Wim Hof was in Australia and I took my chance to get a workshop with him. It was a great experience and I’ve been practising it daily since then, but let’s cover some basics first. Note: this is just for my future reference and brings somewhat limited information value.
Who is WIMHOF?
He is the ICEMAN! Amazing guy, breaking world records (I think he holds 26 or so), he ran a marathon under polar circle in nothing but shorts, he was sitting almost 2 hours in ice, he climbed Mt Everest to Death Zone point in shorts – he said the cup of tea was pretty good there :). These are just a few examples of what he has done. For more info go to this website: http://wimhofmethod.com
note: WHM = Wim Hof Method
Why I went to his workshop?
- great inspiration for achieving goals,
- improve my own performance, immune system and mind control
- heal my injured leg
- meet new people
Workshop itself
Consisted of several parts:
- talking about his experience (crazy stories – cramps when climbing, lost orientation under the ice when diving and more)
- yoga warm up (few poses and stretches – general)
- doing the breathing (30, hold, 1in and hold 10s, 30, hold, 1 in and hold 10s, 30, hold and do push-ups, deep relaxing breaths / OHM resonation, enjoy)
- presentation about medical processes behind WHM with professor Marc Cohen – RMIT (note: his presentation is not online yet, but you can find other breath related materials at his website: http://drmarc.co/mind-body-and-breath/ )
- ice bath (breathing before and during the session in an ice pool, stayed in ice for 2 minutes-ish while breathing and keeping the control)
- q&a (great for personal questions)
My experience:
The workshop was great, well organised and managed to push through my limits. I did WHM at home but haven’t reached my limit until the day at the workshop. I believe doing it in a group and having that extra guidance definitely helped me to get to my edge. I experienced strong tingling in my body, euphoria and energy floating within. Since then, after a month of practising, I recall about 4-5 highly intense experiences while the others were more subtle.
Prior to the workshop I already practised:
- cold showers, ocean swims in winter, lakes in mountains, snow exposure
- breathing (not deep) in cold water, diving and mind control
My breathing experience goes somewhat like this:
- when: as an early morning exercise (at home, laying down on the bed) – no meals prior so I do it on an empty stomach
- side effect: light headed, tingling sensations – fainting (others might experience vomiting, losing control of urinal muscles and other cool stuff)
- hint: hold breath until “gasp reflex” (urge to breath)
- hint: inhale deep and exhale gently
- how:
30x deep breaths (in/out)- breathe out & hold,
- breathe in 1x and hold 10-15s
- breathe out & hold,
- 20x deep breaths
- breathe out & hold,
- breathe in 1x and hold 10-15s
- breathe out & hold,
- 10-20 deep breaths
- breathe out & hold,
- follow with push-ups (I started with 10, now do 25) but do as much as you can with no breathing!
- breathe out & hold,
- relax (sit or lay) and breathe using OHM (inhale and with exhale create sound “OHM” => resonation)
- feel and navigate the energy (“chi”) throughout your body
- enjoy the great feeling 🙂
Benefits:
Below are some of the benefits listed on WHM brochures. The ones that I experience are highlighted bold.
- energy increase
- better sleep
- better focus / determination
- overall wellbeing
- higher sport performance
- reduce stress level (bring tranquillity/peace)
- regulate your temperature
- recover faster
- feel more creative
- feel like a champ
Notes from the talk:
“MOTTO: HEALTHY HAPPY STRONG” – this is his motto he believes in and he also pointed out several issues that our society is facing and suggested to focus on these values to bring the better future.
“MOTIVATION” – limit set and done – Kilimanjaro – 28 hours = incredible achievement.
“CONFIDENCE and BELIEVE” – once he did it, he repeated it 10x
“CONTROL IMFLAMATION” – I practised breathing to fasten my recovery process and have achieved good results. Inflammation level was manageable and quickly gone.
“CONTROL TEMPERATURE” – skin example 33 vs 31 in cold – normal – cold – normal changing environment (experiment at laboratory proved his skills). I believe it is a combination of will and mind control (potentially supported by breathing) to be mastered over a long-term practising.
“COLD IS A TEACHER” – his favourite phrase and I would add, if COLD is a mind teacher, then CONCRETE is a bboys’ teacher :D.
“FIND the WAY to GO to your DEEPEST NATURE” – dig deep and push your limits.
“GET out of your comfort zone so particular proteins get activated”
“BLOOD with protectors from COLD” had no reaction to bacteria – pretty cool!
“YOUR HAPPINESS IS YOUR CHOICE”
“NATURE is PERFECT”
“NATURE IS YOUR TEACHER”
“PURSUE STILLNESS AND THEN THE OPPOSITE” – go from one extreme to another, so then anything above average becomes a piece of cake.
“Fear of death” = you have to focus, find the clarity and win, the way he improved heavily (dive a day before official recording) he meant to do 42 strokes, but ended up doing extra 6+6+x extra until he found the hole to get out, fighting for his life.
“Book: what doesn’t kill us” – amazon link I haven’t read it yet, on the to-do list.
WHM => apparently better outcomes than NLP, visualisation and other. It’s early for me to judge.
3 pillars of WHM:
- breathing
- cold therapy
- commitment
Personal comment:
I consider WHM as a part of personal development and essential tool for improving our well being. I do see positive results and continue to study other breathing techniques further. I recommend WHM to others but please do your research first (before you try) – there are plenty of youtube videos and website links available.
Here are just a few for your convenience:
1st-time WHM experience – 7 days – Sorelle Amore
Medical Mystery revealed – TedTalk – WimHof
Basic but a nice relax music with Wim Hof guided breathing
https://youtu.be/xAhAOTXHeNs
Interview with Laird Hamilton – big-wave surfer and innovator
Your new wallpaper 😉
