Powerful words from Wim Hof, AKA The Iceman. Wim has climbed Mount Everest in shorts, officially swam under ice for 66 meters and hung on one finger at an altitude of 1500 meters for 25 seconds in winter.
Wim has also spent 80 minutes submerged in ice while being monitored. To measure his core body temperature Wim swallowed a pill. What was surprising is that his core body only dropped 0.3 degrees Celsius, from 37.7 to 37.4 degrees Celsius. Scientists are baffled by this exceptional performance as an untrained person will have their body temperature drop to dangerous levels after exposure to the extreme cold.
However, that’s not the most surprising find.
According to Science the Autonomic Nervous System Cannot be influenced by the Will
The autonomic nervous system controls functions such as your heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature and digestion. Well, it seems that Wim Hof taught himself how to control his autonomic nervous system. He looks be tapping into the hypothalamus, the area of the brain that regulates the body temperature.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Wim trains people in his methods and there’s one test in particular that I found really eye catching.
On March 23, 2013, 24 people were injected with a dead strain of Escherichia coli. This bacteria would normally induce a violent sickness for days. The 12 participants that were trained in the Wim Hof Method experienced not ailments whatsoever. The other 12 participants were affected severely.
Here’s the link to the study:
http://www.pnas.org/content/111/20/7379.full
This goes a long way to proving Wim’s claim that humans can consciously control their immune system.
Tapping into the Adaptive Power of the Body
The Wim Hof Method is based on breathing, mind-set and a gradual exposure to the cold. It seems there are health benefits to his breathing methods, you don’t need to be out to break records as it’s a way to form a better mind/body connection.
Firstly, the breathing:
Breathing is the easiest part of the autonomic nervous system to control. The way you breathe strongly affects the chemical and physiological activities in your body. Also, the amount of oxygen that we inhale through our breathing influences the amount of energy that is released into our cells. As a result the breathing technique is first and foremost based on inhaling deeply and exhaling without any use of force.
As explained by Wim Hof:
“By not breathing out entirely, you come to a point where a residual of air remains in the lungs. After doing this thirty times, you exhale again without any use of force. This time though, you don’t immediately inhale again, but wait with inhaling until you sense your body needs new oxygen. After this, the whole process starts again. While you start to sensations of lightness, laxity and tingling, these rounds are repeated a number of times”.
Wim instructs Joe Rogan on the method at the 8 minute point on the video at the bottom of this post. This process clearly changes the body’s chemistry.
The Mind-Set:
A strong mind-set is an important weapon. It’s where inner strength comes from. Concentration and meditation is an important part of this and if Wim did not concentrate like he does he would feel just as cold as anyone else would.
Download a free eBook explaining his method:
http://www.wimhofmethod.com/ebook-whm/
Watch Wim Hof on the Joe Rogan Experience. It’s over 2 hours long, but well worth the time. His efforts are opening some exciting areas of research.