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"In meditative states, the monks had remarkable control over their body temperature and oxygen intake. They could use their body heat to dry wet towels placed a
by cwkoss 5y ago
"In meditative states, the monks had remarkable control over their body temperature and oxygen intake. They could use their body heat to dry wet towels placed around them, where most people would shiver uncontrollably. They could raise the temperature of their fingers and toes by as much as 17 degrees. Some could even spend a night on a rocky ledge at an elevation of 15,000 feet in the Himalayas, where temperatures fell to zero degrees Fahrenheit, while they wore only woolen or cotton shawls. "
How well has this been replicated? Has a non-buddhist person ever been able to demonstrate similar feats?
It's such an astounding claim. I want to believe, but am still skeptical because it just so astounding.
- knuthsat 5y agoWim Hof comes to mind. Guy melts ice for hours to break a world record. His control over his autonomous nervous system is amazing, basically maintains normal body temp even when aggressively cooled. It looks like he can control his immune response too.
- nestorD 5y agoI have seen tummo meditation used by non-buddhist to raise their body temperature. With a little bit of practice you should be able to experiment with it yourself (one common recommendation: don't practice it in a warm room / wearing warm clothes).
- raz32dust 5y agoI was also curious about this. Looks like it is slightly exaggerated [1] It is 17 degrees Fahrenheit, and the study mentions 8.3 degrees Celsius. A linked follow up study in 2013 was able to reproduce temperature increases between 1 and 6 degrees Celsius [2] Also, the results suggest that "...the peripheral temperature increases are primarily the result of increased peripheral blood flow due to peripheral muscular action (and proximity of the femoral artery) rather than a result of psychological (caused by meditation) or physiological (caused by breathing or isometric techniques) states." It looks like it is caused by blood vessels opening up (vasodilation) as a response to certain kinds of breathing exercises. If true, it is just an indirect result of the practice, not some form of body control that extends to other use cases. [1] https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/harvard-study-confirms-tibetan-monks-can-raise-body-temperature-with-their-minds/ https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/harvard-study-confirms-tib... [2] https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0058244#s3 https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal...
- allenleein 5y agoYou might want to check this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCXr7rxTLBE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCXr7rxTLBE
- meristohm 5y agoI breathe deeply and quickly through my nose with my whole torso (rather than just my belly, a mistake I carried along since teen years) to warm myself. I don’t have near the purported abilities some do, but what I can do so far I find useful. It can also help me go to sleep, as maintaining such breathing takes all my mental bandwidth, at the expense of rumination. I recommend reading Breath, by James Nestor. I also recommend only taking cold showers, because they feel great afterwards and because they save water and heat energy. “Breathing up” beforehand helps me bite the bullet if I’m feeling reticent.
- peter303 5y agoI have heard of some success with mental exercises helping cold hand/feet syndrome. That is a fairly common condition for people in the winter.