Wim Hof hemorrhoids

[Johndoe]

Hi everyone. For some reason I feel quite embarrassed for this question, but it's too important for me to not ask. I am doing Wim Hof with good results. Thing is, it seems the breath retentions are causing a hemorrhoids flare up for some reason. If I practise sitting on a tennis ball between my coccyx and pubic bone things seem a lot better. Unfortunately I have a fear I may get a coccyx cyst by doing this. Which I have heard can be reoccurring from then on even after surgery. Truth be told, the piles already exist but the cyst is just a fear, I have not had one yet and I am 41. Any opinions? Should I ditch the breathing altogether, risk the hemorrhoids, or the cyst? 

Thanks. 

[Cobie]

29 minutes ago, Johndoe said:

… Any opinions? Should I ditch the breathing altogether …? 

Imo, you must immediately stop with the breath retentions. 
 

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by Cobie

[Johndoe]

Thanks for the answer. Very interesting. Are you against retention generally? Or you concluded based on my situation? Do you have the time to elaborate? 

[Cobie]

14 minutes ago, Johndoe said:

… Or you concluded based on my situation? …

The breath retentions risk causing a hemorrhoids flare up. The tennis bal use has a cyst risk. Don’t mess with your body!

 

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by Cobie

[Johndoe]

Do you have the same opinion on the cold exposure part of the practice? 

[blue eyed snake]

2 hours ago, Johndoe said:

Hi everyone. For some reason I feel quite embarrassed for this question, but it's too important for me to not ask. I am doing Wim Hof with good results. Thing is, it seems the breath retentions are causing a hemorrhoids flare up for some reason. If I practise sitting on a tennis ball between my coccyx and pubic bone things seem a lot better. Unfortunately I have a fear I may get a coccyx cyst by doing this. Which I have heard can be reoccurring from then on even after surgery. Truth be told, the piles already exist but the cyst is just a fear, I have not had one yet and I am 41. Any opinions? Should I ditch the breathing altogether, risk the hemorrhoids, or the cyst? 

Thanks. 

 

breath retention

decades ago I did something else which involved holding my breath 

 

uhm, how long do you hold your breath?

does it give tension on your body?

and if that is so can you either hold your breath a bit shorter or find out a way to not have tension (on the underside)

 

meaning when this is causing a worsening of hemorrhoids something goes wrong so you either have to stop or change the way you practice

[Johndoe]

I can't hold it for long. Although I think that is irrelevant. You are supposed to hold it as long as you can. If somebody takes it to his limit and passes out at 45 seconds, its like passing out at 4 minutes. I guess you mean I should pace myself. It seems though that the hemorrhoids react even at the slightest pressure. This could be one of the reasons in yoga they do this pelvis bandha while holding the breath. It seems this is something more advanced for my level that I shouldn't be doing without instruction. It's just that I got benefits and it's so mainstream that I thought it couldn't cause any harm. I read many opinions against it in here and I may have to just stop. 

[Cobie]

8 hours ago, Johndoe said:

… I thought it couldn't cause any harm. I read many opinions against it in here and I may have to just stop. 

You know you should.  There are better systems out there, @Pak_Satrio has one he recommends. 
 

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by Cobie

[liminal_luke]

I don't know anything about hemorrhoids but thought I'd mention an alternative to Wim Hof that some might want to explore: BreathHoldWork. This work was developed by Erwin Le Corre, founder of Movnat.  Erwin says that the Wim Hof method is dangerous because of the hyperventilation before the breathholds.  (Or at least that's what I'm recalling now from a video I watched a while back.)  I haven't taken the e-course but I'm intrigued.

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

36 minutes ago, Cobie said:

You know you should.  There are better systems out there, @Pak_Satrio has one he recommends. 
 

 

It depends on what your goal is @Johndoe

[Nahfets]

Ok I got to admit that headline got to me. I thought, either Wim Hof was starting to sport alarmingly large hemorrhoids on his instruction videos and people were worried, or someone was sqeezing a bit too hard trying to achieve that tummo heat. 

 

Either way I do sympathize with it, hemorrhoids sucks. Have you tried tilting forward your perineum and closing your anal sphincter gently, while breath holding, this might help you lock in those muscles that can help prevent this from happening. Also not breathing in too fully before holding so the pressure isn't that great on your lower abdomen

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by Nahfets

[Johndoe]

Well I don't really know what I'm doing or what I want. I've been doing wuji standing and the Frantzis breathing lessons for a decade now consistently. I've always been fascinated by breath holding although all attempts have caused some kind of problem like headaches, palpitations and now hemorrhoids. It seems it's a more advanced practice that probably needs a live master. The cold showers were among else a financial solution as I am dead broke. 

[Nahfets]

There's many great ressources like Jerry Alan Johsons Daoist Internal Alchemy, Neigong And Weigong Training. In there you'll find instructions for many kinds of meditations, as well as cultivations from Daoist Five Yin to the dragon meditations where you open your meridians etc. Can't recommend it enough, for learning these techniques but ofc. it can be dangerous without a teacher, but being broke myself I tend also tend to scout YT and books for sources too. 

[Johndoe]

Yes I tried this lock on the 15 second hold with the breath inside. Even if it worked what about the more extended hold with the breath outside. This too creates a lot of pressure. Also I have a really bad history with squeezing the pelvis muscles. I cant really piss freely amongst other problems. After all these posts I feel quite discouraged to continue. 

