A second person has drowned after seemingly performing an in-water meditation practice.
Aaron Pappas, a popular 43-year-old yoga teacher, died yesterday after drowning in a shallow pool in Sacramento.
Pappas was performing the Wim Hof breathing technique. The technique involves "controlled Hyperventilation," that is intended to oxygenate the body. Wim Hof, the creator of the breathing technique, says that you can then expel your breath and go at least two minutes before needing to inhale again.
On his website, Hof does issue the following warning: “Never practice it before or during diving, driving, swimming, taking a bath or any other environment/place where it might be dangerous to faint.”
Since Pappas' body was found alone in the bath, it is unclear exactly how he died. However, his girlfriend, Sarah Estabrook, thinks he tried the breathing technique while relaxing at the bath house.
Dr. Ken Johnson is an emergency room physician at Mercy Hospital in Folsom and a friend of Pappas. He said that had Pappas hyperventilated near the water, it is possible that he could have passed out in the bath. He also said that that anytime a person passes out in water, they will die unless someone is there to save them.
Read the full story at The Sacramento Bee