Why Ice Water Immersion And Your Breath Is The Key To Health And Happiness with Wim Hof

The Doctor's Farmacy with Mark Hyman, M.D.

Why Ice Water Immersion And Your Breath Is The Key To Health And Happiness | This episode is brought to you by ButcherBox and Four Sigmatic

Frequent exposure to cold is linked to a number of different health benefits. Scientists have found evidence that exposure to cold speeds up metabolism, and reduces inflammation, swelling, and sore muscles. Many athletes use ice baths and other types of exposure to cold as a means to speed up recovery after physical exercise. Cold body therapy is also linked to improved quality of sleep, more focus, and even to an improved immune response.

On this episode of The Doctor’s Farmacy, I was happy to sit down and talk with Wim Hof about the benefits of cold therapy and what happens to our body when we’re exposed to extreme cold conditions. Wim shares how we can change our biochemistry through our breathing, and the boundless capacities of the human spirit when we test our physical limits.

Wim Hof, also known as “The Iceman,” holds multiple world records for his feats of endurance and exposure to cold, and he is the author of The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential. The benefits of Wim’s method, now practiced by tens of thousands, have been validated by eight university research studies. He has been featured on goop Lab’s six-part Netflix series, the BBC, VICE Media, and the Discovery Channel, as well as in the bestselling book, What Doesn’t Kill Us by Scott Carney.

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Here are more of the details from our interview:

• The origin of Wim’s journey to become the Iceman (6:42)

• Our ability for voluntary control over bodily functions previously considered to be out of our control, such as our body temperature (11: 16)

• The healing power of cold and deep breathing (23:44)

• The benefits of cold showers (26:25)

• The three pillars of the Wim Hof Method (30:29)

• Awakening to the potential of accessing our inner mechanisms (34:49)

• Wim’s experience being injected with, and overcoming the effects of, E. coli bacteria and its implications for doing the same with COVID-19 (35:56)

• How to practice one of Wim’s breathing exercises (42:15)

• Reversing and treating autoimmune and other disease through the Wim Hof Method (51:34)

• How Wim’s techniques can help with the alleviation of depression and anxiety (55:48)

Learn more about Wim Hof and the Wim Hof Method at https://www.wimhofmethod.com/. Follow Wim on Facebook @icemanwimhof, on Instagram @iceman_hof, and on Twitter @iceman_hof.

Get Wim’s new book, The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential here.

Get Wim’s Free Mobile App here.