book notes

left out: the opposite is true to. they can feel much longer than they actually are.

chapter 3: cold showers

- in your soul you know you are capable of anything you seek

- trusting that heat is unnecessary yielded strong intuition and judgement. Civilized to Death, a book by Chris Ryan.

- cold works the vascular system. we have vascular diseases from not doing this. the human vascular system is 62k miles long, 2.5x the length of the planet, and is surrounded by millions of small muscles that regulate our temperature via it.

core temperature:

- normal: 98.6 degrees F

- hypothermic state: 95.6-96.6 degrees F

- deadly loss of homeostasis: below 95.6 degrees F

- wearing clothes and using fire weaken our vascular muscles from disuse. wim hof says this puts burden on our heart to take more responsibility for our blood pressure, stimulating cardiovascular illness.

- a daily cold shower gives the vascular muscles exercise, deterring these illnesses, although you won't hear a pharmaceutical corporation recommend it, as it isn't a drug.

- at first cold water is a shock and one may gasp even repeatedly, but over time one comes to crave it, the more often cold showers are taken.

- when society gives no answers, nature does. wim hof found cold water and vascular fitness.

- 10 days of cold showers: heart rate reduces by 15-30 bpm, day and night. wim hof says this reduces harmful stress to your body by reducing unneeded release of adrenaline and cortisol, and hence you have more capacity for normal stresses of life such as workplace or travel disputes.

- after training in cold, then yoga in the snow without shirt or shoes. adaptation to snow cold within 15 minutes. our human nature is to have a fit vascular system and be happy without warm clothes in the snow, after 15 minutes. our lack of exposure to cold prevents us from reaching this nature.

- 10 days of a minute or two of cold water after a warm shower: conscious ability to contract vascular muscles when exposed to the cold.

Beginner Protocol

- prepare body for less shock when going into ice water

- 30 seconds of cold water at the end of a warm or hot shower, is easy, although it can be discomfortable at first

- the repetition works the vascular muscles: closing and opening

- start with 15 seconds for a week, then 30 seconds or more after vascular muscle tone has improved

- with improved tone, better blood flow throughout the day gives more energy

- after 30 seconds, you can feel the conscious connection with your gasp and shiver reflexes. [ed note: these may be part of relation with vascular system. vascular muscle is smooth muscle, so we do not usually consciously feel it directly.]

Week 1: 30 seconds cold after warm

Week 2: 1:00 cold after warm

Week 3: 1:30 cold after warm

Week 4: 2:00 cold after warm

- do gradually and slowly, at least five days a week. following the feeling, don't force, fine to start with 15 seconds and do it slower, see 20 day challenge.

- first benefits begin at 60 deg F, so cold tap water is cold enough to start off.

- as vascular system strengthens, shock of cold reduces. tangibly feel more energized, strong, healthy, throughout the day.

- after 4th week 2:00, your mind becomes stronger than the cold. there will be no shock if you will there to not be, engaging your vascular muscles in preparation. you find you can engage this over different areas of your body and direct it. starting just with a short bit of cold water.

- prehistorically, we needed our vascular system to do this, to protect our heart, lungs, brain. imagine an ancient human venturing deep into a cold cave or other area with no modern gear. we get sick if our vascular system is disused. our vascular system is like our immune system, keeping us healthy if we keep it healthy. otherwise, we need coats and antibiotics.

- cold showers and a toned vascular system give a deep healthy peace. the cold gives information on one's own wellbeing, rather than conflict.

- take these things as a mantra for the discomfort of cold showers: that it will give you a lot more energy. that it will reduce your heart rate. that it will let your cells get the oxygen and nutrients they need. wim hof keeps this mantra after 43 years. you will feel amazing.

- after 10 days you'll be addicted to cold showers because it feels so good afterward. your deeper parts open up because the water is freezing.

- the cold is the teacher, and you learn to control your stress, in all sorts of situations, after only 10 days.

- a minute or two, tops, then can increase after 10 days

- can reach meditative state

- wim hof participated in 2018 muzik and diwadkar, relating exposure to cold water with brain activity and skin temperature. wim hof's skin temperature did not reduce as the other subjects did.

Getting Warm

- brown fat tissue and intercostal respiration muscles can be activated to warm the body

- sit down

- inhale slowly + deeply 5-6 times, exhaling naturally

- inhale fully

- relax to exhale

- inhale fully

- hold the breath for 5 seconds at most

- tense the upper back muscles and chest while holding the breath, but not the head nor the jaw

- let go

- everybody is different, but with practice, one feels the heat coming

- wim hof did this to prevent measured temperature loss

- wim hof had always found ways to warm himself instinctively, but when being scientifically scanned he was asked not to do his breathing exercises. with inner searching and remembering, after a day of failure, he found he could consciously engage his body warmth with only his mind, and this was measured. his skin temperature was a degree warmer than normal during the experiment. the scans showed him activating rare parts of his brain, usually engaged with pharmaceuticals.

- be competitive: learn to regulate your state

- a story is told about the hiding of the soul. wherever it is hidden, people travel to win to it. so, it is within us. one can become very powerful accessing it, and must use this power for good.

- completely free way to engage depression, illness, fear, that society is ignoring, intended by nature. we can control far more of our mind and body than we are, with only 10 days of cold showers.

- where our mind goes, blood flows. it can be very hard to do things when one isn't engaged for them. it doesn't have to be that way.

- when you learn to engage these deeper parts of your brain, when you do so you'll feel no cold, no stress, but rather warm and great.

- more studies on this are happening.

- wim hof lost his wife of 4 children to suicide in 95, despite pharmacology. development of his technique shows healing modalities can grow.

- what does a happy person need? nothing, because they are happy. become happy with us.

- cold is merciless and righteous, and makes us strong, and returns us to our best condition. it tackles cardiovascular disease, depression, chronic pain, and inflammation.

- a minute or two of cold shower per day

Ice Water Bath for Warmer Hands or Feet

- fill a bucket 1/3rd ice, 2/3rds water

- focus on your hands and feet

- place your hands or feet into the bucket

- hold the hands or feet in the ice water for two minutes. at some point, they should feel warm in the water instead of cold.

- remove your hands or feet, but keep focusing on them

- shake them out several times to encourage blood flow into the activated areas

- in response to cold shock, the vessels constrict, but they open when the temperature drops to 50 deg F, warming the area with blood flow.

- people with cold hands or feet have poor vasoconstriction and dilation.

- if you have cold hands or feet, do the exercise daily to strengthen these vein muscles. results begin after a couple days.

Next chapter: Breathing