Cold-showers / Cold, Breath, and the Nervous System Signal
The Wim Hof Method sits at an unusual intersection: extreme cold, deliberate breathing, meditation, and scientific curiosity. At its best, the conversation is not about spectacle. It is about whether the nervous system can be trained to meet stress differently.
Cold-showers / Cold, Breath, and the Nervous System Signal - Full Transcript
today's episode is brought to you by our amazing friends at pic Manik on their behalf hope you enjoy welcome everyone to the Med spiration podcast I'm your host dr. knob and this is episode number seven with the Iceman ha he holds 26 official Guinness World Records for feats that were long believed to be fatal or just outright impossible wim HOF has defied logic time and time again and always under scientific scrutiny he holds a world record for being able to be submerged in ice for almost two hours without his core body temperature changing he's run a half marathon above the Arctic Circle barefoot he's climbed Mount Everest and nothing but a pair of shorts run an entire marathon and then the me desert without drinking a single drop of water he's even proven in a laboratory setting that he can withstand illnesses using the power of his mind but he has systematically silenced the naysayers by subjecting himself to the rigors of science scientists began to see hey what this man is doing is physiologically not possible according to our science and what has been written down but he's doing it and he is a human let's test him with that we began to answer gaps of unsolved matters within scientific studies according to the Proceedings of the National Academy for Sciences of the United States it has long been presumed that it wasn't possible to voluntarily
that it wasn't possible to voluntarily influence the autonomic nervous system and the innate immune system in 2014 a peer-reviewed study that was published after wim HOF demonstrated that through practicing the wim HOF method a self developed technique involving a combination of breathing cold exposure and meditation the sympathetic nervous system and immune system can indeed be voluntarily influenced the link to this study is provided below this was a complete game-changer for science and those that meditate winds demonstrated that by doing a simple breathing technique adding on cold therapy such as cold showers and ice baths something that athletes have been doing for decades and through meditation these three techniques piece together our Dibley referred to as the wim HOF method when performed the human body may have the capacity to modulate the stress response decrease inflammation influence our immune system endocrine system and MRIs of his brain from Wayne State University School of Medicine even showed that when half can activate the primary control centers for pain control possibly initiating the stress induced analgesic response this suggests a systemic release of endogenous opioids and cannabinoids that can lead to decreased sensitivity to the cold that's basically saying that without ingesting opioids or cannabis wim HOF is creating the same physiologic effects without the drugs winds repeated time and time again that he's not the only one that could perform these amazing feats he's now trained thousands of people all over the world who have recreated the same results that's why in today's episode we're gonna be talking to The Iceman himself and before we get into things I made sure that I read up on every single peer-reviewed study that has ever been published on wim HOF and those he's trained guys this was an interview like no other you may have
interview like no other you may have heard me mentioned in previous episodes that I've been meditating every day for about six years now well would you believe that back in 2013 I first heard about this guy everyone was calling the Iceman that was when I first discovered the wim HOF method and began doing it outdoors so you can imagine that six years later me getting to meet the guy who inspired me to begin meditating really felt like there's something greater than us guiding us for that reason I'm so grateful that becoming fluent in the language of medical science really helped women and I work together and break down the science he's proven into digestible pieces for our audience in a way that I don't think has been done before we also touched on the topics of mental health the power of the human mind epigenetics and how it may be possible to access a hundred percent of the brain at will Wims now in a global mission to make the wim HOF technique a global add-on there which leading scientists are beginning to believe that one day can revolutionize the way that we look at preventative medicine mental health and even autoimmune diseases be sure to let us know what you guys think about our podcast you guys have been enjoying this content please rate at 5 stars on iTunes it would mean the world to us remember that you can send us a message on Instagram or tag Med spiration in your stories if you take a screenshot of this podcast and upload it into your stories we'll share your story and start a conversation with you so definitely feel free to reach out guys let us know that you're out there and that you're listening and a special thank you to our sponsor today pick monic I personally use pick monic and my studies for step 1 directly off of my iPhone their learning system powers thousands of mnemonic videos and quizzes that have been scientifically proven to increase long-term memory retention by up to three hundred and thirty one percent and trust me they're not lying
percent and trust me they're not lying there was things on the USMLE that I would have never remembered if I didn't remember the pigment it sounds crazy but it's kind of like cliffnotes meets Saturday morning cartoons for higher education they help med students and peas pas farm DS RNs LPNs paramedics and pre-med students rock their course exams boards and become more competent healthcare providers pick Monique has partnered with med spiration to help make learning and memorizing easier than ever so I know the CEO personally and we got you a pretty sweet deal here you could check them out for free if you sign up you'll get instant access to a free video and quiz every day no credit card required you can use the promo code Med spiration for 20% off any premium subscription again guys I'll really recommend checking them out and trying out their resources a promise you won't be disappointed we'll have a link provided to you in the description below and without further ado let the Med spiration begin I found a way to tap into the brain and to find a way to go past this conditioned mind and there suddenly I find there are ways to heal myself there are ways to pass it on to anybody else there are ways to deal with depression and mental disorders there are ways to get more energy out of myself I own my own mind ask yourself every morning are you happy strong and healthy are you going for your dream fishing are you learning how to make full usage of your own mind so the spirit is able to grow and your soul is able to shine like the Sun and it's there because the rest is [__] [__] [__] if you don't if we have a man capable of overcoming deathly cold environments yet we seldom consider that his neurophysiology was trained over time
