The Wim Hof Method
Lessons learned from the Summer Expedition 2022
The stories we tell ourselves have so much power, are so potent & quite literally can change our reality. Where our attention goes, our energy flows. When we can learn how to harness our energy, to be present & focused, amazing things can happen. And it all begins with releasing & letting go.
I learned by practicing this week. I learned how to release old stories, call BS on limiting beliefs & dance with fear. I journaled throughout the WHM retreat & I’ll share my takeaways, affirmations & shifts that I experienced.
Before we dive in, I invite you to challenge your reality, to step outside of your zone of comfort & ask yourself what are you resisting? And maybe you haven’t allowed yourself the time and the space to PAUSE, to REFLECT, to FEEL. I encourage you to carve out a moment after you read this to simply BE & feel what comes up for you.
Life gets to be a vibrant adventure when we choose to let go of old narratives that no longer serve us.
Life gets to be amplified when we are at peace with our choices, our actions & our thoughts.
Life gets to be outstanding when we begin to trust ourselves again.
THE WHM BREATH SESSIONS
Every day at 8am we, as a group, gathered to catch the rising sun over the Pyrenees for an intention setting session followed by breath work. One of our instructors would lead us through a practice to center us into our breaths & bodies. For our very first session, we grounded into our bodies with an 8-minute sun salutations practice where I felt light and open. I set the intention to open any doors of resistance.
We went deep from there - what a powerful & moving experience with Wim, himself, leading the breath accompanied by live music. There was no strict timing or count with our breath and retentions. There was a natural rhythm that helped release the ego and opened the door for me to listen to my inner child in a way I’ve never tapped into before. With breath & the energy vibrating the earth from our collective breath, there was no way to run and hide from the experience. Some days there were tears & laughter, other days were filled with acceptance & love. And throughout the week, I gained a greater knowing of honoring myself.
“I choose to be confident, radiant, present & trustworthy xx”
THE WHM COLD EXPOSURE
We faced our fears daily. We challenged our physical and mental states daily. And we danced with the unknown daily.
The energy around every cold exposure session was electric & magnetizing. You felt the hesitation, the childlike excitement & the encouragement from the community every day. I deeply felt the continuous beat of the drum within my body, just pulsating a rhythm that has stayed with me long after the ice baths. Everything in this life has an energetic rhythm & is energy. And the energy was pure magic.
Ice deliveries were made daily to the retreat & we spent intentional time filling up the swimming pools with bags & bags of ice before jumping in. Day 1 we played with a 10-minute ice bath expose. One that challenged me mentally more than physically. My emotions ran high throughout the entire 10-minutes from doubt and fear to a sound realization that I was living with stories & beliefs that were not mine. Simply put, I was moved. In the beginning of the session, fear played it’s strong hand and was expressed with my shallow breaths & resistance to the cold. I had thoughts of - ‘of course you can get out’ and ‘you’ve experienced enough, you can try again tomorrow’ and ‘you aren’t strong enough for this, you will faint’. The physical sensations brought me right back to the numerous times I’ve nearly or even have fainted in the past and the sensation was unbearable. Tears started to stream down my face. The resistance was strong but my release was much more powerful. With support from our instructors, I concentrated on my breath and I took my power back. Yes, I felt the cold, my whole body was shaking, the piercing tingles from my toes to my fingers, the light headedness & vomit-like sensations but I was steady. I was in control. I felt for the first time that I no longer needed an escape route & I felt safe within my body and mind. This was a continuous feeling throughout the week as I continued to peel back the layers & called BS on more and more limiting beliefs. And it all started with the first ice bath.
I was living with anxiety. With anxious thoughts daily that made me question my strength, my own power & my health. All from years of unstable health experiences, doctors stories & loving support and concern. In my mind & body, I accepted these beliefs and stories as my own. I identified with them to the extreme of living in fear daily. WOAH. It didn’t happen over night and it wasn’t because of one experience, it was a cumulative development where I lost control of my own thoughts and actions. The best way to describe it would be I was highly functioning but constantly had a “What If” plan, a way out if needed, a safe escape for absolutely everything for when I would feel physical signs of fainting. I became paralyzed & distrusted my own capabilities.
I started my morning’s with vocal toning - to see what I was working with that day! I use this beautiful app - Open - and after each practice they share a quote for the day & on this particular morning I was reminded of the power of our breath.
