Next Level Soul Podcast Episode 250
Wim Hof joins Alex to talk about the method that carries his name. He shares how it grew out of years of private practice, why he calls the cold a noble force, how loss sent him into the water, and what he says happens when you go deep with the breath.
Key Takeaways
- Wim says he began going into the cold at 17 and kept it private for about 25 years.
- He calls the cold a noble force that brings his deeper self to the surface.
- He says a personal loss in 1995 led him to use icy water as a way to steady his emotions.
- He describes the method as breath, gradual cold and mindset working together.
- He sees cold and breath as a doorway to meditation and a deeper kind of spirituality.
- He invites everyone to try it once, with care, and decide for themselves.
Wim Hof, the Iceman, in his own words
Wim Hof is known around the world as the Iceman, and he arrives in this conversation with the energy of a man who has told this story many times and still loves telling it. Alex says he has tried many of the techniques himself and has seen their power. He wanted his audience to hear Wim describe it directly. What follows is Wim’s account of how a private habit became a global method, and what he believes it says about the human body, the brain and the spirit.
This page summarizes what Wim says in the episode. Breathwork and cold exposure are demanding, and nothing here is medical advice.
Seventeen, the cold and the first deep breath
Alex asks when Wim discovered the power of the breath. Wim says he was 17 when he first went into the cold. His body responded the way anyone’s does, with deep breathing, which he calls a natural reflex to draw in more life force. He noticed that breathing with control let him stay in icy water longer and longer.
He kept all of it to himself for about 25 years. People around him said that man goes into cold water and he must be crazy. Wim says he trained alone, loved it every winter and never got sick. That quiet stretch, in his telling, is the foundation of everything that came later.
From a newspaper article to the laboratory
Wim says a newspaper article in 1997 brought the first cameras. Television producers began to challenge him to do things outside in freezing temperatures, and he says he met every challenge. The shows took him to the Himalayas, the North Pole, Paris, London and beyond, and he set records along the way.
Then came the scientists. Wim says researchers wanted to test whether he could influence parts of the body that doctors had considered beyond conscious reach, including the autonomic nervous system and the innate immune response. He describes a study in which he stayed well after a bacterial challenge that normally makes people sick, and a later study in which people he trained showed similar control. These are Wim’s descriptions of the research, so please look to the published studies for the details. He adds that he is not special. He says he is a normal man who found something in nature and now wants to share it.
The loss that sent him into the water
Alex gently raises the tragic start of Wim’s story, and Wim answers openly. In 1995 he lost the mother of his four children in a devastating way, and he was left with the children, little money and a broken heart. He says the only way he could be present with that agony was to go into icy water, because in the cold there is no room for abstractions in the mind.
He says he began going into the water every day, very consciously, and that it gave him a way to steady his emotions so he could be there for his kids. Today, he says, his children are grown, two of his daughters are masters-trained and the family teaches the method together. His line for the moment is simple: out of the darkest of places a new flower can grow.
Why the cold, according to Wim
Alex asks why cold is so powerful for the immune system and the mind. Wim says that when you feel the cold you feel a power, and that you can learn to meet it from within. You do not just tolerate it. You activate yourself so strongly that the cold is met, and when you step out you carry a surge of inner energy that he says brings confidence, control and clarity.
He connects this to emotional pain too. When a loss or a low season arrives, he says, you are better off having an inner power to oppose it. He also talks about muscles. In the cold the body seems still, but from the inside everything moves, and he says the muscles become more functional rather than bigger. He offers his own endurance at 63 as an example.
Why the body warms up in the cold
Alex shares a moment from his own practice. During a winter cold shower he began the breathing and felt heat rising from inside, even though the water first hit like sharp pieces of glass. Calm came, then warmth. He asks Wim what that is.
Wim explains that the small muscles between the ribs begin to vibrate in the cold and generate heat that moves out through the blood. Because most of us rarely go into the cold, he says, we never build that tone, and any muscle you do not use you lose. He says he showed this in brain scans and other imaging, and that it is still little known. As always, these are Wim’s explanations from the conversation.
The deep brain and getting high on your own supply
Wim says cold reads as danger to the body, which wakes the deep brain at the brainstem. With that come the body’s own feel-good chemistry, which he lists as opioids, cannabinoids, dopamine and serotonin. His phrase for it is to get high on your own supply, and he contrasts that with a culture that reaches outward for relief.
Alex asks about adrenaline. Wim describes a short spike in the stress system as a reset that clears what should not be there, and he says it is a good thing when it spikes briefly and not when it stays long term. He also says the immune system returns toward its original factory setting. Alex adds that our ancestors lived in the elements, so their bodies were harder, since getting sick outdoors could be fatal.
The cost of comfort and the neglected skin
Wim returns again and again to what he calls comfort zone behavior. Life is more peaceful and people live longer, he says, yet we are dressed and sheltered all day, we move less and we eat and watch television in ways that leave us weak. He points to the skin, our biggest organ, and says it is rarely stimulated anymore.
His answer is to take the damn cold shower and activate the whole system, which he compares to a checkup. He says the blood flow that follows carries oxygen and nutrients everywhere, and he even jokes about what it does for the skin. Behind the humor is a serious claim from Wim: the answers are simple, natural and available to anyone.