neurophysiology was trained over time for such survival that if he were to behave as a control the body would react normally to the cold yet with focus and honing of mind and body he is able to access those deeper layers of his physiology producing something truly spectacular in this way we leave you with this idea change in any direction is possible it can be incremental small contributions every day towards what is valued but exponential in the long run to the point where person truly renews that is the power of breath breath is the life force only you have to connect it with your consciousness with you awareness breathe it's for free its life good wim hof welcome to the med suppression podcast thank you so much for joining us today it's my honor and privilege to be hosting you you're one of my greatest heroes and inspirations I dedicated the last four days of my life to reading every single published scientific research study on you that includes the research that was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences one of the most highly respected and cited peer-reviewed journals I'd like to acknowledge you for that I wholeheartedly believe that you and those that you have trained will be at the forefront of helping us advancing medicine and to advance the human potential so I really appreciate having you on today how are you doing today women great I just came from London and I had a great event with 800 people I'm at Russell Brand in the podcast had a great interview with The Guardian and today I was on a big radio show telling also about depression and Crohn's disease you know people healing from Crohn's disease doing this method healing from depression why because it is inflammation based and we are there we
inflammation based and we are there we have been very successful in showing how to lower the flam Ettore markers in the blood within a quarter of our in a comparative study and now people are doing it throughout the world arthritis depression crohn's disease I really want to bring this to the attention of medical practitioners GP s - - and to show that the human physiology and their own awareness are able to tap into systems within the body thought of not possible by humans and now it is and I think we need to get to Dewey's doctors who are not only into medicine and pills but really of people you know that's what we were talking about that's all that's why I met operations here the philosophy is mind body spirit and we revolutionize the way people look at medicine and it has everything to do with what you're talking about so you might find this interview a little bit more unique than usual because I've been doing the wim HOF technique since 2013 for about six years now and I have a medical doctorate degree so I'm fluent in the language of medical science right so this is going to allow us to work together to break down the medical science that you've proven into digestible pieces for our audience today my intention is to delve deeper into mental health the power of the human mind it's implication on our genome then we'll move into the biochemistry of the wim HOF technique and how you have for the first time in scientific history proven that we can access every part of the human brain willfully influence our immune system autonomic nervous system our natural opioid and cannabinoid systems and then we'll finish by asking you some questions at our audience I've submitted for us so you ready to rock and roll yes I love it so I wanted to start with your story and the
wanted to start with your story and the power of your mind today we're sitting here and you're already helping millions of people across the world but there there was a time where none of this had happened so will you please give us an introduction who are our audience and tell them a little bit about your background nine children or family worker waking mentality and little money trying to get there or whatever you are able you struggle you but you go for the best and to me and there is more than meets the eye because I'm a dropout early early s and but a dropout doesn't mean he doesn't want to be school he doesn't want to be taught he doesn't want to learn I was very inquisitive but I went into esoteric disciplines into traditions languages into doctrines different doctrines and following it I was doing yoga Sufism Buddhism Hinduism into her they conclude all kinds of things just to get a hold of that what I thought there is more than meets the eye it's just within me and I wanted to have an answer and I couldn't find it in the books I read a lot of books I know a lot of us as of terrorism and cultures and traditional believes and all those things like nothing beats the moment when I went into the cold water Wow there he the mind shuts up and you just experienced you are now how do I know it correlates with the printer and it's not only the brain sir it's that the blood flow goes from our thinking brain to the deepest of our brain which means it flushes through the midbrain as well all your brain suddenly gets equal
well all your brain suddenly gets equal blood flow and that means you feel you are alive you get out of their comfort zone and you get actually in the real color real power of your real brain and that is sensation that is experience that is survival and you think you see and so that you are able to be there and witness at all that is where I came from from when I was 17 years I'm 59 now that is 40 ha it needs to go and I'm still doing it and I'm conquering the world now showing that we are able like unprecedented it was that we are able to tap into the autonomic nervous system endocrine systems the innate immune system the specific immune system into the deepest of the brain we are doing the research right now with chakra researchers of the world in San Francisco on the DNA and they say where we are in the cell and the primordial stuff and we are able to activate through conscious hormesis stress activation to bring the is primordial tradition which means protective proteins around it all that influences the longevity of our life but let's get back now I'm doing a lot of studies everywhere in the world but there was a time and I had no money just because I was a dropout well thank you I did some research and I learned about your late wife's struggle with mental health and how that inspired you to be here today so can you tell us a little bit about that yeah that children with the woman and that woman had a mental disorder it grew and then they put all
