How Breathwork Boosts Immunity and Prepares You for Winter
- Dan Hughes
- Oct 16
- 4 min read
As the colder months creep in and cold & flu season begins to make its rounds, most people instinctively reach for the Lemsip, Day & Night Nurse, or a stash of over-the-counter remedies. But what if, this year, you tried something different? Instead of masking symptoms, you could strengthen your immune system at its core - with Breathwork and cold exposure as powerful tools in your winter wellbeing kit.
Why Breathwork Belongs in Your Winter Wellness Toolkit
Your breath is one of the most underused, underestimated tools for health and resilience. Breathwork goes far beyond relaxation. When practised intentionally, it:
Stimulates the lymphatic system, helping your body flush toxins and support immune function.
Reduces stress and inflammation, both major contributors to a weakened immune system.
Increases oxygenation, improving cellular function and supporting the body’s natural healing processes.
Activates the parasympathetic nervous system, shifting you out of survival mode (where your immune system is suppressed) and into a state where your immune system can thrive.
Just a few minutes of breathwork daily can prime your body to respond better to seasonal challenges, rather than crash when the first sniffle hits.
Cold Exposure Used as Immune System Training
Cold exposure - whether through a cold shower, cold water dip, or ice bath - acts as gentle and positive stress training for your body. It triggers a controlled stress response called Hormesis that teaches your nervous system to adapt and build resilience. When practised regularly, cold exposure:
Boosts white blood cell production, preparing your immune system to respond faster to invaders.
Improves circulation, helping nutrients and oxygen move more efficiently around your body.
Builds mental strength, teaching you how to stay calm under pressure, which carries into all areas of life.
Reduces inflammation and supports recovery, making it incredibly supportive during the months when our bodies tend to feel sluggish and heavy.
Creates a General Robustness, in your mindset and attitude which fosters an inner power to overcome.
Why Combining Breathwork + Cold Exposure is a Winter Power Move
Breathwork and cold exposure on their own are incredible tools - but together, they create a powerful synergy for body, mind, and soul. Here's why:
Breathwork prepares the body for cold exposure by calming the nervous system and increasing oxygenation. A higher red blood cell count as a result of breathwork (with breath-holds) increases your body’s ability to carry oxygen and nutrients, keeping your body and its systems healthier and with more energy to fight off the invading viruses and pathogens!
Cold exposure amplifies the effects of breathwork by activating deep physiological responses that boost immune defence and cellular energy.
The combination builds mental resilience, helping you meet the darker, colder months with a stronger mindset and more energy.
Instead of dragging yourself through winter waiting for your next cold to pass, imagine moving through the season feeling grounded, energised, and fortified from the inside out.
If you’ve never seen cold exposure in action, you’ll love watching Wim Hof’s series on the BBC “Freeze The Fear with Wim Hof”!
"Get used to breathing through your nose at all times. Nasal breathing means the air you breathe is filtered, neutralised, cleansed and conditioned - your mouth does none of these things and when you take that mouth-breath into your lungs, it enters un-treated, un-clean and un-healthy. Nasal breathing is fundamental to staying healthy." - Dan Hughes
Dan’s transformative experience with these powerful practices
I am passionate about how the breath and cold are key pillars to staying fit and well.
I would go as far as to say, it saved my life.
I practice breathwork daily - without fail - and when it comes to cold immersion I flip-a-coin to decide whether I get into the ice bath at home or not (…more on why another time!)
It doesn’t matter what the weather is doing outside - we can wake up long after the sun rises, eat food that has been flown half-way around the world, head to work in a temperature controlled car, coated in fabrics designed to keep out the weather, sit in a climate-controlled office block, drive home, open the fridge and see dinner waiting for us…without ever having felt more than a few minutes of the outside air.
This is not what our forefathers had to do - life was a battle for survival every day.
Modern humans are capable of ignoring the natural obstacles to survival and as a result we have become a species wrapped in effortless comfort, making us and our body’s lazy, overweight and subject to disease.
Nothing kick-starts positive changes in the human body than the cold does and layered with breathwork, we are able to give our body a chance to take back control, to become stronger, more robust, fight off disease and illness and reset our nervous system using some very simple but highly effective techniques.
Read the full blog: ‘A Journey with Dan, Co-Owner of Vitae-Vi and Wim Hof Method Instructor’.
This Winter, Step Into Prevention Mode
This season, rather than reacting to illness with quick fixes and OTC solutions, consider shifting into a prevention mindset:
“Add breathwork & cold exposure to your wellbeing toolkit. Not as a ‘trend’, but as a way of reconnecting with your body’s own ability to heal, adapt, and thrive - even in the harshness of winter.”
15 minutes a day - that’s all - no equipment needed, just somewhere safe to lie down to breathe and a shower that gets cold, coupled with a can-do mindset.
Nothing more.
Want to learn how?
Warm the soul. Strengthen the body. Sharpen the mind.
Put this all into action on our next Wim Hof Workshop on the 30th November at 9:30am. This method leverages the innate power of your body's own systems, training your nervous, cardiovascular, and immune systems to become more resilient and balanced. Experience a surge of 'life force' energy, equipping you to handle everyday stresses - be they emotional, physical, or physiological.
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