A few months after receiving a diagnosis of myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS), a neurological disease often triggered by an infection in which serious fatigue leaves many patients unable to work or bedridden, Guy Fincham tried the Wim Hof breathwork technique. He had seen promising signals in a few studies that suggested the technique could influence the nervous and immune systems, and, without a cure available for his condition, he was looking for a way to find relief from his symptoms.

Over time, he explored various forms of breathwork that each played a role in his healing, along with other lifestyle changes like removing processed foods and staying socially connected. Slower practices calmed his mind and body while faster ones like holotropic breathing put his body into a state of hyperventilation and gave him profound psychedelic experiences. Immediately, his ME/CFS relapses became less frequent and he began to feel better. As a researcher, his instincts were to turn to science to get answers about what was causing his experience. However, there was relatively little research on the subject.

“It could have been a lot of belief effect or placebo there,” Fincham told Salon in a video call. But breathwork "gave me a sense of control for the first time over how I felt my body.”

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Wim Hof, a Dutch author and motivational speaker nicknamed the “Iceman,” has gathered a cult following for his extreme athletic achievements, including holding Guinness World Records for swimming under ice and running a barefoot half-marathon across snow. The Wim Hof method, which pushes the body to extreme states through regular ice baths, meditation and breathwork, is touted as a way to reduce inflammation and calm the body’s stress response. On Wim Hof's website, his method is touted as a way to “become happier, healthier and stronger.”

“Through decades of self-exploration and groundbreaking scientific studies, Wim has created a simple, effective way to stimulate these deep physiological processes and realize our full potential,” it states.

Breathwork techniques, in general, have been shown to impact physiological and mental health, and millions of people use them, with some anecdotally reporting them to be life-changing. Yet relatively little is known biologically about how breathing affects the brain and therefore the body, said Jack Feldman, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles who studies breathwork.

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“There are many different breathwork protocols, and there seems to be good data that many of them........

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