Wim Hof: Your Brain Can HEAL Your Body - Here's Proof!
What if we could control the deep. autonomic nervous system, the immune. system? Inflammation is the cause and. effect of actually every disease. I'm. into healing, into bringing down. inflammation. And that is what I give to. people. within a hour. So, better control over. the immune system, better control over. the central nervous system, and you. learn to clean the biochemical residue, which is the result of our daily life,
hectic modern life. The number one. health and wellness podcast. Jay Shetty. Jay Shetty. The one, the only Jay. Shetty. Why do you believe so deeply in the in. your work. and the impact that it's making that's. allowed you to dedicate your whole life. to it? I think it was my mother at my. birth. who invocated is a naive, god-fearing. mother, saying yet in fear that this baby was. going to die. That was the second baby.
And nobody knew there was a second one. I was too deep in, so I was too long in. and almost suffocated. I came. through her fear and pushing and. invocating, "Oh God, let this child. live. I will make him a missionary.". So, I don't think it is my drive, but it. is invocated by my mother. A naive mother, yet god-fearing, is a. formula, is a powerful formula that is.
impregnated, it's tattooed on my soul. while I was nothing more than a purple. little nothing coming out there, defenseless, and yet there, her invocation came right. into me. And how that all works, it. works, cuz I've been talking to her. And. when I was 12, I told my friends, "If. the world thinks that's the way it. begins to reveal itself, 12 years, you.
start thinking. about what is life. If the world think. that is a hunger, abuse, pollution, disease, darkness, depression is normal, then I think it is. sick. And I'm going to do something about it. And what I do not know, I just do it. That is where it came from. And since. then, it starts and every moment is a. drop. After 40, 50 years, the draw all those.
drops have become a tsunami, a way. through the thick wall of ignorance. Cuz. I think it is all all sickness, disease, darkness, depression, wars, pollution, etc. is just based in. ignorance. So, I have come up with a way looking in. nature, not in books, something that works, that makes that. overrides my mind.
Of all that has been filled up with. And. then the cold water came in. And from. the cold water, you learn to breathe. different. And with that deep breathing, you go. past the conditioning. And then you see. all what has been written for real, here, now. And then, because it is so. close, it's so direct, I had no need for. looking in esoteric books anymore,
traditions, languages, religions, anything like that. No, God was so. suddenly here and now. This is it was. the first time my feeling when I went. into the cold water. And I've been doing it since ever. And. you know what? It was my mother's. invocation. She was God-fearing, Catholic and all. And right now the. priests or of the Catholic Church. itself, the doctors, the theologians,
they are coming and they are in. integrating the Wim Hof method in the. deep religious esoteric disciplines of. the church. Which is equals mysticism of Islam, uh. Hinduism, Taoism, Buddhism. It's all the. same layer. And that layer now has been. hit and recognized by the best in the. Catholic Church, the most learned of. men. And if they are able to recognize that,
then I say I am not into uh abstracting. uh knowledge and philosophies and. esoteric disciplines, making it all so. difficult. Make God. Where is he? Where is he? If we go uh and it is recognized by the. best of them to be a highly esoteric. discipline, then now the discipline is there for. everybody, accessible in a half hour.
That means God is back. For someone who. has no idea what the Wim Hof method is, how would you break it down for them and. introduce them to it? It is simple. It is scientifically endorsed and I'm. inviting all the time. I got big studies. done recently. They are into publishing. And it all shows the effectivity to go. past our normal control, willful control. within our bodies. What if we could.
control emotion? What if we could. control the deep autonomic nervous. system, the immune system? Those matters are now present and shown. in signs that we are able to control. that. So, uh that is based through very. simple techniques. And what would change. if we could control those before we know. the techniques? If we could control. those systems, what does that mean for. humans? What are the benefits? There are.
uh there are some multiple benefits from. inflammation. Inflammation is the cause. and effect of actually every disease. And we showed that people injected with. a bacteria could withstand. the influence of the bacteria on the. immune system. Does the inflammation. which normally happens. within that controlled experiment, this time it doesn't happen. So, people bring down the cause and.
effect of disease, which is. inflammation. And we showed that in. science. Now we see where we are in the. world with the COVID. When there was COVID, we had to talk and. uh medicines and pills. It's all money, money, money, money, money. So, I'm into healing, into bringing down. inflammation. That That is what I give. to people. within a hour. The The techniques come. within an hour. Before they thought, "Uh.
Wim, how much time does it take for. people to learn what you can do, bringing down the inflammation after an. injection of a bacteria? Does it take a. year? 1 and 1/2 year?" I said, "10. days." And then it became 4 days. And. now is. half hour. So, better control over the. immune system, better control over the. central nervous system, which includes. our emotions.
So, our emotions become much more. pacified by. doing this. And you learn to clean the biochemical. residue, which is the result of our. daily life, hectic daily life, modern. life. So, we bring our emotion learn to. regulate our emotions. We got a lot more. energy because of the cardiovascular. fitness workout. A cold shower. It's so.
easy, also, eh? It's remarkable. There was. just last week I was in Poland with 500. people in the mountains and there was. one guy saying, "I I'm I'm doing the. cold and I'm doing this but my results. get lower." So, I say, "Come come. forward. Come here on stage. Show how. many push-ups can you do?". And he said to 15. Now, breathe this way for 30 times. Fully in.
