Full Transcript: Winter Training and the Quiet Work of Commitment

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Hey everybody, it's me Eric and I just finished the retreat, the Wim Hof uh expedition here in Sweden 2026. I had a great time. I'm with Alexander and and Alexander helped put this whole event on and it's it's been heart-opening, amazing. Everybody's really cool. Uh it was challenging but also they didn't push us too much. Um So Alex, uh just some basic stuff. Uh how long have you been doing ice therapy? And uh and when did you want to start doing retreats? Or or how long have you been doing retreats? Uh yeah, thanks Eric. Uh so I've been here in Sweden for 6 years. Been a Wim Wim Hof method instructor for about the same time. And uh for me it was really a really interesting opportunity to share uh something that I'm very passionate about in a way that helps people start unlocking or ex accelerating their own personal healing journeys. Uh I I came from the corporate world. I worked at HSBC, a global bank. Pretty dark. Yeah. I suffered a lot like many people are doing these days. And then I stumbled across the method. And then I discovered, well, actually the best way to share it because I live here in the north of Sweden uh is to do retreats and travels. Uh and I've been been bringing across the last 3 4 years and uh sharing it. Uh and it's just amazing how doing things in real time, you know, we're in this digital age where everyone's going Zoom meetings and that kind of thing, that actually they just take your time out and do something in the real world is really rewarding. So uh it It a dream that became a reality and to see you live it was a real

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and to see you live it was a real privilege. Cool, yeah, thanks. That's amazing. So, what I thought was really cool about this retreat is just the uh the variety of people. I there there's atheists here, there's spiritual people here, there's people who there there's Christians here, there's there's Hindu people here. Do you think that doing breath work and ice baths will lead to a spiritual life eventually or or can someone do breath work and ice bath and stay atheist? Like do you think that this technique will will open someone up psychically or spiritually? So, I think the beauty of the Wim Hof Method is it is um it's it can give something to everyone. So, my personal view is that we live in three-dimensions, mind, uh body and spirit. Uh and the Wim Hof Method can be accessing those any of those three. You know, if you're just a uh an athletic person and you want to enhance your health, performance, my that type of thing, you can do it and continue to be an atheist. But, if you're curious, you can't help ask what is this, you know, because it I mean, you do the breath work or you go in the ice and you feel something more. You feel part of something bigger. Uh people have profound experiences that they can't explain. So, I think for many people it's uh the first step or um or like a validation that their intuition or their gut instinct that they felt is is right. And then the method helps you start to play with it and and take you further. So, I think atheists may stay atheists, but if there is just that first shred of curiosity, it then opens a gateway, which it did for me. Like I was a corporate guy, super heavy into technology, uh I didn't believe in religion. And now, 6 years later, I have more questions than answers. I have more fun than ever. I feel like

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I have more fun than ever. I feel like I'm using my brain. I'm creating. I'm part of something bigger. Uh, and life is fun, even when it's not, if that makes sense. Well, of course. So it's like the combination of intense breath work and ice baths sort of give us like a new lease on life or allow us to have more fun. Would you say, especially if you're depressed or something? It sort of It seems to bring people out of that anxiety and depression. It's like an anchoring practice, right? But, it's only a tool, right? And for me, personally, it's It's so simple and so accessible. You can always come back to it, right? Because if you do, let's say, plant medicine, you know, we were talking during this trip some of your personal experiences with it. It can be quite extreme. But, if you don't come back, you can't do this iterative process of growth, you know? You grow, consolidate. Then, you have a stronger foundation. Then, you can grow again and consolidate. And the Wim Hof breathing doesn't always have to be intense, right? But, it's always a very, um, controlled and predictable container. Uh, so I I think it's so valuable. And Wim the genius of Wim is like a mixologist. He took different ingredients like, uh, co - in a cocktail bar. He He found the best, I don't know, let's say, gin. or tai chi, and things like that. And then, you know, going into the cold are traditions of Scandinavian countries for for centuries. And water as a cleansing medium is a spiritual thing. So, he just brought that together in a way. And because he's so focused on the science, because so many people are in their mind, that's the only access point they have. If a white coated guy doesn't say, "Uh, I have 500 studies on 10, 000 people that says this is good, they don't believe it. They don't have faith. So, I think that's also the beauty of it. So it's almost like I mean, I I think we know this, but it it's sort of like Wim Hof is proving with science that yoga and tai chi have these amazing

