This is an iHeart podcast. State Farm is there to help protect what's important to you, and with so many coverage options it's nice having help to find what fits for you.
Like a good neighbour, State Farm is there.
This episode of On Purpose is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve.
I believe that travel is one of the greatest gifts that we've ever been given, and Chase Sapphire Reserve has been my gateway to the world's most captivating destinations.
When I use my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, I get three times points on travel and dining and even access to one -of -a -kind experiences like music festivals and sports events.
And that's not even mentioning how the card gets me into the Sapphire Lounge by The Club at select airports nationwide.
Travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Trust me. Discover more at Chase .com forward slash Sapphire reserve.
Cards issued by JPMorgan Chase bank, NA.
Member FDIC, subject to credit approval, terms apply.
Claude is the AI assistant from Anthropic that millions of people have turned to because it just feels different.
Not only is Claude an industry leader in writing and coding, but it's been designed with special attention to its character, a field of AI research that enhances empathy and emotional intelligence.
That's why Claude has become the, if you know you know, choice for personal reflection, relationship advice, vision boarding and so much more.
Try Claude for free at Claude .com.
That's Claude .com and feel the difference firsthand.
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 an 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.
Ha -ha -ha. Hey everyone, welcome back to On Purpose, the place you come to become happier, healthier, and more healed.
I am so grateful that you decided to tune in today.
Today's guest is truly an icon in this world.
Someone that has been able to share prolific lessons, life -changing habits and practices that have transformed millions of people's lives.
His personal journey is also remarkable.
I'm really excited to re -introduce because we've had him on the podcast once, please welcome Wim Hof.
Wim, it is such a joy.
The last time I interviewed you It was on Zoom during the pandemic.
Today, we're finally meeting for the first time.
And as a fan of your work and as a deep believer in your work, I'm so excited to have you here.
So, thank you so much. It's great to meet you in physical presence.
I can feel your energy.
It's great. You're really a good man with very important work.
Being here, I'm able to transmit something new, organic, alive, from the heart.
Thank you, Um, thank you so much and the feeling is mutual and I want to start by asking you because what I find amazing is people like yourself who've dedicated their lives to certain work and I wanted to ask you, what do you believe in so deeply?
Why do you believe so deeply 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, and yet in fear that this baby was going to die.
There 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 implicated 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 a defenceless, and yet there, her invocation came right into me.
And how that all works, it works.
Because 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 thinks that it's 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, all those drops have become a tsunami.
A way through the thick wall of ignorance, because I think it is all sickness, disease, darkness, depression, wars, pollution, et cetera, is just based in ignorance.
So I have come up with a way looking in nature, not in books, something that works, 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 suddenly here and now, this is it, was the first time my feeling when I went into the Core Order 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 of the Catholic Church itself, the doctors, the theologists, 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 a Hinduism Taoism Buddhism it's all the same layer and that layer and now is 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 abstracting knowledge on philosophies and esoteric disciplines, making it all so difficult.
May God, where is he?
Where is he? If we go, 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 science that we are able to control that.
So, 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?
Ah, there is 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.
Thus, 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 talks and medicines and pills.
It's all money, money, money, money, money.
So I'm into healing, into bringing down inflammation.
That is what I give to people.
Within an hour, the techniques come within an hour before they thought, how much time does it take for people to learn what you can do, bringing down the inflammation after an injection over a bacteria?
Does it take a year?
One and a half year, I said, 10 days?
And then it became four 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, actic daily, modern life.
so we bring our emotion or 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 right?
It's remarkable. Just last week I was in Poland with 500 people in the mountains and it was one guy saying, I'm doing the cold and I'm doing this but my results get lower so I say come forward come here on stage so how many push -ups can you do and he said 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 So, follow your breath, fully in, fully in.
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 a much greater power.
And you're breathing in through your nose and out.
Does not matter so much. It doesn't 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.
But if you do it such 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.