The cold shower as a mindset muscle
Alex says a cold shower beats any cup of coffee, and he describes what the mind does at the start: it says get out, you are going to die. Stay ten seconds, then twenty, step by step, and you exercise a mindset muscle that carries into the rest of life, pushing you beyond where you thought you could go.
Wim agrees and widens the point. He says you are born with the capacity to overcome obstacles, and that school teaches facts but rarely this. He mentions young people facing depression and urges them to rely on control within the mind. He says he brings the same light to others that he found after his own dark time, because the knowledge belongs to Mother Nature and not to him.
Where the spiritual part lives
Alex points out that much of what Wim describes is physical, yet the idea of going within for answers is spiritual and thousands of years old. Wim says yes, absolutely. He explains that brain scans suggest the will can reach deeper layers of the brain that we usually think of as automatic, including areas tied to empathy, imagination, creativity and the sense of going past time and space.
For Wim this is why it matters to think about your purpose and follow your inner voice, even when society says you cannot. He says we are schooled to use only part of the brain, and an unused muscle fades. Then he says one of the sentences the episode returns to, that spirituality is who we are, and that we had better get spiritual.
Cold and breath as a form of meditation
Alex notes that in an ice bath you cannot think about traffic or problems, because you are completely in the moment. He asks whether Wim considers the method a meditation. Wim says absolutely. In his description, pure meditation moves attention from the thinking brain to the feeling brain, and cold or deep breathing forces that shift.
He adds that scans comparing breathing practice with long-term mindfulness suggested people reached deep areas of the brain quickly. Take that as Wim’s summary of the research rather than a promise. The practical point, for him, is that the body can be a doorway to stillness when the mind will not settle.
Breath across cultures and a psychedelic-like experience
Alex observes that breathwork has been taught for thousands of years, and that Wim added the cold. Wim agrees and names pranayama and the Maori breath traditions among the many cultures that honor the breath. In his view modern life has drifted from those traditions, and he brought them back adjusted for today and tested by science.
Alex also describes a long, deep breathing session that felt almost psychedelic. Wim says the body has its own inner chemistry that long, deep breathing can reach, and he links it to processing old experiences and fears in the depths. This is his personal framework and Alex’s personal experience. If you are curious, treat it as an invitation to learn from qualified teachers, not as a recipe.
Try it once, then decide
Alex asks what a listener at home could do. Wim points to the guided breathing app, which he says has been downloaded millions of times, and he says he does not promote anything. His message is direct: do not hold an opinion before you have tried it once. If it does not work, he says, blame me. If it does, stick with it and pass it on.
Please take that spirit with real care. Check with a doctor if you have any health concern. Do not practice deep breathing in or near water. Learn the method from the official guidance rather than from a summary like this one. The invitation is to explore with respect, not to push yourself past what is safe.
Fulfillment, God and purpose
In the closing questions Wim says a fulfilled life is what he is doing right now, bringing this knowledge to as many people as possible and ending unnecessary suffering. To his younger self he would say keep going, you are going the right way. He defines God as right here, right now, within us, and as love.
The ultimate purpose of life, he says, is to heal the world by bringing love and light. He ends by thanking Alex for using his window to reach so many people. It is a fitting close to a conversation that keeps pointing back to the same idea: the power you are looking for is already inside you.
Spiritual Takeaways
- Practice can teach you more than theory.
- Stillness can be found in unexpected places, even in cold water.
- Pain can be a doorway when you meet it with presence.
- The power you are looking for is within you.
- Questions are welcome. Curiosity keeps the practice alive.
Please enjoy my conversation with Wim Hof.
Guest Links: Connect With Wim Hof
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Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Wim Hof?
Wim Hof is a Dutch breathwork and cold exposure teacher and the creator of the Wim Hof Method. Media around the world call him the Iceman because of his cold-weather feats. In this conversation he says he is a normal guy who found something in nature and now wants to share it widely. The method combines breathing, gradual cold exposure and mindset.
What is the Wim Hof Method, according to Wim?
Wim describes the method as three parts working together: breathing exercises, gradual cold exposure and a mindset of commitment. He says it grew out of what he practiced on his own for decades. He also says it was later studied by scientists, which gave it credibility. This page shares his account and is not a how-to, so please learn the practice from his official teaching.
Why does Wim call the cold a noble force?
Wim says the cold ignites his deeper self and brings it to the surface, where he meets stillness. For him it is a teacher that asks you to go within instead of fighting the outside. He describes feeling deep peace once the first shock passes. He also says it gives him a power from within that he feels society has lost.
How did Wim begin cold exposure?
Wim says he first went into icy water at 17 and quickly noticed that deep breathing helped him stay in longer. He kept it to himself for about 25 years because people around him thought it was crazy. A newspaper article in 1997 changed that, and television challenges followed. He says scientists then began studying what he could do.
What did the scientists study, according to Wim?
Wim says researchers tested whether he could influence his autonomic nervous system and innate immune response, which doctors had considered out of reach for the human will. He says he then trained groups of volunteers who showed similar control in a study. These are Wim’s descriptions of the research, and the details are best checked in the published studies. Nothing here is medical advice.
What does Wim say happens in the body during cold exposure?
Wim says the muscles between the ribs begin to vibrate in the cold and produce heat, which is why Alex felt warmth rising during his cold showers. He also says the cold wakes the deep brain, which releases the body’s own feel-good chemistry. He describes it as natural and says modern comfort has let these abilities go unused. These are his explanations, offered in conversation.
