Wim Hof – The Iceman

What if you could control the mind and body to such a degree that you could cheat death, fight off diseases without drugs and heal emotional trauma without therapy?
What if you were as capable as the strongest most enlightened human beings to harness your own hormones and adrenalin so that you could survive the deadliest cold and heat?
That is exactly what today’s guest Wim Hof says in this video we all have the potential to do.
Wim’s mission is to inspire nothing short of a revolution in human consciousness, but he wants this to happen with no mystical psychobabble, just pure scientific research.
Wim is famous for breaking 26 world records for surviving the cold.
He has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Everest in his shorts, swam in arctic conditions under one metre of ice and this man spent over an hour in an ice bath.
If you or I did any of these things tomorrow the chances are we’d be dead very quickly.
But Wim, the real iceman, has developed a system of breath control that reestablishes the natural connection between mind and body, and allows us to control our adrenalin responses.
This allows him and his students to literally programme their brains and bodies to reset themselves under the most life-threatening conditions, all through the power of the mind.
If this sounds far out to you, just know that Wim has no interest in religious or political dogma. He is not offering any spiritual world-view.
Wim has dedicated himself to spreading the word about what each and every one of us is capable of if we are prepared to shift the paradigm around human endurance and health.
It’s very easy to look at Wim Hof and see the media gimmick – another crazy guy performing superhuman tasks and making headlines.
But watching this interview you will not see the ice man, you wil find a warm, open and very human guy, who has above all things, a love of people.
As with the greatest of our guests on London Real, Wim Hof believes absolutely in the potential of every human being. He has no investment in the idea of being superhuman.
We are all capable of harnessing our hormonal systems and reestablishing the natural connection between our brains and bodies.
In short, conscious control of our body’s primal survival system is everyone’s birthright, and Wim insists that we all have the power to create happiness, strength and health for ourselves.
Forget everything you think you know. Forget the books you have bought or free download, the documentaries you have watched. Forget your dogma. Watch the new.
Wim articulates his method through hard science.
The breath raises the PH levels in our cells, turning them from acidic to alkaline and therefore allowing us to control our adrenalin at will.
The approach is pure biology and he has repeated the experiment countless times. In fact, scientists at Harvard are now interested in monitoring his work.
The empowering thing about it is that we are all capable of it, and in this full episode Wim actually gives a step by step process as to how we can start harnessing this forgotten connection with our primal brains.
You’ll hear Wim talk about how we should:

Open up to a new way of thinking about health, happiness and strength

Start by breathing deeper, allowing the breath to do its natural work

Observe ourselves – are we happy and strong and if not, why not?

Wim’s message is not just about enduring record-breaking challenges. In fact, that’s only a small part of it.
He wants us all to realise we have the power to create the life we want.
This goes against what a lot of the culture has been telling us.
People are always trying to sell us a new quick fix, a new drug, doctrine, fitness regime.
The media and TV show loves to keep us in a state of stress and reactive fear.
The revolutionary aspect of Wim’s teaching is that we don’t need any of these, and we can actually bypass our dependency on the culture entirely.
The power really is within.
I was deeply moved when Wim opened up about losing his wife to suicide, and how having four kids to look after, forced him to stay accountable to his mission.
Wim used his own understanding of the nervous system to heal the trauma of grief at his loss, and to empower himself as a single father.
Out of all the massive feats Wim is known for achieving, this might be his greatest success.
In the end of the day, Wim is about LOVE. It’s about connection and being happy.
He reminded me why London Real is so powerful, the role that we are playing here in bringing the best ideas to widest audience possible. And this can only happen when we connect with others.
Hell, the guy even made me cry!
Wim’s message is so powerful, and I truly believe if we just pay attention to what he has to say, we can make this world a better place.
As Wim would say: “No Ego, But We-Go!”

[11:05] Introduction to Wim Hof.

[12:30] How did you first meet with the cold.

[13:40] The brain doesn’t stop.

[14:30] The depth of the brain connected with the depth of the body.

[15:34] Feeling a deep connection.

[16:20] Deeper breathing and oxygenation of the body.

[17:20] Crazy man sitting in freezing water. Years of mockery.

[18:10] Feeling peaceful and powerful in silence.

[19:00] What is life about. You are the book.

[19:30] we are made to be happy strong and healthy.

[20:10] Tapping into the endocrine systems and immune systems.

[20:30] How did a guy from Amsterdam from the squat teach the world about human psychology? do you ever wonder how that happened?

[21:50] We are meant to be able to tap into psychology to be happy, strong and healhty at anytime.

[23:46] Is there something about the cold that is so immediate that needs to be dealt with right now?

[24:11] People think I like the cold so much. I fucking hate it man! I don’t like it at all, I like a warm hot place.

[24:43] Merciless but righteous.

[25:25] Tapping into the deepest part of our brain.

[25:46] Once I encountered the cold, I stopped reading.

[26:10] Engaging the lizard brain.

[26:18] I just made a song the Crazy Monkey.

[26:40] A lizard is into food, fuck, freeze, fight & flight.

[27:00] The first bungee jump.

[28:15] The reptilian brain takes control producing fear.

[29:20] Went from the cold, mastered the breathing, the breathing you felt you could master the adrenaline response and then you decided, let’s take that a little further.

