Thread by @ErwanLeCorre

So at least a 100 of you really want to reach that 10 mark, or do so with comfort? I can help you achieve that, by share with you both tips (practical stuff to do) and insights (understanding) that will both UNLOCK your untapped potential. Let’s GO!

https://twitter.com/erwanlecorre/status/1394393796629118987

There’s physiological aspects to this kind of performance as well psychological ones. Physiological aspects have to do with how your body responds, psychological ones with how your mind responds.

Both aspects matter and they’re in fact intertwined. Let’s start with physiology. Adapting physiologically to prolonged breath holds takes at least days, weeks, months and even years depending on the level you want to reach.

Few people have the self-discipline necessary to commit to this type of training. No worries, we’re looking at quick stuff here. Again, I’m gonna give you tips and insights to have both your mind do better, or even GREAT.

Tip #1:
Your direct environment and position. If you can, rest laying down on a bed or couch, your head on pillow. Turn off sources of noise and light, or cover your eyes for darkness. As if you were prepping for bed, or for a nap. This will remove tensions for your body & mind.

If you can ventilate the room to get fresh, oxygenated air, even better. Take off your shoes. Loosen up anything that could restrict your breathing (belt, belt button, necktie etc…).

Tip #2: warmup.

A 1’07” breathhold isn’t necessarily much but your body isn’t instantly ready for it (I’ll explain later that your nervous system isn’t ready for it either…). That lack of prep is what makes it such a big deal. So one effective way to get there is progressions.

You could break the whole thing down as follows: reach 3. Take one minute recovery. Reach 6, take one minute recovery. If reaching 6 was hard, next attempt try to reach 7-8, or aim straight at 10 if you felt great.

Still too hard? Then go for the really slow, gentle progressions: reach 2 first, then take 20-30” recovery, reach 3, take another 20-30” recovery, reach 4, and just like that all the way to 10.

By upping the challenge 7 seconds only, your body but most importantly your nervous system can handle progressive difficulty based on the increasing confidence it’s been building up with each round.

You know, holding your breath is something new to you, which means it’s new to your autonomic nervous system (ANS)…which means your ANS isn’t familiar with it and doesn’t feel safe about it. The feeling of being unsafe makes your ANS precipitate the breaking point.

Tip #3
Ventilation. If you’re going for straight attempts to reach 10 without progressions, this is especially important. Take 3 minutes to breathe slowly, through your nose. Lengthening your breath will shift your ANS towards the parasympathetic, calming you down.

If you make your exhales a little longer than your inhales, you will enhance this relaxing effect. One of the reasons is the slight lowering of CO2 levels in your blood, which will ease your breathhold a little.

Could you take a series of BIG breaths prior to the breathhold ala WHM? That’d make it even easier. But this hyperventilation trick doesn’t teach you how to hold your breath right i.e WITHOUT hyperventilation, in other words you don’t REALLY learn to hold your breath.

Tip #4: the last inhale. Obviously if you take a larger inhale prior to your breathhold you’ll start with more air in your tank. It’s not the most important for a breathhold that’s barely greater than one minute but it could give you extra confidence. Let’s make that part simple.

Before the big inhale and if you know how to use your diaphragm, exhale a little beyond what normally comes naturally. You should feel a muscle right above your belly area contracting and “sucking in.” Then reverse and feel that area pushing out as you start inhaling.

Finally take a big dynamic breath with your upper rib cage. If you aren’t used to this kind of effort, it can make you dizzy (because your heart isn’t used to getting compressed by the lungs taking more space). In this case just adjust how much air you get before the breath hold.

Awesome! All that should help a TON already. Now what about your mind? What’s happening to your mind as you hold your breath? What are the thoughts that come up? Are you talking yourself a lot into quitting?

Let’s reinsure your mind. I’m gonna tell you what’s THE reason why you’re having issue prolonging holding your breath: lack of CO2 tolerance. I know, you thought you lacked oxygen early, but that’s not the case at all.

After 1’07” your body STILL has tons of oxygen. However the oxygen you’ve been burning consuming that time has been transformed into carbon dioxide that normally should be expelled from your body as you exhale…except it’s now trapped in your blood and lungs.

The accumulated CO2 has changed the biochemistry of your blood to acidosis, which is detected by your brainstem as a something unusual and alarming, which then mobilized quickly your limbic brain (your animal brain if you will) where your fear centers are…

Quickly that information travels from the subcortical areas of your brains to your thinking prefrontal lobe…which might translate the information into the decision to quit the very experience it had just decided to initiate…funny how fast things change huh?

OK, so as you’re holding your breath, remind yourself that all is good. You’re alive. You’ve got plenty of O2 in the tank. CO2 levels are rising, it’s alarming the parts of your brain that are doing the survival job for you. It’s all normal and good.

Is it pleasant? No. Is it unpleasant? Yes. But is it something you’re mentally able to handle for a little longer? Absolutely. And if the answer in your mind isn’t absolutely then don’t even get started doing something you’re gonna quit doing the moment it gets a tad tough!

There’s lots more on the psychological, mental, neurological side to learn. But that’s for longer breath holds. So good luck! I believe in you. Please do me a favor and believe in yourself even more than I believe in you!

My new book - which I’m currently writing and should be released in 2022 - will talk about all things relating to breathing but most importantly breathholding. My personal record is 7 minutes, however this was almost a year ago and I’m training to break that PB soon.

The world record is 11 minutes 35 seconds by a Frenchman named Stephane Misfud (the second best world performance is 10’30” by another Frenchman named Florian Dagoury Houas). Any “world record” beyond those are artificially achieved by inhaling pure O2 prior to holding breath.

There are real benefits to the body & mind. I’m developing a specific method that has positive effects on the nervous system even more potent than meditation or breathwork alone, or than classic static breathholding alone. And yes, I’m VERY comfortable with such bold statement.

If you can, come train first hand with me in Yelapa, Mexico.

naturalmovement.com/holdyourbreath…

1’10” not 1’07”

Additional tips:

-as the breathhold starts, scan your body and look for any unnecessary
tension that you could release. Start from head to toe. Go slow, pay attention to details: neck, face muscles, shoulders, etc…

-one you’ve done that remain focused on your diaphragm at the center of your body all the way to the end. The physiological urge to breathe will physically translate into involuntary contractions. Try to avoid them but if they happen stay calm they’re not a big deal.

If you had tried the challenge before my tips and then done it after implementing my tips I’d appreciate if you could share your feedback 🙏🏼🌞