The Dr. Hyman Show - Why Ice Water Immersion And Your Breath Is The Key To Health And Happiness with Wim Hof

Episode Date: October 21, 2020

Why Ice Water Immersion And Your Breath Is The Key To Health And Happiness | This episode is brought to you by ButcherBox and Four Sigmatic Frequent exposure to cold is linked to a number of different health benefits. Scientists have found evidence that exposure to cold speeds up metabolism, and reduces inflammation, swelling, and sore muscles. Many athletes use ice baths and other types of exposure to cold as a means to speed up recovery after physical exercise. Cold body therapy is also linked to improved quality of sleep, more focus, and even to an improved immune response. On this episode of The Doctor’s Farmacy, I was happy to sit down and talk with Wim Hof about the benefits of cold therapy and what happens to our body when we’re exposed to extreme cold conditions. Wim shares how we can change our biochemistry through our breathing, and the boundless capacities of the human spirit when we test our physical limits.  Wim Hof, also known as “The Iceman,” holds multiple world records for his feats of endurance and exposure to cold, and he is the author of The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential. The benefits of Wim’s method, now practiced by tens of thousands, have been validated by eight university research studies. He has been featured on goop Lab’s six-part Netflix series, the BBC, VICE Media, and the Discovery Channel, as well as in the bestselling book, What Doesn’t Kill Us by Scott Carney.  This episode is brought to you by ButcherBox and Four Sigmatic. Right now, ButcherBox is offering new members a free turkey with their first box. To take advantage of this special offer from ButcherBox, just go to ButcherBox.com/farmacy. Four Sigmatic is now providing an exclusive offer for Doctor’s Farmacy listeners. Receive up to 40% off on their best selling Lion’s Mane Coffee bundles. To get this deal, just go to foursigmatic.com/hyman.  Here are more of the details from our interview:  The origin of Wim’s journey to become the Iceman (6:42) Our ability for voluntary control over bodily functions previously considered to be out of our control, such as our body temperature (11: 16) The healing power of cold and deep breathing (23:44) The benefits of cold showers (26:25) The three pillars of the Wim Hof Method (30:29) Awakening to the potential of accessing our inner mechanisms (34:49) Wim’s experience being injected with, and overcoming the effects of, E. coli bacteria and its implications for doing the same with COVID-19 (35:56) How to practice one of Wim’s breathing exercises (42:15) Reversing and treating autoimmune and other disease through the Wim Hof Method (51:34) How Wim’s techniques can help  with the alleviation of depression and anxiety (55:48) Learn more about Wim Hof and the Wim Hof Method at https://www.wimhofmethod.com/. Follow Wim on Facebook @icemanwimhof, on Instagram @iceman_hof, and on Twitter @iceman_hof. Get Wim’s new book, The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential here. Get Wim’s Free Mobile App here.

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regular morning cup of coffee and try Four Sigmatic's mushroom blend that can enhance your brain power, energy, and your immune system throughout the whole day. One of today's episode sponsors is ButcherBox. Now, one part of my life that I'm consistently grateful for is good food. It helps me take care of my health, and preparing tasty meals is one of my favorite ways to show love for people in my life. I love all the flavors of fall, like sage, thyme, rosemary, which are taken to another level when paired with a good piece of meat. And that's why I want to take a minute to tell you about my favorite resource for ordering clean meat and seafood, ButcherBox. ButcherBox makes it easy to get high quality, humanely raised meat that you

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a place for conversations that matter. And if you want to know how to hack your biology and attain superpowers that aren't really super, but are just our human powers that we haven't accessed, you're going to love this conversation with my friend Wim Hof, who I've known for many years. I've experienced some of his teachings personally. And in fact, in his honor, he's known as the Iceman. I just took an ice bath before our podcast. I literally did. He is an extraordinary guy. He holds multiple world records for his feats of endurance and exposure to cold. He has climbed Mount Everest in shorts. He has been in an ice bath for almost two hours. Can you imagine being dunked in ice for two hours? He swam underneath the ice for almost 130 yards, which is stunning.

He's been injected with biotoxins that would cause people to die and has willfully controlled his immune system to fight the infections. Imagine if we could all do that with coronavirus right now. And he is the author of this incredible new book called The Wim Hof Method, Activate Your Full Human Potential. And he is not kidding. The benefits of Wim's method, now practiced by tens of thousands, have been validated by eight university research studies. So this is not just hokey pokey kind of super duper parlor trick. This is validated scientific techniques that help you access parts of yourself that you have never even dreamed you could and empower you in ways to not only create health, but to actually have a happy, fulfilled life, which is a side effect. He's been featured on Goop's Lab's six-part Netflix series in episode two, which I encourage

you to watch, called Cold Comfort. He's been on the BBC, Vice Media, Discovery Channel, and now he was featured also in a best-selling book called What Doesn't Kill Us by Scott Carney, and he lives in the Netherlands with his family where he's speaking to us today, and I'm so glad to be able to have you on the podcast. Before COVID, I only did podcasts in person. Now I can talk to anybody anywhere in the world. It's pretty awesome. So you're welcome to the podcast, Wim.