[29:30] we got to make it accessible to everybody.

[30:03] Why are we not able to tap into our happiness, strength and health. Spirituality and Love.

[30:20] 2011, they measured what was happening. Drawing blood from me to be analysed later.

[31:05] Because I knew I was going into the tank, I programmed on cell level, 300% more metabolic activity.

[31:22] Just through my mind.

[31:32] What were you thinking? I’m going to beat the cold. I’m going to use it.

[31:40] Anybody can do that.

[32:16] Tapping into the happy hormones.

[33:12] Injected e.coli for a controlled experiment.

[34:00] Do you know where you are going mentally when they were injecting you with bacteria?

[35:09] It can’t be bacteria. It’s sugar water.

[35:13] You trained 12 people to go and do the same thing and you trained them in a few days?

[35:33] Mindset. We are going to win the greatest war with the enemy with the greatest victims and most misery created ever! – The War Against Bacteria.

[36:32] 10 days. It’s a nice number.

[36:52] Breathing.

[37:00] Rabbits.

[38:06] Humans think we are superior to nature. Acid and alkali.

[39:00] Nature did a perfect job until we began to screw it up.

[39:25] No ego. We go.

[40:39] The iPhone 6. Using our intelligence for happiness, strength and health. Making it accessible.

[41:42] Somebody got to do this. This life is too short not to live. And I’ve got an obligation to pass it on.

[42:19] Love constituted by happiness, strength and health.

[42:45] 30 minutes in ice and then breaking the record again 12 days later. What’s got the biggest reaction and what scared you the most?

[44:00] My retina froze.

[45:28] I lost the fear of death. I never felt I the fear I was drowning.

[46:39] Going into a dream state. Just alive. The fear and idea of death is that we have no control anymore. The brainstem, the end of the tunnel.

[47:29] This is the key. Taking away the fear of death. Taking over the nervous system with the right level of pH.

[47:35] At the time of the death. It was just shutting down.

[48:17] Learning to be aware of the brain body connection.

[48:40] Relying on Science. Religion. Politics. Power and Corruption.

[49:46] The system has to be turned around.

[50:25] The more the merrier with scientific research.

[51:45] The Dalai Lama.

[52:32] How can we connect with themselves or their lizard brain.

[52:40] Change the psychology.

[54:00] First ask yourself are you happy, strong and healthy the way nature intends it to be?

[55:10] Just breathe.

[57:00] Freeze. Breathe motherfucker.

[57:40] It can be done because the pH levels go up.

[57:58] Mastering breathing is mastering the brain.

[58:20] Oxygen level drops but you will feel relaxed.

[1:00:00] We suffer from uncontrolled stress in society.

[1:01:47] Having no inhibitions.

[1:02:32] I have 4 children. My wife died. It took me by surprise.

[1:03:15] Emotions go deep.

[1:05:40] Grieve.

[1:06:03] Brain research. Activating the pineal gland.

[1:06:45] Trauma and stress brings about an acidic state within the amygdala.

[1:07:14] Breathing influences the chemistry.

[1:08:11] Getting to similar psychedelic states through breathing.

[1:09:30] Triggering DMT through the pineal glands.

[1:10:30] It’s a choice.

[1:11:11] When you are 1 hour 52 mins in the ice, how do you decide when to stop?

[1:13:02] Its programmed.

[1:14:16] A normal person without training would pass out and then die. Vascular system.

[1:14:30] Breaking records. Climbing Kilimanjaro.

[1:19:45] Documentary for medical mysteries.

[1:20:13] Fake nerve. The autonomic nervous system.

[1:23:24] What is the good part and bad part of being recognised as The Iceman.

[1:24:45] The door to the truth is openness. And you’ve got the key.

[1:25:35] I’m always motivated to talk about my beliefs.

[1:25:47] Who doesn’t want to be happy, strong and healthy.

[1:26:39] Do you have to be weary that people want to look up to you?

[1:26:47] We are the Jesus, the Gandhi’s, the Mandelas.

[1:27:20] Astronaut. First time I realise how beautiful it is.

[1:29:23] Getting back to what is important to our life.

[1:30:14] The cold is out teacher. The Bhagavad Gita – the mind controlled is your best friend and the mind non controlled is your worst enemy.

[1:31:31] Ability to expand our consciousness.

[1:32:41] Looking at America.

[1:35:25] Meeting Oprah Winfrey.

[1:36:52] Teach me.

[1:37:05] Breathing until light headed, tingling.

[1:39:37] The endocrine fixes and reset the body.

[1:40:32] Training the mind to do things consciously.

[1:41:09] Success secrets.

[1:42:48] What will look like a successful Wim in 2020. We go is the love.

[1:42:17] I know I get intelligent when I can see more of myself.

[1:42:56] A mantra.

[1:45:32] Health. Strength. Happiness.

[1:47:30] Chemistry.

[1:48:10] Advice to the 20 year old Wim.

Wim Hof’s Official Website

Connect with Wim Hof on Twitter @Iceman_Hof

Connect with Wim Hof on Facebook

Follow Wim Hof on Instagram

Wim Hof on Wikipedia

The Wim Hof Method

Watch The Iceman on Vice

Useful Links

Endocrine system

Autonomic Nervous System

Oxygenated Blood

Pineal gland