Cold-Exposure
I have been using the benefits of cold exposure almost every single day since 2016. For me it was pain relief in the beginning thanks to Brazilian jiu jitsu breaking and tearing my body up in a way I was not expecting… A broken toe, torn meniscus in my knee, and suspected fracture in my neck left me lying on the floor in tears of pain that forced me to go find something/anything that would help me find relief.
I asked and I received. Waking up one morning in agony after another nights ‘sleep’ on the floor I opened up a video on YouTube about the Wim Hof Method and within’ 5 minutes I was in. Within 2 hours I had watched the video, been to the supermarket and had 40 kg of ice in my family bath. No breathing, no care for how it worked, nothing except blind faith to what I had just heard and after submerging up to my neck for what felt like an eternity I stood up, got out, and to my complete disbelief when I ‘thawed-out’ I was pain free… I could not believe what had just happened. A literal ‘miracle’.
That same week after much research to what I had just experienced within my body I started the Wim Hof Method ‘classic 10 week’ training program and the expansion that unfolded from the original pain and suffering to what I have learned over the last 7 years is something hard to believe. What a journey it has been. I qualified through the Wim Hof Method academy almost a year to the day after discovering it and although I left that organisation a short while after I became an instructor the benefits of cold exposure have remained in my daily practices.
There is so much evidence to the benefits we receive when we sit in an ice bath or stand in a cold shower for just a couple of minutes…EVERYTHING GETS BETTER. So many world-wide are currently enjoying this ‘new’ way of influencing our mind, body and spirit that it makes us wonder how we have never heard of it before. I was 46 when I found it and after years of stress and physical pain the freedom I experience each day is something I am still grateful for 7 years later. I have taught many thousands of people how to ‘get into the cold’ and the process has evolved consistently over that time.
It takes just 1 thing to get into and ice bath or cold shower – A REASON. If you have that then it is ‘easy’. It is all about your ‘reason’ and ‘why’, from there as long as you are in good physical health and not pregnant anyone can do it.
The way I teach cold exposure is an extension of The Intentional Breath…it is as a quiet, silent and can / should be an almost sacred ceremony. It is ALL based on The Intentional Breath and where I take you with that before the immersion. Once you are fully reconnected back to ‘You’ and ALL your natural power it is easy. It is important how you breathe before you get in without question but it is once you are in and the body starts to process what it is dealing with…that is when the work begins.
I teach ‘1 Single Breath’ to generate the ‘heat’ / stress response required that gives you the momentum to actually get in and sit down and from that space, up to your neck in 100kg of ice it is ALL ABOUT YOUR BREATH…It takes around 90 seconds for the stress response although I have never once timed it, if you time it you will miss the experience and the ‘space’ we are looking to create…The Power of Your Intentional Breath along with my instruction you will be able to receive all the benefits of this life changing practice.
The intention is to allow the body to experience adversity buy subjecting the body to an extremely high level of ‘controlled’ stress (over 400% more energy generated with the stress response from extreme cold exposure…)and then as naturally and easily as possible, get back into balance and into the parasympathetic side of the nervous system and complete control. There is no fight, no ‘manning-up’ no jumping about like a clown…It is a soft, gentle and most importantly repeatable process that will allow you the choice to bring this life changing practice into your daily life in a way that is so easy it will call you back to access its gifts over and over again.
The benefits for inflammation and pain relief…Life changing. The benefits to the immune system Life changing. The benefits of being able to be with a massive (life threatening) level of adversity and know how to manage your stress response, remain calm and in the moment, particularly in this time we are in right now is something that needs to be experienced to fully understand. Cold Exposure along with The Functional & Intentional Breath is again ABSOLUTLEY something we should ALL be taught from childhood. Everything in your life will get better. Guaranteed.
