Wednesday Wisdom

The Iceman Cometh

Who?

To my literary friends, this is not about Eugene O'neal, to my cold water surfing buddies, this is not about Jack O'Neil.

Wim Hof is a motivational speaker and extreme sports athlete from the Netherlands who was born in 1959, as one of nine children. After tragically losing his wife to mental illness and being left with four young children, he went on a search for answers. Having been in the outdoors and practicing yoga most of his life, Wim was naturally drawn to finding holistic approaches to physical and mental health.

What?

Wim Hof is a Dutch extreme athlete and alternative medicine advocate who is best known for his practices and methods for improving health and well-being through cold exposure and breathing exercises. He is also referred to as the "Iceman" due to his ability to withstand extremely cold temperatures.

Wim Hof has developed a series of methods, known as the Wim Hof Method (WHM), which are based on his personal experiences and are designed to improve physical and mental health. The Wim Hof Method consists of three main components: cold exposure, breathing exercises, and commitment to mindfulness. These practices are intended to increase physical resilience, mental clarity, and emotional well-being. He now has millions of followers and hundreds of certified instructors who believe his methods alleviate a myriad of medical conditions.

2023 - Why should you care?

Stoicism is a philosophical school of thought that originated in ancient Greece and was furthered by ancient Romans. It emphasizes the development of self-control and resilience through the cultivation of reason and virtue. Stoicism teaches that individuals should strive to accept and understand the natural order of things and focus on what they can control, rather than what they cannot. The goal of the Stoic is to live a virtuous life, in harmony with reason and nature, and to find peace and contentment in all circumstances. The tenets of stoicism teach about overcoming fear and living in the moment. So what does Wimm Hoff teach about Stoicism?

Breathing:

Wim Hof's breathing is similar to certain practices in yoga, meditation, and mindfulness training. The Wim Hof Method incorporates breathing techniques that are similar to Pranayama in yoga, which involves controlled breathing exercises to improve physical and mental well-being. Breathing is an unconscious effort but with mindful breathing, the practitioners focus on their awareness of the present moment and on their breath. Roman Emperor and stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius was known at times of stress or anger, to take a moment and recite the Greek alphabet. This would calm his mind and replace anger with a more stoic emotion of patience, very similar to the effects of mindful breathing, meditation, or prayer. Aurelius reminds us in his book Meditations," You only live in the present, this fleeting moment. The rest of your life is already gone, or not yet revealed."

Cold Water Exposure:

In his first inaugural address on March 4, 1933, President Roosevelt famously declared: “Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself— nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” The stoics were well aware of the primal emotion of fear and how it can cloud and distort your reality and vision.

In Stoicism, it was believed that by choosing one's own obstacles and confronting them, one could cope more easily with other trials and tribulations of life. As Roman stoic philosopher Seneca is famously quoted “We are more often frightened than hurt, and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.” Exposing yourself to cold water is an easy way to confront discomfort and embrace primal fears. Seneca goes on to say, "To bear trials with a calm mind robs misfortune of its strength and burden." 

Wim Hof and his followers may or may not have realized what's new are actually quite old and the WH Method is the stoic way.

Embrace discomfort and live in the moment, or like the English slogan from WWII, "keep calm and carry on.".....

And now you know:

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, and science.

METAPHYSICS: Literally, the term metaphysics means ‘beyond the physical.’ Typically, this is the branch that most people think of when they picture philosophy. In metaphysics, the goal is to answer the what and how questions in life. Who are we, and what are time and space?

In overcoming fear and living in the moment; Wim Hof and his followers may have found what's new is really actually quite old having embraced the stoic way.