disorder it grew and then they put all kinds of ejections and therapies and pills and and only got worse she jumped from 8 story down in 95 the mother of my four children that's a broken heart that's emotion to the deepest that's the deepest blackest most darkest time of my life but you can't sit with that because I had to go on with four children now how they work all with me we got a great company together and we even bought a house big house and Amsterdam we all have our own apartment over there we love each other we work with each other and they believe in the goal we set out for since then something broke in me but something I had to heal myself and from there bringing up the children I came into the park hey if science is not able to find solutions for these mental disorders I will lure I believe in that and I tell you once again I'm a drop out of school but now the professors in say Michigan they say this is a transformational technique that will change mental healthcare that is one thing another thing they say is we have the compelling evidence of the key components of the autonomous process integrate related to mood regulation you know this little Melia rates a multiple clinical disorders it's almost full circle there where I was powerless and lost my woman anybody could see it coming and when worse and what happened was out of our hands I tell you we will be able to tackle the problems are in depression
tackle the problems are in depression which is by the way a huge problem in the world and is going to grow into possibly disease number one in the world in the coming useless so yeah we are able to tackle it because I've been showing to all these practices I do how to enter into the deepest of the brain relates to the opioids and the endocannabinoids the cannabinoids itself the endocannabinoid system and that means willfully we are able to regulate mood anytime but that is exactly what those people with depression bipolar psychosis schizophrenia anxiety trauma PTSD needs we got that answer besides of that six years ago I showed in the comparative study he ended up seeing study that people within 40 days were able to inoculate a bacteria injected where 16, 000 people could not they suddenly a hundred percent spewed twelve people showed a complete suppression of the flama Tory Marcos in the blood causing normally fever addicts all over agony back aches at Hedra they could success they didn't felt sick and then they looked inside of the floor they saw more and significant server crashing at will within a quarter of our of the flammable remarks and that and then it showed they were influencing into deeply into the atomic nervous into the immune system and endocrine system so this is where we are so the day this needs to go out to the world and not only to the world especially to the doctors you know one of
the doctors you know one of the most common themes we've had with each of our guests on this podcast is their ability to overcome adversity and turn their greatest pains into their greatest gains and that's something that you are able to do and you know we really believe with the proper formula and the proper mindset that's possible for everyone out there and you mentioned PTSD post-traumatic stress disorder so the latest research in Stanford the latest neuropsychiatric research in Stanford it actually describes from positive psychology that a change in result of stress can give rise to higher functioning right so that stress can actually be good for us if we have the proper mindset right and this means that when we begin to look at our stressors in our life as a teacher kind of like you do with nature and stress we can choose to implement a growth mindset where we believe that we can constantly improve mentally physically and spiritually right and that really gets into hormesis right that's something that you talk about I've heard you talk about many times this study right now we are doing with San Francisco I cannot elaborate too much because they are doing the study hormesis is actually consciously positive stress by which the activation of the processes are triggered and become but the best of themselves as simple as this what we do with the cold is actually bringing the vasculature system by the way the vascular cardiovascular system diseases related in the West is the biggest killer can we tackle that I tell you yes how by using hormesis by using all chakras and breathing breathing the
all chakras and breathing breathing the way we do it in these access we show a direct influence in the dilatation and contraction of aged arteries capillaries I mean we got three times the world length inside of our body is composed with all kinds of primitive muscles and reflexes they are being stimulated by going into rhesus cold showers ice cold water needs to be done gradually but then the body is very the vesicle system is very able to deal with that I call it vascular fitness we train the muscles in in the fitness rooms and Ron and is and that if you do cold you do vascular fitness all the interior networks are going to be trained stimulated what happens is that the muscles are going to be up toned optimized they're going to help the blood flow gonna run better to throughout and transport the oxygen vitamins nutrients and the garbage out of the body a whole lot better besides of that here it comes the heartbeat is gonna lower with 15 to 30 beats a minute 24 hours a day that means stress is gonna go away because that's what we get when you're with it accelerated heart beat besides of that in time it's detrimental it's no good that's why we have this cardiovascular related disease killer number one kills more than any war we can tackle that definitely you know living organisms have always had to cope with harsh environmental conditions and hormesis it's a process that with many stressful
it's a process that with many stressful stimuli in low doses can activate adaptive responses which can lead to improved health better stress tolerance more growth or longevity this involves an expression of genes like you're saying it they actually encode for cytoprotective proteins like heat shock proteins antioxidant enzymes and growth factors so Hermetic agents that have been scientifically proven to activate the expression of these adaptive genes include exercise the process of birth namely cold conditions the wim HOF technique ice baths cryotherapy and antibiotics so this means that stress can create greater mental toughness deeper relationships heightened awareness and a greater appreciation for life if we allow it to right and that you know that's so cool cuz you hold so many World Records is it true you hold 26 World Records due to stress that stress positive hormesis you know positive for stress is feels great yeah buddy but your body really is able to optimize itself to do great things within our control and one feels great doing it it's like a superpower coming within your control that is a high off your own supply really is that the thing is it is there for every part these principles exist oh here comes is something new not only to get into the genome positive ways of the genome expressions and reduce inflammation truly to influence only transcription factors we are able to do that and optimize the self addition to throughout and without the telomere