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, hatha yoga ano sasana, yoga chitta vriti narudaha, tadha drasto a, Swarpi vasana.
Or that yoga is the silencing of the modifications of the thinking brain then the seer appears 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 psychiatrists Neuroscientists immunologists, and it shows that we go where in science was 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 is doing this first thing in the morning or is there
an empty stem or an empty stomach and so of course the best or where you take a shower take also a cold shower and and try it out once that your 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 wanna see how you can influence the neuromuscular mechanisms in the body for power, 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.
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 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, one, two, three.
I can't remember. 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 in every person is different.
Some fit into the system and some don't.
They get a conflict with their identity, and so much when the stress comes in and they still have to perform and give results and cognitively get kept 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 totally right.
This man. That was probably the best lesson you got.
And the inquisitive nature always brings about answers.
—Yeah, absolutely, 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 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 will be able to manage any emotion in life, exactly like what you're saying.
So you have these three pillars, breathing exercises, commitment, and then you have the cold.
What is commitment, what do you mean by that?
With commitment, just do it.
Just do it, regardless.
And stay in that discipline 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, what is out of balance.
to reconnect with the body.
That is what the cult 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 It 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 100 % Willfully, that's where we are in India in the in Bangalore 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 and 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.
Because God, or, what is mystical, should be there for everybody.
Absolutely. Every time.
Absolutely. 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 gonna allow them to have more energy, it's gonna allow them to focus better.
Yes, it cleanses completely the lymphatic system.
All our daily habits or 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 within four rounds you will be able to get into the 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 away up when it goes away 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 body, and you are very alkaline.
So you're able to stay one and a half minute, two 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 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.
They have measured the blood of the people going into a bungee jump with fear for vertigo.
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 a 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 prema the prana There's 10 kinds, but, hey, prana, we call it prana.
So we get it sublime.
But we make it simple.
We say, fully in, 30 times breathing, and then exhale and stop.
And you don't feel the need to breathe.
Now, after one and a half minutes, 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 cardio films on this, and they say this is the future.
There's diagnostic cardiology, this is for the future, breathing techniques.
Because it flushes like a battery.
The heart, if it functions to 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 hormonally in it, it cleanses everything.
Anything that should not be there that is inflammatory markers but also PFAS, also microplastics, also mRNA techniques, technology.
Whatever the shit is and radio waves, biochemical residue they're from.
All that has influence and we don't know how to clean it.
Through doing this, you just clean it.
Before we dive into the next moment, let's hear from our sponsors.
This episode of On Purpose is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve.
I believe that travel is one of the greatest gifts that we've ever been given, and Chase Sapphire Reserve has been my gateway to the world's most captivating destinations.
Every time I travel, I find a part of myself I didn't know was missing.
I remember being in this small town, completely unplugged and for the first time in a while, I felt still.
Travel does that. It grounds you, expands you, and connects you to something deeper.
That's why I'm always looking for experiences that go beyond the typical.
Chase Sapphire Reserve makes traveling a breeze, earning 3x points on travel and dining and granting access to Sapphire Lounge by the club at select airports nationwide.
No matter my destination, travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Discover more with Chase Sapphire Reserve at chase .com forward slash sapphire reserve.
cards issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N .A., member FDIC, subject to credit approval, terms apply.
You've probably been hearing about AI everywhere.
And we all need to be mindful of the tools we trust in this new chapter of technology.
Claude is the if -you -know -you -know AI assistant that just feels different.
While other AIs often sound like robots, Claude has been created with special research that informs its character, meaning that Claude just gets it when it comes to empathy and emotional intelligence.
That's why millions of people are turning to Claude for parenting tips, dating advice, mindful habits like journaling, budgeting and so much more.
Claude has been thoughtfully crafted by Anthropic and its team of researchers, whose mission is to design the most capable and secure systems that place people at the centre.
You can try Claude for free today at claud .com.
That's c -l -a -u -d -e .com.
