So. I sat in an ice bath, for two minutes, to heal my alopecia.
What?
Last Monday, when the official day of my unemployment started, I took the ice bath challenge. It had a long way coming. We planned it in November. However due to corona everything kept on being postponed. My partner and I decided to put some extra money in and take a private course. So, February 1, 2021, was the day. And we did it.
Why though? For health ofcourse.
Wim Hof is the ice man. He holds a couple of world records in cold exposure such as standing in a container filled with ice cubes for 112 minutes, and climbing the Kilimanjaro in only shorts. Wim Hof has learned to control his breathing, heart rate and blood circulation to withstand extreme temperatures. It is his conviction that whatever he can do, everyone can. And he encourages people to take a first step into a healthier, happier and stronger life.
Why is this interesting? The idea alone that one man is capable of this is extraordinary in and of itself. Yet this man has taught other people this as well. There is so much evidence of people following Wim’s footsteps and pushing their bodies further like never before. If that alone is not the most awesome thing you ever heard, I don’t know what is.
However, it may be good for your health. There are people with auto-immune diseases that are symptom-free, or at least in remission, due to the Wim Hof Method. But that is anecdotal. Luckily, a couple of studies have also been conducted. Kox et al (2012) first researched Wim himself, then a group of men trained by Wim (2014). In the first study they injected Wim with E.coli. In every other human this gives fever like symptoms, very quickly. It gave Wim only a slight headache. What did he do? He used his concentration technique to activate his sympathetic nervous system and his immune system. It is easy to say it is just one person, but the second study researched 12 more men, who had been taught the WHM breathing, concentration and had gradually been exposed to cold. The 12 men got some symptoms, but less so and less severe than the participants who had not done the WHM challenge. Additionally, their temperature rose less high and normalized quicker than the control group. More interestingly their blood showed less inflammatory proteins. The WHM method seems to have increased stress in the form of adrenaline due to the heightened sympathetic system, which in turn suppresses the immune system. One of the most amazing things is that the medical world was sure that the autonomous system could not be influenced from the outside.
Contrary to early research where meditation techniques activated the para-sympathetic system to reduce stress, the WHM activates the sympathetic system, the flight or fight system, which in turn reduces inflammatory proteins. In the Kox (2012) study, it was additionally found that due to the cold exposure there were zero inflammatory proteins in Wim’s system. This is due to cortisol circulating the body, reducing the immune system activation.
Amazing huh?
Do not just go jump in a bathtub full of ice. It can still kill you.
So why did it not kill Wim?
Wim’s technique and training has taught him to control his body such that hypothermia sets in way later, such that he can almost stay in ice for 2 hours. His temperature stays the same, and his heartrate and blood pressure did the same.
Research form Groothuis (2010) showed that Wim’s metabolism skyrocketed with 300%. Thus, he can keep himself warm, to combat the cold. Another research I(Marken-Lichtenbelt, et al 2009), showed that Hof had more brown fat. As babies we all have more brown fat, this decreases over time. Yet, this fat enables the body to increase temperature; increasing metabolism. There is actually a negative correlation between body weight and brown fat. As well as age and brown fat. As we age, we have less, and the heavier we are, we have less. White fat just does not have the same capability to increase temperature the way brown fat does.
Additionally, in 1994 it was already shown that taking a cold shower everyday increases the number of white bloodcells. By taking a cold shower metabolism increases during and after the shower. Thus a cold shower seems to reset and kickstart the immune system.
All in all the WHM consists of three pillars: mindset, breathing techniques and cold exposure.
And that is exactly what I signed up for.
The fact that it reduced the inflammation in the body was something that really spoke to me. Or rather: that I could have any sort of control over the inflammation in my body. My alopecia is considered an auto-immune disease that had only one known cause: stress. Inflammation is at the root of the disease. Literally. The roots of my hair cannot produce hair due to inflammation.
So I was curious. By no means did I think that this method would cure my alopecia in one workshop, and I was cautious to even think of a “cure”. However, the science was there, and it was undeniable.
We had found an amazing WHM instructor: Kim Helen Padding from N-ice World. We had booked a private session. Kim had booked the most amazing and beautiful hotel room in the Centre of The Hague. The room itself was already beautiful, but the bath even more so. It was see through, modern and slick, and the ice already swam in it. Eep, we were gonna really go through with this. While Kim talked, I quickly checked with my pinky the water temperature. Yep. Cold A. F. Oh boy.
The bath stood next to a wall, and behind that wall was a little space with a couch, a television and Kim had set up three yoga mats. She first explained to us a bit how everything worked, and how the WHM method worked. All while enjoying a nice biologically sourced “good night” tea. My fave actually.
She asked us why we were there. I told her of my conditions and how I was curious about what the method could mean for my Alopecia, and if not, if it could help me keep other conditions at bay and just make me healthier on a whole.
