How I Started
Wim Hof Method
When you overcome something you initially believed was impossible - no matter how big or small - you gain a sense of satisfaction that very few things in life can give you. And it might be as simple as starting your day with a cold shower each morning.
I love saunas, hot steamy baths, radiators blasting any given hour and I indulge in the hottest showers possible that leave my body red like a lobster just pulled out of a boiling pot. Oh how much I love to burn my body like that!
All that however became a history in April when I discovered the Wim Hof Method, a breathing technique combined with cold exposure that claims to strengthen immunity. The author of this Method is Wim Hof, a Dutchman more commonly known as the Iceman, an extreme athlete who holds multiple world records to prove his insanity.
He climbed Mt. Everest and Kilimanjaro wearing only shorts, ran multiple marathons barefoot in the snow, swam 80 meters under thick layers of ice, and he can stay buried neck-deep in ice cubes for over 90 minutes. He found a way to condition his body that allows him to withstand extreme temperatures and he has been successfully teaching his method to others for years while being studied by scientists all around the world.
I had no place to be since the pandemic was raging, so I decided to give the Wim Hof Method a try and stick with it for 30 days. What do I have to lose?
The Wim Hof Method has multiple parts. First goes the breathing and then follows the cold exposure, which is done with cold showers to start with.
The cold shower was the biggest obstacle for me to embrace – physically and mentally, I hate the cold, remember? Regardless, here I was having my hot shower going and about to push the handle towards the cold.. Everything in me was screaming ‘No!’ But eventually I was able to silence that comfort-seeking spoiled little voice of mine and slowly drown it in the cold water. I moved the handle and along with it I moved my mind as well.
I didn’t know at that moment that I was about to change my life.