For me, home isn't just four walls, it's where I find peace, where I reconnect.
And with the weather warming up, Radeh and I have been spending more time outside turning our outdoor space into a little sanctuary of its own.
We got a few pieces from Wayfair, some earthly -tone chairs, a table where we can share tea, and these soft lights that make evenings feel magical.
It was all easy to find, delivered fast and it didn't break the budget.
Wayfair really does everything, whether you're looking to host, relax, or just create a space that feels like you.
So if you're dreaming about making your outdoor space more intentional, more comforting, more home, Wayfair is the place to start.
Shop a huge selection of outdoor furniture online.
This summer, get outside with Wayfair.
Head to wayfair .com right now.
That's W -A -Y -F -A -I -R .com, Wayfair.
Every style, every home.
Thanks for taking a moment for that.
Now, back to the discussion.
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.
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 the quality of your life under performance.
When you need to perform, it really could be a relationship.
It could be having a new job interview.
Could be a presentation on stage.
Whatever is important to you, there you want to feel more than normal in a fire functional power that one needs cleaning and this one does it this takes it away because your body knows exactly what you are up against but it is saying hey you are anxious because you cannot function the way you actually want because you're the shit insights and we need to get it out that's what it saying so anxiety actually is a neuros signal so tell it hey clean up before you go up and you will see that these simple breathing techniques will lead to suddenly oh cheesy onstage all these fact the aha lateness comes
by itself is it true that this can also help us get less sick less often absolutely it has been shown in a scientific comparative study people injected with the bacteria causing inflammation that means fever headaches vomiting nausea muscle aches back aches but really three to six hours is a controlled experiment sixteen thousand became very sick and the 12 I trained nothing 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 of any kind.
And The thing is, if you do this in the morning, preemptively, then your day, you are able to accumulate a lot of stress without feeling that you cannot deal with it.
Because you're clean.
Yeah, right. It's almost like we could actually deal with more stress than we believe if we were able to be in a state.
And then you come into this emotional, spiritual state to take on challenges.
because you feel suddenly, 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're saying something really important here but 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 wanna 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 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 shit that is going to happen anyway.
So, better be ready before it.
And we provide with these simple techniques, not only 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 shit comes to you.
You go to the shit.
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 a 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 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.
And I can honestly say that as someone who has tried to get massages to like feel relaxed and de -stressed, and they probably get me to like a 70, 80%, but sitting in the cold and doing the contrast therapy of maybe 10 to 15 minutes in a sauna and maybe three to five 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.
You think when you get in the cold that your body's just going to 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 hard. 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?
How do you get over that hunch?
I 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 a nice birth.
They went in for 10 minutes, 10 minutes, and they loved it!
I mean, 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 cult, but you are very able, let me be very clear about it.
You as a young person, I'm talking to the person who's watching this, you are very capable staying one 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 a 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, 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.
Anything that's bad for you, feels good before.
You want to eat badly, you want to drink badly.
You want to do anything, it feels amazing before, and then afterwards it's like poison, 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 was a young kid and 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 gonna do. Same stuff?
Yeah, the same stuff as anybody.
So I read a lot and I was philosophizing a lot.
Debate 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, this circling, this...
It came from within.
...rominating, yes, stopped right there.
This is it. I was looking in philosophies and religions, What is it?
What is Lovatyn? 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, 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 Oh, I meditate and I do this and I do Yogic postures and a very good at it all and philosophy 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 is 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 called 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 constantly very high up the prize house water coopers people they are not into yoga or into uh whatever exercise They need to perform with numbers accountancy, and it's very strenuous and arduous 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.
Interoception. Interoceptive being.
They just had these feelings and they expressed it.
500 people. What I want to say with that, there's this 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, 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 now and then I started to cultivate it.
Hey, if that happens in the water What 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 you automatically, naturally from there, you come into your purpose.
And 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 mind, the heart is able to give confidence and trust and that power that goes and takes on 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 because God is at your side, He is here And that made me first break through with the cold, then the breathing.
