Tulku Lobsang is one of the great Buddhist teachers of the tantric tradition. He was born in a small town in eastern Tibet, but has lived in Vienna for more than a decade. On this occasion, he assists us by video call from India. There he lived much of his life, where he moved from a very young age to meet the Dalai Lama and train as a Tibetan teacher. With a calm and slow voice, he does not stop smiling throughout the interview. “Tummo transforms everything, it is a medicine for all problems,” he says as soon as he begins.
Although this type of Tibetan meditation has as its main focus the creation of an “internal fire” that can increase body temperature, its benefits go far beyond this sensation of “warmth” that some say they experience. According to Lobsang, “thanks to this meditation, we enjoy a much clearer mind. It calms us, appeases us and recovers that happiness that we often forget along the way.”
The process consists of a mixture of breathing and visualization that must be strictly trained. “The first step is to visualize a flame four fingers below the navel. The objective is, little by little and with a lot of training, to be able to move it throughout the body so that a sensation of pleasant warmth floods us.” This warmth, he says, is the key to combating the cold.
The negative effects of the cold, according to official Public Health sources, begin to be noticeable at relatively moderate temperatures: between 4 and 8 degrees Celsius. All living organisms experience the consequences: tremors, exhaustion, difficulty speaking, drowsiness or confusion are just some of them. But what would happen if we were able to control, through deep meditation exercises, all these consequences, even in the naked eye? The answer is in the Tummo.
In 1981, Herbert Benson, then a doctor at Harvard Medical School, traveled to the Himalayas to find out. He went to meet three Buddhist monks, who had been living almost in solitude for almost a decade in unheated and insulated stone huts, at altitudes of almost 2,000 meters. They had been practicing Tummo, a secret meditation technique, every day for several years. Dr. Benson placed thermometers on various parts of each monk's body, during or after meditation.
In a study published in the prestigious journal Nature, he reported that, while meditating, monks could increase the temperature of their fingers and toes by up to eight degrees Celsius. Until then, scientists had previously documented the possibility of a person warming their own limbs using biofeedback, but those temperature increases had been very slight. For the first time, there was clear evidence of an increase in heat solely with the use of one's own body.
The masters of this ancient practice, of Tibetan origin, claim to be able to control body temperature in situations of extreme cold. “Our body, as a general rule, is colder than it should be. With Tummo we do not raise our temperature as if we had a fever episode, but we are able to spread a homogeneous warmth that allows us to resist the consequences of low temperatures,” highlights Tulku Lobsang.
In a report for National Geographic, Lobsang appears in a cocktail bar made of ice dressed in a short-sleeved T-shirt and floor. Not even an iota of his body seems to feel the cold of the room. It's five degrees below zero. The famous actor Morgan Freeman enters the room, wrapped in a huge white fur coat and with a clear grimace of discomfort on his face. “Are you not ignoring the cold, but changing your body temperature?” he asks. “That's right, through breathing and visualization,” Lobsang answers. “I'm from Mississippi and I hate the cold. My nose is freezing right now. "I'll wait for you outside!" Freeman concludes with a laugh.
It is a practice of Tantrayana Buddhism that, according to the scriptures, is one of the three main paths (yana) of this philosophy. The most notable thing about this discipline is that “the body is used to work with the mind,” says Tulku Lobsang. “Air retention is worked a lot during practice. If trained correctly, one can go several minutes without needing to breathe.”
Cold resistance has become fashionable among some of the meditation and mind control gurus. This is the case of Wim Hof, one of the most media-friendly self-proclaimed “masters” on the current scene. The success of his teachings, he says, lies in three basic pillars: breathing, exposure to the cold and commitment. His breathing method has some similarities with the ancient Tibetan technique, but “adapted to the modern world,” as he himself says. “It is scientifically proven that through these exercises, inflammation in the body decreases and we recover optimal energy levels to face the challenges of everyday life.”
The results of a 2018 study on the Wim Hof method, published in the journal NeuroImage, discovered that the athlete “is able to use his mind to artificially induce a stress response in his body that helps him resist the effects of the cold.” ”. That is, he “activates an internal analgesic function by performing breathing exercises and then exposes himself to a threat such as extreme and sudden cold.”
In relation to cardiovascular benefits, another study published in Nature in October 2023 concluded that “its positive effects on cardiovascular and psychological parameters cannot be confirmed, as is usually stated.” In the latter, 42 people participated and carried out the Wim Hof practices for 15 consecutive days.
“My experience with the Tummo has been truly transformative. “I have experienced profound changes, release of physical tensions and a light and pleasant warmth that spreads throughout the body.” Sonia Y. has been practicing Tummo since 2016. She began as a disciple of Tulku Lobsang and is now dedicated to spreading the teachings and methods of her lineage as a Tibetan yoga teacher at her own school, located in Bigues i Riells (Barcelona). ).
Despite the benefits it has brought him, he points out that it is essential to get started in these methodologies through a certified and recognized professional. “Before embarking on any practice, it is essential to receive guidance from expert Tummo teachers. Tulku Lobsang is a clear example of this: he has been teaching, practicing and spreading this meditation practice throughout the world for more than 25 years.” Above all, we must avoid doing it on our own or in centers that are not accredited for it.
