I am at a Wim Hof workshop in West Harwich, Ma. I’m about to learn a first hand lesson in cold water immersion. I know the water in the giant tub is 42 degrees, but I am heading in, up to the neck, for the next 2+ minutes. Voluntarily. Have I lost my mind, or is there something to be learned in this cold tub?
Wim Hof and Cold Water Immersion
Wim Hof, the Iceman, the inventor of a method that uses breathing exercises, and gradual exposure to cold water, has caused quite a stir in the fitness and health worlds. By using his method people have:
- lost weight
- slept better
- alleviated symptoms of auto-immune disorders (crones disease, arthritis)
- beaten depression/anxiety
- climbed mountains (Kilimanjaro, Everest) with out shoes or shirts
The list goes on. Wim is inspiring people to do some crazy shit; and for the most part it’s all good.
I’m here because I read a book, ‘What doesn’t kill Us’, and I have to find out for myself if what the book claims are true. The world is heating up and Inflammation is a killer; That soreness/stiffness you feel after you do a hard workout is inflammation. The random aches and pains that life blesses you with as you get older: inflammation. Stress: inflammation. Bad diet: inflammation. In sum, Inflammation is silently killing us, Robbing us of vitality. I’m climbing into the ice to suppress it.
What about the Breath?
Breathing is the other important pillar of the Wim Hof method. I’m breathing (fully in, letting go) to drive a wedge between my somatic and autonomic nervous systems.
- Somatic nervous system- is the part of the peripheral nervous system associated with the voluntary control of body movements via skeletal muscles.
- autonomic nervous system- a control system that acts largely unconsciously and regulates bodily functions such as the heart rate, digestion, respiratory rate, pupillary response, urination, and sexual arousal.
Voluntary nervous system (SNS) vs Autonomic (ANS).
In making my body’s involuntary responses voluntary, I can choose to not be affected by the cold. I use my breathe because it is something our ANS controls (we breathe without thinking about it), until we decide to actively (SNS) control it (we can all change our breathing on demand). I am controlling a wedge, in the words of Patrick Carney, at the point where environmental stimulus meets innate response.
Part 1
Firstly we learned about breathing, and about why what we were about to do was effective. Then we circled up and laid on our backs while our instructor, Sam, guided us through 5 cycles of breathing, i.e. 40 deep breaths that fill the diaphragm, then the chest, then leave without effort. As we let go of that 40th breath we hold and stop until our body asks for another breath (no strain); then a short breath in, a hold for 15 seconds, and then repeat the entire cycle.
I end up holding my breath for 2-3 minutes.
It is simple and deceptively powerful. By the third round I am smiling and laughing for no particular reason. I am holding my breath for long periods of time (2 to 3 minutes) and feeling absolutely no strain. By the fourth round I am hallucinating. I envision a path, and a large tree, and several paths that extend from and snake about my central path. There are some more personal details on this path; things I can’t adequately explain here.
I have tried to meditate off and on for the past 5 years with little success; I’ve never experienced the calm, or transcendent feeling that’s advertised. I’ve played soft music, I’ve relaxed, I’ve breathed and somehow I’ve missed until now. Finally. I’m calm.
One by one we finish the breathing exercise. No one seems stressed, or unhappy; there is a joviality to the group, a sense that 20 minutes before we were strangers, and now something more.
Following the breathing exercise is the cold water immersion. I’m unafraid of the cold, hence I wade in to my neck. The feeling is abrasive. Fear confronts me immediately; I want to leave. The most powerful thought I have in these moments comforts me:
SOMEONE WITH MORE EXCUSES HAS MET THIS CHALLENGE
Firstly I breathe, filling my abdomen first, focusing on my exhales as I was instructed. Then I drive the wedge between my SNS and ANS, that is my innate autonomic response meets the environmental stimulus, and through my breath I control the response. This is my body and I decide to stay in the cold. I decide that ‘Pain don’t hurt.’
Someone with more excuses has met this challenge and thrived.
The first round I stay in for 2 minutes. I return later for about 3 or 4. My body, inflamed after 16 punishing miles run the day before (without enough prep) feels revived and invigorated.
Moreover, a new vision arrives. One in which I’m shirtless, climbing the snowy mountains with nothing to protect me but my breath.
Thanks to Samuel Whiting (instructor), Cold Tub (Host), My Group, and Wim (Guru).