And then I learned to control, which I showed in Sydney lately in a brain scan, nine and a half thousand brain scans showed more or less the bandwidth of what the brain activity is in humans.
I did nothing in the brain scan, and I was within the bandwidth of the brain activity of these people.
And then 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 interaction and you know how to move it if you just have that faith that power that Interception 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 an activity of the subcortical, higher functioning of the brain.
That is confidence, fantasy, creativity, trust, empathy, all those areas now willfully completely activated.
He saw this and this people say, hey mate, you are the Iceman, you can do this.
No, no, no, no, No excuse I only show what we all can do and then places like here a podcast a platform which you make a mate available which is great work thank you thank you for the whole wide world they say I 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 gonna 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 gonna 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 gonna shake Wim's hand, I'm gonna meet him, I'm gonna 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 the purpose of life 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.
They got PTSD, people dying within their family, divorces, And they are really victims in that.
I mean, they cannot get out these loops.
It keeps anxiety, pure anxiety.
It's very tiring. They are exhausted.
They went into this study.
It took only one afternoon to break those patterns.
– Wow. – And that's the way.
And you know what happens, 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 light that they can take on the challenges.
26 people we just did the study scientifically and all that shows that we not only hear to drink a glass of water we are here to drink to 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 am here to show scientifically that autonomy is ours.
That we have a control far deeper than in science was thought possible but now it's here.
And through the pharmaceutical industry and the whole industry and the government 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 because we are good people.
All this where we got our soil is goodness deriving from and we should be able to have faith in the goodness of ourselves.
We bring through these tools autonomy to the people so they feel confident that they have control over these subcortical areas of the brain called the subconscious and all.
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 shown with cannabinoid receptors how we are able to create flow in the body which is a natural state of 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, Satchitananda.
Oh wow. Satchitananda bigad, jai rada rada om.
My roots are in India.
Do you practice mantra meditation as well?
Like as you were just singing and chanting right now?
I did a lot of that.
But now mantras, repetitive.
Sighting words, sounds, I'm singing.
Yeah... All day, should be in meditation.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
It's the culture of India.
Yeah. It's not even just repetition of word, it's singing, it's dancing, it's chanting.
It's really beautiful.
Meditation should be your natural state.
Joyful, yeah. Yeah, absolutely.
It's almost like a soundtrack to your life.
That's how I think about it when I think about mantra meditation.
It's almost like you're listening to a soundtrack, but the soundtracks within your own heart and consciousness.
Yeah. And that repeated is kind of creating the rhythm of your life?
Yeah. If you sing, you love it.
You can yell out at your heart.
You let your heart breathe.
It feels great. Before we dive into the next moment.
Let's hear from our sponsors.
This episode of On Purpose is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve.
I believe that travel is one of the greatest gifts that we've ever been given.
and Chase Sapphire Reserve has been my gateway to the world's most captivating destinations.
Every time I travel, I find a part of myself I didn't know was missing.
I remember being in this small town, completely unplugged, and for the first time in a while, I felt still.
Travel does that. It grounds you, expands you, and connects you to something deeper.
That's why I'm always looking for experiences that go beyond the typical.
Chase Sapphire Reserve makes traveling a breeze, earning three times points on travel and dining and granting access to Sapphire Lounge by the club at select airports nationwide.
No matter my destination, travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve.
Discover more with Chase Sapphire Reserve at Chase .com forward slash Sapphire Reserve.
Cards issued by JP Morgan Chase Bank, NA member FDIC subject to credit approval terms apply.
You've probably been hearing about AI everywhere and we all need to be mindful of the tools we trust in this new chapter of technology.
CLAAD is the If You Know You Know AI Assistant that just feels different.
While other AIs often sound like robots, CLAAD is being created with special research that informs its character, meaning that Claude just gets it when it comes to empathy and emotional intelligence.
