Book 198 - A Year of Magical Learning (1 of 2)

Reflection Title: Now We Go into the Cold!

Book – The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential by Wim Hof (Part 1/2)

Book Description:

In his gripping and passionate style, Wim Hof, “The Iceman” shares his method and his story, including:

• Breath―Wim’s unique practices to change your body chemistry, infuse yourself with energy, and focus your mind

• Cold―Safe, controlled, shock-free practices for using cold exposure to enhance your cardiovascular system and awaken your body’s untapped strength

• Mindset―Build your willpower, inner clarity, sensory awareness, and innate joyfulness in the miracle of living

• Science―How users of this method have redefined what is medically possible in study after study

• Health―True stories and testimonials from people using the method to overcome disease and chronic illness

• Performance―Increase your endurance, improve recovery time, up your mental game, and more

• Wim’s Story―Follow Wim’s inspiring personal journey of discovery, tragedy, and triumph

• Spiritual Awakening―How breath, cold, and mindset can reveal the beauty of your soul

Wim Hof is a man on a mission: to transform the way we live by reminding us of our true power and purpose. “This is how we will change the world, one soul at a time,” Wim says. “We alter the collective consciousness by awakening to our own boundless potential. We are limited only by the depth of our imagination and the strength of our conviction.”

Reflection:

I’m not big fan of fads or gimmicks. I literally cringe every time I hear the word “life hack” which seems like it is everywhere on social media these days. There is a “life hack” for anything you can imagine surrounding health, nutrition, beauty, success in business, happiness, or finding balance. We hear of see an advertisement and we just can’t stop ourselves from believing it is real and being curious to learn more when we all know deep down there is no quick fix to anything in life.

This is exactly what I thought about Wim Hof the first time I heard about extreme athlete known as “The Iceman”. I saw people on LinkedIn and Facebook posting staged photos of themselves in a bathtub at a trendy looking resort and touting that “I practice the Wim Hof Method” and “Learn to Get Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable” and “I never get sick anymore since I started practicing the Wim Hof Method”! It felt like just another stupid gimmick I was happy to steer way clear of it and stay focused my values, my purpose, and Living for 2 in all I do.

As fate would have it, my journey and Wim’s teachings crossed paths in one of our books on this Year of Magical Learning Adventure. I was reading, Running with Sherman, and one of the main characters that was training to run the Pack Burro Race with Sherman (the donkey) and wanted to try and prepare to simulate the stressors of running at altitude in Colorado where the race was to occur. Since they were in Pennsylvania and couldn’t simulate the stressors properly of running at altitude, he was searching for anything he could to try and test and train his body to stressors he might experience. He had heard of this guy named Wim Hof and his teachings on how cold-water immersion can spark improved recovery, simulate stress, and improve focus. He started doing some cold-water immersion every day after their runs and soon began to speak its praises of its effects.

For whatever reason, this testimonial hit home for me. I don’t know if it was my love for the story (Running with Sherman was fantastic), or if it was my own personal desire to improve my own running performance, whatever it was, my curiosity was peaked. It felt like a good friend telling me that this fad might actually be a legit one and it gave me that little push to feel like it was okay to let my guard down and explore. So, I downloaded Wim’s book, and made it my next read.

After spending a few hours with Wim, learning about his life, his philosophies, and his techniques, I felt a kindred spirit. This poor guy had experienced his own trauma and pain and found his own way to turn it into purpose, sound familiar? Wim is all about exploring, being curious, living a life of purpose, and trying to help as many others as he can along the way. His passion and excitement sold me on giving him and his methods a shot.

I decided to use my next monthly challenge to do 30 days of the Wim Hof Method and see for myself what this whole cold immersion and breathing was all about and how it fit into my purpose of living for 2, if at all.

Here’s a quick rundown on what I signed up to do and the staples of the Wim Hof Method. Wim believes that the cold can do incredible things for your body. He also believes that we have the power to alter our body chemistry and train our heart / cardiovascular system through the power of our breath. That is the Wim Hof Method in a nutshell, daily cold water immersion and breathing exercises. For the cold water immersion, I was to take a shower up to take a cold shower up to 2 minutes each day. The breathing exercises consist of basically hyperventilating for a series of breaths and then holding your breath for as long as you can, repeat at least 3 times.

I have no idea what I’m about to get myself into, but let’s step into the cold and learn about what we found.

What I learned and my results to follow in Part 2.

Question: What does it take to make you feel comfortable enough to take a risk on something new?

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Links:

What is The Year of Magical Learning? An Introduction

YOML Podcast Discussion - Coming Soon

YOML Bookstore - The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential by Wim Hof