Does Wim see the practice as spiritual?
Yes. Wim says that reaching deeper parts of the brain with the will opens access to empathy, imagination, creativity and a sense of going past time and space. He calls spirituality who we are, and he does not separate it from the body. He also describes cold and breath work as a form of pure meditation, because the thinking mind goes quiet.
Can I try this after listening?
Wim invites everyone to try it once and decide for themselves. He points listeners to the guided breathing app he mentions for a starting place. Breathwork and cold exposure are intense, so please speak with a doctor first if you have a health condition, never practice breathing exercises in or near water, and learn from the official sources. This is general information and not medical advice.
What does Wim say about God and purpose?
Wim says God is right here, right now, within us, and that God is love. He says the ultimate purpose of life is to heal the world by bringing love and light. He describes his own mission as ending unnecessary suffering. Alex asks everyone on the show these closing questions, and Wim answers with the same energy he brings to everything else.
Where can I watch or listen to this episode?
You can watch it ad-free on Next Level Soul TV using the link in the Listen section below. You can also play the audio right on this page or download the MP3. The full transcript sits further down the page if you prefer to read along. More conversations like this one are in the Next Level Soul Podcast archive.
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Follow Along with the Transcript
Wim Hof 0:00
Spirituality is who we are without a spirit, we stink in one day. So we better get spiritual and we are no longer stimulated through our biggest organ, which is our skin. Our skin is completely covered every day. That's why we have to prove, beyond belief, beyond speculation, that this is the new science that humans are able to tap into their immune system and autonomy, I think, is the right thing to bring massively to the humanity right now, if we just take the damn cold shower, we just activate all our system, and then it's done. It's like a jackup.
Alex Ferrari 1:04
I'd like to welcome to the show, Wim Hof, how you doing Wim?
Wim Hof 1:07
Oh, good. Oh, great to go.
Alex Ferrari 1:11
Thank you so much for coming on the show, Wim, I've, I've been such a fan of your work for many years now. I've, I've tried many of your techniques, personally, I've seen the power of them, and I I am all about helping you on your mission in this life, to get this information out to the world. And when I started this show a few years ago, I was like, I gotta get Wim on the show. I want my audience to be able to understand the power of what you do and how you do it. But before we jump into the Wim Hof Method. What was your life like before you began developing this method?
Wim Hof 1:48
Actually practicing the method. That is what I was doing while practicing, because you do not really know what you are doing, but it feels so good. It makes it make me strong. So I was already doing this at least 30 years before it got out and I got in a contact with a newspaper one day that was in 19 what was it? 1997 and they then came and made an article. And from there, television suddenly began to drop in, and then they began to challenge me, like, hey, yeah, what I can do outside in winter time, in freezing temperatures, without warming up, do all kinds of exercising, deep, freezing under the eyes, being outside, impossible. It is what this man is doing. But he is doing it amazing. They began to challenge me through television shows, and I was able to take on any challenge they come up with in the freezing cold. So there, my journey with the television started, and they took me to the Himalayas, to the North Pole, to America, Paris, London, everywhere, began to do world records everywhere in the world. And then finally, I got caught up by scientists who wanted to wanted to do experiments on me, called physiological experiments. Then they saw me doing what normally was not considered possible by a human. And then they came with a new intervention, which is the endotoxemia. Endotoxemia is like an injection with the E coli bacteria. And they began to see if Wim Hof is able to withstand the E coli bacteria making them not sick, what normally makes people sick. And in my case, I did not became sick, and that really was against all what the doctors have been reading in in literature, medical literature, a human is not able to resist the effect reaction of E coli bacteria on the immune system. Then you get inflammation. That is the normal reaction in literature, but Wim Hof does not. So what is happening? So they they looked inside the blood while I was doing my techniques in the hospital after the injection, and then they saw me influencing deeply into the autonomic nervous system and the. Innate immune system, or both, considered to be inaccessible by humans, but I did it, and then, then they said, but you are the Iceman. They call you The Iceman. You are special, superhuman. No, I'm a normal guy who has been in nature, who has found things, and now I want to share this with the whole life world. That's why we have to prove, beyond belief, beyond speculation, that this is the new science, that humans are able to tap into their immune system far more than thought possible. So give me a group, and I will show you that it's not about the Ice Man, it's a in a couple of days, I could train these people, and they will be able to astound medical paradigm as it is, and I will show it you can give them an injection with E coli, and they will show they can control that. And that was after 16,000 people had done it, and they all became six sick. And then where, after my training, nobody got sick. So then they looked inside the blood and they saw all these people were influencing deeply into the autonomic nervous system and the innate immune system, and that that, that is my story, before the method really took off, because then we got the credibility of science that we found a way to buy your hat into the body, far more than ever before was thought possible.
Alex Ferrari 6:59
So let let's go back even farther. When did you discover the breath, the power of the breath?
