We cycle between hyperventilating and holding our breath for almost an hour, and every repetition makes it incrementally easier to hold on just a little bit longer. Hof tells us that the quick breathing adds oxygen to our blood supply so that, at least until we use it up, we won’t have to rely on the air in our lungs to survive. The autonomic urge to gasp for air is based on the mind’s ordinary programming: oxygen-depleted lungs means it’s time to breathe. My nervous system has not yet realized there is still oxygen in my bloodstream.1 The heavy breathing lets me trick my nervous system into
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