My experience in the ice bath

“Seek the discomfort before it seeks you.” Or “Find comfort in the uncomfortable”. That’s the idea of the Wim Hof Method which I tried the first time last weekend. Here is my personal experience in the ice bath.

I’ve been reading about the Wim Hof Method (WHM) and curious for a while to experience the benefits – that have been scientifically tested and confirmed – based on the special breathing method and exposure to the cold: Cardiovascular diseases are one of the leading death causes in the world and Wim Hof’s method keeps the body healthy, the blood circulating, activates our parasympathetic (= relaxing) nervous system and improves our resilience so stress. When I heard Wim Hof’s podcast with Steven Bartlett, I was amazed by the medical experiments he had undergone, that confirmed his incredibly, healthy immune system (Podcast link: here). I looked more into his personal story and just as the algorithm works, the profile of a WHM Instructor came up on my feed: Nicholas Corliss, who was about to have a workshop in Madrid! You already know how profoundly I trust my intuition (and the algorithm) and I decided to sign up for the 4 hour long workshop last Sunday, 7th of July.

Workshop time
The workshop started at 12.00 noon, I had had a very light breakfast (a bit of porridge), because the breathing techniques are easier when the stomach isn’t too full. We started with a bit of movement and getting to know the lovely group of 15 people in total. Nicholas and all of us shared our personal story and reason why we were there. The majority of us had one thing in common: A very decisive moment in life, combined with a traumatic event and/or a lot of stress, that had changed our awareness and provoked the need to look after our wellbeing. I felt very connected to and safe in the group.
Nicholas explained the Wim Hof Method, which consists in 3 elements: 1. Breathing technique – 2. Mindset – 3. Exposure to the cold.

1. It’s all about the breath
   Nicholas showed us very carefully: Deep inhalations through the nose into the belly and chest and exhaling through the mouth, letting go without pressure. We were lying on a yoga mat with an eye mask on, many of us covered with a blanket or towel. The technique itself is not hard but there are many repetitions and in between some retentions – both without air and with air – as well as different rounds. (Important: It’s recommended to do this technique only in a safe environment. You find more information and training material on the official WHM website: https://www.wimhofmethod.com/)
   I’m very used to breathing techniques from Yoga (more: here) but it’s still astonishing how deep this technique goes: I truly felt the pulsations in my hands and the oxygen flowing through my body. After the deep breathing, we went over into a body scan and savasana (full body rest and relaxation), and I tuned into a deep, meditative state. I felt completely aware but calm, at peace, almost like “floating”. I’ve only ever felt like this in longer meditation or breathwork classes (many of them in India). It was an incredible feeling and when we were invited to “come back” and move again, I didn’t want to. Once I moved, sat back up and opened my eyes, I felt the urge to write down some of the beautiful thoughts and sensations I had had during the practice: Complete body awareness. Oxygen in my body. Feeling very alive. Silence. Peace. I felt at ease with myself and everyone around. I felt sooo healthy. I felt sooooo much GRATITUDE.
   
   
2. A positive mindset can move mountains
   After the breathing and mediation part, we took a little break to recharge with healthy snacks, and then talked about: Mindset. Theodore Roosevelt said: “Believe you can, and you are halfway there.” and the WHM – and life itself – shows us exactly that: A positive mindset can move mountains, if we believe that we are capable to. That’s why we trained visualisations and actually seeing ourselves successfully completing the ice bath. It’s a wonderful way of learning to believe it’s possible, finding confidence and sharing the exercises in a big circle made it all very special. Finishing this part, we did some breathing again to make our noradrenaline go up before the exposure to the cold. This time we only did two rounds and it felt easier as we already knew the technique. It was equally as powerful.
   
   
3. Finding comfort in the ice
   The third part was “the big finale”: 2 minutes in the ice baths. 2-3 degrees cold water. When I saw Nicholas bringing the packs of ice cubes and pouring them into the tubs, one after the other, I fully realized what we were about to do. There were two tubs so we went in pairs and that’s the beauty of a community: We were all watching and supporting each other, helping the ones that had just gotten out of the ice, providing towels, doing horse stance (a special technique to warm up the body) and breathing together. I was the last one to go, together with Olga. We have some parallels in our personal story and I felt grateful to share this moment with her, although we were both completely focused on our own body and immersion.
   I stood in front of the tub, I felt calm. I took a few deep breaths and visualized how I would go in and down in the water. I visualized myself sitting in the ice, relaxed. Nicholas was watching us and then he said: Whenever you want to. I put one leg in, the other leg in, took a deep breath and sat down in the ice. It was truly, freezing cold. But it still felt good. I thought: I know my body can do it, I know I can do it. I kept breathing, calmly, deeply. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Nicholas was with us the whole time, encouraged us saying: You are doing great. And that really helped. I relaxed completely, I started to smile, I felt so proud of myself and my body. After about 1 minute, I even started to feel warm. I felt my feet and hands the whole time, my whole body felt very awake and happy. And just when I relaxed even more, Nicholas said: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 that’s it. I put my head under water and got out, happy and excited – and full of positive, healthy dopamine. If you want to see my immersion, you can watch the video: here.

I think my TAKE-AWAYS are clear but I still want to sum them up quickly:

• Our body is stronger than we think. Let’s keep it healthy, look after it, use different, natural techniques to train it and connect to it.
  The Wim Hof Method reconfirms this: “Let’s get out of the mind and into the body.”
• Our breath is an amazing, powerful tool to calm down and relax our nervous system but also to energize and bring our adrenaline levels up.
• Our mind can move mountains, if we believe it. Let’s use our mindset to change our world, to look after ourselves and the ones around us.
• The power of community: New experiences are even more beautiful when you share them with others who have the same purpose.
  
  Thank you, Nicholas Corliss, for the great workshop. Thank you, Wim Hof, for daring to believe in the unbelievable and showing us all a new path.
  And you: Are you ready to try something new?
  I can highly recommend the Wim Hof Method. Or we can start with some easy breathing techniques which I teach in my workshops.