Wim Hof 7:05
When I was 17. 17 first going into the cold. When you go into the cold, first thing you do is, right? You learn to breathe deep. It's a natural reflex to get more life force. Air is life force to that is to activate the body from within. This is to make you stronger. And if you do that controls then you become stronger, and then you are able to go into icy water longer and longer and longer. This is what I tested when I was 17. And very soon I was able to stay very long inside water, icy water as a 17 year old. And that is, that is 46 years ago. I found that incredible power in myself. So then, of course, everybody around me was saying, hey, that man goes into cold water. He is crazy. Don't do that. That is not good at all. So I trained on my own. I kept it to myself for 25 years. I kept it to myself. And then one day, I got in connection with the newspaper, and then the story, as earlier mentioned, happened all but back then, when I was 17 to over, say, almost 40 years old. I did it on my own, and I loved it every day, every winter. So doing all kinds of exploits in the extreme cold is to me, the cold is a noble force. It really ignites my deeper self to come to the surface is where I meet stillness. I need power from within. I need I never became sick, never, ever. So what is that? That is a power we have lost in society, a power from within. And I just kept to it, even though the people will say, hey, that man is crazy and I'm not going to do it. This is for you. No, no, no. But now it has changed. It all has changed now. Now millions and millions, I don't know how many millions, but at least 100 million people know me at least, and it is growing, and it needs to grow, because this is what I always. Talk. My belief has always been, Hey, man, this is the solution for the comfort zone, behavior, modern diseases, globally. It is nature. It is simple, it is there, accessible, powerful. Anybody can do it, it's there, but nobody wanted to listen to that. So, but now it's different, after the discovery in the hospital that I could withstand injection with E coli bacteria, which normally makes you very sick. In my case, I did not became sick. Why? Because I learned to have control over the inner power, unprecedented deep, and that is where I came from. From 17 years old, I always had that conviction, I always had that faith. I always had plenty of energy and never becoming sick and being very strong in what I do with myself. So of course, I wish to share that to the world, but only after the the E coli bacteria endotoxemia research, I got that credibility, and then people began to take it on. And then I did these breathing exercises, the cold exposure, gradual cold exposure, and mindset that became the when half method proven by science. So that is the story, and it's a it's a story of being alone for about 30 years, but now I'm sharing with millions and millions and millions. I want billions now. Why? Because the thing works and it's good, and it's now the time to bring autonomy to the people who to their own innate capacity to roll over their mind and body much more deeply that. That is what I'm presenting and a letter to the people. Just try it out once. If it doesn't work, blame me. But just do not have an opinion before not having it done at least one time.
Alex Ferrari 12:35
Now, you know, going back, it seemed you have so much passion for this from my research into your past. I mean, there was a tragic start to this whole thing. Yes, in many ways. Do you mind? Do you mind sharing that with the audience?
Wim Hof 12:49
Of course, there and by if the mother of your children, the four children I had, jumps from eight stories down, then there is no heavier black, dark drama than that that happened in 95 after she gets the kid, kids goodbye. So how deep we do we need to go. That's the deepest you can go. And there I was left behind with my four kids with little money and a broken heart, the only way I could be there with my emotional agony that was going into icy water, because then you survive, you are no longer into these abstractions in the mind, this emotional loss. You open up inside. You just stop it. Icy water heals you, or you are there. You just stop you. You don't think there. That gave me an opening to healing. So I began very consciously, to go into the icy water every day, very consciously. And I got a control of my emotional state of being, because I had to be there for four kids with no money. So that's what the eyes did. That's what the cult did. It brought down the emotional agony, and it gave me so much energy, and that created right now me and my four kids, we have a flourishing global company, and they have been studying and they did their masters, and but they are not doing what they have been learning all about or studying all about. They are doing the Wim Hof Method they became in. Practice in that those are my daughters, both both masters and now doing this, and they love it so much more. So we are very happy now. But that was not back then. Back then we came from a very, very dark, heavy place, and we got out all of us, so now we are teaching how to deal with deep, emotional grief, with disease, with depression, with all these ailments. We are giving people tools to work them. So that's where it came from. And out of the darkest of places can flourish a new flower, a new light. That's what we did.
Alex Ferrari 15:53
Thank you so much for sharing that, and it makes this even more powerful what you're doing. I have to ask you, why is the cold and cold therapy so powerful in in helping us with so many different things, in our immune systems and our mental I mean, it does test you in a way that you mean there's heat therapy and then there's cold therapy, and they both test you in different extremes. But I've done both. I do both and cold therapies, it can be unless you know the Wim Hof method.
Wim Hof 16:25
Yes, it is. It is. But imagine when you feel the cold you put your hand in icy water. That's a power. Yeah, that power can become yours by learning to neutralize that power, by going in and learning to not only tolerate, but to neutralize from within them the impacts from the outside coming in so from within a hormonally activate yourself so strongly that the cold is being met, so that when you then get out, you got a great power, a great activation of inner power present in your body and that goes into your brain that gives confidence, gives control, it gives energy, it activates the immune system and does so much more so for going into the cold you need to go within, and That's what it teaches. And it's amazing, what then is able to awaken within which we normally have lost in our comfort zone, behavior and Alex, when situations like mine happen or any other emotional loss or agony, you better learn to have a inner power to oppose to heal yourself, to heal your broken heart, to heal your depression, to have that in control is there. That's what the call is doing. And that is amazing. That is besides of that. It also brings a lot better performance ability to the person and the muscles. It's like we when we go into the cold, it seems that we do not move, but from the inside, everything needs to move. So the affectivity in the functionality of muscle tissue gets really much more stronger than by doing dumbbells and all that, it becomes more effective, more functional. They don't grow but they grow in functionality, they become really strong. Me, I'm 63 I can do dumbbells 1000 times, 10, 10k here, 10k there. I can do 1000 times. Why? Because the a functionality of my muscles is way better than what you see, what you normally think and muscle is.