Thank you. Thank you, Mark. You made you mark with this one. Well, I remember we shared the stage at Tony Robbins' event, and you came on before me, and there was no competing. Like you've got on stage, you jumped and you did a giant split. Then you played your guitar and then you give this incredible talk and I'm like, all right, I don't know what I'm going to do.

And then, and then I've, I've actually been in one of your workshops where I literally was able to easily hold my breath for over two minutes without any stress or pain or discomfort using these techniques that really are pretty extraordinary. You hold 26 world records from climbing Mount Everest in your shorts to running across in a marathon, doing a marathon in the Namibian desert at 104 degrees without drinking any water. You don't actually quite sound human. So how did you get started on this? You weren't born the Iceman. how did you become the Iceman yeah exactly I was born a human like

anybody else but I think it was a trauma not only me I say this it was my mother I was one of the twins I love the twins and unexpected I was the second I was one of the twins. I was one of the twins and unexpected, I was the second. I was too long in. And then I almost suffocated and I was born in the cold of the hall just before entering into the operation room. So I think it inflicted a trauma right over there. And that made me different of my identical twin it were you know being uh getting born uh being almost suffocated in the cold of a hole that inflicts on that little

being there something yeah you don't know but it's. And that made me always different of my twin brother, identical twin brother, because he has been experimented or researched upon because we are identical. That's incredible, yeah. And it shows that he is not capable of doing what I do because I trained but the drive I got from that trauma made me a soul searcher a searcher for something that is deeply within me and I had to go and connect with that and solve it and then you know where I solved it, where I found it? When I was 17, consciously, I felt the attraction to go into the cold water. I just felt, and I went in, and it felt like, this is it. I was looking for this.

You know, without words. And that made me feel good. And then the other day, I went went back and I did the same thing, and it felt good as it did the first day. And then I began to do it, of course, every day. And then what happens when you go into the core order, you do, you take a deep breath that's natural a natural reflex because you need to influence your biochemistry deeply when cold ice water which is a stressor is inflicting upon you as an impact

you need to change the biochemistry inside. And that is done by deep breathing. Yeah. Then I separated the deep breathing, doing it at home, and I saw all what I had been reading upon these chakras, the esoteric disciplines. I learned to control the breath and to manipulate my nervous system, endocrine system, to the level of the autonomic nervous system. This was thought of impossible by humans.

So I did this for 25 years on my own because everybody was thinking i was crazy swimming outside you are crazy but that's okay in a good way i the existent paradigm of our possible influence at will within our own bodies and mind. That means the autonomic nervous system, endocrine system, immune system, or lymphatic system. We were believed, we were schooled in that that was impossible to interact with or to influence deeply inside those systems of ours. And now we are going in comparative studies to make people within a couple of days being able to tap into all those systems that in contrary of what was written in medical science.

Yeah, so just to put in perspective for those listening, what Wim is talking about is you have two nervous systems, essentially. You have the voluntary and the involuntary nervous system. You know, the voluntary nervous systems, you can raise your hand, you can scratch your head, you're doing that at will. But there's a whole set of operations in your body, your heart rate, your breathing, all the basic functions of digestion, your immune system, your endocrine system, they're all governed by your nervous system that's called the automatic or autonomic or involuntary nervous system. And this is not something that we

typically can control. Yes, we can control our breath. We can breathe faster. We can breathe slower. And that's the doorway you're talking about into this system. But what you're talking about is really a medical paradigm shift, which is that we can have voluntary control over what we previously thought were involuntary functions, such as regulating our body temperature, right? Which is what you do when you climb Mount Everest in your shorts. And this is, you know, what I'm really curious about, Wim, is, is, you know, you mentioned these esoteric texts. And in Tibet, these practices, you know, they were, they, we were like searching for outer space, and we're going to outer space, they're going into inner space. So they, the technology systems that we've developed that are our current modern

technology systems, the amount of science has gone into that. They put that into the science of the mind and to understanding our biology, understanding how to influence it. And, and it seems like you somehow hit upon that. There's an ancient technique called Tumo from the Tibetans, which is used as a spiritual practice where they teach monks how to

dry the sheets they dip sheets in ice water they wrap themselves in the sheets and when they're able to dry the sheets then they send them up to the top of the mountain in their underwear to sit in the snow all night not freezing and essentially was that the thing you read about that got you started thinking about this yes absolutely and got me absolutely intrigued because there is not only more than meets the eye i wanted to find it i wanted to find what was written and all these esoteric books from the bible to the quran to the to the bhagavad-gita to the torah and all the textbooks on yoga, Patanjali, all those things, I wanted to see how to experience.

What are they talking about? What is this possible connection to a deeper level within? And now I found it, and I brought it to science. I found the proprioception, interoception being able to be top-down regulated. So it all began with being inspired, looking at Guttumo, which is one of the esoteric practices of in buddhism uh done by naropa the doctrines of yoga uh tumor is one of them lama lungumpa is another is running and trance for days and trance running yes trance running and you got the levitation laga mia a CD you get all kinds of supernatural so-called supernatural abilities within us but they have to be awakened you have to learn to connect with those abilities and I thought, very inspiring. But what I actually want is to find happiness, strength, and health.