That's why millions of people are turning to Claude for parenting tips, dating advice, mindful habits like journaling, budgeting, and so much more.
Claude has been thoughtfully crafted by Anthropic and its team of researchers whose mission is to design the most capable and secure systems that place people at the center.
You can try Claude for free today at claud .com.
That's claud .com. Ready to make bigger moves in your career?
Whether you're feeling stuck or just ready for more, Indeed has everything you need to find better work.
Just update your Indeed profile with your skills, experience, and salary expectations.
Once you do, you'll automatically get matched with roles that fit what you're looking for.
No endless job search is required.
In my conversations with successful people like CEOs, founders, artists, there's a common thread.
They all hit a point where they felt stuck or unfulfilled.
It wasn't about money or titles.
It was about meaning.
I've felt that, too.
Going from student to monk to entrepreneur taught me that growth only happens when we pause and ask ourselves what we really want.
Because once you're clear, the right opportunities start to find you.
That's what's so great about an Indeed profile.
Even if you're not sure what's next, it helps you clarify what you bring to the table and point yourself in the right direction.
The world can work better.
So update your Indeed profile and get matched with better opportunities today.
And back to our episode.
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 six cents, seven cents and eight cents.
Willpower, dharana, concentration.
If I stay one 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 stay there. This is willfully 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, and it doesn't need an hour, and there only needs you adapting, adapting is two, three minutes.
Then you are naturally connected with your central nervous system, Which is the instrument of the willpower?
You need just need to learn to connect.
Don't make it too complicated in yourself because it's hasn't got to do anything with Your thinking it's taken on the challenge and your body adapts Doesn't matter what it is heat cold Stress on the stage, it doesn't matter You learn to take on instead of ruminating about it you go into it because you have control over the central nervous system, which is a connection of the prefrontal cortex and the central nervous system is everywhere and it adapts.
How far do you wanna go?
I tell people. If I get people motivated, last time I went on The Kilimanjaro in shorts was with a man who was 76 years old, 76.
He had no experience in climbing.
He was suffering from Lyme disease.
Is 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 system.
you really want it because you really are there.
And I went with him and this is a mountain you can do between five and nine days fully dressed because it's very cold up there and it's half the oxygen and less and you need oxygen to combust for energy and it's not there, so five to nine days and then 40 % only summit Fully dressed.
This man did it in 31 hours, in his shorts.
You know what happened, his Lyme disease was also gone.
At the same time, 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 simplify these techniques.
So to make it usable tools, then it's only a matter of choice.
What do you want with it?
Cause 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 at a certain moment I could do a world record every day you know you get your body ready and the connection is in the flow you you every day you can run a marathon barefoot outside in the snow or stay two hours in icy water.
Do crazy stuff. At a certain moment, I was thinking to myself, actually I don't want some ridiculous new challenge doing.
I showed enough. And what I want right now, and that might be the most difficult, is to settle down and to let hundreds of 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 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 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, cause I, actually a normal life is a bit boring.
I want to change the world and that can be difficult.
I don't care. I love.
Well, 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 don't think there's anyone else who is 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 thank you for doing that because it's such a great unlock for the world to recognize the power that can be there for free.
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.
And we want to bring, that is love.
We want to bring love to the people.
We want them to be able to feel good.
Whenever they feel bad.
You do that. I do that.
That's why we are here, talk to each other.
Five 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 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?
Is that all it, 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.
Wasn't it, I was way too early here.
But my point is you live, you live everything.
Like it was hot today.
It was a hotter day in L .A.
You walked here from your hotel or wherever you're staying.
It's amazing because you live and breathe this.
Like this is who you are.
And some of my friends, Louis House is a good friend of mine and he brought a lot of friends to you a few years ago in Poland, they had the best time.
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.
We have 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.
And that love, we want to share, and it's not complicated.
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 mental and physical health benefits.
What benefits do you see for society at large if they practise your method?
I think it is the soul itself.
We are now being approached.