Alex Ferrari 19:25
Well, let me ask you, because from my experience going into a cold shower, I realized after doing a cold shower in the winter, which is different than doing a cold shower in the summer, where I'm Yes, doing a cold shower in the winter, I started doing the breath method, the Wim Hoff method, and I started to feel heat coming from inside of me. My skin started to get hotter ice, and it didn't affect me. The cold at first, when it hits you, it's like knives. It's like sharp pieces of glass attacking you at all senses. But. When you calm yourself and you relax, this you start to take the stress out of it. This calmness came, but the heat started to come out. What is that? Can you explain that to the audience?
Wim Hof 20:11
That is intercostal muscle activity. Intercostal muscle activity radiates throughout the body very fast. It creates much more energy than brown fat, for example, intercostal muscle activity is around the lungs, the ribs. Intercostal between the ribs, there are muscles. They begin to vibrate. They begin to vibrate when cold comes in, so much that they create so much energy that you feel warm, and that is just bloody amazing. And because we normally don't go into the cold, we never develop the muscle tone of the intercostal muscle tissue. And so we become cold when we are outside, because these any muscle you don't use, you lose. Yeah, yeah. And so it is with the cold endurance, which is in the end, the cardiovascular system, that if you don't use the intercostal muscle activity, which affects directly on the vascular system, run better the blood through the whole of it, which is 125 kilo, 1000 kilometers long capillaries, arteries and veins, millions of little muscles are connected. So once that begins, the warmth of the intercostal muscle activity goes into the blood, goes everywhere. It's amazing. Nobody knew this. I showed it in brain scans, in FMRIs, in blood scans. I showed it so now, now they know, but it is still quite unknown in the world. Yeah, cold has been a mystery since ever, but now, because we got the measurement devices, we can see what is working, especially when you go into fMRI and you go into a brain scan, they can see what's happening inside while being exposed to the cold. And a person like me who is straight in the cold. Of course, he's got deep, deeper tissue exercised, and they work very effectively at the moment when cold comes in. This is all natural. It is not only that the cardiovascular system is going to be be exercised through going into the cold. It is also the muscle tissue which produces heat energy and that will be flown into the blood system and go everywhere. It is also that the deep brain is activated, because cold is danger. So when danger comes, then the deep brain begins to be activated. That's the brain stem. And with the brain stem comes the opioids, cannabinoids, dopamine, Serotonins, all the good stuff is coming to make the person feel okay in a very stressful situation. It's normal, but because we never exercise in the cold, that's why those things don't work. And they here comes in the whole pharmaceutical industry given us all on which we become dependent. Well, I say, get high on your own supply.
Alex Ferrari 24:13
Very much. So, very much so. Well, let me ask you, what part, what part does adrenaline play in this method? Because you do there's some adrenaline course and through going into this, yeah,
Wim Hof 24:24
Adrenal axis. The adrenal axis spikes when you do this. The adrenal axis spikes that this, hypothalamus, Pituitary gland, adrenal glands. That is the axis. When that works and you reset the body to its utmost of functionality, then it's able to withstand whatever is the nature in the best way. So it only starts to reset the body to get lost of what should not be. In the body you that's why and pissed because of fear in a situation, to get rid of all that should not be there, to flee better, to fight better, to move better. It's only logic. So when bacteria comes in, or virus that also is data only. In those cases, we have no defense, because our immune system is not reset. It is not a alert. And through doing this method, you make the immune system back to its original factory setting, and then suddenly it begins to work. And the bacteria has no chance. The virus has no chance. That's the way we are built. And adrenaline dust is a good thing. If it spikes, it's not a good thing if it is long term presence.
Alex Ferrari 26:00
That's why our ancestors, who, you know, roam the feet, roam the Great Plains here in the States, or, you know, or in the mountains somewhere, they're exposed to the elements all the time. So they were able to withstand this. Their their bodies were much harder than ours were because of the exposure that they were able to do. So they didn't get sick as much, because if you get sick out there, you die basically.
