breath of fire Forceful both ways. Builds heat.
- 15-25 steps a round Buteyko breathing A held walk. Runs while you are moving.
- 50 reps or 2-7 minutes Kapalabhati Forceful exhale only. Works the stomach.
- 30 seconds to 5 minutes Igniter breath Warms you up fast. After cold water, or before training.
- About 10 minutes Twisting breath Twist and exhale hard. Warm-up that works the core.
- 10-20 minutes Heart opening breath Loud on the exhale. Clears the deck before the day.
- 30 seconds to 5 minutes Kundalini Bhastrika Breath of fire, arms overhead. Harder.
- 10-15 minutes Digestion igniter Lion's breath and a stomach vacuum. Standing.