Originally posted on Facebook HERE
Snow. It can really be beautiful to look at. Fun to play in, too. Snowmen, sledding, snowball fights — if you grew up in Wisconsin like I did, your childhood is probably full of all that and more. “Snow days” off from school 👍 — loved those. I’ve been less and less excited to see Winter coming as I age, though. Not a fan of the cold at all. I pretty much fall totally on the other side — I love 90–100° days. Makes me want to go for a run. I often wear a hoodie all summer long. I like to stay warm. So, when I got a copy of Wim Hof’s book “The Wim Hof Method” as a gift, I approached it with some trepidation. I knew a little about him, the crazy things he did physically by withstanding the cold using his breathing techniques and mind over matter. And I went in anyway — anything I can do holistically to make my lungs stronger I’m willing to take a look at. I’ve had asthma my entire life. And very early in the book he gives an easy breathing technique that I’ve found extremely helpful. But, then… there’s the stuff about embracing the cold. Embracing — the cold. Ugh. My mind cringes at the very thought of it. But behind that somewhere, deep in my soul is a voice that says “just go with it — see where it leads”… so — I’m giving it a shot. Step one: cold showers. Good God, man — cold showers? Why on Earth would anyone do this when warm showers are easily available?… it’s all about changing our mindset. Instead of freaking out about the cold, embracing it. The cold is our friend. We have lost touch with the ability to deal with physical stressors in our life — we have plenty of mental stressors these days, but physically? It’s a climate controlled life. What if we could get to the point where you turn the cold water on and it hits your body, and you don’t freak out? Would that have an overall positive effect on your health? He swears it absolutely will! And when I read on about the “cold shower” thing — he doesn’t recommend just taking a freezing cold shower — rather, take your normal shower and at the end — for the first week — turn the water to cold for 30 seconds. 2nd week — a minute. 3rd week — 1.5 minutes. 4th week — 2 minutes. TWO MINUTES! Oh, my God — I’m on week one right now. I’ve done three of the “30 seconds of cold” showers so far. Whoa, baby — when that cold water hits you, at least when it hits me — my whole body tenses up and is screaming to get out of there, shut it off — slowly counting to 30 is the longest 30 seconds of the day… it’s brutal. And then it’s over, and — it’s kinda awesome when it’s over. Like really refreshing. He says after doing this for 10 days your heart rate will decrease significantly. Well, I’ve been tracking my heart rate for years and no real change there after day three so far. But I will say this, I started this plan, along with taping my mouth shut at night (as recommended in the book “Breath” by James Nestor), three days ago and I have definitely been sleeping better and feeling way better when I wake up than I have for a long time. I might reread “Breath” once I’m done with the Wim Hof book. Because to me, all health kinda starts and ends with breath. Anyone who has ever dealt with asthma will tell you — chest tightness is no fun. I don’t like using pills and/or inhalers, either. Not when we have the ability to make changes holistically. Once in a while, you have to look at what it is you’re afraid of and see if that fear is really justified. Fear itself is usually unhealthy. And the more we use our minds to change our thoughts about who we are and what we’re capable of — the stronger we become as humans. Healthy, strong, and confident. We can do anything we put our minds to, even embracing our greatest fears. I look forward to seeing where this new path will lead me… will I stick with it? Will I freeze to death? I’m willing to take at least a month to find out. Maybe I’ll start going for my runs outside in January, who knows? Barefoot, too. The same way I used to walk to school when I was a kid, right? 😂 — be brave today. Try something new.