Wim Hof 26:24
Yes, so with this and now living in the comfort zone behavior of humanity, humanity now also lives longer, because we created peace in our lives, we have less cortisol presence, less stress hormone presence, yet it's still there only when we go too much into comfort zone behavior, then we are not no longer fully alert inside, when that bacteria or virus comes in, we are vulnerable. We are weakened. So what I say now with these techniques, we are able to cleanse ourselves of the wrong chemical residue activated through comfort zone, behavior, too much, too low movement, too low, too wrong of foods, too much, too less an activity, too much television, etc, etc, makes us weak and for sure, if it is long term, so Our bodies are built to be activated. If we just take the damn cold shower, we just activate all our system, and then it's done. It's like a checkup. And then the energies flow great through the body, and we can tap. I love Bucha, do. I'm not torturing myself. No, I want to live life to the fullest, and the fullest means I want to feel that our my life. So when I go into the icy water I just drank wheel, I know it's it's such a noble exercise, the power I feel myself being becoming a night like a silver layer comes over me, protecting me against a bacteria and virus, protecting me against bad energies, because I got I am in charge here while being in the cold and silent like peace, deep peace. And that's what I do every day, so I don't become sick. I'm always okay. I got great energy. And so whatever was happening in the prehistorics, the evolution right now needs a more making activated mind and body. We got all these modern diseases and that, those are signals that something is wrong. We can we tackle that. And there I say yes, and we have shown that through signs, that if you go have a cold shower a day, it keeps the doctor away, very simple, and do some deep breathing, by which you bring the vitamins, minerals, oxygen to the deep tissue to all the cells in your body, and they get fat, and in return, you get all the energy, and you lose anxiety, because anxiety comes from the wrong biochemical residue in our bodies gained through our daily life occupations. So there we are. I come up with simple tools through science and then bringing it out to the people. So another thing is now I found I work with neuroscientists. I did a full research last weekend here in my center with 100 people. And before that, I came from Australia, and they did a brain scan on me. Once again, they did a brain scan on me, comparing it to nine and a half 1000 other brain scans. And they were all like, they have baselines. They had seen what activity there normally is in the brain, etc, and then they saw my brain, and my brain is way out, way out. That means what we consider normally to be able to control through using willfully our brain is way less than what I can do, and this is what I want to show to the people. We have a brain, but only partially. We are in control, hence we cannot find solutions to all the problem nowadays, problems that that there it is. Why? Because if you have a limited control over your car, you are due to make, you're bound to make an accident at a certain point that is alive. Life comes with all kinds of situations, and you've got a beautiful, great rain, the seat of the mind. And if you get this control, this deeper control, as we have been talking in this podcast, once you go into the cold, the deep brain begins to activate. And because you are going into the cold, you learn to willfully connect, physically connect with the deep brain. And then Alex, once you get into the deep brain, the deepest part of the brain, then where else can you not go? And that is what I've been showing in the brain scans. In the brain scans I showed compared to nine and a half 1000 people, by which you the greatest database in that field, and by which you would normally consider, hey man, this man, more or less, is going to be like all the others, wooly out that not a little bit it's going to be published, because it's only less than two weeks that I was there, and it's going to be a case study, because it's crazy, dramatic, crazy, dramatic. More control within my brain over my body I have, and it's only because I exercise outside the comfort zone behavior, what we normally think is uncomfortable, we don't go if you do that long time, then actual fights like a muscle a big part of your brain, which is survival, which is about staying alive. If you go into the icy water, as you know, when you go into the cold, you go to this threshold of initial stress, full response of your body, and then you step off, and then suddenly something begins to glow inside, begins to work inside, and it's working all day long. Like in your favor, you get more energy. You feel better. You would just uplift it. Your blood circulation goes better. It's more energy. All those things so simple. So what I'm trying to bring here together with you, Alex, using your window and to get out there. Hey guys, we have a brain and which can be controlled far more and for many more purposes then only going into the court. It's going into the extremes. It is going into problem solving. Is going into much more power from your will, willful intent, to meet anything out there in the world, which normally would be an un overcomeable obstacle. Now you learn to have that control. That's the way our mind is built. Our brain is built, and we found the keys. Now it's only a matter of time that people begin to realize, hey, science has. Been proven that we are actually able to go much deeper into our brain, by which we have a much greater command over mind and body autonomy. And autonomy, I think, is the right thing, to bring massively to the humanity right now.
Alex Ferrari 35:25
Beautifully said, my friend, beautifully said, Now, let me ask you, you kind of touched upon this, and this is the part that I found so wonderful about using your method, was the mindset, getting out of that comfort zone thing. Because if you first of all, it's better than any cup of coffee. A cold shower in the morning is better than any cup of coffee ever it created when you walk in, your entire body and mind is saying, Get out. You are going to die. But if you stay 10 seconds, 20 seconds, little steps by step, step by step, you start to exercise the mindset muscle translates to other aspects of your life where now you are pushing yourself beyond
Wim Hof 36:09
That's exactly so as people might think, Oh, but I cannot do it because it's too difficult. Oh, this is not to be understood. The neuroscience they tell me this is not possible. I say it's here and it's simple. It's powerful and scientifically endorsed that you are innately capacitated with the power to overcome any obstacle in your life. That's the way your mind is built, but not necessarily. We are schooled that way. So that's why here you and me, Alex, we come in and show the people. Hey, man, with finishing the school, the learning didn't start. The real learning is to overcome any obstacle, that confidence, that power of your mind, that is able to confront itself with any obstacle in life, that power is the power over your mind. It's yours. It's their inborn. It's Mother Nature who's calling upon you to say, Hey, have confidence in life, in your purpose, because you got the tools to get it all. That is the state of your mind. That is what it should be. Nowadays, the youth is suffering from a pandemic of depression, and I say, Hey guys, stop it. Stop it. Hold it. Hold it. Here. It is the pure confidence we can have, being able to rely upon our control within our mind to confront ourselves with life's problems as is it, it's proven. It's done. It's simple, effective and scientifically endorsed here. Here it is. Take it on, guys. And if you got questions, ask Alex, Alex, ask me, we are here willing to answer those questions, because I go all the way. I want to bring the light to those people who live in the darkness unnecessarily. It is now unnecessary suffering I've been gone through in 95 when I lost my wife, but I found the light through signs, and now I found the light, but through going consciously into those deep areas and control my emotions, to learn to whatever makes me, makes me emotionally broken, to heal it. And I found it, and and I'm here to share it, because it's not mine, it's Mother Nature's it's here to be shared. And that's what we do.