So for that, I went inside. And the cold, it shows you who you are and what you are yeah you have a possibility to learn to control interior mechanisms inside through the power of your conscious will it is concentration and then neurologically we learn to connect with systems existent within us, but within our Western science, thought of impossible to connect with. Impossible to connect or to control at will by humans. And now I have shown in studies how to do it. For example, the last study I did in Michigan, Detroit, psychiatry brain scans, I showed how to tap in consciously into the deepest part of our brain, which is the periaqueductal gray hemisphere, the place where opioids and cannabinoids are being activated.

But this was known to be not possible to be done at will. And now I showed how to do it in brain scans just by my sheer willpower so in brain scans not even moving I was not allowed to move just by the power of my thought I was able to make cold water coming on my skin and just by thought making my skin temperature not going down that is top-down regulation interoception thought of non-existent in science now they saw hey I was doing that all the time and the temperature never decreased. It stayed one degree up. So one degree more than normal.

There I positioned it. Apparently, that's the way it works. And it stayed over there after exposure of cold water for 45 minutes. And it stayed over there. And then they saw what normally happens with test subjects, because they had 74 test subjects done the same thing in the brain scan and the fMRI. They saw them, and then they saw that the insula was very low activity and the prefrontal

cortex was very high activity because of the stress. But they never saw the deep brainstem activity of the periaqueductal gray hemisphere, the endocannabinoid system at work. And in my case, my endocannabinoid system inside was at will being activated. And thus, I had a great time. My insula was very nice. My prefrontal cortex or the stress was not there because I had a good time while being in the brain scan exposed to icy cold water. Incredible. That shows the deep esoteric disciplines of the Kutumo and the Buddhists and the yogis and all. This is what I show people to be able to do within a weekend. Incredible. So let me just stop you there because what you just said there was groundbreaking. Aside from the ways in which

you can control yourself, that last sentence, that this can be taught in a weekend. I'm reading a book now called The Way of the White Clouds by Lama Govinda. Maybe you know that book. And he talks about these practices, whether it's tummo, the trance walking, the levitation, these, quote, superpowers that these monks get after being in a cave for nine years meditating or 12 years meditating. But what you're talking about is a weekend

that actually, you know, you're not necessarily that guy who's been meditating 40,000 hours, but somehow you've found a shortcut to access your happiness. And in a way, these practices are really not about having superpowers. Who cares if you can jump in an ice-cold lake? Fine. Maybe you won't drown if you jump in the ocean if you fall off a boat.

But really, it's not about that. It's about mastering control over your own biology, your own mind, in a way that most of us don't think we have the power to. So tell us, how can you take a bunch of overweight, unhealthy people from the city and have them climb Kilimanjaro in their shorts and be great after just a few days of training? Like, how does that even work? Because, you know, you've been mastering this for 25 years. Yes. time i climbed kilimanjaro in shorts the oldest participant without former experience in mountaineering suffering from lyme's disease he did it in shorts in 31 hours he is healing people with Lyme's disease now.

And normally it's four days to go up, right? To get up there. Normally it's five to nine days. And then 40% in well-dressed with a lot of layers, about 40% only a summit. And in my case, everybody is going to summit and then in record times we are defying all the existent physiological laws of acclimatization of red cells and white cells we just show a different paradigm and that is possible in only say one day unbelievable and that is amazing

so how do you how do you do it because you know usually have to meditate for 40 000 hours to have these changes in your brain right we see these the altered traits we've had dr daniel goldman on our podcast talking about these studies with richard davidson at the university of michigan and looking at brain imaging of these meditators who've been meditating for 40,000 hours, these Olympic meditators, and have all this control and power over their physiology and their brain and their mood, their happiness. But you're saying it's a weekend training? A weekend training, yeah. Maybe one day. One day. One day. Or one morning, even. Oh, God. It's, Mark, it's like your house is on fire. Then you don't think.

You do. And then incredible things happen. We think too much. We are overcomplicated. We have never learned to bring the blood flow from our neocortex into the deeper hemispheres of our brain which is the seat of all those so-called supernatural abilities of ours the adrenal axis we showed in comparison of research where they took

the blood of people going into their first bungee jump and these people doing these breathing exercises doing these brief they took the adrenaline of those people doing breathing exercises and i can show people doing that within 10 minutes that they have a higher level peaking of adrenaline than the people in fear going for their first bungee jump. Wow. See what I mean? It's fully in control. They are lying down.

They feel a kind of high, and they are tapping into their adrenal axis deeper than those people going into their first bungee jump. That's incredible. If you have a control over the adrenal axis, then you know how to reset yourself to the way nature meant it to be. To be the utmost of functionality because there is danger. And now you get a control over that. And then suddenly the tables are turned. Then suddenly bacteria and virus and, how do you say, anxiety

and all those things, they disappear. Yeah. Incredible. Incredible. So you talk about cold being your only master your only teacher why is cold so healing cold is because it shuts up it's it's not complicated you just have to adapt you are learning about the mind it's learning how to let go of your fear, anxiety, too much thinking, overthinking, complicated being. No, in the cold, you learn to let go so the body is able to respond, to adapt. And then you get into the adaptive mode

of the immune system. You get into the adaptive power of the body and you learn about it and with that because when you go into the cold and you learn to do that on regular basis then the neurology changes and you get neurological pathways to the adaptive power of your own body the way nature equips you with. Very logical. And then bacteria and a virus and anxiety, mood regulation, all those things, Chase, they happen naturally. Because that's the way we are built. We are built to be not in anxiety because we have to judge and to be alert. We have a system for that insight.

