Everyday, the average person takes around 20,000 breaths of oxygen – but how many of these are actually good? Most days, your lungs expand and contract on automatic, aside from the odd moment – like now – that someone reminds you of it and you start breathing on manual. When you find yourself in this state, it suddenly becomes a lot more difficult to concentrate on anything else (I’m struggling to pull this sentence together now). Seeing as it’s hard not to be present when you’re involuntarily stuck on manual breathing mode, it’s no surprise that purposefully choosing to breathe in this way is one of the oldest mindfulness exercises recorded in human history.
In addition to the mental benefits, breath work has proven to have many physical benefits too. Russ Allchin, a certified Wim Hof Instructor, alongside Lisa Buesnel and Collette Bagas from The Oxygen Therapy Centre, facilitate controlled environments where oxygen can be used to relieve chronic pain, illnesses and physical injuries. Whilst Russ works on breathing techniques and cold water exposure, Lisa and Collette deliver high concentrations of oxygen to patients through masks, within a sealed, pressurised chamber. Seeing as both parties have received overwhelmingly positive feedback from their clients, we thought we’d get the experts together, to try out the service that the other offers…
Russ on Oxygen Therapy
As I am into anything breath related, having an Oxygen Therapy treatment sounded like something right up my street. The Oxygen Therapy Centre is a local charity, I didn’t know this before I met them, which does treatments for many islanders with neurological and long term health conditions. I found out it has positive effects on a wide range of health issues. From what I know and understand about breathing, I knew that Oxygen Therapy could have similar effects to the WHM. I was itching to get in to the chamber and see what it was like.
On arriving at the centre I was greeted by Collette who was happy to get me into the Oxygen chamber. It looked quite basic but probably has a lot of tech hidden away. A metal tube with some seats and windows. I say tube, imagine a small submarine with 3 seats on each side and some little porthole windows, that’s what it felt like. I walked in and Collette fitted me with a mask and I sat down. The mask gives you much more oxygen that normal air, and when pressurised in the chamber around 7 times more O2 is dissolved into the blood. This has massive benefits for healing. Collette checked us, as there was another gentleman in with me, made sure we were ok and shut the door. The mask makes it difficult to speak, and I’m sure the other gentleman just wanted to relax with his book, so I was listening to the machine feeding me air as I breathed. Focusing on my breath, which I do a lot, was easy. As the pressure came up, I had to equalise my ears every few seconds. I think it took 5 minutes or so to get to pressure, then it all went quiet except for the sound of the air machine on my inhale. I just chilled out, read my book and relaxed. Pretty sure I dozed off at one point, or maybe more than one point. It was a very peaceful experience, the only uncomfortable part was equalizing your ear pressure as you compress and decompress, otherwise it was a nice time to just breath and relax. The hour went quite quickly.
I have a shoulder injury I have been nursing for a while which is slowly getting better, after a WHM breathing session, it always feels much less tight and no real pain. I felt the same effects after the Oxygen Therapy, my shoulder felt great. On coming out of the chamber I noticed colours were more vivid and bright, I felt super relaxed and calm, felt awake and energised. Benefits of Oxygen Therapy are reduction in inflammation, faster wound healing, improved wellbeing, pain reduction and even has benefits for people who suffer from things like MS, Fibromyalgia, Parkinsons Disease, and other long term illness.
Using oxygen for help with healing is quite overlooked. I tell so many people about how breathing can change your life, but until they try it, they don’t believe it. Collette and Lisa at the O2 Therapy Centre were lovely and open to trying the method I teach, and I thank them for letting me try out the Oxygen Chamber. We are trying to get to the same destination just down 2 different paths. I felt amazing afterwards… Oh and I slept really well that night. As I mentioned the effects of the Oxygen Therapy are similar to the effects of the WHM breathing, but for people who are unable to do deep breathing or breath holding, this is certainly a great option. Also for people who are a bit more immobile, being able to sit and relax while super charging the body with O2 has great benefits. I liked it.
I think this is a great option for anyone to try, even kids. With the mask on, they can imagine they are deep sea divers, a spaceman or fighter pilots! The team at the centre are lovely and welcoming, go check them out, add this to a therapy you are already doing to maximise the outcome. As a local charity, they rely on donations and funding so please help where you can, as this is a valuable therapy for the island.
And BREATHE!!
Collette and Lisa on Wim Hof
It was with trepidation that I set off on the journey to the Frances Le Sueur Centre dressed in comfortable clothing with no idea what I was letting myself in for. Russ was very welcoming and I immediately felt relaxed and excited about what the day would bring. After an introductory exercise to get to know the other course participants we were shown a presentation by Russ about the ‘Wim Hof Method’ and the philosophy behind it.
Next came the breathing part of the course which was the part of the course myself and Collette were most interested in, coming from our background in Oxygen Therapy. Russ encouraged us to get comfortable on our yoga mats, close our eyes and led us through the specialised breathing techniques that make up the ‘Wim Hof Method’. Despite feeling like it had been a very short period of time Russ informed us that we had been doing breathing exercises for over an hour and many of us had managed to hold our breath for 2 mins, which seemed quite unbelievable. Afterwards we discussed how we had felt during the exercises and shared our experiences. I personally felt really well rested like I had had the most amazing nights sleep and was full of energy and raring to go. As we had been coming out of our breathing exercises Russ had played a very motivational song which had made me feel energised and ready to tackle anything, which was perfectly timed as the ice bath was next!
On setting off that morning I was extremely reluctant to take part in the ice bath part of the course, to the point that I was not going to even bring my costume with me. However, in the spirit of keeping an open mind and potentially pushing myself out of my comfort zone I grabbed my swimming things, and boy, am I glad that I did! Once changed into costumes, Russ took us through exercises to help our bodies acclimatise to the temperature change that we were about to experience. He also reminded us of the importance of applying the breathing techniques we had learnt earlier in the day once submerged in the ice bath. I waited till last to take my turn in the ice bath and was spurred on by the two people who went before me as they absolutely smashed it. Russ was incredibly patient and calm and reassured me every step of the way, giving me the opportunity to back out at any point. Bracing myself I stepped into the ice bath keeping my entire focus on Russ and concentrating on using the breathing techniques I had learnt. Russ encouraged me to get under the ice whenever I was ready. The ice bath was quite a surreal experience and one which I still can’t quite believe I managed looking back at it now. The 2 mins in the ice bath passed quickly and surprisingly I didn’t feel that cold – in fact, I felt like I had a little furnace in the pit of my stomach heating me from within. Afterwards, although the instinct is to wrap up in a towel to get warm, Russ explained that we needed to help our body regulate its temperature first by moving to warm up. So dancing on the balcony of the Frances Le Sueur Centre in our costumes was required!
I am so pleased and grateful that I was given the fantastic opportunity to take part in Russ’s course and extremely proud of myself. Completing the ice bath challenge left me on natural high for many days and made me believe anything is possible if you put your mind to it. Since the course I have been attempting to have cold showers and have used the breathing techniques I learnt. I have slept better than I have for a long time and feel in a great place. Russ is passionate, inspirational and an all round great guy. I would urge anyone who fancies attending one of his courses to give it a go.
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