Wim Hof and Tummo Meditation

Hey guys, I was watching an ABC's 20/20 medical mystery episode today online, and I took notice in one of the case the introduce.

The case was that of Wim Hof, otherwise known as "Iceman," basically he is able to withstand very cold temperature that many people can not withstand, and would probably die from. And while he isn't the first individual who is documented or publicized with this gift, such as Lynne Cox. The differences is that Wim Hof was born with this ability and does it innately, whereas Lynne Cox was able to train her mind to rise her body temperature to 102.2 F.

However, the reason why I post this up in the Paranormal Studies sub-forum was not because of his gift, but how help learned to maintain. It is through the ancient Himalayan Meditation technique known as Tummo. I wasn't necessarily stunned about the Meditation itself, this was not first time I heard of Tummo. This is not the first time I heard of people using Tummo, I've recalled many stories on ATS where Tibetan monks were able to meditate and maintain body temperature as they traveled across the mountain.

I was very stunned that he practices this style of meditation. Based on my horrible bias and misconception, I have always thought only monks knew of this meditation style, and that it kept secretly from the outside world. I'm so glad I was wrong because this prove that its possible to learn it, and its possible do it. And will add fire to my drive/pursuit to learn it...

If anyone is interested, I learned the proper name for the meditation style when I was doing research on this monk named Ram Bahadur Bomjon (I suggest you read about him, he's very a unique young lad!!). Anyways I think someone explained that he was able to regulate his body temperature through Tummo. Among other thing he was able to go months without food or water (or so people claimed),but a discovery channel team crew actually witness him go 5-7 days without food or water before they left as the young Monk traveled to another isolated location to mediate in peace and quite.

Anyways back on subject shall we? I read from website that an individual needs to learn and execute this meditation style correctly or properly, or he/she can end up harming himself/herself.

I guess thats about it, if anyone is interested in Wim Hof, here's an ABC report on him:
abcnews.go.com...

A wikipedia links to Tummo:
en.wikipedia.org...

Wim Hof's Website:
www.innerfire.nl...

ABC 20/20's video: I'm trying to get the link right now. Who ever have comcast, its on "The Fan." Its video is titled "20/20 Medical Mystery" and his case is discussed 15-25 minutes into the video.

I'm very interested in Tummo, and I really want to contact Wim Hof to ask him at first hand how he first heard about it, who taught it, and where can I go to learn it properly or first hand. I know its a stretch, but I'm going to try and reach him. From what I manage to gather from skimming through his site so far, he seems like a very open minded and spiritual guy, he has some technique, on the site that he openly shares, but its just that of his own and I feel might not Tummo. I will practice his technique and adapted to my own, but I still want to learn Tummo.

Hopefully this will respark some interest and conversation...

[edit on 9-3-2008 by skyblueff0]

Good post. I have read a few things about Ram Bomjon, mainly blogs though. Isn't it being suggested that he could be the reincarnation fo Buddah? The kid is supposdedly doing some really amazing things and I would have to think that his abilities are possibly beyond the reach of the average person.


Again, good thread. Starred and Flagged. Keep us posted if you make contact.

reply to post by Karlhungis


Hey Karlhungis, thanks for responding man. I don't think so, I believe Ram Bomjon is trying to reach enlightenment to become the next one to become the Buddha. One thing that struck a note for me is that he made a statement that he will return to society by 2012, when the world needs him. Thats a very bold statement for a kid a year younger than I am, but something tells me this kid isn't kidding. I wish him the best of luck.

Okay, so I reread the "Technique" section in Wim Hoff's site again, there were really no technique, I might have interpreted wrong. I still haven't email him yet, but I will later tonight.

Another few things I picked up. The word Tummo does not necessary mean "eternal heat," it means "power." Apparently that was stuff made up by new ager who had a half understand of the meditation. And Tummo "is one of the Six Yogas of Naropa, which is related to the inner energies."

There's a lot of site with Reiki Tummo on it, and I'm very skeptical about attaining information from those site. Then again its very hard to find any legit information about Tummo on the internet. But thats all I have to offer.

Anyways, I will do more research about the Six Yogas of Naropa later today, and report back to you guys. I will also try and provide more information about Tummo, and I guess let people take what they want out of it.

[edit on 9-3-2008 by skyblueff0]

reply to post by skyblueff0


If he gives you any good info, don't forget to share it.

I've never heard of this particular meditation but I am aware that one can manipulate their body temp. along with many other things. Focus is the key.

Good thread/info.

I'll look into this stuff. Figure I'll start meditating soon, not much interest in doing anything in particular lately, might as well try something different.

Starred and flagged!

Thanks for the info. I can't wait to dig into it.

great post! I mean excellent superb subject matter!

