Exhale and don’t inhale for 15s… You can do it also for 2 minutes (Wim Hof method)
How does it feel?
The ability to hold your breath is one of the best predictors of people’s ability to succeed in difficult goals…
This is called the distress tolerance…
Wait, it comes better…
How to train to ride out physical discomfort that gets in the way of making a difficult change?
Two studies using the same technique: I describe here the study with smokers and skip the study with sweet addiction.
1. The torture chamber
A group of smokers liked to quit smoking, and have been unable to do so…
Procedure:
The smokers should abstain from smoking for 24 hours!
They got checked if they had done so.
They should come to the lab with an unopened pack of their favorite cigarettes and a lighter!
Yeah…?
All smokers were showing up desperate for a smoke… Ha ha, ha ha….
They were seated at a long table…
Should put away every distraction.
Ready to smoke…
They heard over the microphone:
Take out your pack of cigarettes…
STOP, Wait two minutes.
And it is not allowed to do anything, no distraction!
Pull off the cellophane of the package…
STOP, wait for 2 minutes, don’t do anything.
Take out a cigarette…
STOP, wait for 2 minutes, don’t do anything.
…
And this went on and on for an hour…
So they could not smoke at all.
Then they had to write down how big were their craving?
How much do they want to smoke…?
Half of the group had been taught a technique called: “Surfing the urge”
They should pay attention to the physical discomfort of wanting something.
You give your full attention to your emotions/cravings and you trust that you can tolerate those physical sensations…
When you just wait, those patterns of discomfort will go away…
So you can overcome any craving, and any emotion will eventually pass if you just breathe and wait it out.
You don’t have to act on any emotion just feel them.
If you have read from Bhagwan or Osho the Orange meditation book… 100 years ago…
He is describing the same procedure for pain…
“Locate exactly where the pain is coming from, feel it, and then the pain will go away…
The smokers, who had learned before the experiment the technique “Surfing the urge” reduced without they were asked to 40% their smoking in the first week, and finally gave up smoking…
The smokers who didn’t learn this technique didn’t reduce their smoking.
Until we accept our difficult emotions connected with our cravings/desires, we can’t overcome them.
If we try to push our difficult emotions away instead of feeling them, they get stronger and stronger.- This will backfire!
Just ride out your emotions/thoughts and passing experiences without acting on them…
You will get stronger!
What you resist, persist!!
How to do it?
Mindfulness:
To feel what you are feeling or think what you are thinking.
And don’t try to escape from your emotions and thoughts.
For instance: feel your anxiety and find out what is your emotion anxiety?
Breathe deeply in your emotions and with exhaling you let go of your emotions a little bit and breathe again and again in your emotions until they are gone.
My Video: How to increase willpower? https://youtu.be/todu-VISZfM
My Audio: https://divinesuccess.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/Podcast3/How-to-increase-willpower.mp3