Let it go. Fully and be with your mind in one. thing. You give the best. you got. That's That's all. Follow your. breath. Fully in, fully and. 30 times. 30 times. Last time, you fully in, let. it go. On empty lungs, he did 40. push-ups. You see, the breath is power. if you know how to manipulate the. nervous system, then you are able to.
generate. much greater power. And you're breathing. in through your nose and out Yeah, that. does does not matter so much. matter whether you breathe out through. your mouth or out through your nose. Yeah, it matters a little. They say the. nitrogen and through the nose and. but if you do it such a a short period. of time, you go just into the depth of. the whole body. You cleanse the body of. its biochemical residue, which is caused.
by stress of daily life. Mhm. And. therefore, just breathe. Don't think. about nasal breathing. You know, Surya. Bheda Tattva and. Chandra Bheda Tattva and. Kumbhakas and all that. No, don't be No. difficulties. If you If you we go back. to Patanjali, Patanjali says in the beginning, "At the. yoga anusasanum, yoga chitta vritti. nirodhah. Tada drastuh. svarupe avasthanam." Or the yoga is the.
silencing of the modifications of the. thinking brain, then the seer appears. Uh that unconditional power, that is. where I am aiming at. I just want to go. through the conditioned mind and body. And we are doing the studies with the. psychiatrist, neuro scientist, immunologist, and it shows that we go. where in science was uh stated, "This is. not possible for humans, etc.".
And now it is. And that's my aim. Within. a half hour, I want people to feel their. real power. So, the first step is 30. breaths, full breaths in and out. Yes. And do you recommend this doing. this first thing in the morning, or is. there a certain. On empty stomach empty stomach is of. course the the best. Or when you take shower, take also a. cold shower. And And try it out once. That you push.
How many push-ups can you do? If you look to this podcast and you do. only this biohacking great trick, 30 times fully in, relax on a chair, or you sit on the. ground, and you know how many push-ups. you can do. You want to see how you can influence. the neuromuscular. mechanisms in the body. for power? Well, just use your breath. It's so simple. It's really interesting,
because if you look at boxers, they all. know the value of breath. Yeah. If you look at athletes, they all know. the value of the breath. If you look at. musicians who play wind instruments, they know the value of the breath. If. you look at singers, they know the value. of the breath. So, this is something. that we've known, but for some reason, we haven't applied it to normal life. Because we all are athletes in our own. way. Yeah. In an everyday life, and I think. we've lost connection with that. I.
remember when the first day I went to. join the monastery in India, I saw a. young monk teaching younger monks. And I went up to that young monk. He was. like 10 or 11 years old. And I said, "What did you teach them?" And he said, "It's their first day of school.". And I said, "Oh, well, what did you. teach them?" And he said, "What did you. learn on your first day of school?" And. I said, "Maybe ABC, 1 2 3. I can't. remember.". Yeah. And he said, "Well, I just taught. them how to breathe.". And I said, "What do you mean you taught. them how to breathe?". Oh, but this is important, Jay. Here in.
America with the shootings in the. school, to simplify, a monkey. has difficulties learning how to swim, and a fish has difficulties learning how. to climb. Our minds, and every person is. different. Some fit into the system, and some. don't. They get conflict with their identity. And so much. when the stress comes in, and they still. have to perform and give results, and.
cognitively keep on, and they feel. not good compared to others, and all. that. might jeopardize the identity. And that goes in many cases. to where they lose it. Then they shoot their father, their. mother, their siblings, and then the. people because they are completely lost. We should bring regulation of emotions. done by breathing.
As you say, he was. uh totally right, this man. That was. probably the best lesson you got. The. inquisitive nature always brings about. answers. Yeah, absolutely. And And he. was saying the same thing as you're. saying. He said that. your breath is the only thing that stays. with you from the moment you're born to. the moment you die. He said, "You'll. change your country, you'll change your. family, you'll change your friends. Like. things change, but your breath is always.
with you." And he said, "What changes. when you're happy? Your breath. What. changes when you're sad? Your breath. What changes when you're angry? Your. breath." And so he said to me, "If you. learn to manage your breath, you'll be. able to manage any emotion in life.". Exactly like what you're saying. Yes. I'm here to show scientifically. that autonomy is ours. That we have a control far deeper than. in science was uh thought possible, but. now it's here. We not only here to drink.
a glass of water. We are here to drink the full cup of. life. If you don't go to the cold, the. cold will come to you. And then you don't like it. So, too much disease, too much anxiety, too much depression, too much darkness, all is happening. Too much stress. It's. all happening. We know this, and we. found a way to deal with it. We found. the key. So, you have these three. pillars, breathing exercises,
commitment, and then you have the cold. Yes. What is commitment? What do you. mean by that? With commitment, uh just do it. Just do. it, regardless of And and stay in that. discipline. Uh in the end, if you go into an ice. bath, you learn to control your. thoughts, because you learn to shut up. If you. want it, yes or no. You learn to. surrender. Let the body do what the body is capable. of. Once you get that, you get a control.