The reason why they can do this is because their faith is pure. If they doubted the realms and truths of their existence, they would harm themselves.
It has a lot to do with the belief (or understanding) that this material world is an illusion being had by a more real eternal being or essence of things.

but do note, they also do not give into material desires, they know that by renouncing their connection to the illusory realm the true realm will take care of everything.
(in a nutshell)
heres a link I found to be greatly helpful to understanding the lifestyle and ways of such various monks.
www.sacred-texts.com...
sorry, no quick and easy way to teach things like that; unless there is, then someone let me know!

Update: I just finished emailing Wim Hoff, hopefully he will reply back, I know he's a busy guy, wish me luck that does. I'll update everyone again will he does.

ChronMan
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Thanks man I'll definitely fill you guys in with whatever I learn from Wim Hof, just we luck they he'll reply.

ThePiemaker and Realtruth
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Please by all mean do guys. Try to get as much information as you can on this subject and share it with everyone. We should all help each other understand a little bit more about ourselves.

Psychedeliack
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I agree with you man, faith and confidence can bring an individual very far in life.

And I agree with you that there is no quick and easy method to learning type of meditation like Tummo, thats why I'm so scared to provide any information about Reiki Tummo, but I'm so divided about that topic these day. Times have changed man, people mindset have changed. I mean I don't believe someone can pick up Tummo by taking a 1 day class, but I don't think its not entirely unrealistic that a devoted individual can learn Tummo within a year or even less (maybe not fully master it, but can still apply it).

I mean who knows it could be similar to what you say you said, maybe the reason why people restains themselves from learning certain skills and techinque quickly is because they lack faith of being able to learn it right quicker, or the belief or misconception that it takes years to master.

P.S. Thanks for both the insightful information and the link, I'm fascinated with the teaching and liveihood of Buddhist Monks, and know a little bit, its great to eventually learn more. I'll read more into later this week.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Edit: Sorry guys I haven't been able to find much information about the Six Yoga of Naropa, but I did find a Harvard University Article about Tummo, if anyone want to read more about it: www.hno.harvard.edu...

And I just found this article about tummo from the Huffington Post: www.huffingtonpost.com...

[edit on 9-3-2008 by skyblueff0]

Sorry to keep editing my post, but I'm learning so much fascinating thing about Tumo as I read through these articles.

From the Harvard Gazette:

During visits to remote monasteries in the 1980s, Benson and his team studied monks living in the Himalayan Mountains who could, by g Tum-mo meditation, raise the temperatures of their fingers and toes by as much as 17 degrees. It has yet to be determined how the monks are able to generate such heat.

From the Huffington Post:

Researchers found that children and teenagers who described themselves as positive thinkers had higher thresholds of tolerance for pain...Apparently the kids who were studied at UCLA are doing the same thing (Tummo). It still remains a mystery how the Tibetans can withstand a temperature rise of 14 degrees, given that brain cells begin to die if a patient suffers from fever over 104 degrees.

P.S. The Kids were subject in a psychological pain testing experiment. Its not as bad as I make it out to be, they were testing the pain tolerance of positive think kids and non positive thinking kids.

[edit on 9-3-2008 by skyblueff0]

[edit on 10-3-2008 by skyblueff0]

Thanks much for all of your hard work here, It has been a pleasure reading all of this, I have had the intention of living in a monastary since I was a child and I feel that time is coming closer.. So it's nice to find information about that In a place like ATS, flagged.

Wow, incredibly interesting. I want to post so I have this in my ATS and can participate later. This is great stuff, Thanks for starting this forum.

I got a response from Wim Hoff's manager, Walter Tiemessen he forwarded my questions to Wim Hoff.

Dear *****,

I will ask Wim to answer your questions. We are wiling to give
lectures at your University. But there are costs involved. Not only
travel costs, beverage and food for four persons (Wim, me as his
manager and our own photo and camera crew) but also a performance fee,
depending of the period.
Let me know what's possible. The eventual decision is always taken by Wim.

With kind regards,

Walter Tiemessen
Manager

Haha yeah, I heard they were doing a demonstration at the University of Miami. So I was curious and so asked if were able to get a event going, if they would be willing to do a demonstration and a lecture at the university I attend to. Hmm i need to persuade my college, I'm sure they'll be down with it, I just need to find some affiliates at my college and get things going.

Anyways, I'll update you guys with any further information that come up.

Wish me luck guys.

[edit on 11-3-2008 by skyblueff0]

I am curous about the vitals, does their heart rates go up, are they staying perfectly still during this experiment, of are they moving their bodies in order to create greater blood flow? in order to pump blood back into the body, the muscles must be expanding and contracting to move the blood through the check valves of the vein system. I know you can maintain body temperature in a cold environment by consciously manipulating your bodies muscles to burn energy. I can do this, but it is certainly not mind over matter. In addition, what have the people in these experiments eaten before such a test?

