Book 199 - A Year of Magical Learning (2 of 2)

Reflection Title: What I found in the Cold!

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

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:

When I first began this monthly challenge centered around the Wim Hof Method, I honestly had no idea what I was expecting to find. I really had no goals, no idea of how I would define “success” when it was done, or even what value of mine that this breathing and cold immersion program could even possible align to after this was all finished. I wasn’t doing it for any other reason other than exploration and to satisfy my core value of challenging myself and beyond that…who knows?

That said, after the past 30 days+ of doing the Wim Hof Method, I think I just may have found a new activity that unlocked a new side of a value I didn’t think I would find.

What I found in the cold was…the here and now and a whole new side to the balance equation that I had been completely neglecting on this journey.

I don’t rank my core values, but if I did, balance would be #1. Balance is everything to me. Balance is equally spreading yourself over all the things you love to do in this world. Balance is not getting too deep into something that you become an expert. Balance is equal parts of knowing everything and not knowing anything simultaneously. Balance is just the right amount of fulfillment, but no more. Balance is meaningful work and meaningful relationships. Balance is consistency over intensity. Balance is sustainability!

If I’m going to live for 2 the rest of my days, I damn well need to find a way to do this for as long as I can, and Balance is my path forward.

I thought that I had gotten pretty damn good at this balance thing over the past 2 years of this Year of Magical Learning journey, turns out that I still don’t know anything (shocker). What the past month of practicing the Wim Hof Method demonstrated to me is that I’d totally forgotten about the here and now and the importance of just being in the moment side of the balance equation. For the past 2 years, I’ve recently discovered that I have been only primarily focused on balancing my molecule of more (dopamine) through my living my values, purpose, and mission with Emilia in my imagination, but I’d forgotten about connecting with the present moment.

There is a reason for that, the present moment can be terrifying. After Emilia passed away, I felt like my life was only living in the here and now and the misery of the moment. My imagination, curiosity, and future thinking had been wiped off the face of the planet by what my family had endured. The here and now of pain and suffering was all I knew, and I hated every second of it. Through this journey and fighting like Emilia taught me, I retook my imagination back from the trauma thief, discovered my purpose, and focused on living my values in all I did.

It worked.

By regaining my imagination, I found happiness through re-discovering my daughter and finding ways to live a life together again. All that is great and I’m proud of our journey, but it wasn’t until trying the Wim Hof Method that I realized how much I’d forsaken the here and now on my quest to regain my imagination and to run as far away from that place as I could. Wim brought me back…in a good way this time!

The moment that I walked into that first freezing cold shower, you have no choice but to focus on the here and now. Your whole being is forced into the moment. There is nowhere to run. Your mind and body have to work together to endure.

From the first day I tried the cold shower, it was exhilarating! Don’t get me wrong, it was not fun, and I still get a little nervous each morning when I walk into that freezing cold shower, but once you are fully invested…the mind and body connection feels empowering. You feel connected to the moment, your thoughts disappear, and your mind and body feel like they are working together in harmony to survive in that exact moment.

Then, you throw in the breathing program which consists of a series of hyperventilating breaths followed by a breath hold for as long as you can and then repeat for as many series as you’d like. Unlike the cold shower, at first I absolutely HATED this part of the Wim Hof Method. It felt like it took forever, I didn’t like how I felt during it, and I really wasn’t into it at all. I would feel worse after each session when I began. My head would be dizzy, I’d feel a little lightheaded, my heart felt like it was about to explode out of my chest, and my ears would be ringing. I thought, this just isn’t for me, but I’ll keep trying it because this is my challenge for the month, and we endure.

Then, the weirdest thing started to happen, after about a week and half, I really started to like the breathing exercises a lot. I began to feel great, energized, and stronger after each session. I also started to begin to enjoy just laying on my bed in silence as I held my breath. It felt so calming and connected to the moment. Your mind is trying to think about a million things, when you know you shouldn’t be thinking about anything at all while you fight to not breath and remain calm. It is an epic fight each time you try it and you end up learning how to just be, until you can’t. It is hard to explain, but it is worth it.

None of this experiment was about getting some specific result or goal, but it was pretty cool to see the progress over the past month+ as I slowly improved with each passing day. By the end of the challenge, I was averaging a 2:15 cold shower, my longest breath hold was 2:29, and I did 72 continuous pushups (after the breathing Wim encourages you to do as many pushups as you can). I was pretty proud of all of those, even though I don’t really know why?

Needless to say, I was pretty blown away by all of this experience. Most importantly, this challenge literally changed my definition of the meaning of the word balance to me. Before, balance meant equally living all of your values each day with the actions you preform. Now, my definition is broader. It is still that, but also making sure that you are engaging in balance between the future and the here and now everyday as well to help unlock a different side of the balance equation.

What I found in the cold is here to stay for the foreseeable future and I’m excited to welcome a new regular practice in my life as it aligns so well with my value of balance. That is the point of these monthly challenges, you never know what you might find at the end.

Question: How do you find balance between the future and the here and now?

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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