The Cold Exposure Lineup
Day 1: 10-minute cold exposure
Day 2: 15-minute cold exposure
Day 3: (3) 5-minute cold exposures back to back
Day 4: Canyoneering Adventure in the Pyrenees
Day 5: Mud Bath + Cold shower
After signing up for the WHM Summer Expedition, I set an intention for the week:
“To connect to my breath again.”
That was it. Before the retreat, I blocked so many of my emotions because I was subconsciously holding back. My ego was protecting me & I never even questioned asking myself to go deeper into what ‘connect to my breath again’ even meant. I just let it be. Even though I questioned my physical ability to live life without fainting and I would run through the worst case scenarios with driving, eating, swallowing, & traveling on a daily basis. I lived with that fear for years and I masked my mental health for all those years.
And after Day 1 it all became clear. I had to learn through practice, to purposefully put myself into a stressful environment to find out for myself that I have deep work to do to begin to trust myself again.
Nobody could tell me I wasn’t fully connected to my true self, I had to feel it for myself.
“I survived the 10-minute ice bath. I thrived within my own body. This is a shift that feels incredible inside, one that I didn’t even know I needed. It feels pivotal. Life is good in that way. ”
“Wim on Ice” - Wim Hof, Summer Expedition ‘22
“From relaxing into (3) 5-minute ice bath sessions to dancing into my own strength & warmth after each ice bath, I am a warrior. I am radiant. I am happy, healthy & strong xx”
Day 2 we played around with a 15-minute ice bath. My mantra was that my body is strong & healthy. I settled into the practice, expressed vocal singing, caught a few sun rays & listened to my breath and the sheep passing in the nearby field. The world around me felt still and peaceful and I transcended that energy in the ice bath. My breath was long, slow & controlled. I was in control. The sounding in the beginning brought laughs & smiles throughout my entire being.
The work, the moment I danced with fear, started after the ice bath. My body was rebelling. I felt all the negative sensations I’ve pushed down for years - nausea, hot tingles, losing control of my hands, black out & loss of hearing for moments (hello symptoms of fainting & vasovagal syncope). I verbalized my negative state, I was about to give into the feelings, I was about to release my control to fear. Instead, the answer was …
BREATHE MOTHERFUCKER.
I settled into deep & present breaths. I flowed into a horse stance & moved to a rhythm that settled my being. The sensations were loud for several minutes & slowly started to dissipate and became quiet. Through movement & breath, my body responded. I felt electric. I held the power. And that was a powerful fucking moment for me. Another reminder that those past stories, feelings and experiences no longer are a part of who I am.
We are powerful. We are capable human beings in becoming limitless through the practice of breath work, cold exposure & our commitment to ourselves.
We have the power within us. Be limitless. With ease + light.
-Emma Caird, Wim Hof, Sean Greenspan in the Pyrenees Mountains, Spain 2022
Wim reminded me how simplistic it gets to be. How bringing it back to the basics allows you to get out of your own way, out of your head & begin to FEEL again. It’s this feeling we want to be in touch with. It’s the feeling that allows us to take bold action, to express ourselves limitlessly & achieve our dreams + desires. It’s the feeling that simply allows us to be.
Words are powerful but once you find out for yourself how powerful feeling is, the world|mother nature|God|the universe|spirit above shows you the ease of living aligned and limitless. When you start, you can not stop. You begin to live into a new vibration, one that gives you possibility to play.
“We are warriors. We are healthy. We are strong. We are happy. We are love. xx”
No ego, we go. One of Wim’s quotes that was a resounding message throughout the week. After covering our bodies in mud, we sat in a circle & everyone expressed what they learned, released, grown into during the week. What a moving practice. I learned how to trust my body again. The duality of gratitude & humility was evident all week & this final practice of releasing gave light to my journey.
We are light. We are sunshine. We are all specks of love. You simply felt the love vibrating throughout the entire group this day. I’m dedicated to show my body, mind & spirit love daily so that I can radiate that love outwards again. Love is a healing power, one that transcends happiness & health. The practice starts with you. With the ease & power of feeling into your own breath. I’m grateful to experience these practices to shift from the old stories limiting me in life & reconnect with my unique voice.
“Breathe motherfucker”