Considering the polar bear societies where people swim in freezing cold water, which would pull heat away even faster than wet cloth, I would have to say those people have also managed to develop this technique. I didn't find any scientific evidence on the endurance that these groups achieve in their activities, but I think a comparison would be interesting.

reply to post by poet1b


Here is what the Harvard Gazette have to say about vitals:

It is characterized by decreases in metabolism, breathing rate, heart rate, and blood pressure. He and others have amassed evidence that it can help those suffering from illnesses caused or exacerbated by stress. Benson and colleagues use it to treat anxiety, mild and moderate depression, high blood pressure, heartbeat irregularities, excessive anger, insomnia, and even infertility.

And I did ask Wim Hoff general questions about the state or the condition his body is in when he perform Tummo Meditation. Though the questions I asked him ware focus more on his mental state, then his physical state. Like I ask him if he use visualation, I never really thought about the food he eats though. But I completely understand what you are saying. If he does respond back, and is willing to answer more questions I'll ask him for you.

I hope he emails soon. I'm sure he's a busy guy. I still need to reply to the email that his manager sent me. Maybe that will show that I still have interest.

Other Tibetan monks don't care about things like desensitizing yourself to cold weather and all they want to do is vanish and never come back. They do this by dematerializing themselves. Dr. Caycedo, the founder of sophrology, describes this in his book about his travels in the Far East: in the Tibetan monasteries the monks shut themselves up in their cells and days later the others go in an all they find is their clothes, their hair and their finger- and toenails....

Thanks for the timely reply, I would very mush like to here more about this.

It does sound like they are able to channel energy with their minds. That would be truly amazing. I think it also might be possible that by manipulating control of blood flow back to the heart, you could increase circulation without increasing heart rate or pressure, by decreasing resistance through aiding flow, and that the physical action of gently expanding and contracting your muscles could produce the body heat.

I hope you get a response from Wim Hof, I would love to learn more. It is great that you can get a reply from him.

The above is a reply to Skyblueffo. From some reason, even though I linked to the reply marker, the message did not contain the usual information. Sorry for the one line post.

I don't think that Wim actually wanted to learn this tehnique. I've seen him saying that he learned it, when his life became threatened in the cold. He fell asleep in snow couple times, when he was younger. He almost died due to cold, but he managed get control of body temperature.

He said that everyone has a thermostat in their brain that controls the body temperature. Wim just learned to control that.

I belive that it has something to do with focusing. I've tried to focus on my body and search the thermostat in my brain to feel more warmer or colder and I think it worked, but I'm not sure.

I'm really looking forward for Wim's letter, but I doubt that he'll just explain plain and simple, how he does it.

Hey guys,

This is my first post on ATS. I was moved to register after reading this thread. I practice Qigong (www.qigong.com) and my teacher has arranged with Wim Hof to come to Miami to teach us Tumo. I am incredibly excited for this chance to learn from such a man.

I can post more after I return from the class. It is a five day intensive where we will learn his technique. I have a letter that Wim sent us from Tibet House, the Dali Lama's organization. It says that Wim is an accomplished teacher and is able to relay this information in a way that people can benefit from it. Also, studies have been done on Wim and he is able to profoundly lower the amount of inflammatory substances in his body. Inflammation is the root of all degenerative diseases.

The curriculum he sent has incredible things on it like 'channeling electrical potential through chakras' and on day three we will go to the 'snow dome' and 'walk and run barefoot in the snow'.

After he teaches us, Wim is traveling to New York to teach a group of novice mediators from Tibet House so they can study how people who don't have much practice in meditation respond to Tumo. After that, Tibet House has invited Wim to go to India to see the Dali Lama to discuss how Tumo can help people all over the world.

Someone in this thread mentioned Reiki Tumo. This is a very different form. Reiki Tumo involves an attunement that clears the chakra line and awakens kundalini. An attunement is a passive process that is passed from one person to another. I have practiced Reiki for a number of years, and there was a period of time when Reiki Tumo attunement was being offered for free and I received the attunement. It was interesting, but not as potent as I expected.

If anyone has any other questions, I will do my best to answer them.

reply to post by WalkingParadox


Hey WalkingParadox,
I am also very interested in his tehnique. When does your class take place? Could you please try to pass on his teachings by posting here? I would really be thankful, I'm just amazed about this!

Please post as soon as possible!

Hi All,
I would like to direct Tumo fans to the inner-power practices of the Indonesians. I have practiced this and can attest to the heat producing effect of this breathing method. Based on ancient Indian asana techniques, the Indonesians use it in combination to their martial arts and mystical practices. You can check out google searches for "Tridaya" , "Tinaga Dalam" and "Yellow Bamboo Society" . I got positive results in two weeks of practice.

Oh, and if you have not seen it yet, check out the video at www.mysticfire.com...
This should convince anyone of the power hidden inside of us.
I believe it is also available on youtube. This clip originated in a National Geographic special years ago called Ring Of Fire by Lorne and Lawrence Blair.

Good Luck,
Gerard