Local Wim Hof Method instructor offers breathing and gradual cold exposure techniques in Doncaster, Yorkshire

Costas Lambropoulos is originally from Greece and has lived in the UK for nearly 40 years. He is an IT specialist by trade, and has now studied under hypnotherapist Paul McKenna and ‘Iceman’ and extreme athlete Wim Hoff, before setting up a Wellbeing consultancy practice in Doncaster, called Mind Synthesis, together with his wife, Ourania Tsavalou, a mental health counsellor, corporate trainer and graduate in psychology, who is soon to publish a book on self-help.

The word ‘Synthesis’ is a Greek word and freely translated its meaning is ‘putting together simpler things to create something of a bigger substance’. Costas said: “We have chosen that word to give our audience a metaphorical meaning, to show that physical and mental health can be like a puzzle with many small pieces that when you put them properly together, you can experience a better quality life.”

Costas is a mental health facilitator, and all his techniques based on CBT / mindset development (now call ‘mindfulness)’. While that may be a new buzzword, all these techniques have existed for thousands of years.

He is now the only Wim Hof trainer in Doncaster, and hopes to share his take on mindset through hypnotherapy as a resident mental health consultant

Costas and his wife Ourania, are interested in testing things to themselves prior to suggesting them to other people, in other words, they ‘walk the talk’.

Testament to that, is their claim that their Garmin watches show their fitness age at least 20 years younger than their biological age.

Costa’s interest in the power of mind and its ability to help alleviate distress and various symptoms, came about in the 1990s.

“It came into my life in 1997 when my dad was dying of cancer. He was suffering, and I wanted to do anything I could to help keep him calmer, make him less distressed and reduce his physical pain. My own dentist is a published author in hypnotherapy and he taught me a hypnotherapy technique to help my dad with pain reduction. After I practiced what my dentist had shown me I was amazed at how much it helped my dad when he needed it.”

Costas went on to study hypnotherapy under Paul McKenna, before become a trained instructor himself, specialising in pain and psychosomatic pain relief, weight loss, trauma, smoking cessation, anxiety, stress elimination and a lot more. Covid and his personal experience with the lockdown led him in to studying breathing techniques. This lead him to the Wim Hoff method, a method that has three pillars: mindset/commitment, breathing and gradual cold exposure.

He has found the method so beneficial to his mental and physical wellbeing that he decided to become an instructor, so he can teach the method and help people take control of their physical and mental well-being.

And by using what he calls ‘functional breathing’ techniques, and breathing through his nose only, he also found his snoring disappeared.

About the Wim Hof method

Meditation and mindfulness have been around for centuries and are generally believed to help improve wellbeing. Dutch athlete Wim Hof believes that meditation, deep breathing techniques and cold water immersion, go even further, promoting strength, happiness and healthier living.

Costas himself used the techniques recently when suffering from Covid this year, when he said the breathing exercises helped his fever and his symptoms with Covid as well as four years ago when he had H1N1.

“When I picked up H1N1 in 2018, I did some meditative breathing and fell into a deep, sound sleep,” he said. “I slept for around 16 hours and woke up feeling so much better.”

His wife, he says, took much longer to recover, as at the time she hadn’t started the breathing and the cold exposure, and they both credit the Wim Hof method of mindset, breathing and gradual cold exposure, as aiding him.

“We make ourselves responsible for our body and we learn to listen to it,” he added.

Keeping an open mind

Costas is well aware that not everyone will share his beliefs, but asks that people explore with an open mind. He added: “The world thought that Thomas Edson’s invention of Direct Current, DC, was the only way to use electrical energy, and when Tesla came along everyone laughed about his notion that alternative current (AC could be suitable for providing electricity to homes and for transporting electricity over long distances . However, now, the main use of electricity in the houses and the way we transport electrical energy over long distances is AC’’

Costa’s own research lead him on to breathing techniques, which he says were transformative, completely curing him of his snoring issues, and says he now believes in breathing techniques as a wellness tool.

He added: “My belief is that, either you take responsibility and you look after your body and mind by living a healthy lifestyle, or your disrespect your body, do not treat it right and pay the consequences.

“I believe in prevention, rather than repairing after the damage has been done.

Now, at the age of 58, he runs marathons and his Garmin watch rates him as being in his 30s. “I believe that the right mindset, coupled with breathing and cold exposure have to do with the excellent physical and mental well-being I am enjoying, despite the many knocks my body has taken over the years,” he added.

Personal research

As well as his own training and research, Costas strongly encourages others to keep an open mind. He recommends this article into Harvard-led research on breathing plus testimonials from his own Wim Hof workshops as starting points.

You can find out more about what Mind Synthesis can offer in Doncaster and throughout Yorkshire, or over online sessions, by visiting the facebook page or via his official instructor page under the official Wim Hof Method website or his hypnotherapy profile page or visit www.mind-synthesis.com