'Cold therapy' workshop with ice baths and yoga launched by Northampton man who climbs mountains in his shorts

Daniel Beckitt, 35, from Overstone, who was recently spotted doing yoga in the snow during Storm Emma, says he can teach others how cold therapy and breathing exercises can help chronic pain and disorders.

He is the Midlands' first instructor of the Wim Hof Method, based on the theories of a Dutch extreme athlete with 26 world records, and is launching the workshop out of a Kingsthorpe Yoga Studio.

Daniel said: "I recently qualified as a 'Wim Hof Method' instructor. Part of the course involved climbing Mount Szeska in Poland for two-and-a-half hours in minus 20 degree wind chill temperatures in just shorts and a hat.

"I struggled with chronic asthma for years but after 10 months on the Wim Hof method, this was the year I threw all my medication away."

He claims the Wim Hof Method - a combination of cold showers and "controlled hyperventilation" breathing exercises - teaches the body how to relax and be comfortable in the cold, theoretically bolstering the immune system and teaching positive thinking.

Now, Daniel has launched one of the UK's only Wim Hof workshops in Northampton.

The five-hour group session teaches breathing techniques, the history behind the method and ends in an optional complete-immersion ice bath.

Daniel said: "It can help people with auto-immune diseases and conditions such as chronic asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, M.S, anxiety, depression, bi-polar and PTSD. It has significantly improved my own chronic asthma. It also creates more focus, creativity, peace and well-being.

"I'm hoping to eventually approach the Northampton Saints to invite them on the course."

Daniel launches his first workshop at the Om Yoga studio in Kingsthorpe this Sunday (March 18).

For more information on Daniel's workshop, visit his Facebook page.