Conquer Your Fear of Cold Weather
Warning: I am not a doctor nor cold weather & cold resistance professional or in anything else and use the information below at your own discretion and responsibility. I hate writing this but we live in a society that makes this mandatory if you want to protect yourself.
My Article on Eliminating Mental Barriers by Eliminating Physical Barriers through Parkour
@tysonb/eliminate-mental-barriers-by-overcoming-physical-barriers-through-parkour
Wim Hof – The King of Cold Resistance
Wim Hof is a Dutch man who currently holds 20 world records (2016), including a world record for the longest ice bath at 1 hour and 52 minutes, climbing to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro in shorts, and completing a full marathon above the arctic circle in Finland in termperatures around −20 °C (−4 °F). Here is the VICE documentary on him and the Wim Hof Method.
What is the Wim Hof Method
Here is my minimalist and unscientific explanation of the method.
The Wim Hof Method is a combination of techniques designed to help control your body’s temperature. The method is centered around using a variation of yogic breathing and inner heat techniques to endure the shock of the cold and to produce more body heat.
The Wim Hof Method Course is a 10 week paid course developed by Wim Hof to gradually help you develop cold resistance to colder temperatures. It starts by teaching you a breathing technique to use on a daily basis and exercises designed to give you more flexibility and strength that take advantage of the physical benefits of using the breathing technique. The course moves into gradually exposing you to the cold to help you overcome the shock (major shock in my experience) and the fear of cold which is essentially the fear of death. The course ends with you doing an ice bath or ice exposure for over ten minutes.
You are not required to go through the course in 10 weeks and can view them at your own pace. This is important because the fear and shock of the cold is so intense that many people need to spend more than a week on a specific week of the course. I personally had to spend around 13 weeks to complete the course because of my fear of taking a full cold shower and the ice bath challenge.
What Attracted you to the Wim Hof Method?
I grew up in Hawaii and the weather is perfect, neither too hot or too cold. I would wear shorts and t-shirts and swim in the ocean without a wet suit even in January. In the colder parts of Hawaii, it hit a frosting 75 degrees Fahrenheit (23 Celsius) and is considered cold. I did not understand what non-tropical people would call cold weather.
I unfortunately “now fortunately” learned the true meaning of what cold weather and temperature is when I arrived to Japan. Living through the seemingly never ending coldness and gloom of winter was the only way to understand how horrible cold weather is.
Fast forward 11 years to 2015. As a part of my journey to being awesome, I wanted to finally stop complaining and agonizing over how much I hated winter and the cold. I also wanted to adopt a policy of accepting what I cannot change (the temperature) and changing what I can change (my negative thoughts towards the cold).
I luckily stumbled upon the Iceman Wim Hof. I found his accomplishments interesting and his philosophy to life charming. His personal story of finding inner peace through the unforgiving and uncompromising pierce of the cold touched my heart deeply and I was also attracted to his confidence in the human body’s ability to do amazing things if you give a chance to shine.
I paid 150 dollars for the course without thinking twice. The timing was perfect and I was ready in my heart to stop complaining and finally enjoy the beauty and silence of the cold. It was late September when I heard about the course and I started at the beginning of October with the intention of going out in my shorts and a t-shirt during January and February.
My experience of the Wim Hof Method
First 2 Minutes
After 5 Minutes
I found the cold showers to be excruciating at first and I had to force myself to endure them. However, as the weeks went by, I realized that it wasn’t the temperature but my minds interpretation of the temperature that made me dislike winter and the cold. My mind immediately responded with the thoughts “cold” “get out” “this sucks” “uncomfortable” and “danger” when exposed to the cold. However, I came to the realization that “cold” is a subjective term we use to define the temperature and what is “cold” for one person may not be cold for another.
This realization helped me accept and embrace the cold. It was my mindset that brought the yearly winter suffering and not the actual temperature itself. The actual temperature is what it is and my body defines cold at 12-13 degrees Celsius. I know this because this is the temperature where my hairs become erect to try to catch the escaping heat. I was amazed to discover that my physical and mental interpretations of what cold can be completely different. I currently view 2 degrees Celsius as cold while my former mindset subjectively diagnosed 20 degrees Celsius (68 F).
My Personal Benefits From the Wim Hof Method
- The realization that my experience of what temperature is “cold” is subjective
- The realization that my original dislike of cold weather was all in my mind.
- The realization that I have the power to enjoy or not enjoy the moment.
- Enjoying winter for the first time in my life
- Enduring 0 degree weather in only shirt and shorts for 15 minutes
- Stronger belief in myself from overcoming a challenge that most people cannot do
Warning About Using the Wim Hof Method
- Make sure to read all the warnings and instructions during the course
- Never use the breathing technique to dive underwater
- Never use the breathing technique in water
- Never use the breathing technique near sharp edges
- Some people have fainted using the breathing technique
- Be careful when doing the raven, head stands, and shoulder stands. Be aware that you do not need to do all the physical challenges in the video.
His Personal Website
http://www.icemanwimhof.com/innerfire
Interview on “Found My Fitness”
Interview with Tim Ferriss
http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/09/07/the-iceman-wim-hof/
My Article on Eliminating Mental Barriers by Eliminating Physical Barriers through Parkour
@tysonb/eliminate-mental-barriers-by-overcoming-physical-barriers-through-parkour