9 Extraordinary Superpowers That Literally Everybody Has

2. Your Brain Can Warm Your Body

Tibetan monks are renowned for being able to exercise extreme levels of self control (it's sort of part and parcel of being a monk). One particularly impressive feat of mind-over-matter is performed by a group of monks who claim to be able to dry wet sheets wrapped around their bodies in sub-zero temperatures, they apparently do this by manually raising their body temperature through meditation. The practice, known as Forceful Breath, involves special breathing patterns and visualisation of flames and fire on different parts of the body. It was taught to some non-meditating Westerners as part of a study investigating the claims of the monks and, whilst they weren't able to act as some kind of human tumble dryer, they did manage to raise their body temperatures a little. Studies into this phenomenon are still ongoing and it's not yet clear what the actual mechanism behind it is. The results do seems to confirm that there is a psychological element to it, with the Forceful Breathing raising body temperature and gentle breath meditation maintaining it, but the effects could also be compounded by the changes to respiration and muscle contractions which could also contribute to an elevated body temperature. The next time you're freezing your backside off waiting for a bus, give it a go and let us know the results in the comments.