So depression, bipolar, and all those things, we are doing the studies now with San Francisco and Michigan on bipolar and depression to show that we have found keys to equip people with a higher control within their own brain. Using cold therapy or using just breathing? Breathing. Most of it is breathing. Because what do you do when you go into the cold? You learn to breathe deep.

So the deep breathing influences par direct the biochemistry. And the biochemistry changed is learning how to suppress the inflammation. Yeah. And then it doesn't go through the blood-brain barrier or the brain-blood barrier and affecting and deregulating the hormonal homeostasis over there, a call to depression or feeling bad or feeling confused or anxiety or anything like that. We have a natural ability to rebalance our biochemistry through breathing

within 10 minutes. Wow. So what happens when we're exposed to cold like really cold conditions what are the benefits why why should we be even thinking about it because a lot of people like last thing i want to do is jump in an ice cold bath or maybe an ice water i say always gradual cold exposure gradual first take a cold. And a cold shower does wonders, miracles. Our biggest enemy within our Western society, the killer number one, is cardiovascular-related diseases. And anything that has got to do with the quality of life is a bad blood flow, too much stress inside because the condition of the millions of little muscles in our hundred thousand of kilometers, like 70,000 miles of vascular channels and capillaries,

they contain all these little muscles. When they are stimulated through cold showers, they help the blood flow go through. Then the heart rate goes down 20 to 30 beats a minute, 24 hours a day. That means stress is out and the blood flow is guaranteed going better to all cells. So oxygen, nutrients, vitamins get better into the cells, you get more energy. You get more energy and less stress. That's what the body wants. That's the natural state of our body, to have sufficient energy for anything. Because that's the influencing into the mitochondria, the energy factories through aerobic dissimilation.

Oxygen. energy factories through aerobic dissimilation oxygen oxygen didn't get getting in because the blood flow is being helped through the stimulation of those millions of little muscles and a cold shower a day keeps the doctor away in this case the doctor is arrived okay so how long do you have to stay in the cold shower? It begins with 30 seconds. You got to take the shower anyway to cleanse yourself and, you know, to be clean. So at the end, just put the cold on. Yes. 30 seconds.

And naturally, you will feel a boost. Naturally, you will feel the effect of the stimulation on the millions of little muscles inside the interior of your this is the greatest vascular fitness exercise ever a cold shower and 30 seconds then it goes very fast because the condition of the vascular system, it goes very fast to its natural state, which should be much better than the way we are because of our de-stimulative behavior, wearing clothes over our biggest organ all the time. Yeah.

For the body, it's not logic. So a cold shower a day is the best exercise to train all these little muscles. Then you get a lot more energy. You feel a boost of energy, yeah, because it gets better into the cells. And it produces more molecules, more energy, ATP. It's all logic yeah and then naturally people are very fast able to prolong in inside the cold shower go for 45 seconds to one minute so when it arrives at three minutes now you you got so much more outcome in

energy in the day then the investment is by far. It's nothing. And you know what? A cold shower is addictive. Yeah. I like the cold bath. So I do the steam, then I jump in just the cold water in the bathtub, and I lay there for a bunch of minutes.

And it's incredible. You literally feel your whole system come back online, your brain come back online, your energy increase. It's, it's pretty amazing. You know, so, so you created this, this Wim Hof method, activate your full human potential. The book is incredible. I encourage everybody to get a copy. It's, it's really not just about a simple technique to jump in cold water. It's really about reclaiming your health, your life, your happiness, your control over everything. I mean, it's not, it's not just a little technique to get in cold water. That's sort of the side effect of doing that is your life, right? So you've learned how to control your breathing, your heart rate, your circulation

to withstand really extreme temperatures, to actually be injected with like infectious agents that would kill people and subdue them with your immune system under your conscious control. And you've developed this into a teachable method that everybody can learn. So it's not, oh, here's this cool guy who can do these party tricks. It's like this is a gift you're giving to the world. It sort of seems like a little bit of a shortcut than living in a cave and meditating for nine years and sort of cheating, but it really isn't. And you've really developed these three simple pillars, cold exposure, conscious breathing, and the power of your mind. So can you talk about the method and how it works and what we should be

doing? First of all, in the new book of Scott Carney, he is an investigative journalist. And he wrote that book, What Doesn't Kill You, which has been sold in 34 languages all over the world. Very successful New York Times bestseller, blah, blah, the whole thing. And he was to debunk me six years ago. Good luck with that. Yeah. He is an anthropologist and an investigative journalist. He was paid to debunk me. And then two days later, he was standing in the snow, barefoot, doing, he's standing, you know, like a clown. He was standing in the snow. He was making himself ridiculous almost.