I was in the Middle East with the Catholic church, with the highest esoteric departments about providence or God's providence and the mortification about deep religious practices.
They are taking this all on and see that God's presence itself comes much better toward 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 actually happening when you're in the water you have to.
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, like you just, there is 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, because 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 best of philosophy is being done by doing this.
So I take that but this is not my starting point yet I take it as hey these people they are experts in those fields of what is God.
how to behave there, how to practice and all.
They are coming, and they say this, and it 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, and it goes past your thinking.
When 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 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, lately, a grief study and it shows in within one afternoon people are able to get out of these patterns.
Through breathwork anyway?
Yes, because 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 completely honored.
She is here, the afterlife.
But that is another discussion.
She is here. She's with us, and I'm with her children and we have a very successful enterprise in the whole world on breathing.
A mission to bring love, and how to dblock.
So, when I went grieving about losing her in a suicide, the mother of my children, the love of my life, nothing could help me except for going into cold water.
Cold water makes your mind shut up.
Different areas of the brain suddenly start to be activated.
The sense of life, the brain stem is about survival, survival, just to live.
What is the purpose of life?
To be alive, fully.
So what started over there, 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 our honor and we can still think about all the emotions But here we are 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 loss of family members or divorces can be very strong inside, or PTSD, the gruelsome situations of war inside, and you can't change 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 spoken to you twice.
I'm 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 seven days, just seven days, if you can start your day with the Wim Hof method on an empty stomach, just watch how your life changes.
Just seven days of either the breath work or the cold shower, whichever one you can.
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 has 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.
Your mind and body can do so much more.
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 gonna meet again and continue this mission together.
I love your work. I love yours.
I respect it and thank you so much. I came yesterday all the way out of Europe and tonight I fly on.
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 six months.
And then by the time it happens, it's almost a relief.
There is no sense of meaning and purpose.
You sort of expected it, and you would've been disappointed if it didn't happen.
This episode of On Purpose is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve.
I believe that travel is one of the greatest gifts that we've ever been given.
And Chase Sapphire Reserve has been my gateway to the world's most captivating destinations.
When I use my Chase Sapphire Reserve card, I get three times points on travel and dining, and even access to one -of -a -kind experiences like music festivals and sports events.
And that's not even mentioning how the card gets me into the game.
Sapphire Lounge by The Club at select airports nationwide.
Travel is more rewarding with Chase Sapphire Reserve, trust me.
Discover more at chase .com forward slash Sapphire Reserve, cards issued by JPMorgan Chase Bank, N .A.
Member FDIC, subject to credit approval, terms apply.
Ready to make bigger moves with your career, with Indeed better work finds you, not the way around.
Just update your Indeed profile with your skills, experience and salary expectations and you'll automatically be matched with jobs that fit what you're looking for.
In so many of my conversations with executives, entrepreneurs, and creatives, I hear the same thing, I've hit a wall.
Not because they're failing but because they've outgrown where they are.
And that moment, while uncomfortable, is often the beginning of real change.
That's what's so great about an Indeed profile.
It helps you articulate your valuable skills and goals so better work can find you.
When that happens, the work can work better for everyone." This podcast is supported by BetterHelp, offering licensed therapists you can connect with via video, phone, or chat.
Here's BetterHelp Head of Clinical Operations, Hesujo, discussing who can benefit from therapy.
I think a lot of people think that you're supposed to be going to therapy once you're like having panic attacks every day.
But before you get to that point, I think once you start even noticing that you feel a little bit off and you can't maintain this harmony that you once had in relationships, that could be a sign that maybe you want to go talk to somebody.
There's always a benefit in talking to someone because we can all benefit from improved insight about ourselves and who we are and how we behave with other people.
So if you're human, that's like a good indicator that you could benefit from talking to somebody.
Find out if therapy is right for you.
Visit betterhelp .com today.
That's better, h -e -l -p dot com.
This is an iHeart podcast.