Like in the beginning you said. intention. Intention is interoception. And now we found in Detroit top-down. regulated interoception. Which is interoceptive focus, and that. is the will. able to enter into the body and to. readjust what needs to be uh what is out. of balance. To reconnect with the body. That is what the cold learns to shut up. and to connect with the body. Let the. body do what the body is capable. And.
then you become aware that you suddenly. willfully are able to control, to make. stronger your body without moving. And. that is top yoga. Like Dharana. Dhyana, Samadhi. Those things are now. here. And we have seen that it activates. the corona radiata. And the corona. radiata the nerve endings in the human. brain, which is the crown chakra. The.
crown endings, the corona radiata, the. radiant crown and now is able to be. activated by us because we learn to. surrender. That means we learn to let. go. And then we are able to full bloom. activate our brain capacity. Like a. 100%. Willfully. That's where we are. In the India, in the in Bangalore. I am I'm going to receive this prize.
Award for excellence in yoga. What is excellence in yoga? Yoga means. connecting. That's what I bring about. And make it simple. Breathing is so much more important than. we can cover within this hour. Yeah, within this podcast. Just try it out once. Embrace the full power partially. conditioned mind and body. through breathing. And we have.
simplified these techniques now and made. it so accessible that the esoteric. disciplines of all the religions, they. come knocking at our door. They say, "This is highly esoteric. This is. mystical. And this is here awaiting for any person. cuz God or what is mystical should be. there for everybody.". Absolutely. Every time, all the time. So, you. recommend that if ideally people do this.
on an empty stomach first thing in the. morning, it's going to allow them to have more. clarity, it's going to allow them to. have more energy, it's going to allow. them to focus better. Yes, it it cleanses completely the. lymphatic system. Uh all our daily habits activities. result in stress biochemical residue. It. accumulates in our bodies and if we. don't clean it, then it obstructs our. quality of life. How does breathing clean it? If we do.
these breathing sessions, uh. within four rounds, you will be able to. get into the. deepest of all systems to the deepest to. the bone marrow to the deepest of your. brain and learn to connect willfully. How does it work? If we do this. breathing, we blow off the carbon. dioxide. And then the alkalinity in the blood. goes a way up.
Uh when it goes a way up, you can exhale. and be without the need to breathe. because breathing is because you become. acidic. Now, the acid is out of the. and you are very alkaline. So, you are. able to stay 1 and 1/2 minutes, 2. minutes without breathing after. exhalation. Now, what happens in the brain stem, the. reptilian, the crocodile brain, it says, "You are not breathing. This is.
dangerous." It doesn't look to pH levels. in the blood. Is it alkaline or no? It. looks to oxygen, and oxygen is. completely depleted. And when that happens, then the brain. stem, which is connected to the adrenal. axis, that is the third eye, pituitary. gland, hypothalamus, and the adrenal. glands, then it activates the adrenal. axis just to spike once. in the body.
with twice as much adrenaline than a. person who goes for the first time into. a bungee jump in fear. Wow. They They have measured the blood of the. people going into a bungee jump with. fear for vertical. They took their blood and they took the. blood of the people doing this breathing. technique. And then they saw twice as. much adrenal spike in the blood.
for people doing this breathing. technique. Now, what happens with that. double dose of adrenaline? It goes like hormones into the spinal. fluid. And this is where we manipulate. This is. breathing techniques, manipulation of. the the key, the chi, the pneuma, the. prana. There's 10 kinds, but eight, prana. We. call it prana. So, we get it sublimed. But. we make it simple. We say,
"Fully in, 30 times the breathing, and. then exhale and stop." And you don't. feel the need to breathe. Now, after 1 and 1/2 minutes, uh what. happens if you don't breathe? Five times. more blood flows into the brain. Five times more blood flows into the. heart. Nobody knew. until they did uh cardio uh films uh on. this, and they say this is the future. This diagnostic at a cardiology uh this.
is for the future. Breathing techniques. Uh because it flushes like a battery, the heart if it functions too less. And that's terrible if you got a heart. that is not strong enough, you can make. it stronger just through doing this. And. five times more fluid into the brain is. flushing it. And now, because there's. twice as much adrenaline uh hormonally. in it, it cleanses everything. Anything. that should not be there, that is.
inflammatory markers, but also PFAs. Also microplastics, also mRNA techniques. uh uh technology. Uh whatever this. is, and radio waves, biochemical residue. they are from. All that has influence, and we don't know how to clean it. Through doing this, you just clean it. It's such an. interesting. prospect that we've been given the. technology in how we've been created in.
order to cleanse, to survive, to live, to heal. Yeah. But, obviously, you know. today, so many people are struggling. with anxiety. And a lot of people. listening today, people may have anxiety. about. meeting new people, people have anxiety. about their work, people have anxiety. about relationships. There's so much anxiety in the world. How can this help someone who's. struggling with anxiety? Is there a. different breathing practice, or is it. the same one? Exactly the same one. That. The simplicity is the power.