Alex Ferrari 39:08
Wim you know you're so you're like a you're like a ball of energy, my friend, I love your passion. I love the energy that you have with what you're with, the work you're doing in the world. I want to ask you, what do you think is the or what have you felt in regards to your work, in regards to spirituality and tapping into these deeper inner because you're a lot of the things you're talking about are physic, are physical, but there is a spiritual aspect to a lot of this going within. For the answers. Do you have the power within these are very spiritual concepts. I've been around for 1000s of years, but you're translating it into the physical. But there is a spiritual aspect to it. What is it from your point of view?
Wim Hof 39:51
Oh, yeah, no, absolutely, Alex, if you are able willfully, and this is what I've been showing. Brain scans now to get into the so called subcortical higher functioning of the brain. Subcortical, cortical means from your will, what cortical neocortex, the prefrontal cortex, that is our conscious will, but subcortical underneath, we have no control, willfully. And there is the higher functioning, the abstract parcels. They are called, and they, for example, empathy, fantasy, imagination, pain, control over pain and control of emotion, all those things were outside of our cortical control, our willful control, and now I've shown as the first one again, hey, this is the way to get into the sub cortical areas and to have a absolute deep influence into empathy. So spirituality, spirituality, creativity, fantasy, imagination into egolessness, into go past time and space, into pure feeling all that is now there, and it is, I'm not special, but life is special. And life I go to life that has become special, but everybody should be special, because everybody's right is to live the life to the fullest, and that is now shown to be you can go with your will into those areas so called autonomous processes of the brain are no longer autonomous. They are within our cortical possible control reach neural pathways we just need to believe in, aside our ourself and get something going there with our fantasy, creativity, empathy, imagination, pain, control, all those areas are The Deep Brain, subcortical, higher functioning of the brain, and it's there. So this is good for people to begin to think about, think about what you want. Think about what is your purpose in this life. Follow your inner your inner voice, and that inner voice will tell you, Hey, you never could do this because of society this and that we are so absorbed and schooled in a society that only makes use of a part of our brain, and it schools us in a part of our brain. Yet life is so much more, and that if we don't, if we don't go to those parts in our brain, then it's, once again, atrophy the muscle. And so it's simple. Spirituality is who we are without a spirit, we stink in one day. So we better get spiritual.
Alex Ferrari 43:24
Now, the one thing I've one thing also that I realized that if you have a problem living in the moment, get into an ice bath. You are only in the moment. You can think of nothing else. You don't think of your problems, you don't think of of stress. You don't think of the person who cut you off in traffic, you are there. So do you? Do you consider the Wim Hoff method, ice cold therapy, what we're talking about, a form of meditation, because you cannot actively think of other things while you're in it, because you have to focus so much energy into what you're doing. Do you agree with that?
Wim Hof 44:04
Oh yes, absolutely. Upflow to go to the deeper brain. What is the aim of pure meditation? Is to bring the blood flow from the thinking brain into the brain feeling brain, just to be there, just being there, like Zen, no thoughts, just being so that is an area, deeper area of the brain. But when the blood flow stays in the thinking brain, those doors, they keep on running, because those thoughts are electrical, little currents, neurotransmitters, if you feed them, they go away, like, like, the motorway. They go like, in the middle of the truck of a city, and there you are. Oh yeah, it goes all the time. Hey, now Why meditate? No, it doesn't happen. You know. No. Go into the eyes, and you are forced, your deep brain is forced to attract blood flow to neurally begin to be activated, and thus the blood flow will go from the surface directly into the deep brain. And that is pure meditation. And they saw, if you do the breathing exercises they saw, compared to people who are doing hours on end for years mindfulness, if you do the breathing exercises, then you go into deeper areas of the brain that so people within seven minutes. I mean, with the breathing exercises than people who do for hours, for years, mindfulness, practicing mindfulness, so they compare the brain scans. So it's very simple. Yes, it is absolutely pure meditation. If you want a real meditation, go into the eyes or do a deep breathing session, and then you will find yourself with unexperienced, deep experience, deep sensations you have never, ever seen because she made you deep breathe, fully blood flowed, by which it comes to life. And it's amazing.
Alex Ferrari 46:27
No, it's It's absolutely remarkable. Now, did you, have you ever been or, I mean, were you talking about as far as the power of the breath? This has been around for 1000s of years. Yogis have been taught, teaching and talking about breath work for years, but what I think you've done that I hadn't heard anybody else do was add the cold to it, because the breath work by itself, is extremely, extremely powerful. Correct?
