My Cold Shower Burst: Purchasing a Book On a Wim
I’ve read an unimaginable number of books over the course of my life — some inspiring, others not so much.
“The Wim Hof Method” by Wim Hof falls into the former category of reads. In fact, I’ll go out on a limb and say that it is the most life altering book I’ve poured through in years.
If you are seeking to maximize your potential while creating a rhythmic hum to your existence then this badass book is for you!
Born in Sittard, Limburg, Netherlands as one of nine children, Wim Hof is the ultimate life experimentalist whose peak health practices are soaring in popularity throughout the world. Here is a brief description of the Wim Hof approach in his own words:
“My method, which I have developed and refined over the course of nearly forty years, is based on three simple, natural pillars: cold exposure, conscious breathing, and the power of the mind.”
A few months ago, I downloaded his book on my Kindle on a whim (no pun intended). Now I am beyond obsessed with his practices.
Let me first share a little about the cold exposure element which he is most known for.
Realizing that what one reads is only as good as what one applies, I decided to take my first dive into the world of frigid showers a couple of months ago. Taking his advice to do this incrementally, I turned down the warm water that first morning while trying to prepare myself for what I was about to encounter.
Well…….I’m not going to lie. That first first jolt of cold water was no fun. In fact, it made me clench up into a rigor mortis position. So after 30 seconds, I decided to get the hell out of the shower. And I damn near slipped and broke my neck doing so.
But here is the good news: As of this morning, I am up to a 3-minute cold shower which feels AMAZING! As Wim Hof puts it:
“When you go into the cold water, you’re no longer thinking about your mortgage, your next meal, your emotional baggage. You’re not caught up in your thoughts. It’s freezing, and you’re just surviving.”
Next up is the conscious breathing aspect of the Wim Hof Method, which is covered in a chapter of the book entitled BREATHE MOTHERF*CKER. I have repurposed this element a bit by engaging in a meditative breathing practice I call my “Tantric Sex Meditation.” I’ll leave the remainder of this to your imagination.
The third part of his method, “The Power of the Mind”, speaks to the importance of mindset in reaching peak levels of performance and success. In this part of the book, Wim Hof exposes his unique brand of spirituality which is equally humanitarian and a bit freakish. Here he offers as much shock value as stepping into a ice cold shower for the first time.
So at this point you may be wondering what prompted me to embrace this book. In short, it reflects an expansive phase I’m currently in relative to my life, tied to my desire to utilize discomfort in pursuit of a no holds barred existence.
Bottom Life — I’ve decided that an average life is no longer acceptable to me. This is tied to a professional aim of lifting my journalistic passions to world-class, elite status.
Achieving this next level of my expansion, I have come to realize, will require an exponential boost to my mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual state. It’s here where I am inspired by the likes of current and former athletes like Tom Brady, Michael Jordan, and Usain Bolt who attribute their sustained levels of success to the exquisite care of their bodies.
This is where the Wim Hof Method comes in. This excerpt in his book say it best:
“Performance comes from the feeling that you have all the energy you need to achieve your goal. For that you need sleep, less stress, the food that is right for you, but you also need the right biochemistry, the right breathing. You need to give your body the right tools for recovery, otherwise you can easily put yourself at risk. To me, performance is life itself. If you live your life, feel well, and follow your passion from the heart, then who can stop you?”
So far, the results I’ve accrued have been breathtaking. I haven’t felt this alive in years. Here’s what I’m experiencing:
Greater Vibrancy: Cold showers combined with conscious breathing leave me vibrating with energy: Wim Hof says that this practice has the effect of fully activating your vascular system highway along with significantly decreasing your heart rate to as little as fifteen to thirty beats per minute. Even better, he says, you can literally remain in this state twenty-four hours a day.
Great Sustained Energy: Wim Hof is a huge advocate of regulating your energy through breath and consciousness without all of the woo woo stuff. And then he offers this: “Cold showers are the gateway to flow and energy and peace. I’m not exaggerating. It’s the entry point from which you will learn the power of the mind over the body. If you do just ten days of cold showers after warm showers, meaning that you end your regular, warm showers with a minute or so of cold water, then you will be able to command your vascular system to close up when you go into the cold.”
Focus: Since employing the Wim Hof Method my mental focus has been off the charts. He refers to this as“ spirituality of the mind,” a calmness, he says, equips you to better handle any form of distraction or stress.
Less Reactive: 2020 was a tough year for me in terms of wanting to react to others opinions about everything from the racial climate in America to the Covid vaccine. But since embracing the Wim Hof Method, I’ve noticed that I’m far less inclined to want to react and argue with people who hold an opposing viewpoint. Wim Hof describes this peaceful, non reactive flow in his book when he asserts: “The brain begins to ‘cool down,’ and blood slowly flows deeper into it. If that blood reaches the limbic system, it is possible to achieve a level of deep meditation that only seasoned mindfulness practitioners of many years have been known to realize.”
Immune Boost and Reduced Inflammation: When Covid first hit the radar I immediately began pursuing a regimen for creating an ironclad barrier for my immune system. Now I’ve come to discover that among the many scientifically proven benefits of The Wim Hof Method is one’s ability to capture an immune boost. Hof also asserts that first cleansing yourself with the breath and the cold, allows you to alkalize your body, which can significantly reduce inflammation and the myriad health conditions tied to it.
Food Craving: I’m still experimenting with this in combination with my BulletProof lifestyle plan. Wim Hof says: “If you immerse yourself in nature, in the elements, so much that your body is working in its depth and all the senses of your being are truly activated, and you eat only when your body requires it as opposed to at fixed meal times, you will find that your appetite shifts in such a profound way that even dry oats become like a feast.”
The broader message of the “Wim Hof Method? — We grow from our discomfort.
This theme is best articulated by Alan Stein, Jr. who is the author of another book I’m presently reading entitled Raise Your Game: High Performance Secrets From The Best of the Best. In it he says: “There is no reward for playing it safe. The most successful people thrive in discomfort.”
Wim Hof closes his book with this excerpt which I love:
“Take a cold shower. Do the breathing. Activate your vascular system. Change your biochemistry. Follow the breath. Lean into it. The breath goes everywhere, and it will lead you where you need to go. Let go of your ego and instead reflect that which connects us, which is love. Let go of your thoughts and your stress and open up to your heart. It is only when you let go that you will truly be able to reconnect with the universe, with nature buried deep within your cells. Let go and allow your soul to rise in your consciousness. The soul is eternal, indestructible, and perhaps most importantly, incorruptible. Let go and become the king or queen you were meant to be. I know you can do it. I believe in you.”