Would you like to feel your inner fire, gently warming you and protecting you against the cold? Try Tummo Meditation to cleanse your body and soul and burn away negative energies. The stimulating Tummo method originally comes from Tibet and is considered an advanced meditation technique. Here, we explain what Tummo meditation is all about and how you can ignite your inner fire, even as a beginner.
What Is Tummo Meditation?
Tummo meditation is a tantric meditation technique. The word “tummo” comes from Tibetan and means “inner fire.”
As the name suggests, the goal of this meditation is to generate heat through specific breathing and visualization techniques in order to increase one’s own body temperature. This may sound unusual at first, but Tummo meditation has a long tradition that proves its effectiveness.
Can Tummo Increase Body Temperature?
Tummo is a traditional Tibetan technique and was first recorded in writing in the 11th century. It is also frequently used in Ayurveda. Since then, researchers have repeatedly studied Tibetan monks who meditated seemingly unaffected in ice-cold environments while being sparsely dressed.
Scientists were able to prove that certain meditation techniques can indeed increase one’s own body temperature (1). For instance, a temperature increase of up to 8 °C was measured in the fingers of practitioners.
Perhaps you have already heard of the so-called “Iceman” Wim Hof. The Dutchman received this nickname because he has set several world records for enduring low temperatures.
For example, he managed to endure 73 minutes in an ice bath and climbed Mount Everest up to 7,400 meters wearing only shorts. He was so successful in all of this because he developed his very own version of Tummo meditation.
As you can see, anything is possible through meditation and mental power. With a little practice, Tummo breathing demonstrably allows you to influence the temperature in your body. But how exactly does it work?
“Tummo meditation shows how closely breath, energy, and inner strength are connected. Practiced correctly, it can give rise to new warmth, clarity, and presence.”
Elisabeth Naschberger-Mauracher, European Ayurveda Expert & Managing Director of the European Ayurveda Resort Sonnhof in Tyrol
Vase Breathing and Visualizations: How Tummo Meditation Works
We all possess an inner fire, but unfortunately, we often do not use it. In Ayurveda, it is found as the digestive fire Agni, but it also manifests in other areas. In Tummo meditation, this inner fire is consciously ignited. This happens through two specific aspects: on the one hand, through so-called vase breathing and, on the other hand, through concentrated visualization.
Vase breathing is a conscious breathing technique in which the breath is concentrated and held at the navel chakra as if in a vase. The navel is the starting point for the inner fire, which is now ignited by the energy generated by vase breathing. As a result, warm light radiates through your entire body and creates a pleasant warmth.
Through visualizations, this warmth can be further intensified and maintained longer. For this purpose, you can imagine anything related to heat.
Think, for example, of blazing flames creeping up your spine. However, it is also enough to concentrate on a specific part of the body to keep the flames there. You can also bundle negative thoughts that are to be transported outwards and thereby burned.
All of this sounds quite demanding, and indeed, Tummo meditation is not suitable for everyone, as it requires a certain amount of experience in meditation. Therefore, it cannot be practiced by everyone immediately.
Who Is the Tummo Meditation Technique Suitable For?
Experts advise beginners against heading straight into the cold to try Tummo meditation. This meditation technique requires certain meditative skills and spiritual knowledge and is too risky for the inexperienced.
Caution: Anyone who meditates in the cold unprepared risks hypothermia.
Extensive training and targeted guidance by a trainer are necessary to practice this meditation effectively. Therefore, Tummo is primarily suitable for advanced practitioners who wish to further expand their knowledge.
If you would still like to try Tummo but have little experience with meditation, do not despair. We provide you here with a short guide for simple meditation exercises with which you can try your hand at Tummo meditation even as a beginner without great risks. You don’t even need to spend much time! Just follow the instructions and you’re ready to go.
Learning Tummo Meditation: A Guide for Beginners
Here you will find a step-by-step guide with which you, even as a meditation novice, can learn to use your inner fire. But please do not forget that the Tummo method is one of the most difficult meditation techniques.