After the talking she asked us to come sit on the mat, and she did a couple of starting breathing exercises. She asked us to breathe in, focusing first on the chest, then the belly. This to practice taking belly breaths, the deepest breaths possible. The thing is, I have had years of singing lessons, and one cannot sing a opera aria on shallow chest breaths. So. Belly breaths. Check.
She walked us through a meditation where we had to keep a hard ball underneath our back and shoulder, on a spot that actually hurt. So that we could get accustomed with discomfort.
One of the most powerful practices that day was the actual WHM breathing exercise. She guided us through 5 sets of his breathing exercises. 30-40 deep belly breaths, and not just simple breathe in, breathe out. No, 3 counts in, 1 out. Then 2 counts in 1 out, and of course 1 in 1 out. In between, retention. So 30-40 breaths, then, keep the breath in for a few second. Breath out, and do not inhale for the next 10 seconds. Go check out the WHM youtube channel for a free breathing exercise.
All the while Kim talked us through, powerful and meaningful music played in the background. Music that spoke of letting go, of taking control. Of being with your body and mind, right this instant. It made the meditation so much more powerful.
It is wise to know that this is done under the careful eye of a trained instructor and I do not advise to just keep your breath in. Let the WHM guide you trough his channels or an instructor, do not just play with your breath for funsies. It can be dangerous.
The thing is, that after 5 of those rounds, I felt so calm. It felt so amazing. During retention I could feel my heartbeat slow. I never felt more connected with my body than during this breathwork session. I could feel every rumble of the busses that passed outside the hotel. I could feel my heartbeat steady. I could feel myself warm up somewhere near the end. And the bliss of that meditation afterward is undeniable. I heard Kim and my partner talk afterwards and I was grateful that they were, it provided me with an extra bit of silence. Blessed silence.
Then, it was time. We were going to go into the bath. We undressed in the bathroom. I put on my bathingsuit and already felt the chills down my spine. My partner and I looked at each other and it was implicit I would go first. Afterwards we spoke of it. He wanted to see someone else do it first. I knew that if I put more time between now and me going in there and that I simply would increase the chance to not get in there.
Kim talked me through it all. I put my hand over my chest, to feel my heartbeat. The connection to my heartbeat was so powerful during the meditation that I wanted to feel the connection again.
The first time I got in, I got right back out.
I chickened out. Big time.
Holy f! That was cold. I got in to my knees, panicked and got out.
When I was standing there, outside of the bath, my lower legs discoloured by the effect of the ice, I realised how powerful the method can be. Because, I got out due to the fact that I panicked. My head kickstarted and I got scared and ran. Resolutely I grabbed her hand and got in again. I breathed in, and out, in and out. I started sitting. The cold ran up, and I started breathing more shallow.
“Breath. Breath out. Breath that belly deep breath and let it all out again. You have been through so much more pain, you can do this”.
Encouraged by Kim I sat. I sat in that water. I noticed that by focussing on the breath, indeed, it became ok. I did not feel the cold so much anymore. It hurt way less. I was actually… sitting ok. It was quite comfy. Yes I was deadbeat scared to leaning against the loose backside of the bath, in case I fell in uncontrolled. But just sitting there, I felt ok.
I lowered my hands in to relax on my legs. I felt ok. I kept my focus on my breath. The focus is crucial. The constant focus on deep belly breaths made it ok.
Kim told me it was ok to get out. I did not want to push too much so I did.
And as my partner stepped in, only one thought crossed my mind. I want to do it again!
So I did.
The second time was shorter, about a minute, but it was actually easier. I knew I could do it and how. It was amazing, and I felt way more focussed and relaxed he second time. Yes, relaxed. Breathe in, breathe out.
I left there, feeling absolutely excited. I was happy, I felt reawakened. I felt like I could do anything. The things your body is capable of, I beyond me.
I am currently looking at the retreats and which way I want to proceed onwards. I want to learn more. Today I showered cold again. I feel like there is something here that could help my alopecia, and I the mean time make me feel empowered.
Groothuis, J.T., Eijsvogels, T,M., Scholten, R. R. ,Thijssen, D. H .,& Hopman, M,T. [20101. Can meditation influence the autonomic nervous system? A case report of a man immersed in crushed ice for 80 minutes.
Kox, M., Stoffels, M., Smeekens, S. P., Alfen, N, van., Gomes, M.,Eijsvogels, T. M. H., Hopman, M. T. E, Hoeven, J. G, van der., Netea, M. G.,& Pickkers, P. [2012]. The influence of concentration/meditation on autonomic nervous system activity and the innate immune response: a case study. Psychosomatic Medicine, 74, 489-449.
Kox, M., Eijk, L. T, van der., Zwaag, J., Wildenberg, W, van den., Sweep, F. C. G. J., Hoeven, j. G, van der., & Pickkers. [20141. Voluntary activation of the sympathetic nervous system and attenuation of the innate immune response in humans, PNAS, 111, 7379-7384.
Wim Hof E-book taken from his website.
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