throughout and without the telomere natela Mraz's all that if all that is happening and now comes up genetically so to speak we are able to influence and positive I what happen has been inflicted in the past generations being encrypted our genetic code and brain solutions this is a hundred percent possible and I want to explain this to our audience so a great way to think about our genes is to think about our cells we have around 40 trillion cells that make up our human body and inside them there's a genetic code so what we choose to do with this code is largely dependent on our mind and the environment we put ourselves into and this has given rise to the rapidly growing field of epigenetics right so it's been shown that we can alter gene expression in accordance to lifestyle so when I eat healthy when I exercise and when I make great decisions I alter my gene expression and that helps to explain why when you don't smoke cigarettes and you focus more on positivity you do the wim hof technique you're not just gonna feel healthier and look better but the expression of your genes is gonna bring you to the best form of yourself right so that's why people actually talk about turning on good genes to prevent disease and turning off uncle genes that promote cancer and you know since I've been doing the wim hof technique for six years I've recognized that I've been able to I used to have asthma you know and I used to have these inflammatory reactions now I don't and it's all do breathing techniques called exposure and meditation every human has been born with an innate sense to do this and to activate that from within right so you my friend I'm so thankful that you come
my friend I'm so thankful that you come into science and you bring this to to evidence-based medicine because the next step is spreading this to the entire globe exactly and the next step is to do what has been inflicted and encrypted our genetic codes from the past generations yeah and to solve it here while we are alive yeah we are solving matters of the past in our bodies here consciously I'm talking to the the guys in francisco on the DNA and they say wim twelve years we know how to DNA works and we know how it is mapped out but we did not know how to get in there at will now we know is like the natives it now go back to the natives they always blessed you like i bless your seven generations before and the seven generations to come so whatever has been gone wrong and is encrypted in our DNA we can change it with this generation because we are in our bodies and we have an innate capacity to influence into the DNA and she know expressions and to optimize its condition of the cell through the heat shock proteins chaperones and all that and a whole lot more so getting into the soul that's what I say the purpose of this applied to me the light is the nervous system the electricity system now we are able to jump into the autonomous nervous system and with that we become in control over our electricity which is
control over our electricity which is directly related to the vascular system three times the world's length inside of us that's the live energy and how do we do that and true to the breath is like life's energy but we have learned to breathe to profane to shallow because of our a t stimulative behavior and thus we don't reach as deep dasa doesn't get to all cells and it doesn't get into the autonomous nervous system it doesn't get into the gut for example crohn's disease is it got a problem of the softballs and and now we I see so much evidence of so many people getting it like hundred percent cool more in bringing the inflammation the inflammatory markers down to zero in those diseases thus they don't need medicines pills nothing like that no no side-effects they feel great and what is that is an ability innate capacity of us to heal ourselves now we can know to real ourselves a lot better but also can into the DNA and heal the past generations and it sounds a little bit no let me give you a practical example of how that is possible so in this heli event so the last let's let's say seven generations the last seven generations have come and gone as humans you know we've built houses and we're very comfortable in our own little heated stations and you know we don't go out in nature and we eat McDonald's we eat junk food food that never existed right so over these past seven generations our body has become accustomed to being comfortable our body has become accustomed to eating things
has become accustomed to eating things that weren't natural right so what you're saying practically is if we're able to go back to nature and we're able to kind of turn back that biology to what it used to be like and to shock ourselves back into nature what we could do is go back to our natural state right and what that could do is reverse the gene expression that actually moves us closer to disease right so as research comes out this this will have very very practical knowledge for the whole world in my opinion so I believe that wholeheartedly that's pretty cool that it's getting to that point now honestly amazing and yes a you know live is amazing people are amazing they have to learn to own their own minds yep so I do want to read what was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy for of Sciences because this is such a big deal it actually said word for word and they're both the autonomic nervous system and the innate immune system were regarded as systems that cannot be voluntarily influenced the present study demonstrates that through practicing techniques learned in a short-term training program the sympathetic nervous system and the immune system can indeed be voluntarily influenced this was you you made history and so what is that what does that mean for medicine what do you think that could mean for all of us medical practitioners cheapies doctors professors it's like a paradigm shift yeah everybody should know it then I don't need to prove anything my vision is that everybody should be able to have the choice to get into this paradigm shift this difference of lifestyle take you a cold shower after a warm shower it's there it's not so difficult