No, he saw there that it is real. It is real. And in his new book, he tells, and he was investigating a lot of doctors, and one of them is a psychiatrist doctor who's into brain scans and all, and he tells that that's Professor Muzik, Professor Muzik states, Wim Hof has found the secret of placebo. What we see as mind power, but we don't know where it is, placebo,

now it is a tool two it's an entity and we are able to connect with our will with that power of the mind and to intensify even the placebo effect and to make it even stronger even for people whose minds aren't disciplined or trained you're saying this is possible yes yes absolutely because they are born with it only if you are schooled all the time saying hey that you are not mark hyman but that you are peter franklin then at a certain moment you become peter franklin because Mark Hyman is not accepted. It's not the way. You cannot do this.

You are crazy if you are Mark Hyman. And all those things, you know. We have been schooled that we are not able to tap in at will with our minds into our bodies and to deal with stress. And that's the way we are taught. And now I teach the people within one weekend, within one weekend, I teach them to change the paradigm. Man, you can do whatever you want,

but you are built to be able at will, at will to control yourself so much better inside your own body. And it's only logic. It's only logic that our will, which is already inside of our body, that is able to control systems in our body to push buttons whenever is necessary. That is, of course, is a complete different paradigm than up till now we thought is possible. We are made to be dependent on pills, medicine, pharmacy,

on McDonald's, on television, on all that. That is our system. And that system has to change because that system is polluting the world, sodomizing the planet, exploiting the planet, and we become insensitive to ourselves and to others. This is the time for awakening to our inner mechanisms, our potential, the way nature meant it to be the way nature gave it to us at birth and we have to listen to that it seems like there's little doorways that you've

created right the cold exposure the breathing techniques the meditation mindset that you use in the book these are the sort of doorways that people can access these abilities that help them manage their own minds and manage their own happiness and well-being and their health in ways that are pretty striking. And I think, you know, I want to just chat with you for a minute about this experiment that you did, which I still find mind-blowing, which is you willingly let doctors inject a known biotoxin from E. coli into your bloodstream, knowing that this is something that would kill a normal person. And yet you were able to overcome this using your techniques and manage your immune

system. What I'm curious about is, did you consciously go, okay, I'm going to direct my immune system to fight these bacteria or these toxins or neutralize them, or were you just dropping into a state of meditation? Like, how did that work? I mean, particularly in this time of coronavirus, we're all wanting to strengthen our immune system. We're all wanting to make sure we are able to fight whatever we're exposed to. How can this play a role for us?

And what did you do? And tell us about that study because it's so fascinating to me. Exactly. The same inflammatory markers that are the damaging factor in COVID, in COVID, what is happening now. The cytokines, right? Yeah, the cytokines, one number six number eight and number 11 i suppressed them within a quarter of hour and this was known not to be possible by humans

i did my uh breathing i did my i changed my biochemistry and i do it willfully and of course I know oh the doctor is going to inject me with the endotoxemia now the E. coli okay then the E. coli is working now not the effect after one hour then it is at then you begin to notice I began directly to fight the E. coli's reaction upon my immune cells, the immune system inside, the cytokine storm and all that. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I began to fight it directly by alerting my body through my mind, that was one, and through the breathing, breathing, specific breathing exercises.

And they are within the method. They are very accessible for everybody, and they are very effective, not only with me. Then I said, oh, but you are the Iceman. You can do this. You can get the side skins down where 16,000 people could not. You are the first one to show a complete different, yeah, a complete different picture.

You, oh, you have gone into the autonomic nervous system. You have been influenced into the endocrine system, into the immune system, thought of all not possible. And you have done that, but you are the Iceman i said no no no no i'm the ice man no at the most maybe you can say i'm a nice man that is nice for my ego but i'm just a simple man nice man but let me tell you there is we can do so much more than what you guys are thinking of in the science we are built to be able to tackle disease to prevent from disease for that we have our will and our ability through our breath manipulation of of our breath, to go deeply within and to change the biochemistry, to be on the alert, to activate the adrenal axis to the utmost,

and then danger can be emotional danger, emotional stress, mental stress, bacterial stress, viral stress, any stress in the, is cell biological stress, which is danger. And then the adrenal axis activation takes care of that. Wow. There it is. That's what I did. But you also, you said you did also the study with people who weren't you. And I read that they actually were also able to do the same

thing you did even though they weren't the ice man they were like four other volunteers who agreed to be injected with these toxins exactly 18 other oh 18 others wow yes and 12 randomly Randomly chosen of those 18, after four days of training, were exposed to the E. coli bacteria as well. And they all showed 100% being able to control and suppress the cytokine storm, the inflammation. They all felt good. They made jokes. They said they didn't inject the dose with E. coli,

but with sugar water. That's unbelievable. And they measured the cytokines and they measured all of that. And they saw that change in your biology, which we only see often with medication or not at all. I mean, it almost seems like this is such a simple technique to everybody to learn to help fortify them against coronavirus, right? I mean, even if you have coronavirus, do you think you could actually help to reduce the inflammation as a result? Absolutely.

