Finding the Light Within—One Breath and Ice Bath at a Time

To be in control of that emotion called life, in the purest way, you must experience it through the lens of love. Love will open you up to the power of your mind, and suddenly you find yourself standing before the abyss of your experience, sensing a soul you did not think was accessible, let alone controllable, as if it were some sort of abstract thing. But consumed by the reality and stress of daily life, you entertained no such notions. Maybe on a Saturday you’d sit and ponder a little bit with a nice glass of wine, contemplating philosophy and whatever’s going on in the world, but by Monday morning, you’re up and off to work again, and the stress begins anew. But I’m here to tell you it doesn’t have to be that way. The real spirit, the real experience of your mind and your body is one of happiness, strength, and health.

Over the course of nearly forty years, I have developed and refined my method, called The Wim Hof Method, which is based on three simple, natural pillars: cold exposure, conscious breathing, and the power of the mind. I have employed this method to accomplish feats believed by many to be impossible, setting more than two dozen Guinness World Records and confounding medical professionals in the process. That includes running a half marathon above the Arctic Circle while barefoot, wearing only shorts, and a full marathon through Africa’s Namib Desert, without drinking any water. It includes swimming underneath a thick layer of ice for more than two hundred feet and standing packed in ice for hours at a time without my core body temperature dropping. I’ve summited some of the world’s highest mountains dressed only in shorts. It’s true.

Doing these things has earned me the nickname the Iceman, but I am no superhero. I am no genetic freak. I’m not a guru, and I did not invent these techniques either. Cold exposure and conscious breathing have been practiced for thousands of years. I do not mention my accomplishments to boast, but as a reminder that there is so much more we are capable of. I want to ignite your awe of your body, your mind, and your beautiful humanity.

The cold and breath lead the way toward a spirituality of the mind, a calmness with which you can handle any other stress. It is a spirituality that exists beyond the ego and maintains the soul. And it’s strong. That’s what I found on Mount Everest when I was lost in a whiteout in my shorts. There was nobody else around, it was freezing cold, and there was little oxygen. But despite all of that, I remained calm. I felt no stress, and that was my mind. I was past the “death zone” on the highest mountain in the world in nothing but my shorts, losing my way, and I couldn’t see anything anymore. My left foot was frostbitten, but I wasn’t scared. I wasn’t anxious. I gained control. In a moment in which everything was seemingly out of control, my mind took control, through the breath.

You don’t have to climb past the death zone to feel out of control though. Life can be full of tumult and uncertainty. We’ve developed the ability to launch rockets and people to the moon, but we’re not able to maintain our own happiness, strength, and health? How poor we truly are. How little we control.

Are you in command? Are you living up to the light in your soul? Are you making sense to yourself? No? Well, the spiritual state of your mind is right here. The soul too. Breathe. Relax into the cold. Get the blood and electricity flowing. Feel it. Understand beyond words. Know. The spirit is inside of you. Just open up to it and direct its light to others.

That’s love.

We connect with each other through love and sharing. This spirituality is inherent in us and our innate neurological pathways, but somehow we lost our ability to find it. If you want to achieve spirituality, then find the way of the light. We have the tools to get into that now, to cleanse ourselves, and to learn to control and to direct the light within. Toward what? Toward moksha, liberation, samadhi, the prima, liberty. Awakening to the flow of our subtle energy, ki, qi, prana. It’s all there for you if you want to be free.

The body wants nutrients, oxygen, and vitamins, and it wants light. The breath ignites our inner electricity. It connects our consciousness with nature, with all that is. That is liberation, and we can do it consciously. Isn’t that amazing? You can do it with just twenty minutes of breathing. Within the time span of twenty minutes, you can experience timelessness and understand eternity. You become everything. It’s right here, right now. That’s how you will find not only peace, but bliss. Yes, the breath is a door, but love welcomes you inside.

Adapted from THE WIM HOF METHOD: Activate Your Full Human Potential. Copyright © 2020 Wim Hof. Published with permission; Sounds True, October 2020.