so difficult you have two to three minutes of breathing exercises which has shown lately in the new study that makes the body alkaline it gets to the right ph levels in within 20 minutes and five hours later they took the blood again and it still was alkaline so we are suffering from all the [__] we get inside of us all the wrong food all the stress the body becomes acidic that is in the lymphatic system and we cannot get a hold of that with these breathing techniques you were able to make that what is acidic alkaline NASA there those things are it needs to be no one by all the professors etc in the world what happens is we are built in Italy capacitated to be in control over our mood our health like preventative and healing aspect there is an hour energy management where I call it our yeah adrenal axis activation control and with that from a level of the autonomic nervous system that means that we have a direct control over the sympathetic and parasympathetic you have a sister you know the one of action and one of a rehabilitation and digestion and that makes us go into a complete new perspective of what people are capable of if they are only schooled within this and this is too important not to get into the school as like in primary school the children did not learn only history mathematics language culture
history mathematics language culture happiness strength and because those core values are completely lost and now we got them and with that we can guarantee that those core values never will be alienated from dozen people even when they lose jobs or they are and the greater self stress they still are able to regulate the mood to be healthy and to have plenty of energy what is wrong with that you know it's a win-win and honestly we're gonna work together to make sure that this is implemented in schools and hospitals because you know what you're saying it's so simple so the body making your blood alkaline it's simply through breathing you know every time we breathe out carbon dioxide and carbon dioxide is acidic so you're the wim hof technique the breathing technique of 30 breaths thirty deep breaths you actually create an alkaline state just through hyperventilation and it's controlled hyperventilation you know a great example of uncontrolled hyperventilation if someone has a panic attack they they uncontrollably breathe really fast you know what they give them as a treatment they give them a paper bag to be able to breathe into so they could rebreathe in the carbon dioxide and breathe in acidity so they won't go into respiratory alkalosis but when we're able to control it what you're really doing yet you're making the body more alkaline you're also raising the oxygen saturation blood sometimes over a hundred percent because the way your breathing technique works is you actually breathe in more oxygen than you let out right so this allows for just more oxygen delivery to the entire body right so I mean and this is something that it's free everybody can breathe right so just teaching this technique it's just as important as stretching before you exercise you know yes we're the latest study shows that we
yes we're the latest study shows that we actually are into this the lymphatic system yeah and they are the mitochondria and the mitochondrial oxygen tension was considered to be for humans inaccessible and now we are bringing in the oxygen taking out the acidity you know what biochemical professors tell me looking at these techniques and looking at the results we see that you guys have taken away the course and in fact of out immune diseases now is the acidity in the lymphatic system where normally through the lymphatic knots we were not able to get now with these techniques we are able to get past these knots and then elevate the mitochondrial oxygen tension and with that the acidity goes out which is course and in fact in time long a time of autoimmune diseases yeah this is what they say we can't jump to conclusions I challenge you guys all the doctors come and prove us wrong what do you like to have people to have autoimmune diseases and inflammation is the course actually of any disease both physical and mental and we are able to suppress the inflammation diplomatically Marcos effectively within a quarter of our who me wrong one of my mentors he's a pathologist so he studies disease and the way he dr. Hussein sitar the way he begins teaching pathology is from inflammation and he talks about how inflammation is the root cause of all
inflammation is the root cause of all disease and if we could understand the process of inflammation then we can understand the process of disease right and I want to be able to break this down for our audience to make it very clear so we're talking about the immune system right now right and when it comes to the immune system there's there's three known layers of defense there's an external v innate and the adaptive right so the external is very simple we have our eyes the tears in our eyes contain enzymes that kill bacteria the nose we have hairs and mucus that will trap bugs we have ears earwax it'll inhibit bacterial growth the mouth it's also anti bacterial right our skin is a barrier and the digestive system the low pH kills bacteria right so when we go into the blood the first place we get into is the innate immune system and you know the body is such an incredible instrument because we can look at the innate immune system just like an army it actually has a radar or a sonar that can detect when we have an outsider present so when a bacteria comes in like an endotoxin that you're injected with when it comes in there's actually something called pathogen recognition receptors that can recognize pathogen associated molecular patterns what does that really mean our white blood cells know when something's wrong and they know when something needs to be corrected so this is the beginning of inflammation inflammation begins when we detect something that's wrong right so when something's mentally wrong it can trigger inflammation so so what you're saying is 100% right if you can mentally train if you could physically train and spiritually train you will decrease inflammation now this this is theoretical what we're talking about but it will be proven it's the last step we go external and they and then we go adaptive immune system this is our B and T cells and they start in the bone marrow the T cells are very very important as a matter of fact the latest Nobel Prize in Physiology
