Last Saturday I sat in an ice bath with water temperature around 1 degrees Celcius.
A few months ago, I decided to enroll myself and 7 friends in a Wim Hof Method workshop, including an ice-cold bath. Such a workshop would give us the opportunity to do something beyond our comfort zone.
An ice bath can be seen as an extremely stressful situation, since the exposure to cold immediately triggers stress reaction in your body. The first reaction is a fight-or-flight response that might convince you that you’re about to die.
Overcoming that reflex requires gaining control of your breathing first. Control of the other automatic body responses comes thereafter. Hence, the first 1,5 hour on Saturdays’ program was aimed at breathing exercises.
Following we went into the ice-bath one by one. This experience was for me a demonstration that showed the power of mind over matter; it convinced me that the human body can endure more than I can imagine.
“Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve”
After the individual ice bath, we went into an ice bath as a group. The extraordinary thing for me was that this group ice bath felt much colder than the individual ice bath. The water temperature in the group bath was actually a few degrees warmer than the individual ice bath. In hindsight, I noticed that my focus was less optimal in the group bath when compared to the individual experience.
What is my take-away here?
In short, I’m very happy to tick this experience off my list. I’m even thinking of doing this more often, because this experience helped me to go from ice to insight; it gave me 3 insights.
First of all, it starts with the right mindset. You need the growth mindset of “I can take on any challenge, also this challenge”. Without the growth mindset, the impossible will stay impossible.
Second of all, you need to be able to focus like never before. Where your focus goes, energy flows, in particular in these situations. It is extremely important that you focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear. This experience requires you to focus on the warmth in your body, rather than the panic situation that your body initially wants to create.
Thirdly, you need the right environment. The fundament of this environment is based on a safe haven, where everything is OK. In my ice bath experience, the Wim Hof instructor was instrumental in making it a success, for me and the others. As an additional bonus, the experience itself also nourished the connection within the group.
Last Saturday I sat in an ice bath with water temperature around 1 degrees Celcius.
A few months ago, I decided to enroll myself and 7 friends in a Wim Hof Method workshop, including an ice-cold bath. Such a workshop would give us the opportunity to do something beyond our comfort zone.
An ice bath can be seen as an extremely stressful situation, since the exposure to cold immediately triggers stress reaction in your body. The first reaction is a fight-or-flight response that might convince you that you’re about to die.
Overcoming that reflex requires gaining control of your breathing first. Control of the other automatic body responses comes thereafter. Hence, the first 1,5 hour on Saturdays’ program was aimed at breathing exercises.
Following we went into the ice-bath one by one. This experience was for me a demonstration that showed the power of mind over matter; it convinced me that the human body can endure more than I can imagine.
“Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve”
After the individual ice bath, we went into an ice bath as a group. The extraordinary thing for me was that this group ice bath felt much colder than the individual ice bath. The water temperature in the group bath was actually a few degrees warmer than the individual ice bath. In hindsight, I noticed that my focus was less optimal in the group bath when compared to the individual experience.
What is my take-away here?
In short, I’m very happy to tick this experience off my list. I’m even thinking of doing this more often, because this experience helped me to go from ice to insight; it gave me 3 insights.
First of all, it starts with the right mindset. You need the growth mindset of “I can take on any challenge, also this challenge”. Without the growth mindset, the impossible will stay impossible.
Second of all, you need to be able to focus like never before. Where your focus goes, energy flows, in particular in these situations. It is extremely important that you focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear. This experience requires you to focus on the warmth in your body, rather than the panic situation that your body initially wants to create.
Thirdly, you need the right environment. The fundament of this environment is based on a safe haven, where everything is OK. In my ice bath experience, the Wim Hof instructor was instrumental in making it a success, for me and the others. As an additional bonus, the experience itself also nourished the connection within the group.