So, just try it out. You will be able to. cleanse that what obstructs you the. quality of your life under performance. When you need to perform, it really. could be a relationship, could be having. a new job interview, could be a. presentation on stage. Whatever is. important to you, that you want to feel. more than normal in a functional power. That one needs cleaning, and this one.
does it. This takes it away cuz your body knows. exactly what you are up against, but it. it it is saying, "Hey, you are anxious. because you cannot. uh function the way you actually want. because you the inside, and we need to get it out. And that's what it is saying. So, anxiety actually is a neuro signal. said, "Hey, clean up before you go up.". And and you will see that these simple.
breathing techniques will lead to. suddenly, "Oh, it's easy on stage.". All these the aha alertness. comes by itself. Is it true that this. can also help us get less sick? Less. often? Absolutely. It has been shown in. scientific comparative study. People injected with a bacteria causing. inflammation, that means fever, uh. headaches, vomiting, nausea, muscle aches, back.
aches, but really 3 to 6 hours is a controlled. experiment. 16,000 became very sick, and the 12 I trained, not sick. And we already showed this in 2014. Bacteria, E. coli, virus, it's all the. same. We have, like you said, we got the. mechanisms, but we don't make use of our. inner nature anymore to take down what.
should not be in there. Like sickness, like anxiety, depression, inflammation or of any kind. And it is preventative as well. The thing is. if you do this in the morning. preemptively. then you your day you are able to. accumulate a lot of stress without. feeling that you cannot deal with it. Yeah, yeah, that's. clean. Yeah. Right. It's almost like we could.
actually deal with more stress than we. believe. Yeah. If we were able to be in a state. And there you come into this emotional. spiritual state to take on challenges. Mhm. Because you feel suddenly, ah, I. can You don't feel that awkward anxiety, fear, you don't feel it anymore. And that makes you able to go into the. challenges of life. You saying something. really important here about I think the. challenge that people have is. we've become seekers of an even more.
comfortable life. If you look at. everything we're creating around us, it's so we can be more comfortable, be. more safe. And I mean even physically. comfortable and we don't want to do. something too challenging. We don't want. to do something that's uncomfortable. We. don't seek discomfort. So, how do we. encourage people. to transform our mind to realize that. discomfort is what creates goodness in. life. Yeah. and comfort is what creates more. problems later down the line. Exactly.
that. So, comfort is a false feeling. It is in the long term. it's really getting to you and it will. cause psychosomatic disturbances in the. body. It will heap up, accumulate. The body needs cleaning and for that, we. need to go into a certain kind of. stress. If we stress our bodies up consciously,
we learn to connect with the stress. mechanisms in the. brain and body. And with that, the stress in daily life, because if you're escaping into comfort. behavior, will not make you strong for. the the that is going to happen. anyway. So, better be ready before it. And we. provide with these simple techniques, not only the.
the ability to tackle stress in life. effectively, but also directly when you did it. When. you take a cold shower, you feel good. Yeah, for sure. You give a little, you. get so much more back. Yeah. And for. people who are not motivated to do this, don't wait until the comes to you, you go to the I say always, if you. don't go to the cold, the cold will come. to you. And then you don't like it.
So, too much disease, too much anxiety, too much depression, too much darkness, all is happening. Too much stress, it's. all happening. We know this, and we. found a way to deal with it. We found. the key, and we just want to hand over, out of love and respect to the person. this key. When I first started, I think. I mean, I I took cold showers when I was. in the monastery, it was very normal. But the first time I did a cold plunge.
was probably around four, five years ago. as well. Uh-huh. And I can honestly say. that as someone who has tried to get. massages to like feel relaxed and. distressed, and they probably get me to. like a 70, 80% but sitting in the cold. and doing the contrast therapy of maybe. 10 or 15 minutes in a sauna and maybe 3. to 5 minutes in the cold and then doing. it three times over, I have never felt. that level of relaxation or slept better.
than when I've done the cold, whether. it's in the morning or the evening that. day. The whole body just feels loose in. a way that I've never felt. You'd assume. it feels tight. Like you think when you. get in the cold that your body's just. going to like hold on, but it doesn't. It does the opposite. And when you get. out, you almost feel so much looser, calmer, less stressed. But, that's not. what the mind thinks. The mind thinks. it's probably going to be really It is. It is challenging in the beginning, for. sure. The first time I did it, I was in. there for 4 minutes because I was doing.
it with a friend and we were trying to. encourage each other. But, for someone. who gets in there and just wants to get. out in the first 10 seconds, how did. they. get more comfortable with that. discomfort? What should they do if. they're in there for 10 seconds and. they're like, "I need to get out." Like, how do you get over that hunch? Just. know that this really will bring about a. much greater control over stress in your. daily life. You only have to go through. this, say, a minute.
Once you are a minute in, and anybody can do it. Last weekend, I had people of 80 years. who never had been in an ice bath. They. went in for 10 minutes. 10 minutes. And they loved it. I mean, uh young people should not be in. the mind thinking, learn to be in the body and then know. that you are able to enter into the. body, into the depth, and that will be.
yours. For 10 seconds, yes, that is your. reaction of a body that never has been. in the cold. But, you are very able. Let me be very clear about it. You as a. young person, I'm talking to the a. person who's watching this, uh you are. very capable of staying 1 minute. And. what happens then? Your body is adapted. What that means is that your inner power.
is on, and it's connecting to your will. And with that, you learn to take on. stress of daily life, which you don't. need to escape of anymore. You are able. to confront yourself with difficult. situations in all the other areas. So, that little bit of. cold you're going to endure is going to. give you so much more back. It's funny. how the mind, when you're not when. you're in it and you finish it, you have.
a great experience. And then the mind's like, "Oh, I don't. want to do it again. It's really hard.". Like, whatever. And then you have to. keep reminding yourself. And I've I've. learned over time that things that are. good for you feel good after. And things. that are bad for you feel good before. Right? Anything that's bad for you feels. good before. You want to eat badly, you. want to drink badly. Yes. You want to do anything, it feels. amazing before. And then afterwards, it's like poison. Yeah. It's like pain. But anything that's good for you before. you do it, you're stressed, you're.
nervous. But then after you do it, you. feel the benefits and you have to keep. reminding yourself of that value because. it's so easy to lose. Wim, how did you. even discover. the power of breath work and the power. of cold? How did you even come to this. for yourself? Yes. I I I was a young kid. and uh very much in the head. What were. you worried about as a young kid? Because I feel like now. About life. What were you worried about? I'm intrigued because I think. My career, my this, my that, what I'm. going to do, what I'm going to say. Yeah, the same stuff as anybody.
