I’ve always been a masochist (thought of it has a temporary feeling that could be tricked to feel enjoyable) but the one thing I never dared to try to embrace was the cold. Having lived in California my whole life, my threshold for cold is far below the average human. Not to mention living in Los Angeles for four years where I would wear Uggs when the temperature dipped below 60 degrees. It’s embarrassing, but it’s true.

For those who are unfamiliar with Wim Hof, he is known as “The Iceman.” He received this nickname through breaking a series of records related to cold exposure such as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in shorts, running a half marathon above the Arctic Circle barefoot, and being emerged in a container filled with ice cubes for over 112 minutes. He attributes this due to his learnings from the cold which have enabled him to control his breathing, heart rate, and blood circulation to withstand such extreme temperatures. His mission is to aid others tap into their inner potential through the Wim Hof Method: a combination of breathing, cold therapy, and commitment to the task. The benefits that are able to be yielded from implementing this method include:

• More energy

• Immune system boost

• Natural anti-inflammatory

• Better sleep

• Increased sports performance

• Workout recovery

• Autoimmune disease relief

• Arthritis relief

• Fibromyalgia relief

• Post-treatment Lyme disease syndrome

• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) management

• Migraine relief

• Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients

• Asthma management

• Mental health improvements

• Stress relief

• Burnout recovery

• Cold tolerance improvement

• Depression relief

• Increased willpower

• Boost concentration

• Improve mind body connection

• Increased happiness

• Improved creativity

• Control the autonomic nervous system

• Boost endorphins

• Burnout prevention

• Stress control

After watching Yes Theory’s documentary on Wim Hof it dawned on me that I had 1/3 of his method down. The breath-work seemed so doable which left the 3rd and most daunting… gradual cold exposure. I took HOT showers. Not warm…HOT. I’m the one that can’t hang on roadtrips if I forget to pack an extra jacket. But I didn’t let this stop me because I knew that I only ‘feared’ the cold because of what my mind had experienced in the past. It didn’t think I was capable of surviving this test.

2 months later, I’m able to take FULL COLD SHOWERS (not when I wash my hair lol that’s next) and it HONESTLY ISN’T THAT BAD. The benefits were more than enough to get me started and what’s crazy/amazing is realizing that once you start something that you had written off as “impossible” your mind opens to so much more. This is me Seeking Discomfort which is one of my “Goal Buckets” (maybe link back to the blog post or IG post that talks about this) for this year and it’s been off to a great start!

My energy levels have been up overall – despite being in luteal last month I didn’t feel the lower energy levels or other effects as much at all (even my two best friends noticed that I had seemed like I was in estrogen for so long) and I’ve been able to really push myself during workouts – running & strength. The most exciting part is conquering something that I didn’t think I would be able to. It made me realize that it doesn’t always have to be something scary that can induce fear but that sometimes discomfort is fear in it’s own form and by embracing these challenging feelings, there is an untapped reserve of potential on the other side.

Sources:

“BECOMING SUPERHUMAN WITH ICE MAN - Wim Hof” YouTube, a YesTheory documentary, 18 February 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cvhwquPqJ0&ab_channel=YesTheory

Welcome to the Official Wim Hof Method Website, www.wimhofmethod.com/.