You will therefore likely not become a master of it overnight, but that is completely normal. With a little patience and perseverance, it is not difficult at all to see initial results. So, it’s best to start practicing right away!
1. Sit down comfortably
Tummo meditation requires a fair amount of concentration and should therefore ideally be performed while sitting. First, sit upright and comfortably, preferably in the lotus or cross-legged position, and close your eyes.
2. Imagine channels running through your body
Now imagine that a channel about 1 cm thick runs through your body from your perineum to your head. Also, imagine two side channels running to the left and right of it. All of these channels are completely hollow, as if they were empty pipes.
3. Your body is completely empty
Imagine that your entire body is also completely empty and hollow like a vase. Where your organs and inner life would normally be, there is now nothing. Concentrate on this empty space within you. You can also imagine it like an empty balloon.
4. Imagine a ball of light
Breathe in deeply and feel your breath energy flowing through the two side channels and reconnecting in the central channel at your navel. Now imagine a small but very warm ball of light located exactly where your breath is concentrated. Your breath ignites this fireball and makes it extremely hot.
5. Enlarge the ball
Concentrate on enriching the ball with more and more energy. To do this, you can, for example, tighten your pelvic floor to hold the fireball. The flames will become larger and hotter. Observe how your body gently warms up. Now hold your breath at this ball for about 5-15 seconds.
6. Release the energy
Then release all the breath and energy you have gathered at the fireball. Feel it flowing through your channels, breaking through all blockages. The fire cleanses your chakras and your entire body. All negative thoughts are burned by the fire. What remains is only pleasant heat, which you can consciously feel and direct into those parts of your body that need healing and warmth.
7. Repeat the exercise a few times
Initially, you should practice the exercise for only about 2-6 minutes. Once you are more familiar with the method, you are welcome to meditate for longer. The more often you practice this meditation, the more skillful you will become at specifically warming your body.
To make the exercise more difficult, you can try holding your breath slowly over a longer period of time. If you want to go a step further, you can also put on some wet clothes and try to specifically warm your body within them.
Important: Please make absolutely sure that you never perform the meditation in a cold environment without guidance!
The more experienced you become with Tummo meditation, the more you will notice how your body and mind benefit and are healed by it.
Positive Effects: Gentle Healing Through Tummo Meditation
Why do people voluntarily expose themselves to cold temperatures to meditate there? Well, Tummo meditation brings several health benefits. The most obvious is that the body learns to warm itself, helping you cope better in cold environments.
The fire makes you more powerful and robust. This increases metabolism and helps the body effectively defend itself against cold and infectious diseases.
Tummo meditation also has positive effects on the ability to concentrate. Because attention, imagination, and conscious breathing are all trained simultaneously in one exercise, it improves concentration and memory. You become calmer and more composed, while at the same time, your mind is sharpened.
But your spirit and psyche also benefit from this meditation. When the heat flows through your body during meditation, both adrenaline and happy hormones are produced. In addition, the fire literally burns away negative emotions, thoughts, and beliefs.
Your mind becomes empty again and recovers. Your soul and body experience a pleasant cleansing through Tummo breathing. So, if you already have advanced spiritual and meditative knowledge, Tummo meditation is just right for further expanding your spiritual abilities.
But even as a beginner, with our exercise, you can already feel how your inner fire stirs and continues to spread. If you ignite this fire more often, you will notice how you become more vital and healthy.
Holistic Health with European Ayurveda® – The Holistic Approach for Modern People
In European Ayurveda®, we view every person in their specific constitution. In doing so, we combine the traditional Indian healing art of Ayurveda with the latest findings of conventional medicine for integrated medicine and holistic health.
Studies
(1) Kozhevnikov M, Elliott J, Shephard J, Gramann K. Neurocognitive and somatic components of temperature increases during g-tummo meditation: legend and reality. PLoS One. 2013;8(3):e58244. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0058244. Epub 2013 Mar 29. PMID: 23555572; PMCID: PMC3612090.
