As a teen, I once jumped into a freezing lake and did a headstand, but that was just for attention, not the health benefits. Since then, the only time I've willingly entered a very cold body of water was either to do a triathlon in a lake (a one-time thing), or to go swimming with my kids (because moms have to). But since learning about Wim Hof's methods, I'm now taking an almost-daily freezing cold shower and am actually liking it.
A couple of months ago, I'd never heard of the Dutch extreme athlete, Wim Hof. I soon gained my first exposure to him via Mikhaila Peterson's podcast. Jordan Peterson (my intellectual hero) was there on the show, which made me happy, so I leaned in for a listen.
I learned that there was someone very cool out there that I'd never heard of (Mr. Hof). I also wanted to learn more, therefore, I obviously began scouring YouTube for data. Which (also obviously) lead to purchasing Wim Hof's book on Audible.
I made it through the book in less than a week, mostly while out on long walks in my neighborhood. It was cold outside, but I just imagined that I was an extreme Dutch athlete and that made me feel braver, which lead to me not wearing a jacket and feeling special about not wearing one.
His book tells his personal story of how he came to developed his ideas. You learn about his strange childhood, and the sad twists of fate he experienced in adulthood that ultimately lead to the full development of his ideas. He is a strong, intelligent, out-of-the-box thinker who loves his family, loves his health, and is trying to help the world in the best way he knows how. I found him to be a good, sincere person. He wants to help people take control of their health without having to unduly rely on a bloated and ineffective health care system.
For you fans out there, he does not mention his "frozen cornea" episode, which disappointed me. He does discuss his Everest climb and the New York ice dunking stunt. (If you haven't known that these things are a thing, just know that they are, and that Wim is crazy, and that he froze his corneas swimming under ice, and that he climbed Everest wearing not much, and that he sat in a vat of ice in the streets of New York once...all of which I find very interesting.) He gives the background to the study where he was injected with E. coli.
Here are a few bullet points from my reading, and if you are in love, then get the book. If you are totally fulfilled after reading this, you probably don't need it. :)
Wim Hof's Life Sketch (guaranteed 90% accurate due to me reading it a month ago):
Wim was an eccentric child, born in the Netherlands; he was a twin, who from the start had no desire for a normal life or a normal education
He was weirdly drawn to the cold, and twice almost died as a child due to hanging out in freezing temperatures until he fell asleep
He lived basically as a semi-homeless nomad for years as a young adult, experimenting with yoga, meditation, and cold exposure. kind of the ultimate hippy
He met a woman and had a deeply spiritual connection, they eventually married
He struggled to find ways to provide, as he was not into normal careers
She became seriously mentally ill and eventually killed herself after they had several children
He pondered on her struggles for decades as he raised his kids and continued experimenting with cold exposure and breathwork
Eventually, he became convinced that his evolving method of breathing and cold exposure could cure various ailments or at least strengthen the body
He got into extreme sports, such as swimming under glaciers, and elite mountain climbing with little clothing to protect him
People called him an anomaly, but he believed anyone could learn to control their body as he has
He started teaching his methods in Poland to enthusiasts/disciples
Scientists started studying him for his resilience to cold and infection
Scientists validated his methods
He began to get a name for himself after the New York public ice immersion experiment
He wrote books and appeared in various media, which continues today
He now has a massive and devoted following
That's the bio portion. But he also explains his ideas. Here are the basics.
Wim Hof's Ideas & Method:
Much mental and physical health today is preventable
Greater alkalinity in the blood and greater surface circulation increase the body and mind's resilience
These are both achieved by his method of breathwork, cold showers, and meditation
Breathwork includes daily deep breathing, three sets of 30-40 deep breaths, each set followed by holding the breath as long as you can, followed by a deep inhale held briefly to recover, which changes the blood chemistry
Cold exposure consists of a daily cold shower of 2 minutes, which radically brings circulation to the skin, strengthens the micro muscles and capillaries, and exhilarates and strengthens the psyche (not his words..... mine)
Meditation was very briefly described as taking a positive intention at the end of the breathwork; basically setting your sights for the day
My Experience:
My husband and I have been doing the breathing and cold showers for the last month, in the mornings, before going about our day. We also do a little yoga, prayer, and scriptures too, so we have our own "full protocol." We love it.
The cold showers are awesome. Nothing wakes you up quite like a freezing, cold shower. My husband often sings Christmas songs during this portion of our "practice" and when I asked him why he said it just felt appropriate because of the cold. I find that extremely funny. He also sings in a semi-soprano voice. Which is also funny. And he sounds pretty good which leads me to think that cold showers are overall good for the singing voice.
We both feel like the cold showers help us feel greater mental clarity. And they put us in a good mood. Which is totally counter-intuitive since I would never seek out a cold shower of my own volition. Nor would he, since he has historically sworn by long, hot showers (which has had concerned me due to the industrial over-consumption of water resources in the desert in which we live, but I've tried not to make a marital issue out of it).
As for the breathing, I do feel clear and focused after I do it. It's like any discipline: hard to get into, but afterward, you feel great.
Holding the breath, at first, was scary for me. I've never been one to "try" to hold my breath like in a contest or anything because that seemed pointless and unpleasant. But now I started putting a little effort to hold it longer and longer.
Eventually, I started having some of those experiences Wim described where you felt really peaceful during the breath-hold. A few times I've even felt that floating feeling. That was lovely. Generally, that happened when I pushed myself to hold longer than I wanted to.
I didn't feel much benefit when I was a wimp and gave in at 45-second holds.... eventually I was able to do 2 minutes, which was a lot of fun. But every day is different, and I'm not always in the mood to be my own hero, like today, where I could barely make it to a minute.
Just for fun, I've tried the breathing method while walking, sitting, and lying down. Definitely easiest to do lying down. But I get less bored when I do it walking.
One day I had a panic attack. I decided to try breathing to see what would happen. I laid down and did the technique for probably 40 minutes. I definitely felt a lot better. It got me through and calmed me down. I particularly liked the breath-holding because that was a peaceful feeling.
I'm still trying to understand how it all works, so I'm now listening to a new Audible book, "Breath" by James Nestor, an investigative journalist, who I am pretty sure was inspired to write his book because of Wim Hof. He writes a thorough narrative and talks to a lot of scientists. I've never known that breathing affects sleep, immunity, and jaw/teeth formation. I also learned a new word: pulmonaut. That is a person who studies breathing as ancient art and uses it to overcome health issues.
Bottom line: I believe Wim Hof's methods are helpful. I have tried them, and they have improved my alertness, mood, and general well-being. I'm not a morning person, so the cold showers are definitely a boon because I'm far less of a zombie.
Hopefully, these methods will help with longevity as well. I'd love to make it to 100 years old. I've read the pseudo-studies on centenarians and the practices they swear by. They cite the strangest things ranging from daily smoking to staying single to having a good sense of humor. Most of these practices I find spookily "unapplicable" in my own life (mostly smoking and staying single). And I honestly can't wait to see how long Wim Hof makes it. I'm hoping he lives a long time and validates what he's doing because I think he's on to something.
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