Especially when you feel the symptoms, and I heard many already, but it is not medically researched. I don't know why. Maybe they are not interested. Like yourself in your position with integrative medicine, you cannot make the money out of that. But it doesn't matter. Let's go past and let's get back to the facts. The fact is that the cytokines, the interleukin number one, number six, number eight, and 11 are the damaging factors of the COVID. And we showed in 2014, in a comparative study within groups, we showed to

suppress it within a quarter of an hour. When you feel symptoms of COVID, then get into the breathing and you will be effectively able to suppress these cytokines. That's it. That's unbelievable. So share with us what a technique of breathing that you teach us. You just lie on the sofa or in bed. And then relax.

A relaxed body is able to store up oxygen in the tissue. So relax. There's nothing going on. Nice. Then you take a full breath in from the belly, chest, and you let it go. And once again and once again we do it 30 times fully Letting go. Fully in. Letting go. Keep on going.

I explained what is happening. Yeah. We are blowing off the carbon dioxide, but it becomes very alkaline, more than normal. And that is a sign within the brain, too alkaline, two alkaline adrenal axis activation. And the adrenaline pumps in, it peaks, and anything that should not be inside of the body is going to be eliminated, suppressed. And what is it in COVID? Cytokines. So if you activate the adrenal axis through doing this 30 times, then we go after 30 times because the oxygen trigger,

the trigger to breathe is carbon dioxide, but it's blowing off. Body is very alkaline. Biochemistry is great it's great and you just exhale you hold after the exhale so only a residual amount of air is left in the lungs and you stay in that condition. And then easily you're able to go one minute, one and a half minute, maybe two minutes if you have done well the 30 deep breaths. Two minutes with a residual amount of air in your lungs for two minutes without breathing. And what happens, of of course the brainstem the the primitive oxygen parameters they say there is no oxygen no oxygen and they

just shoot into the adrenaline it's all reactive so the brainstem the reactive part of our brain is just the buttons are pushed. And then the adrenaline shoots out, epinephrine shoots out over all the body. And this is very good to detoxify. So people with a hangover, if they do this 20 minutes, they detoxify. They can go for a drink again. So the idea is you do 30 breaths then you hold your breath for a minute or two and then you do it again exhalation after the exhalation

and then at the end when you feel the urge of breathing again you take them fully in you hold for 15 seconds fully in hold and squeeze a little bit to your head because it's nice you bring in cerebrospinal fluid to the head then it gets into the brain stem and into the limbic system into the midbrain where we normally don't have so much blood flow because we always think think think is where the blood flow because we always think, think, think is where the blood flow goes. Now we push it from the inside, inside the deepest part of the brain. And then suddenly it begins to become a neurally alive. And then we are able to connect at will because that's neurology. So we are, and then we get a sense of control over our mood that is mood absolute mood

regulation in case of people with depression mostly it's caused by inflammation and stress and emotional deprivation all that creates a biological or a biochemical deficit. And through doing this, you feel you are filling up the tank. And you feel that you are in control. And nobody wants to feel bad. Then they feel good again. That's incredible. So basically the technique is 30 breaths, hold for a minute or two,

take a breath, hold for 15 seconds, and then repeat? Yes, repeat. And you will see, find out that every time it goes and easier and longer. So do this for 20 minutes a day is what you're saying. That's it. That's what we do right now in San Francisco, big study on the DNA with this method, with this breathing. And it's amazing. The results are amazing on the DNA with this method, with this breathing. And it's amazing. The results are amazing on the DNA.

So let's say two or three minute cold shower and 20 minutes of breathing, and you can give up all your winter clothes. You can hit the road anytime without a car. You can fight coronavirus. You can feel happy, empowered, in control of yourself you feel the connection and then when you need it you know what to do you just go within and then you learn about the lost connection within because of our exterior way of gaining information, control over the world, et cetera. And the control inside, we lost.

And now it's back. And we don't need to sit for nine years in a cave. That's incredible. That's incredible. It's incredible to me because I've always thought that you need to practice and practice and practice and meditate, meditate, meditate for decades in order to be able to. You know what, Mark? They compared 10 minutes of this breathing, specifically breathing.

It brings people deeper in the brain than people who are exercising for four hours, a mindfulness a day for years. Wow. All right. I'm in. I'm in. I'm in. I'm in. I'm starting tomorrow.

Anybody can do this. I'm starting today. I'm starting today. I'm so excited about your book because your book, The Wim Hof Method, Achieving Full Human Potential, is exactly about teaching you how to do this.

It's not just the theory. It's not just all the stories of how you had these superhuman feats, but it's really about how you as an individual can overcome some of the challenges we face as human beings that make us feel powerless over our own minds, over our own happiness, our own life, our own well-being, our own health. And this is a very, very empowering idea. Especially right now with all the turmoil, the confusion, the anxiety, and the helplessness against the COVID. Man, there is so much more within us, and it's time to wake up.

Yeah, it's so beautiful. It's like you're the unlikeliest guru. I love this crazy guy from the Netherlands who just like found some doorway into something that was obscure to most of us for thousands of years. And I'm just so grateful for your work and your commitment.