So, I I read a. a lot and I was philosophizing a lot, debate, uh. running in my head. Crazy. And then one day I found. this irrational attraction. intuitively to go into cold water. And when I did that, the this circling, this. ruminating, yes. It stopped. Right there.
It's the. This is it. I was looking in philosophies and. religions. What is it? What is love within? It's in you. It's there. It's alive. It's past. thinking. And it's here, now. And the cold has. opened that up to me, past my. conditioning. Whatever I had learned, those are. patterns. They keep you. running in the same conditioning and can.
be very stubborn. But the cold was there and it went just. straight through, by which I started I. never stopped it. When I was 17. So for you it was almost. the cold became the pathway to. enlightenment to yourself. Yes. That. that was the pathway because. it just stopped the chatter. You can't. hear the noise because the noise becomes. well, initially the noise becomes oh god. it's so cold. Then what happens? Walk us through what.
that journey was. I think I was ready to. take on that challenge within me to get. rid of the chatter. What what is that what makes me connect. instead of chattering? I can say. I meditate and I do this and I do yogic. postures and I'm very good at it all and. philosophize. That one I was looking. for. I found it. And right now, right now, it.
shows in a big study we did. It's. submitted at nature as a big. scientific paper with 500 people and it. says. they compared it to meditation and. mindfulness. So, that the stress result as stress. tools, mindfulness and meditation stress. tools in the corporate world. So, we. took people out of the corporate world. from the corporate world with a lot of. stress and we took them and we went. through and doing this cold practice and.
the breathing. And it shows that it is. able to make this. ruminating through the stress of daily. life and having to perform and compete. uh constantly. Very high up the the. Price Waterhouse Coopers people. They. are not into yoga or into. uh what what whatever exercise. They. they need to perform with numbers, accountancy and it's very strenuous and.
arduous and and all that. They did this. and they compared thus the meditation. and the mindfulness with this and it. showed that this is generating much more. stress resilience, much higher cognitive. awareness and less stress experience and. beyond all. much more trust in each other. Mhm. Interoception. Interoceptive being. They. just had these feelings. And he.
expressed it. 500 people. What I want to. say with that is running which I had. a lot of people have and it is not just. thinking. It is related to the central. nervous system. And the stress. accumulates in biochemistry. that is wrong by which we have no. control over it and that is anxiety. And. now we have the ability to make it go. away. The cold did it for me. Then I. started to do the breathing because I.
found out in the cold uh if I do a. slower breathing deeply, I'm able to. stay longer in icy water. And. those were the findings. This is almost. 50 years ago. And and then I started to. cultivate, "Hey, if that happens in the. water, what the happens when I do it out. of the water at home?" And I did it. And. then I saw all the chakras, all all what.
I have been reading. For the first time, I saw it all. But that's not the goal. The goal is the soul. Goal is God's providence. to be direct here, past the chatterbox. And how to surrender. How to let go. How to. not think but be. And there you automatically, naturally. from there, you come into your purpose.
Yeah. And this this podcast is on. purpose. The purpose of life itself. Everybody is. different. But everybody has a purpose. From the. heart, not thinking. From the. the heart is able to give confidence and. trust. And that power that goes and takes on. the the challenges of life because the. soul is indestructible. And there is no. fear, not even for death.
Because you are doing exactly why you. are here for. And you feel it. Cuz God is at your side. He's here. And that made me. first break through with the cold, then. the breathing, and then I learned to. control, which I I showed in Sydney. lately in a brain scan. Nine and a half. thousand brain showed more or less the. bandwidth of what the brain activity is. in humans. I did uh nothing in the brain scan and I.
was within the. uh bandwidth of the brain activity of. these people. And then I I did my what you did in the. beginning, intention. I went out for half hour, did some. breathing exercises, but very strong. intention, and let it be. Your body knows when you talk to it. That's a pure inter- interoception. And. you know how to move it. If you just. have that faith, that power, that.
interoception. And that's what I did. And then I went. back in to the same brain scan. And then the professor saw what he never. had seen before. Such a activity of the subcortical. higher functioning of the brain. That is. confidence, fantasy, creativity, uh. trust, uh empathy, all those areas now. willfully completely activated. He saw. this. And this uh uh.
people say, "Hey, Wim Hof, you are the. Iceman. You can do that." No, no, no, no, no. No excuse. I only show what we all can do. And then. uh places like here, a podcast, a. platform which you make made available, which is great work. Thank you. Thank. you. For the whole wide world. They say, "Uh make America healthy." I say, "Let's. make the whole wide world healthy." And. it happens through these things. Absolutely. Faith. Something you said.