Wim Hof 46:55
Oh, it is. And it has been, yeah, there for 1000s of years. Back then, they call it makichi, the pranayama, the Kia ora in New Zealand with Maori, I'm your breath. And it's in every culture, is the breath. So the thing is that the problems of nowadays show that we have alienated from these traditions. Yes, and I just brought it back. And I brought it back a adjusted to the modern day problems showing first through in signs that it works, that a bloody works where normally people have no control, suddenly they have much deeper control. So as simple as that, it is there and then, together with the comfort zone behavior which came in since the industrialization processes, everything is an extension tool. Everything is made easier, more comfort. We are dressed all the time. We don't work outside as much, and we are no longer stimulated through our biggest organ, which is our skin. Our skin is completely covered every day. It's like the muscle again. Who exercise because you don't use it all the millions of receptors end up and begin in the skin, and when there is no stimulation long term than the the connective organisms and the vascular system is not stimulated as well. So when that happens, your cardiovascular system, which, by the way, is killer, number one source, course, right, the most skillings per year everywhere, so in the whole wide world is because we dress ourselves all the time in comfort. Just take the damn cold shower, stimulate that beautiful organ, the skin. Besides of that, for the skin, it's great. It's great skin care. Yeah? It does, my wife support 63 she said, Oh, what a soft skin you have. Yeah, yeah, baby. I'm your baby.
Alex Ferrari 49:32
Yeah. It tightens the pores, if I'm not mistaken, it just Yeah. So nothing gets in it
Wim Hof 49:37
When you go into the cold, you come out, you're you're rat, your rat red and pink, and that means blood flow is there, and blood flow is life. Blood flow has oxygen, nutrients. It has it all. You don't need these bombs, or you need life from within coming to you nature. Know. Just, just go into nature and know nature will provide and your wife will consider you.
Alex Ferrari 50:10
I love it now, when you i from my experience, also doing some deep, deep breath work it, I there was almost a psychedelic aspect to it, where it opened up something inside of me going into these kind of, really talking about a 20, 30-40, minute session where you just deep, deep, deep breathing. What is your experience with, you know, releasing DMT, or releasing psychedelic substances within yourself, your own, your own supply, as you call it, yeah,
Wim Hof 50:39
Yeah. Get high on your own supply. It's all there if you that formula is simple, Melatonin is a hormone inside our bodies, but when you go into the breathing exercises, melatonin minus CO2 becomes DMT, becomes DMT, and DMT is Dimethyltryptamine that is a release in deep sleep, in the R, A M, R, E, M sleep, the deep sleep that is to process All trauma, non processed influx of experiences, traumas, inhibitions, fears, all their three dimensional. It's making it all without looking at it all it becomes three dimensional is to process whatever is blocking inside the system, in the depths, and that only happens if you go past the conditions mind and body. And that takes about 30-40, minutes of deep breathing. But then you get into the depths of the DNA, the gene expressions, past lives. You can name it. It's all there, and we are able to access into it through these breathing techniques, yes.
Alex Ferrari 52:03
Now if someone's listening at home, what are some basic things that they could do to try this out if they wanted to try this out.
Wim Hof 52:11
So I got these breathing the breathing bubble, which is been downloaded for 63 million times. It means it works. If something doesn't work, yeah, we never promote anything and so, but this works, and that's the promotion. It works. Take it off. And let me tell you who has never done it. Hey, man, the best thing you can do is doing this. Don't stick with an opinion or thought. Do not listen to this podcast. Only do it once, please. We love you. We want to empower you. We want to give you something that has proven itself through science to be so powerful, so mind shifting, paradigm shifting. It's here. It's for you. Take it on, man. This is the challenge called life. We want to share life. Do the foolish with you. Just try it out once. If it doesn't work, as I said in the beginning, blame me. But if it works, stick to it and pass it on,
Alex Ferrari 53:25
Absolutely, absolutely. I'll put a link to that in the descriptions. Now I'm going to ask you a few questions. Ask all my guests Wim, what is your definition of living a fulfilled life?
Wim Hof 53:34
If I'm doing this right now, what we are doing, Alex bringing it out to so many people and kill unnecessary suffering in the world. That's absolutely, absolutely my mission.
Alex Ferrari 53:49
What would you if you had a chance to go back and tell your younger self something? What would it be?
Wim Hof 53:53
I would tell him, keep on going, man, you're going the right way.
Alex Ferrari 54:00
How do you define God?
Wim Hof 54:02
God? God is right here, right now, within us, it's love, and love is accessible. We are able to access into the deepest of ourselves and get control over our beautiful mind to flourish, to radiate outside the love good energy bring solutions, bring solace for those who don't know, and take away the darkness. Bring light to those Yeah, and do it every day. That is to me, is God. God is alive!
Alex Ferrari 54:37
And what is the ultimate purpose of life?
Wim Hof 54:39
To heal the world, to heal the universe, you gotta live up to your purpose, and the purpose is to bring love and and the light absolutely
Alex Ferrari 54:50
And where can people find out more about you and the amazing work that you're doing Sir?
Wim Hof 54:53
Just look me up. Wim Hof, you know, I've never been on my own website, so. But my name is Wim Hof, and it's a simple name for a guy who's got faith. He's a simple guy, but he has got faith to change the world. And once you do it, you yourself, then we do it together, side by side.
Alex Ferrari 55:18
And do you have any final words for everybody listening?
Wim Hof 55:22
All the love, all the power. It's there. It's for us. It's tangible, accessible, proven. Here it is. And I thank you, Alex, for making use of your window to bring it out to so many. That's amazing work. Keep it up.
Alex Ferrari 55:43
It has been an absolute honor and privilege and just a joy talking to you, my friend. Love your energy, and I love your mission, and hopefully, in a small way, I can help you get the word out, my friend, thank you again for all the hard work you're doing and the continued work that you're doing on your mission in this world, my friend, I appreciate you.
Wim Hof 56:01
Thank you Alex, goodbye.
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