And, you know, I know you got to this. I'm honored. I'm honored to be your guest on your podcast thank you very much of course of course you are a great bloody great guy thank you well we have fun together when we're together yeah that's for sure that's for sure and i'm coming i want to go as soon as uh kovita lightens up i want to go do one of your week-long, what is it, week-long workshops in Poland? You go to the ice in the winter? It's like four or five days. And in the end, you will be exposed to the elements of cold wind that is wind chill and all for five hours in your

shorts. And you're going to have a great time oh my god i need it you know why because i love swimming and there's lakes here and i i went in yesterday it was a little chilly and i was like i came out freezing i'm like oh no women's gonna be mad at me i was so cold i had to come and take a hot shower man i i i don't like yeah, I love hot showers. But I also love the, you know, the cold. The cold gives you such a power. And if you do the cold on a regular basis, like daily, you become, when you get older, and, you know,

so many people get older and get so many inflammation and deterioration of their condition and this will never get sick no more. It's amazing. Yeah, I know. Speaking of that, I think looking at the studies you've done and combining cold exposure and breathing, meditation, and your mental attitude has had huge effects on people's health. And there are many students that you've had who are practicing this method for years and have been able to reverse diseases, things like diabetes and Parkinson's and lose weight and do incredible feats of athleticism. Dramatism, arthritis.

How does that work? I mean, can you share some of these stories? Because this seems like a revolutionary approach to treating illness. Yes. Autoimmune diseases is inflammation based on inflammation, cytokines, cytokine storms, a overreactive immune system, and we had no control over this. So when you begin to do this, you learn to tap into the adaptive immune system. You learn to go into the innate immune system, both. Suddenly, your rheumatism, arthritis, psoriasis, disease of Crohn's, Parkinson's, all these things begin to become within your control.

You sense it. You feel it. You don't need to know what is all happening. You simply sense that you are in control over the inflammatory markers. The inflammation doesn't happen anymore. How is that possible? Now, that is what is happening. And that needs to be researched.

I'm into the research right now with the Radboud University here on rheumatism, on arthritis. Because hundreds of people with arthritis and it's gone. They control it. It's incredible. Without medicine, without pills, they just control it it's incredible without medicine without pills they just control it they got there and the doctors say uh spontaneous remission look into the healing power interesting born with well i'm very close to the uh the rheumatology department at cleveland clinic and the doctors

they are very interested in opening these ideas and be amazing to do a study. I love that. Do it. Yes, please. Let's go. Let's go. Because autoimmune disease affects 80 million people more than diabetes, more than heart disease, more than cancer together. And the treatments we have are only somewhat effective and often have a lot of side effects and costs. So I think it's a really important idea. I love this idea. So we're going to figure this out. Now, one of the other things, you know, is really relevant.

Mark, this is very important. I know. Studies, non-speculative, evidence-based trials is what we need to show. I agree. Because 80 million people relieving of their suffering by autonomy within themselves, that is love. Yeah. All right. You just said it. It's love.

That is exactly what this is all about. You're so full of love. You're so giving. You're so on a mission to teach people how to be happy and be empowered. Yes. Right now is one of the most challenging times in a long time in human history. And we're all facing the threat of economic loss,

the disruption of our social fabric, the incredible fear and disease, the depression and loss of autonomy. I mean, there's so many things that are taking us down. And I know this is a very tough time for a lot of people. And what you're saying is that a lot of this is in our minds. I mean, there are realities externally that are real. And yes, there's loss and there's all sorts of things.

But how we handle that is up to us. And using these methods and this power of learning how to regulate your own biology and your own health health that actually you can relieve things like depression and anxiety. And talk about how that works because we sort of hinted at it, but I think it's worth spending a minute talking about how these techniques, the Wim Hof method that you describe in your book, Achieving Your Full Human Potential, which everybody should get. And I'm excited to have my copy and go through it and practice it. How can we use this method to help us with this difficult time? And how does it work to relieve depression and anxiety? Exactly. Depression is

directly related to a deregulated biochemistry, inflammation, a deregulated immune system caused by oxidative stress, could be stress from mental stress, emotional stress, bacterial, viral, doesn't matter, it's all cell biological stress. Are we able to have cell stress uh influenced positively by us at will yes we have and we can do it before before you go on i just want to make a point for those listening depression from the traditional scientific perspective now we understand is a disease of inflammation in the brain.

So if you're depressed, your brain's on fire. And that's why what William is talking about is so important. So continue. I just wanted to make that point. Yes. So that is deregulating the hormonal balance of dopamine, serotonin in the brain because of the inflammation. The question is, inflammation is the cause and effect of actually any disease.

But let's get back. Are we able to bring down inflammatory markers or inflammation? And I say, yes, within a quarter of hour within a quarter of a I mean a very developed stage of disease takes more time of course it takes healing it takes energy it takes plasticity and all we are all able to influence therein vigorously if we just take up the techniques well I've seen so many people with so many diseases thought of incurable without the aid of pills and medicines and now these people took on these natural ways and then cure they

get a control a sense of control within their own bodies, and then it all starts. But for prevention, I tell you, and depression, which is inflammation, we are very able within 20 minutes to feel a different human condition of the mind within 20 minutes. Just do this breathing. And then find out and feel because feeling in the end is the real understanding.