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that yoga and tai chi have these amazing benefits for our immune system. Indeed. But, you have to reach a point, I feel, that that becomes irrelevant. Mhm. Right? Because you feel it intuitively that it is true and right. Um and then you just go with it. And then you experience and observe. Mhm. And then you reflect. So, you know, the plan do review, the Wim Hof protocol, it's always in threes. You know, magic 369 is the magic number number thing, and it it comes back to that. And uh you know, from a from the perspective of um risk and benefit, it has a nice balance. And also, we are also in a world where the digital is trying to catalog and document the spiritual. Mhm. You know, there's there's all stories about the Second World War when they tried to break into Shangri-La. The Nazis went to the Himalayas and tried to break into the spiritual world. Wow. So, there are various um exercises trying to document everything, right? And sometimes the science goes a little bit too far because, you know, once you document it, you limit. And actually, the method is very limitless in its benefits, right? It gives you access to more, you know, we're only supposedly 4% of our human potential. And the method maybe gives you access to the fifth percent. Mhm. 25% improvement on today, Mhm. right? But, if it starts you to get, you know, to five, six, seven, and Wim talks about activating 100% of the brain, right? You can do that with LSD as well, right? You know, but uh the breath is such a controlled and manageable and you are in the driver's seat, whereas LSD is you're handing over Mhm. Uh you're almost giving the car to the you know like a Tesla self-driving car right so it's a very interesting space and this week has proven again that you can take absolute novices we had an old a woman maybe she was 65 from Australia never been in an ice bath never done

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never been in an ice bath never done breath work and then she came to Wim's retreat did an ice bath in a lake for 10 minutes right of course here we're playing with extremes right but we just dip our foot into the extreme so it's done in a a safe container but you know they all did it and I don't think there was anyone here except for maybe one or two troubled souls who got a lot from the week but it brought things out that they weren't ready to deal with and their behaviors were perhaps not serving them but everyone got something from it and there are 200 people here and I haven't spoken to a single individual who didn't find something that has taken them to a better place and that again is what's what's so magical about you know breath work of any type you know even even the less the more technical breath works like you know box breathing or 478 breathing or Buteyko you know there's not really a spiritual element to those but it's mechanistic it's like yoga versus Pilates right but what was amazing about Wim is that you know Pilates is soulless yoga right it's amazing for the body maybe a little bit for the mind but it does nothing for the spirit whereas Wim he you can you know you can play with all three if you want to Wim's like it's like the method is non-dogmatic but you can still be as spiritual as you want in this world with this technique exactly exactly and I always say it's a gateway it's the beginning of the journey so many people start the method Uh do their ice bathing they do the Wim Hof breathing, and they stop there. And that's okay. Mhm. But for many people, it's like, okay, don't take it the wrong way, like cannabis. Mhm. It's a gateway drug. Mhm. Right? It's a gateway practice, but it's a gateway to good places, whereas, you know, sometimes they argue cannabis is a gateway to Yeah. less favorable places. Well, my my teacher always told me that uh

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uh uh my my breathwork teacher always told me that breathwork isn't spiritual itself, but it can lead you to spirituality. It's how you access, right? It's it's almost like uh I also do Kundalini yoga uh and kriyas. Um and, you know, one of the principles of it is it there's complexity, so your mind has to focus, and therefore you can quiet the mind. Mhm. Um it's also manipulation of the body and and so forth, so it has like some uh bodily and energetic principles. Mhm. But also, the core principle that at least the guy I'm doing it with is he says, "Just show up." Mhm. So, just live, just be, just do. And again, it's very similar with the method, right? Mhm. And people get confused, like cold exposure can be an ice bath, but it doesn't have to be, right? It just has to be it it can be so figurative. Mhm. So, you can actually apply the ice bath protocol. Like with a cold shower or a No, daily life, like having that difficult conversation with your partner about needs that are not being met or uh not accepting certain unacceptable behaviors in your workplace, right? be an ice bath, and you apply it the same way. You set the intention, you prepare, you check your environment, you go into it calmly and relaxed and focused, and then you have like a recovery period, which is the warm-up afterwards, which is sort of like, well, how did that conversation go, or how did that So, so it's like if you can be cold during an or sorry, if you can be relaxed during an ice bath, then you can be relaxed during a stressful situation in your life. It's kind of the idea. Yeah. It's a metaphor for life. You know, and that's again why I like it is because it's so applicable. Of course, one of the challenges of accessibility is that people don't want to do extreme stuff. You know, come for we're we've so atrophied in our capacity to like enjoy life that people are like, "Oh, No, why would I do that? That sounds hard." And I'm like, "Well, so you want to be Have you ever seen Wall-E?" Yeah.

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Yeah. You know, you want to be the blob on the chair that just floats around. With your little iPad. Exactly. And the end of that film they're like, "I really regret this." So, Jeff Garlin's great in that movie, by the way. All right. Alex, thank you. Oh, yeah, Eric. This is really nice. See, this is the the amazingness of this place is there are so many nice people who have had such an amazing week. Suck them to your hole. Yes, this is Matthew. This is Daniel. And this is Daniel. Hello again. It's been an incredible week. Thank you, Alex. Well, no, thank everyone, right? I can take credit for the idea, but it is to to make this into the reality it needs Alex, thank you. You did a really great job helping make this thing happen. Yeah, everybody was dope. And we had a blast. Well, let's watch this space what you know, what comes after. Yeah, totally. God bless. Thanks, guys. We'll see you later.