I am an affiliate of the Wim Hof Method, which is still a part of my daily life six years on. I’ve recommended it to pretty much all my family and friends and highly recommend it to you too, especially as there is currently 35% off. It’s for anyone looking for the ultimate course in boosting all areas of your physical, mental and spiritual health, and think this should be taught in every school.
Become Strong, happy and healthy — Wim Hof
The Wim Hof Method in a nutshell — Inner power
This is what the Wim Hof Method is all about for me.
Inner power.
I started practicing the Wim Hof Method after completing the Classic 10 Week Wim Hof Course. Six years later, I’m still doing it, and can’t imagine it not being a part of my daily life.
I wanted to revisit writing about the Wim Hof Method because it has been one of the most empowering courses I’ve ever done and I was keen to share my experiences of practising it long term.
All my previous posts have focused on the results I got during the course, but it’s so much more than a 10 week programme if you want it to be. I believe this method has the power to completely transform your life when it becomes a part of your daily routine.
If you’re new to the Wim Hof Method, images of people having ice baths, deep breathing or running across snow barefoot, might spring to mind. As incredible as all of this is, if I was to summarise what this practice is truly about in just two words, it would be inner power — something perhaps not as easily measured or photographed as it’s so subjective
Wim Hof who created this method holds Guinness World records for being able to withstand freezing temperatures; he’s run marathons barefoot across vast snowy landscapes, and is now committed to creating a revolution in health with his method by working with scientists and top universities to show that we can do more than we previously thought was possible.
If you’re reading this and you’re new to his work, here are a few videos explaining the science behind the Wim Hof Method.
Here’s a short video demonstrating how the Wim Hof Method influences your immune system
What does the Wim Hof Method entail?
Through physical exercise, breathing techniques, cold therapy, meditation, and a philosophy of inner power, you’re taken on a journey deep into yourself to help bring about greater overall health and strength, and, ultimately, happiness on a day to day basis.
Who is this practice for?
Short answer. Everyone!
I remember going to a live Wim Hof event at the Roundhouse in London and thinking I’ve never been to an event ever where everyone attending was so diverse. The girl next to me shared the same belief saying it’s funny how everyone is here to just breathe.
It’s obviously important to seek medical advice if you’re in doubt, but this practice genuinely is for everyone.
My story
About to jump into the North Sea for a swim in February 2019.
A few years ago, I developed a temporary health condition which I won’t go into detail about in this post as I feel it’s quite personal and I also don’t want to create any illusions or give false hope in relation to specific health concerns.
However, I would like to share this.
I remember the day I got my test results back over the phone. I initially suddenly panicked as I wasn’t given any time to think.
In one moment I felt like I had no options other than to do what I was being told. But this left me feeling really powerless and afraid.
My response was to ask if I could be retested in a few day’s time. They agreed.
That evening, I went back home, to do the most meditative Wim Hof session I’ve ever done along with some cold water exercises for my hands and feet.
After the power breathing I went into an incredibly deep and powerful meditation. After practising the power breathing exercises I’m always able to go into a deeper meditative state.
Along with the Wim Hof Method exercise, I’d also remembered a book one of my friends had called The Journey by Brandon Bays. I remembered one of the healing meditations from it and chose to do it after the Wim Hof power breathing to see if I could gain any insight into what was going on.
In my meditation I took my awareness to the part of my body affected and received a very personal lesson that gave me the confidence to realise this condition was going to quickly go away.
In the book, I learnt that through meditation you can tune into a part of your body and actually learn what the condition has to teach you. Whether you believe in this or not, I was keen to give it a go.
I’ve always been a big believer in our bodies storing and holding onto emotions and when I did this, the emotion of anger came up in the part of my body I was focusing on — it centered around many moments over the years where I hadn’t healthily expressed this emotion.
In addition to the Wim Hof Method and meditation, I also made sure I was eating really well and took additional iron supplements, after being told this was OK to do so.
To cut a long story short, my test results did go down after a few days. And in just over a week, I was completely healed, as if I’d never had this condition in the first place. According to the current understanding, this isn’t supposed to be possible. The medical professionals around me had also never witnessed this happening before.
I’ve been hesitant to write about this, because there’s no way of knowing what actually went on here. Perhaps it was down to increasing my iron intake, maybe the meditation healed me, maybe it was just a fluke. A big part of what I think happened though is down to belief. People write off the placebo effect sometimes by saying, “Oh it was just the placebo effect”, but even so, if it was, it’s still powerful.
On some level I wanted to trust that I could heal myself. The Wim Hof Method certainly doesn’t present itself as a cure all, but i think it definitely helps you to get your power back. It’s about going deeper, discovering your true nature, and realising that you’re more than what you think you are.
I think by sharing this story — I hope it gives you an idea that this isn’t just about being able to control your body’s temperature or become healthier — it’s about reclaiming your inner power.
Most importantly though, I love the Wim Hof Method as a daily practice. I no longer time my breathing or try to push myself to stay in the cold for longer. This has just become a daily ritual that sets me up for the day, because isn’t this what it’s all about — maximising the moments and feelings of joy and happiness in day to day life, being more playful, and not taking life too seriously.
My Wim Hof Method videos
Here are some of my videos relating to the Wim Hof Method which you might find useful.
Final thoughts and what can you expect from the Wim Hof Method?
All the Wim Hof courses will take you on a profound journey over a series of weeks, or however long it takes you to complete the course. You will also have access to the course for life, so you can also do it as many times as you like or repeat certain modules if you feel you need to.
As you do both the classic and the fundamentals course, the weeks progressively become more challenging, and you’ll notice measurable changes. Almost straight away, you’ll probably be able to hold your breath for longer, and over time, actually enjoy spending longer immersed in cold showers.
It was really encouraging seeing all the progress I was making as I noted everything down in my workbook.
After doing the first course I wrote about the physiological, physical, spiritual and mental effects of the Wim Hof Method which you can read more about here.
I’ll also share again that at the time, I was working with some nutritionists, who measured my estimated metabolic age part of the way through the course. At the time I had an estimated metabolic age of 14 which was 15 years younger than my then actual age of 29.
It would have been great to see what my readings were before starting to actually verify whether the Wim Hof Method was the reason, but I thought it was worth sharing.
As you read reviews of the Wim Hof Method courses, you can get a good idea of some of the results other people have got which will vary hugely from person to person depending on what you need most right now and who you are.
Both courses have been carefully designed to accommodate all physical levels, and once the course has finished, you will be free to create a daily Wim Hof Method routine that works for you and your body.
For example, the physical exercises can easily be incorporated into an existing movement practice, such as yoga or even done before running. The breathing exercises must always be done sitting or lying down but again, they can easily be incorporated or practised alongside any other breathing exercises you do. For example, I also practise certain pranayama breathing techniques too.
Make sure you’re not in water for the breathing exercise though. That’s really important. As for the cold exposure, this can be easily done as part of your daily shower. For example, after my regular shower, I will turn the shower to cold. For ice baths, they’re really easy to set up in your bath or any larger container or chest you have. You can check out my ice bath video above for more details.
So, if time or resources are an issue, this is a practice that you can do at your own pace and should fit effortlessly into your day to day life.
Finally, the best way of seeing how this will work for you, is to take one of the courses. You can start with the Free Wim Hof mini course here.
If you go ahead, I’d love to hear how you get on. Use coupon code COVID35 to get 35% off the course.
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