Nobel Prize in Physiology went to a couple doctors who learned about T cells and how they kill cancer cells and they were able to so dr. James Allison and dr. Hanzo I believe they discovered a cancer therapy that can inhibit immune regulation using our T cells this is exactly what I think we did in the Proceedings of National Academy paper with the antitoxin they did not feel inflammation they don't feel inflammation is fever headaches etcetera all those things actually within a quarter for our there bacterias influence on the immune system there was no inflammation so yes on cancer I tell you I just finished a study about burn with 3225 people doing this method 51 declare in the respondents they declare to be cured of cancer this is like it's amazing of course and I want to show that we actually have the ability to activate a specific immune system without the T cells with that the B cells and get into the outer regulating process looking at cancer cells and cell division we are able and innately capacitated to go in the deepest of our systems which means the three layers of the immune system and battle effectively anything that has got to do with inflammation which is causing the worst of diseases we have an innate capacity to activate all the immune system layers and with that come up with the right answer boom I believe in man I know when you spoke about being injected with the
you spoke about being injected with the endotoxin I know what they published was that once you did your breathing techniques and once you did the cold water submersion you were able to raise your cortisol levels your norepinephrine your adrenaline levels high than those who jump out of an airplane right and when you're able to do that you know it's it's really simple this actually works like say we're me and you are walking and we see a mountain lion when we see a mountain lion our fight-or - flight kicks in and when our adrenaline turns on it's a natural anti-inflammatory so in case that mountain lion starts scratching me and you we will still be able to decrease inflammation and continue fighting now athletes do this too if an athlete a basketball player hurts his knee he could get a cortisone shot into his knee decreases inflammation he could keep playing right so our bodies naturally able to do this and when you do your breathing technique and cold water submersion you're actually able to take your anti inflammatory response to the level where they they actually prove those published that you're interleukin 6 levels which causes fever are decreased and your interleukin-10 levels were higher and they they you were able to get other people to actually perform this as well and did you train those people to be able to do that in four days now I can do it in one day you know speaking of which I actually saw your latest not with the yes theory is this why you're saying one day cuz you kind of changed it up it wasn't like the vice documentary you actually force these guys into everything right so tell it tell me more about one day how's that possible it's like you say if a mountain lion is there you are honest you cannot learn in four days you gotta beat it and our system is that's life so let me tell you this at the last study and in Michigan showed in the brain scans while being
showed in the brain scans while being exposed to ice-cold water on my skin just by using my brain my mind no contraction of muscles no deep breathing nothing just by using my mind I was able to make the best skin temperature not going down so what what is it it is just with the mind and we love that capacity because we live in a comfort zone behaviorism all the time then deeper levels of your being it becomes obsolete your exercise in our brain that's why it doesn't work and it's to relate it to the immune system but we lost a connection and now I'm bringing this through this podcast through the studies those there is no doubt about it we only need to translate its to the people listen people you have an innate capacity to deal just with using your mind to deal with severe stress and stress comes in many ways mental physical spiritual yep you can learn to prefect and to regulate your stress you get a better life and you prevent from disease you know you mentioned the cold therapy and how you were able to turn ice basically you were able to melt ice because you you're able to raise your body temperature and I was reading the the studies on that and you know it was published in the National Library of Medicine there was a doctor who said I think wim HOF withstands the cold in the ice cubes through a combination of several factors an increase in heat production non shivering thermogenesis brown fat activation and contraction of the respiratory muscles this efficiently increases body tissue insulation and
increases body tissue insulation and vasoconstriction thereby reducing heat loss and conserving the body core heat content and finally possibly not unimportant Lee he uses his well trained mental ability to endure the cold and they think that you using your intercostal muscles through your breathing you're able to warm up your body so much that you'll warm up anything that makes you cold right so it's very practical because like for someone outside who's just listening to this you know when you get a technique where you could teach them how to breathe then you know they can overcome those things right so it's uh it's pretty incredible cold is a stressor yeah and when you have a m - - which is caused by anything we are there is a right now for opioid epidemic going on in the world we got our own opioids yeah tell us more about that this is part of the periaqueductal grey hemisphere activation total inaccessible like autonomous it was inaccessible at will for humans to tap in and now we have shown you can tap in not little bit robustly activating it and with that you are able to reduce pain chronic pain or anything that inflicts pain upon the body the cold is only a means to train your body consciously to go into the cold gradually to learn to endure and have a great time actually well it is freezing it is bloody painful in the beginning but if you go gradually then it's not only not painful gradually if you learn how to deal with the stress which is causing by the freezing temperatures its impact on the body you learn from inside out by the will
you learn from inside out by the will activating the periaqueductal grey hemisphere and the adrenal access how to deal and to make a right cocktail of hormones making you impervious of the impact could be cold could be heat it says we are talking stress stress comes in many ways we got all the mechanisms to learn to deal with that no we got so much more than we think you know need to learn to bring this to the people that it is there and then it is evidence-based and it is I'm talking damn everybody has a beautiful mind but you have to it's like a little baby is not able to walk but there's nothing wrong with their neurology it's only not connected to the brain yet though our ability to deal with the stress and all the stresses that is a neurology we never trained if you are waking to it then we will change the perspective of any person in this world when you talk about the response where you're able to tap into your parry Aqueduct old gray matter and basically release opioids and cannabinoids this was also published I believe those at University of Michigan so they called it a stress induced analgesic response they were able to measure they said that your insula what would turn off just like most would when they were going into hypothermia and yours would actually turn off more than normal but in conjunction to that you would you were able to release endogenous opioids and cannabinoids that made you just not even feel that that was happening so you're sitting there and you look normal but inside you and outside of you is just chaos but you're able to just stay normal right and the
