#223 Increasing Performance, Safety and Resilience with Jeremy Wilstein
Eight years ago Jeremy Wilstein discovered a very simple concept called breathwork when studying the “Ice Man” Wim Hof. In this episode we dive into the many benefits of proper breathing and how a quick few minutes of intentional breathing can hack your sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system to increase your performance, increase your safety, increase mental stability, and decrease anxiety and depression. Jeremy has been offering his breath work courses to our community in the US during competitions the last few years (which always end in a cold plunge in the Colombia River!) to the profound delight of everyone who has taken part. It feels great, it’s easy, it helps you in the air and on the ground. Have a listen and give it a try!Jeremy’s website to find out a lot more about guided breathworkRecommended books, podcasts and youtube sourcesA Deeper dive into how breath work works and how it helps:BREATHWORK and PARAGLIDINGBreathwork has been a pivotal part of my life over the last 7 years and for awhile I have thought this could be an impactful topic for other pilots in our community. I have identified a few topics which I believe the majority of pilots will be able to relate to. These topics deal with safety, mindset, dealing with altitude, and performance recovery for hike and fly athletes. We can geek out on some science and then I would want to incorporate actionable breathwork exercises which people can begin to incorporate. DECISION MAKING AND SAFETY : This is a pivot topic for all pilots and often when we get stressed while flying, our focus narrows and our ability to take in more information decreases. The result is poor decisions and a potential accident, when there was a safer or better option. When we have a sympathetic nervous system response (ie Fight or Flight) we have a release of adrenaline and cortisol into our bloodstream, increase in heart rate, narrowing of focus, and often we stop breathing or our breathing becomes rapid and shallow. We begin to fixate on one option as opposed to taking in more information. If you are aware of changes in your breathing as a result of turbulence, rotor, or wind (which is often because we are scared) you can breathe in a certain way to calm the mind and downregulate your nervous system. As a result your vision widens to take in more information, your heart rate decreases and you become aware of far more options for a safe outcome to your fear. I recently got into a situation in Colombia where I went for a thermal, deep in the mountain, with no way to glide out. I didn’t get the lift and had one slim landing option on a ridgeline. I felt my breathing change and my fear response began to heightened. By shifting my breathing to deep nasal breathing I could feel my fear response decrease, vision broaden, and I was able to set it down on the slim ridgeline. We can get consumed in fear so bringing the awareness back to the breath will immediately decrease the fear we perceive.PERFORMANCE + RECOVERY – This topic is especially relevant for the Hike and Fly athlete. All athletes are looking for a performance edge and a faster way to recover from brutal workouts. Breathwork not only increases your performance but also speeds up and decreases muscle soreness. By practicing breathwork with long retentions you are able to simulate high altitud...