[blue eyed snake]

9 hours ago, Johndoe said:

I can't hold it for long. Although I think that is irrelevant. You are supposed to hold it as long as you can. If somebody takes it to his limit and passes out at 45 seconds, its like passing out at 4 minutes. I guess you mean I should pace myself. It seems though that the hemorrhoids react even at the slightest pressure. This could be one of the reasons in yoga they do this pelvis bandha while holding the breath. It seems this is something more advanced for my level that I shouldn't be doing without instruction. It's just that I got benefits and it's so mainstream that I thought it couldn't cause any harm. I read many opinions against it in here and I may have to just stop. 

 

imho it is relevant.

 

many people are overbreathing and in those people hyperventilating before holding breath can make that worse.  

I think that's what you do? first hyperventilating and then holding breath?

 

Have done that as a youngster, before deep dives. You temporarily change something in the balance of the bloodgases. Thereby tricking the brainstem as your co2 will stay low a bit longer.

It's the brainstem that gives the signal to take a breath, it gives that signal when it deems the CO2 getting too high. Not when there's a shortage of oxygen.

 

a healthy person should be able to hold breath for about a minute, if it's much less, even after training it something is off in that balance. Another way to gauge it is how many breaths you have per minute when sitting relaxed.

 

when you look up buteyko method you'll probably find a better explanation.When you are indeed overbreathing I would look for a way to fix that, it'll make you feel better, more relaxed.

 

 

but regardless, when whatever training is causing damage to your body you should either stop or change it so that there's no risk

 

 

[Johndoe]

I don't have much experience at all but I feel resources of any kind are not really helpful. A teacher is what makes the difference. 

[Nahfets]

I know the feeling, sometimes we hit a wall and it can seem hopeless but usually that is right about here we're just about to break through into some new and better so something inside us either fights back or we experience the last resistance of this like it is something impenetrable. Even though something very good can be just around the corner. 

There are many techniques that doesn't require taixi or breathholding that can really benefit you greatly. Even though you don't have many ressources there is still a lot of very good information to be found

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

20 minutes ago, Johndoe said:

Well I don't really know what I'm doing or what I want. I've been doing wuji standing and the Frantzis breathing lessons for a decade now consistently. I've always been fascinated by breath holding although all attempts have caused some kind of problem like headaches, palpitations and now hemorrhoids. It seems it's a more advanced practice that probably needs a live master. The cold showers were among else a financial solution as I am dead broke. 

If you are short on funds I would recommend starting with Flying Phoenix. It is a powerful healing qigong which could help solve your haemorrhoids problem. The first DVD is $39.95, that’s not too much for the five practices on it. The practices combined with a good seated stillness practice will last you a good few months before you will master them and want to move on to the next DVD, which will be $39.95 too and has six practices. Lets say you spend four months on the first DVD, that will be around $10 a month, not too bad. 
 

Eventually down the line you will need training and corrections from Sifu Terry, which can be done over Zoom, either with solo or group lessons, but worry about that later, just focus on the basics first. In the meantime he is very helpful with replying to your questions by email. 

Check out the details here if you are interested:

 

https://www.taichimania.com/chikung_catalog.html

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by Pak_Satrio

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

8 minutes ago, Johndoe said:

I don't have much experience at all but I feel resources of any kind are not really helpful. A teacher is what makes the difference. 

Very wise, please follow your own advice!

[Johndoe]

Yeah the flying phoenix is popular in here. I have a Frantzis teacher nearby and have taken lessons over the years. So it's not about choosing the right system. Rather than having money to attend lessons. My hemorrhoids where in check before wim hof so I don't worry too much if I quit. And I don't think it's a breaking a barrier thing. It's just a more advanced fire method not meant for a person with weak constitution practising alone. I was just carried away because wim hof is huge on YouTube. Snake I am overbreathing for sure although my holds are around a minute as you said. Another factor is that I feel depleted within a year of wim hof which didn't happen doing a water method like wuju standing for more years. 

[-ꦥꦏ꧀ ꦱꦠꦿꦶꦪꦺꦴ-]

14 minutes ago, Johndoe said:

Yeah the flying phoenix is popular in here. I have a Frantzis teacher nearby and have taken lessons over the years. So it's not about choosing the right system. Rather than having money to attend lessons. My hemorrhoids where in check before wim hof so I don't worry too much if I quit. And I don't think it's a breaking a barrier thing. It's just a more advanced fire method not meant for a person with weak constitution practising alone. I was just carried away because wim hof is huge on YouTube. Snake I am overbreathing for sure although my holds are around a minute as you said. Another factor is that I feel depleted within a year of wim hof which didn't happen doing a water method like wuju standing for more years. 

I hope you manage to find a solution soon!

 

Also I just noticed this hilarious coincidence:

 

Edited April 25, 2023 by Pak_Satrio

[EFreethought]

I think Forrest Knutson on Youtube has claimed that his meditation techniques can give the same benefits as Wim Hof without retention or exposure to cold. It is worth looking into.

 

 

 

 

[Johndoe]

Will do thanks

[EFreethought]

9 hours ago, Nahfets said:

Ok I got to admit that headline got to me. I thought, either Wim Hof was starting to sport alarmingly large hemorrhoids on his instruction videos and people were worried,

 

Maybe he does have hemmorhoids. He always seems to be yelling instead of speaking in most interviews.

 

Mystery solved.

 

[Taomeow]

By the way.  The guy I heard this from was a brain surgeon, so maybe he didn't know much about the rear end of the body, but he asserted that hemorrhoids do not occur in people who wash their ass with water instead of wiping it with toilet paper.  Don't know if it's true, but he's 94 and stopped working only at 80 something, and working involved standing at the operating table, which I'm guessing hemorrhoids would have made difficult.