just really stood out to me in a way. that it hasn't before. And you just said that when we talk to. our body, it hears us. Yes. And I was just. thinking in a really simple way, when I think to myself, "I'm going to. take a glass of water." That is my me. talking to my body. Yes. And my body. just did that. Yeah. And then I'm like, oh yeah, I'm going to drink some water. and then I drink. And it's like I am talking to my body. even in the simplest of tasks. that I do every day. Because when we.
hear, oh, you can talk to your body and. it hears, you think it's some mystical. thing. But the truth is we're all doing. it right now. Like even me lifting my. hand, I'm first thinking it and I'm. talking to myself like I'm about to lift. my hand, I'm going to shake Wim's hand, I'm going to meet him, I'm going to. greet him. It's I'm already doing that. But then we forget that we can also code. our mind and our body. with emotion, with intention, with. feelings, with states. With a purpose of. life.
Yeah. And getting there and make the. impossible happening. Past our. conditioned mind and body. That now is on the threshold. Where I'm working with these. universities and showing, for example, 26 people. emotional distress. They cannot get out. of it. Uh they got PTSD, people dying within. their family, divorces, and they are. really victims in that. I mean, they. cannot get out of these loops. It keeps.
anxiety, pure anxiety. It's very tiring. They are exhausted. They went into the study. It took only one afternoon to break. those patterns. Wow. And that's the And. you know what happens that the next. thing is that they got the feeling that. they got the steering wheel. Their confidence suddenly is there. And. suddenly they feel.
their purpose of life that they can take. on the challenges. 26 people. We just did the study. scientifically and all. That shows that we not only here to. drink a glass of water. We are here to drink the full cup of. life. And to pass it on to our kids. Fully in. confidence and trust and in love and. beauty and power and energy and flow.
make a paradise. I I'm here to show. scientifically that autonomy is ours. That we have a control far deeper than. in science was uh thought possible. But. now it's here. And through the pharmaceutical industry. and the whole industry and the. governments, they are quite ignorant. Let me tell you that. So we need to stand up like podcasts. like this. We need to become autonomous.
Not believe in governments, but govern. ourselves. Cuz we are good people all. All the so-. where we got the our soul is goodness. deriving from. And we should be able to. have faith in the goodness of ourselves. And we bring through these tools. autonomy to the people. So they feel. confident that they have control over. the subcortical areas of the brain. The.
call to subconscious and all. They They. told us that is only 16% that we can. control. It's hundred. Sorry. It's hundred. And I'm showing that in. brain scans. And now we are showing with. cannabinoid receptors how we are able to. create flow in the body, which is a. natural state of uh ours. We only got. conditioned. And if we look at society,
too many wars, too many depression, too. many inflammation, too many anxiety, and. all. We can shoot people to the moon. Let's become happy, strong, and healthy. I made a song on that, by the way. It's. called Sachidananda. Oh, wow. Sachidananda bigraha jaya radha. radha om. The My roots are. in India. Do you Do you practice mantra. meditation as well? Like as you were. just singing and chanting right now. I did a lot of that.
Well. Now, mantras, the rep repetitive. reciting words, sounds. I'm singing. Yeah. All day. should be meditation. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yeah, it's the. culture of India. Yeah. Yeah, it's not. even just repetition of word, it's. singing, it's dancing, it's chanting, it's It's really beautiful. Meditation. should be your natural state. Yes. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, it's almost like a It's a. soundtrack to your life. That's how I think about it when I think.
about mantra meditation. It's It's. almost like you're listening to a. soundtrack, but the soundtrack's within. your own heart and consciousness. And. that repeated is kind of creating the. rhythm of your life. Yeah, it's If you If you sing, you love. it, too. You can yell out at your your heart. You. let your heart breathe. It feels great. I wanted to talk to you. about willpower, because you talk a lot. about willpower. And you talk about how people with low. willpower.
make poorer choices in life. Can you. define for us what willpower is in your. opinion? Willpower is the ability. to have control. within. It's the sixth sense, seventh sense, and. eighth sense. Willpower, dharana, concentration. If I stay 1 hour in icy water, I need dharana. I need concentration. I. need to control my core body. temperature, to control the nervous. system while I'm in. this very stressful environment.
And I stay there. This is willfully. uh connecting and that makes my body. strong. So, anytime I need to concentrate using. that connection with my central nervous. system, which I exercised in cold water, uh and it doesn't need an hour. It they. only need you adapting. Adapting is 2 3. minutes. Then you are naturally connected with.
your central nervous system, which is. the instrument of the willpower. You need you just need to learn to. connect. Don't make it too complicated. in yourself cuz it's. it hasn't got to do anything with. your thinking. It's taking on the challenge and your. body adapts. Doesn't matter what it is. Heat, cold, stress on the stage, doesn't matter. Uh you learn to take on instead of.
ruminating about it. You you go into it. because you have control over the. central nervous system, which is a. connection of the. prefrontal cortex. Uh and the central nervous system is. everywhere and it adapts. How far do you want to go? I tell. people. Yeah. If I got people motivated, last time I went on the Kilimanjaro in. shorts, it was with a man was 76 years old.
