#18 Wim Hof - The Iceman Living Limitlessly

Days 2-4 of the Wim Hof Method workshop Before you start, have you read Part 1 & Part 2 yet?? http://www.livinglimitlessly.com/wim-hof-1 http://www.livinglimitlessly.com/wim-hof-2 Going deep With every day that passed, it became apparent that the more breathing we did that oxygenated  our bodies, the deeper we went into our cells and did a big clean up.  The waste was then released in all different ways.  Some people had ‘interesting’ eliminations (think number 2); others had physical signs such as bruising all over their body; and the most common one for all of us was having an emotional release.  It was not unusual to sit up after a breathing session & look around to see that most people were teary.  Every day was different as to whether it tapped into just a small realisation or something really deep and profound.  One person in the group had really huge releases & would sob uncontrollably at every session.  This also meant that there was a lot of bonding amongst the group.  I have to say that in my entire life, I’ve barely managed to see a single male get overly emotional.  At the workshop, with 57 males all experiencing emotional releases, I’ve never seen so many guys cry in my life!  It was amazing & such an important transformational shift for men to be able to show vulnerability like that.  It’s good for the mind, body & spirit to let shit go! Migraine & WHM On day 2 & 3 I had a bad headache (for those of you that follow me, then you will know I suffer from migraine pain).  The only good thing about having the migraine at the workshop was that I had the space & time to just let it be and play itself out.  I didn’t add to it by stressing about having to go to work or needing to be somewhere.  This in itself brought up a lot of ‘stuff’ for me.  Luckily, there was a lady there that practiced kinesiology so she helped me to release those issues that contributed to my headache pain. Doing the WHM breathing was interesting, as the breathing in itself would make my head pound with pain.  This makes sense as migraine's are vascular in nature, meaning they are to do with the blood vessels.  Reduced blood flow in the veins results in, a lack of oxygen in the tissues, and changes in the brain’s chemistry.  When an irritation occurs, fluid and protein leave the blood stream and enter the tissue spaces.  This slows down the exchange of oxygen and nutrients at the cell level.  This, in turn, causes the release of substances that greatly dilate the blood vessels.  Local tissue injury and swelling occur as a result – which is why there is great pain associated with migraine.  So whilst doing the WHM breathing, the veins would be contracting, causing even more pain. What was great though, is that an hour or so later after the breathing session, the headache would seem to subside and ease off a bit.  This is most likely because the increased amounts of oxygen in the blood would also raise oxygen levels in the brain. More ice baths Evey day brought more ice baths & by the second day there were multiple sessions.  The ice baths also grew in duration until, on the final day, it was for 10 minutes!!  What’s important to note about the ice baths is that they are an important tool in this method.  Aside from the health benefits of cold therapy, Wim also says that the reason for the ice baths are to remind us of how to use the WHM breathing technique correctly.  Fundamentally, if you are in an ice bath & you do not do the breathing correctly, then you will not survive the ice bath without side affects.  The ice bath forces you to focus on the method to ensure you are able to withstand the cold & to maintain your core body temperature. So many reasons to breathe! Knowing that you are able to consciously affect your autonomic nervous system is amazing.  It is the only method that I have learnt where I can immediately see the benefits of how I have affected my body.  The part of