able to just stay normal right and the fact that you know this is scientifically proven I think the heart the biggest challenge we're gonna have is applying it right bringing this to doctors and having an application of it I do believe that starts with what if we got this into elementary schools young children if we got to teach them meditation techniques there's actually been schools where you know how kids go to detention when they get in trouble like there's in some schools yeah yeah so yeah exactly so they they yeah rather than sending kids to detention they taught them to meditate and to be mindful of what they were doing wrong and then their behavior actually changed what drives you to want to help mankind to this level because Wow like what drives you how do you have that drive inside you you know what it is every baby in the world is innocent yeah and the beauty of innocence is love and that is the soul we need to bring back the soul the humans they everybody is beautiful and where it goes wrong we have to correct and that that is the simple thing and what is what people make wrong is the neurology and we are actually serving a system we get our children ready to fit in how to change that what is what a mother wants for the job it carried over happiness strength and health what do you think you know how I can help that's what my mom wants I just wanted you give the choice to the mother in fact that is the same as a new year they just want happiness strength and help to the little children that is what we want that is what we need in this world
that is what we need in this world because the rest is into a system and a power and force and tension and some have 10, 000 times more than somebody else it does not make sense so we gotta bring back sense in this transistor I relationship with biochemical professors and what is telling about this these mice they have 20% chance to get breast cancer but it's being benign when they are very social animals when you put them apart it becomes like 80% I know it's gross like 50 times faster and what do we do in our society we are mammals like mice and we behave like mice we love our little nest we take care of our little children etc but then we become insensitive we separate through our minds of each other and we do not touch it's even awkward touch somebody else that creates a deficiency in oxytocin which is very much related to the vascular system or the flexibility you know so they actually it's called the Rossetto effect they proved it yeah Oh see you're like a scientist yourself that you you know all these things already that study that showed that these people there was the only place in America which had no heart attacks yeah and then they found out you studies it was the relationship they had with each other and the purpose of the elders to take care of the little ones and guys who went to work they talked to each other they touched each other and they were okay and there were no heart attacks how simple what did we do with humanity
simple what did we do with humanity first and because I go through socks and Joe it but you know well yes we are able to shoot people to the moon and we cannot guarantee happiness strength and out anymore how are we we are left with something that's we gotta correct it and that's why your work my work is important oh yeah most important you know all the past we need to shove it to the past this is the present we are want to make the change let's stand up together yes bring it you know we were all once babies we're all once birthed and all babies need loves in order to live if a baby does not receive love it will have failure to thrive and irreversible consequences to its health and the same is true for adulthood and the elderly like you said we're mammals and we can't live without love and I've heard you actually say that love is the strongest force in nature and that we have lost our tribal sense of helping each other and you know how simple is it in 2013 I started doing the wim HOF technique and started going out in nature and meditating one day I was out in nature I was meditating and the idea of med spiration came to me it came to me because I learned about you and I learned about the meditation and six years later the very idea that came to me through the wim HOF technique brings wim HOF on our podcast today to talk about the full circle right and that's just one beautiful example of how life is a continuous circle you know same family same mother or something but we need to bring back the love in the family the love is the strongest power you know when we are in the core a power of love we will not get
the core a power of love we will not get sick we will be happy exact will be there it is that's about separation then Wow well wim so we're gonna move on to the last and most popular portion of our podcasts our audience submitted a bunch of questions for you our team selected the top five questions question number one it comes from diegs oh seven he asked have you ever performed your breathing techniques under the influence of psychedelics ah no because I don't need so I get high on my own supply he is a psychedelic ladies and gentlemen we are tap into the pineal gland and activate the same substances being released in their REM sleep DMT yeah diameter trip turbine can be released so we can do this for a drop out man you got some real scientific knowledge I'm curious I'm an inquisitive I got an inquisitive mind student of life oh there we are amen to that that is beautiful then question number two comes from press jar and underscore EC they asked what is your biggest purpose in life make everybody able to choose nan diplomatically having its feast I'm happy strong and healthy for sits there I wish everybody the love of life including I stand with you where we're together in that forever man that is that's a great intention to live a fulfilling life yes exactly with no fear because we live this all and there's all those no fear the soul
