Wim Hof in tears as he talks of tragedy of losing his wife

24 June 2024 , 07:50

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Wim Hof (Image: 2019 Tristar Media)

Motivational speaker Wim Hof has explained how breathing, meditation and cold water can fix trauma and boost your health as he spoke about the tragic loss of his wife. The Ice Man was speaking to Steven Bartlett for the latest episode of his Diary of a CEO Podcast.

The extreme athlete - whose wife took her own life - is well-known for his talent for withstanding freezing temperatures and has set mutliple world records for endurance and exposure to cold. Hof puts his feats down to a mixture of cold exposure, breathing techniques, and meditation.

The Wim Hof Method has gained significant attention and popularity for its purported benefits in boosting mental and physical health. He has also starred on numerous TV shows, including BBC's Freeze The Fear.

Wim Hof on the Diary of a CEO podcast, taking an ice bath with Steven Bartlett

The Dutchman even ran to the top of Everest in his underwear. Steven said: "He's proven we're all capable of pushing our minds and bodies way past what was thought possible."

Wim added: "What is the purpose of living - happiness, strength and health." He said: "This society is sick and we cannot deal with stress. It drains us. But if we listen to our body, we can change that through science.

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"It's about handling our emotion and feeling that we are on top of it no matter what. But we have never learned in our schooling how to do it next through the power of the mind.

"We learned to make our bad feelings, disease go away." The podcast hears Wim discuss how he beats disease with his training. And he discusses his own personal trauma.

Steven asked: "Was there ever a time where the pain was even too much for you?" Wim, brought to tears. replied: "My wife took her own life and that led to depression, and I was not able to do anything."

Wim Hof on the Diary of a CEO podcast, with Steven Bartlett

Wim goes on to discuss how you can use breathing to control grief and anxiety. He said: "These breathing exercises were capable in 2014 to show scientifically, hormonally, looking at the nervous system ... we were able to tap into the autonomic nervous system and innate immune system which was considered to be impossible."

He added: "It's also the ability to solve what is deeply stored up in our tissue, which could not be processed in the moment when it happened. Trauma."

Steven Bartlett called the peer-reviewed studies into the breathing technique 'remarkable'.

Wim said that, working with cardiologists, it has been shown that if you hold your breath after breathing out five times more oxygen flows to the brain and heart. Wim said: "We are able through these breathing techniques to change our blood's chemistry. Bring up pH levels - way up."

Wim demonstrated the technique. A short, sharp intake of breath, followed by a slower exhalation (breathing out), which you should repeat 30 times. He said the system is similar to the sharp intake of breath you take when you are scared or cold - and the breathing your body uses when you have exercised.

Wim said: "Do these breathing techniques. Do it on a bed or a sofa because you will go past your conditioned mind and body."

He added: "I want you to take over the steering wheel. I want you to be conscious. Go into the deeper consciousness of the breathing and suddenly your trauma, your deeper feelings are able to come to the surface."

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Wim explained: "Traumas are a stored-up chemistry. It's unprocessed. It's when experience happens and you can't deal with it. It's been stashed away and it becomes biochemical - the stored up capacity of the body is simply there in our deeper tissue.

"But our conditioned mind and body is not able to get into that." He added: "We are thinking too much. We know something is wrong inside but we cannot connect with that. Now if we change the patterns we normally go into with our breathing and thinking ... then suddenly we are able to get into this thought to regulate our mood."

Wim explained how to deal with stress, which he did through ice baths, saying: "Stress can come in many ways - emotionally, physically, spiritually. It can come in many ways. In the end it is biochemical stress. It turns into biochemistry. Neurotoxins etc that accumulate, that get in the body, that create blockages, it drains and you don't know what to do with it and then medicines come in and pills and it only deteriorates. It gets worse."

"I used the cold back when I was with my, who died, to get my emotional agony out of the way. It was the doorway to open my healing, my spiritual healing of me as a Papi of my children just to be happy with them and to provide energy and wellbeing without this traumatising darkness around us."

He said: "We should be able to control our emotional state of wellbeing whenever we feel bad."

Wim went on to explain how he used cold to control illness - something that was shown in a study when he was injected with E.coli and suffered nothing but a minor headache. The test was repeated with 30 volunteers - who used uce baths, meditation and breathing techniques and had a significantly lower immune response when injected with the bacteria.

The Wim Hof Breathing Method involves a specific pattern of deep, rhythmic breathing, followed by breath retention. The typical sequence includes:

• 30-40 deep breaths (inhale deeply through the nose or mouth and exhale without force).
• After the last exhalation, hold the breath for as long as possible.
• When the urge to breathe becomes strong, take a deep breath in and hold it for about 15 seconds, then let it go.

Benefits Claimed

• Improved Immune Function: Some studies suggest that the Wim Hof Method can enhance the body's immune response, potentially reducing the incidence of illness.
• Increased Energy: The breathing exercises can increase oxygen flow in the body, which may lead to heightened energy levels.
• Stress Reduction: The method is believed to help manage stress through the combination of breathing techniques and cold exposure, which can trigger a relaxation response.
• Enhanced Mental Clarity and Focus: Practitioners often report improved concentration and mental resilience.

The cold technique involves gradually exposing the body to cold conditions, such as cold showers, ice baths, or outdoor cold weather activities. This is said to improve circulation, reduce inflammation, and strengthen the immune system.

The full interview is on the latest edition of the Diary of a CEO podcast

Neil Shaw