The Wim Hof Method, Wim Hof
I love a good self-help book, but this isn’t one that I would normally buy for myself. This book was a Christmas gift from my younger brother. I had heard of Wim Hof before though. A couple of months before Christmas I watched a video about him on vice. The video was interesting. This guy, Wim, took a group of people (who were only in swimming suits) to the top of a mountain in freezing cold weather.
I just thought Wim was crazy at first, but I did think what he was doing was purposeful and interesting. So, naturally, I was pretty intrigued to better understand Wim’s story when I received his book for Christmas. This book brought more than just insight into his personal story, but also into my personal physical struggles.
Short Overview
This book is all about Wim’s life story and how he came about the Wim Hof Method. I won’t describe his entire life, but I will say that he has been through a lot of life and stressful situations. And this method he created helped him work through his life.
His method is a three-pillar approach, in which he recommends people engage in 1) deep breathing exercise, 2) take ice baths/cold showers, and 3) do it consistently every day. So, what does this method help accomplish? It is said to help reduce illness.
He says on page 48, that within 10 days of doing this you can see results.
“First, your heart rate goes down, which means less stress. Then your vascular system wakes up and optimizes to its natural condition. You feel more alive. When you add the breathing practice to your regular routine, you can feel results immediately in the form of more energy, a sense of well-being. Alkalizing your body with the breath will start to reduce the inflammation that brings you pain. Both the breathing exercises and the cold train the vascular system and impact the biochemistry, although the cold is more about the vascular system and the breath is more about the biochemistry. The breath also regulates the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. This is integral for overall health and well-being. This is alchemy.”
The Wim Hof Method, 2020, pg. 48
By being able to breath, you provide your body with more oxygen for your cells, better transport vitamins and nutrients, and relieve your cells of biological stress. Ultimately, you alkalize your body, giving you peace.
In fact, his system is said to help ward off illnesses, including cancer autoimmune diseases, depression, etc. Check out more about his method on the Wim Hof website.
What I Liked
I enjoyed hearing his story and how he got to this method.
Wim radiates love throughout the book. Honestly, he shows how much he loves and wants to help people. He knows how many people in this world are struggling with various illnesses and how he has overcome the pain in his life, through this method. He described that his purpose in life is to share his method to help other people.
On page 103 of his book, he says…
“You don’t need external validation to try the method. You don’t need anything, really, except love. Love will restore the beauty of life to your consciousness, and you will then reflect it. You will radiate it, and it will attract others like a beacon.”
The Wim Hof Method, 2020, pg. 103
I just like the way he talks about love being the main life force and movement in people. I couldn’t agree more. I do think that people tend to lose that focus of, love over everything, as life, stress, and other obligations overcome their lives. So, I appreciate that Wim talks that way and gets that message across to the readers.
Wim writes it all in a way that is chill, informative, yet very understandable. He reiterates throughout the book how more research needs to be conducted on how impactful breathing and cold therapy can be for the body and fighting illnesses.
My Reflection
The ‘what’
This book opened my eyes into the power that breathing and putting natural stress on body can impact it. Particularly our cells. It amazes me how our bodies can heal themselves when we give it the enough of what it truly needs. It made me think about my own body and how I should improve on these things.
For starters, my breathing is very shallow. If that makes sense. It’s sad how hard it is for me to breathe in deeply. Maybe it’s because I sit in an office, hunched over a computer, most of the day that my posture is also affecting my ability to breathe effectively. Or maybe it’s stress from life and work, and the PTSD radiating from graduate school. Either way, I have a poor depth of breathing.
Also, I’m cold. I naturally feel cold most of the time. I like to wear a lot of layers and dislike feeling cold. When I’m at home, I want to bundle up in a sweatshirt and cuddle under a blanket. Interestingly, when I lived back in Washington, I could withstand the cold a little better. But since I moved south in 2015, I do not handle the cold as well as I once could. My hands and feet are almost always cold, and it takes me a while to warm up.
The ‘so what’
So what? So what?! So what, it’s my health!
It scares me how very shallow I breathe. What does that mean for my body, and my overall health? From what Wim describes in his book, oxygen is a VERY important part in helping our body naturally function, and can also help us overcome illness. When I think about how my stress or lifestyle is impacting my breathing, I get nervous that I’m not allowing my body to function properly. I’m sure that by being nervous about it, it then impacts my breathing. It’s like a circle that never ends!
I’m sure I’m not the only person in the world who feels this way. Breath is important and I know I need to take the time to focus on my basic body functions. By keeping my body functioning properly, I can keep my emotional self in a neutral mindset.
My ability to stand the cold, on the other hand, makes me realize how much my body is a great place to breed negative cells! I’m not sure what those negative cells might be. Maybe a hereditary gene that, when mixed with certain environmental factors (like allowing less oxygen into the body), can turn into an illness? Or maybe there is a virus or bacteria living inside me that is slowly growing because I am not putting my body into a state of stress to naturally fight off those things?
These may be far-fetched, but not impossible. Our bodies are complex! I am not doctor (at least not a medical doctor) so I’m not sure I’m using the right language to describe these things or how they work. But I do believe that more oxygen and cold therapy could positively impact the body.