and there's all those no fear the soul is immortal soul is indestructible and that's why we have no fear yes yes hey that's on see you can't create or destroy energy it only transforms that's not one of the laws that's amazing minutes a question number three comes from a G Paul Busra he asked when did you first start practicing and creating your method I believe you said 17 is that exactly 17 I went into the coal for the first time aha no happens you when you go into the coal you do to be a deep and it just happens and once you begin to do that and you like it because you like the cold and the way it acts upon the physiology you go into the depth you learn to consciously use the breath and breathe deeper is when I began to separate the break breathing exercises different from only in in the cold I did it at home and then oh man why all the magic happens and that was amazing so for 25 years I've been doing it on my own because they everybody could set at me like crazy I was a man going into the cold doing a breathing exercises meditate in the middle of the squares of the middle of the Cosmo toilet in the city of Amsterdam hi it's like that you know I was impervious all the stress existent and yeah that's up so 25 years later I came in contact with television and don't ask me how it just happened boom you and they love and
boom you and they love and they began to challenge me I got 26 World Records many more other challenges done is when the science came in because they began to see what this man is doing it's physiologically not possible but he is doing it and he is a man so let's experiment on him hell yeah that I was not only able to do it everybody is able to do it and with that we began to answer gaps of unsolved matters within scientific studies saying inflammation say depression saying how to immune diseases and we are now into the process of translating what Mother Nature has for us in our store inside of us and that is to deal with inflammation and disease and mental disorders and become happy strong and healthy Wow that that's so perfect man so our last question we ask every single person on our podcast that is what is your definition of meds / Asian Matt spiration it's like as you said medication and inspiration it's actually that meditation brings you in the deeper parts of the brain we are built after millions of years not their brain that only works for 20% only percent now that that is maturation Wow meditation and inspiration the spirit should live in a beautiful mind in a beautiful body and that there it is and we should think about meditate upload the spirit where is the spirit living is
the spirit where is the spirit living is it your mind within your control and you know in the Bhagavad Gita the old Upanishads they say a mind in control is your best ally your best friends yeah it is a might not in control is your worst enemy amen now suffering from that in this society we need to go back bring this spirit within a mind that is in control then life becomes beautiful well thank you I look forward to connecting I can't wait to meet you in person we are gonna mobilize in America we're gonna get you to talk to as many doctors as possible and just put this science in front of them because we need to so I think it's great to end it with this med spiration we're a nonprofit organization so we do a lot of charity work and we do a lot of health care work right and our motto or our mission statement it's air so you breathe air AI R it's to advance the human potential improve the quality of life and raise the consciousness of the human species so I believe working together we will do that and I'm so thankful for people who push the limits of mankind and I'm so thankful for having you on the podcast today thank you so much I see you next time and there when I went on London in the airport I told the people I'm not going I'm going to different or not the airport I'm going to the breath light no dark light right not together we can do a lot amen to that man there you have it folks I hope you guys left this one feeling that's fired if you learn something new or if you genuinely enjoyed this episode please don't forget to subscribe to our
please don't forget to subscribe to our podcast and rate at 5 stars men spiration is a 501c3 nonprofit charity organization the more you help us grow the more people were able to help for example our newest sponsorship with pic Manik is currently helping us fund our ongoing work at a small children school in Cambodia if you are currently a future health care professional and are studying tons don't forget to check out pic monix learning tools for free you can use a discount code mad spiration for 20% off any membership please visit pic Montcalm for more we'll be sure to leave a link in the description below let's make a commitment together guys and attempt to live a healthier lifestyle mentally physically and spiritually and as always you know what time it is it's time to get out there and do something med spiral
Transcript auto-generated by YouTube. Verbatim — duplicates intentionally preserved.
This interview returns often to a provocative idea: the autonomic nervous system may be more responsive to conscious practice than once assumed. Cold and breath become controlled forms of stress, giving the body a chance to rehearse steadiness under pressure.
Cold exposure (covered in detail here) activates the sympathetic nervous system, sharpens attention, and asks the body to defend temperature. In plain language, it is a strong signal delivered quickly.
Handled with respect, that signal can build confidence and presence. The person learns to stay composed while the body is being challenged.
Deliberate breathing changes carbon dioxide tolerance, arousal, and perception of discomfort. It gives the mind something precise to do while the body is reacting.
That is why breathwork and cold pair so naturally. The breath becomes the handle. It does not erase intensity; it gives intensity a structure.
The impressive stories around Wim Hof can obscure the practical lesson. The method is powerful because it is stressful. That means dose, progression, supervision, and personal context matter.
For everyday practice, resilience comes from consistency and respect, not proving anything. Cold is a tool. The nervous system learns best when the challenge is clear and recoverable.
Cold is not the point. The point is learning how to meet intensity without losing yourself.
The autonomic nervous system may be more trainable than older assumptions allowed.
Breath gives structure to stress.
Resilience grows when challenge and recovery stay in conversation.
Approach cold exposure progressively, especially if you are new, pregnant, unwell, or managing cardiovascular concerns.
Use slow, deliberate breathing to stay present before and after the cold rather than forcing intensity.
Let the practice end with recovery: warmth, calm movement, and time for the nervous system to settle.