76. He had no experience in climbing. He was suffering from Lyme's disease. It's a debilitating condition. And. he had to go in shorts and he wanted to. do this in record time, what young. people cannot do. So, and I looked in. his eyes and I saw connection. I saw. motivation. Motivation is the right. connection with your central nervous. You really want it because you really.
are there. And I went with him and this is a. mountain you can do between 5 and 9 days. fully dressed cuz it's very cold up. there and it's half the oxygen and less. and you need oxygen to combust for. energy. And it it's not there. So. 5 to 9 days and then 40% only summit. And fully dressed. This man did it in 31 hours.
in his shorts. What? You know what. happened? His Lyme's disease was also. gone. At the same time. But what what is. willpower? It's there. Do you got it? Do you really want it? It's there and it's not complicated. Wow. And you can test it that it is able to. go way past what you think you can do. And it takes a half hour. Just try this out. We simplified these.
techniques. so to make it. a usable tool. Mhm. Mhm. Then it's only a matter of. choice. What do you want with it? Cuz you will be able as you should. owning your own mind and body in its. full splendor. Wim, you've done so many. difficult, challenging things. You. encourage people to do them with you as. well. What's the hardest thing you.
believe you've ever overcome? Wow. That at a certain moment I could do a. world record every day. You know, you get your body ready, yeah? And the connection is. in the flow. You You every day you can. run a marathon barefoot outside in the. snow or stay 2 hours in the icy water. Do crazy stuff. At a certain moment I. was thinking to myself uh. actually I don't want.
some ridiculous new challenge doing, showing. I showed enough. And. what I want right now. and that is might be the most difficult. is to settle down. And to let hundreds and millions of. people are doing what I'm doing now. This is real. With or without my name. doesn't matter. I started this. This is. my mission. My mother told me to do this. and to be the missionary. I did it. I I.
got to the Catholic Church itself to the. esoteric departments of the Catholic. Church, the best of them. They came to. me. My mother is. in peace. So right now I'm I want to go on. I want to go on on my own. And the challenge is I want to reach. billions of people, which is happening. That is the power of faith that keeps on. going when actually I thought I did my.
mission. I will be keeping on going. cuz I. actually it's a normal life is a bit. boring. I want to change the world. And that it. can be difficult, huh? I don't care. I. love. Wim, I think it's very clear that. you have no doubt been the modern. greatest proponent of breath work of. spending time in the cold and cold. exposure. I I don't think there's anyone. else who has not only popularized but.
taught those principles and made them as. big and as famous and popular as they. are now. And honestly all that credit. goes to you for sure. I don't think. those conversations were being had in. the modern world. And so I I thank you. for doing that because it's such a it's. such a great unlock for the world to. recognize the power that can be there. for free, right? It's like you don't. have to pay for breath work, you don't. have to pay to have a cold shower every. day. Freedom is for free. Exactly.
Autonomy is there. Yeah. And we want to. bring that is love. Yeah. We want to bring love to the people. We. want them to be able to feel good uh. whenever they feel bad. Yeah. You do that, I do that. That's why we. are here talking to each other. 5 years. ago we talked and it's the same right. there. That's the war we going to win. Absolutely. General. Yes. Your energy is infectious. I love it.
It's such a like and my team was telling. me just just to let everyone know my. team was telling me you walked here. today to my house. How long was that. journey? An hour and a quarter. Oh, is that all it was? Yeah, yeah, okay. Yeah, it's pretty impressive. I. think it might have taken people a bit. longer than that. Yeah, it was a nice. walk. It was a nice I I I was way too early. here. But I enjoyed your company. live you live you live everything. Like. it was hot today. It was a hotter day in. LA. You walked here from your hotel or.
wherever you're staying. Like it's it's amazing because you live. and breathe this. Like this is who you. are and some of my friends, Lewis Howes. is a good friend of mine and he brought. a lot of friends to you Oh. a few years. ago in Poland. They had the best time. Oh, yeah. And and everyone came out of. that just saying they couldn't believe. how much time they spent in the cold. And I think that's my favorite thing. about what you unlock for people. beyond the breath, beyond the cold, is. we don't know what we're capable of. Exactly. no idea what this body and this mind is.
capable of doing. And if everyone. listening and watching can remember that. you are so much more capable than you. believe you are. You're able to do so. much more than you think you can. Your. mind and body are so much stronger than. you believe they are. If you walk away. with that message from today, that will change your life. Because in. your head, you think you're a lot more. limited than you actually are. If people. take one message, love is where you are able to make that.
what is going bad within good. Mhm. And. that that love we want to share, and. it's not complicated. Mhm. Just try it. out once, and then you will see for. yourself feeling is understanding. Wim, a couple of last questions. We've talked. about the like mental and physical. health benefits. What benefits do you see for society at. large if they practice your method? I. think it is the soul itself.
Uh we are now being approached. I was in. the Middle East uh. with the Catholic Church. with the highest as a. departments about providence of God's. providence and the modification about. deep religious practices. They are. taking this all on and see that God's. presence itself. comes much better to work the moment.
again. And that is unconditional love to. me. And that is now accessible also for. anybody else. So, we made God accessible, the unconditional love accessible just. by learning how to surrender. And to. show scientifically that we are capable. of controlling this deep autonomic. nervous system, central nervous system. much better than we have learned in our.
schools to battle inflammation, depression, and energy itself. It's all. there, and it's not complicated. If you take something away, just do it. once. How can people understand that breathing. and being in the cold and surrendering. ultimately leads you to God? Because I. think a lot of people are doing it, they. do it for the health benefits, they do. it for the physical benefits. They may not even understand the concept. of surrender, which is what's happens.
actually happening when you're in the. water, you have to. How do you How do you connect that dot. for people or is it just something. people have to do and they'll get there? During this conversation, we already. actually talked about it. It's your. purpose. Yes, yes, yes. Once you are driven by your purpose, it's like if you love somebody, you just there's nothing that can stop. you. If you get your purpose by learning to. control fear, to have a deeper control.
over the central nervous system inside, which we showed within a half hour, then. suddenly fear doesn't block you anymore. The quality of life doesn't You take on. the challenges. Suddenly, our nature is. to take on challenges, to take away. blockages, to live up to our purpose and. our purpose is rooted in goodness. And. that once we are in that power, we are. stronger than what we think.
Cuz love is stronger than what you. think. That is happening. I'm not going to go. into philosophies because this is not. about philosophies, but the best philosophers, they come now. saying they are recognizing that the. real core principle of the the best of. philosophy. is being. done by do doing this. So, I take that,
but this is not my starting point. Yet, I I take it as, "Hey, these people, they. are experts in those fields of what is. God, how to behave there, how to do, how. to practice, and all." And they are. coming and they say. do that this and that makes sense to me. But, I say feeling is understanding. If. you do this, then God will be there. I have no doubt.
God's presence is a goodness that is. rooted within every person in the world. And this makes all the blockages go. away. You connect and your purpose is. like a flower, is like a strong power. that goes past your thinking. Wim, last question. You've. talked before about this, but you talked. about losing your wife and how that was. such a. transformative. moment in your life, even though it was tragic. And you've.
talked today about the definition of. love. is being able to transform something. that felt like pain into. something good or purposeful. What. helped you grieve and what helped you. walk through that grief? Yeah, grief. And we did a lately a grief study. And. that chose in within one afternoon, people are able to get out of these. patterns. Through breath work and. Yes, cuz you're neurologically you are.
connected with the love of your life. She was the mother of my four children. And she still is. And we got a completely on it. She She. is here. The afterlife, but that is another. discussion. Uh she is here. She is with us. And I'm with her. children. And we have a very successful. enterprise in the whole world on. breeding. A a to bring love and how to de-block. So,
when I went grieving about. losing her in a suicide, the mother of my children, the love of. my life, the nothing could help me. except for going into cold water. Cold waters makes your mind shut up. Different areas of the brain suddenly. start to be activated. The sense of life. the the brainstem is about survival, just to live. What is the purpose of.
life? To be alive. Fully. So, it started over there. It It. opened a little bit my grief. It stopped. my grief in those moments. by which I opened up to myself, and. there the healing started. I became a person missing my wife, missing the mother, but I made my family for my family my.
kids with very little money. a warm nest. and a lot of energy. And that's because I could heal within. And we still have her in all our honor, and we can still think about all the. emotions, but here we are. Uh, from there, from that negative. story, this movement now. is evolving.
So, I've learned. of the grief. I've learned of my. negativity inside, my darkness inside. And come out. And so can anybody else. This is what we are showing now in. scientific studies. People who also have. lost a family uh members or uh. can be very strong inside or PTSD the. the gruesome situations of war in in.
sight and they you can't change your. your behavior anymore. You're in. despair. This breaks it. So, it broke me back then and I had to. find it. It's science. And it works for millions of people. Wim, I thank you for your work. I'm. grateful to have you spoken to you. twice. I'm uh hoping that everyone who's. listening and watching. downloads the Wim Hof method to actually. practice it, to breathe every morning.
What I really wish for you is that for. the next 7 days, just 7 days, if you can. start your day with the Wim Hof method. on an empty stomach, just watch how your. life changes. Just 7 days of either the. breathwork or the cold shower, whichever. one it is, and if you can do both, amazing, but just either one of them, and just watch how your life changes. because this is all about testing, it's. all about practicing, it's all about. building it. And I don't want you to.
think that you've got to learn a new. technique or whatever it may be. This is. really, really simple. Wim's made it. absolutely accessible for each and every. one of us. And I think. one of the things that I'm going to do. based off of this. is just constantly remind myself that. whenever you think you've reached a. limit, to realize that. that's actually not the limit. Mhm. Your. mind and body can do so much more. Yes. So, thank you so much, Wim. Please read. the Wim Hof method, download the Wim Hof.
method, follow Wim on social media. across platforms. And Wim, I'm sure. we're going to meet again and continue. this uh mission together. your work. I love you, Wim. I I respect it and. thank you so much. I came yesterday all. the way out of Europe and tonight I fly. on. But maybe not so good for the. ecological footprint, but I had to see. you. I had to be with you. And it's. worthwhile all. Thank you. Thank you. very much. Thank you. Thank you so much for.
listening to this conversation. If you. enjoyed it, you'll love my chat with. Adam Grant on why discomfort is the key. to growth and the strategies for. unlocking your hidden potential. If you. know you want to be more and achieve. more this year, go check it out right. now. You set a goal today, you achieve. it in 6 months, and then by the time it. happens, it's almost a relief. There's. no sense of meaning and purpose. You. sort of expected it, and you would have. been disappointed if it didn't happen.