Wow, incredible, Wim. I mean, this is such a gift. You know, one of the things that you talk about is how when we push ourselves physically that we learn about our boundless capacity as, as humans and of our spirit. Can you talk about that? Yes. The human performance. When I get people, anybody within five minutes,

I can make them doubling their pushups performance without breathing. Without holding your breath without holding your breath holding your breath holding they hold their breath and push up like twice the amount in number of their push-ups they ever did wow so i can do 50 push-ups you going to get me to 100? Yes. And then without the aid of breathing. Wow. Okay. So you do tomorrow or after this because you got to lay on the ground. But this is what it is. We are able to influence power direct into the biochemistry,

into the muscle tissue, and make it alkaline, then you know performance. When you become sore, acidic, you're not able to perform anymore. Yes. But if you make it super alkaline, you keep on going because the neurotransmitters are able to keep on going. This is the simplicity of performance. It's learning how to control and influence deeply into your biochemistry.

Are we able to do that? Yes. We showed this. And that's it. We are incredible. All of us. Well, you know, what you're talking about is regulating your pH through the breath. So for people who aren't medical, your pH, you know, is your acid-alkaline balance.

And it's kept to a very strict number in your body, 7.4. But it can vary slightly, and it has big impacts on your physiology, on chemical reactions, on performance. And the best way to quickly regulate, and the only way to quickly regulate your pH is through your breath. So carbon dioxide, if it builds up, will tend to make you more alkaline, right? And if it's low, it'll make you more acidic. So if you're increasing your carbon dioxide, you're actually becoming more alkaline right yeah yeah then what we do

is actually blowing off carbon dioxide we blow it off we blow it off and you it's being measured in in the university and it shows that the pH level went from, yeah, 7.3, 7.4 to 7.8, to eight even. And you know what happens with the virus? They become irreversibly damaged viruses when it reaches the point of eight. That is about- That's more alkaline yes very alkyl but it only peaks and then it comes back to its original state but you know what happens in most of the people with uh autoimmune diseases they have a chronic presence of being slightly acidic acidic yes their lymphatic system and they don't clean up inside

whatever the reason doesn't matter it's there and that is the foundation for out in a deregulation of the immune system in the end it gets back into the system. And with these techniques, we are able to empty the lymphatic system of being acidic. That's incredible. And make the right to clean it up. That's prevention of autoimmune diseases. Boom. So powerful. Depression, autoimmunity, happiness.

Yes. Happiness. Yeah, man. So good. depression autoimmunity happiness yes happiness yeah man so good so what do you say to yeah what do you say to people who kind of say oh this is nonsense this can't be true i don't believe it this is what i always say you know non-sense try to sense this feeling is the understanding do it just once and then judge yeah that's good's good. I think try it. You like it, like I said, right? Yeah. So you've inspired so many people around the world. What are you most proud of what you've done? Every time I get a letter that I saved somebody's life or that he

cured of a terrible disease or depression or being out of this dark space where they have been with a family, for God's sake, not being able to be a genuine, beautiful father or mother over their children, then that blesses my soul. That is the best. Yeah, it is. It's nice hearing those stories. I think it's just incredible. And, you know, Wim, what's your vision for the Wim Hof Method? What would you like to see happen with this? You're putting this book out in the world. You've been doing this for a long time. You have a cult of followers, but now you're getting out into a bigger stage. What's your vision? My vision is that we actually, I want to show that everybody is able to awake through a non-dogmatic choice to become happy, which is the control over the hormonal system, to become healthy, which is the control over the immune system, and to become strong, which is the control over the metabolic processes in the cell. Are we

able to do this? We have shown this in science. And now it's coming to you as a non-dogmatic choice. And that's what I wish people to be happy, strong, and healthy. Man, it's a great place. Let's enjoy it. I love that. You know, I think it's so true. I mean, you're such a gift to the world, and you've taken something that's very abstract and mystical and religious and turned into something that's really practical, accessible, immediate, and powerful in its ability to reset your mind and your body on a path from disease and depression and despair to hope and happiness and health. And I mean, it's just an incredible gift.

And I'm just so happy to know you. And I'm so excited. When are you going to do your courses again? Because I want to know. Are they happening? Most welcome to come. Anytime when it's possible, when the presidency allows us to travel again. Okay.

So everybody should check out his book, The Wim Hof Method. Activate your full human potential. It's out. You can get it everywhere you get books. Go to his website, wimhofmethod.com. It's an incredible treasure trove of information. I got to say something. On our website, we have developed a free app.

And the free app really covers all the basics. You never have to see me again. Just take on the free app and become happy, strong, and healthy. If you want to get to know me and do some crazy stuff, like climbing a mountain in your shorts, then come. Welcome. Great.

And you know what? You also have these great online courses, right? You're wimhofmethod.com forward slash e-learning. So you don't have to go to Poland and sit in an ice bath in Poland, which sounds like fun. Which sort of sounds like fun, I think. That's what I want to do on my vacations. And I spent, I am excited about going. And you can learn yourself at home.

And I encourage you to check out Wim's stuff. He's one of a kind. And he's opened a doorway that most of us never dreamed we could possibly enter. And it's really three minutes in the shower a day, 20 minutes of breathing. And that's a great way to start. There's a much deeper dive in the book. So check it out. I know you'll love it.

And leave a comment if you love this podcast. We'd love to hear from you what your thoughts are, if you've ever tried the method, or love someone who has, or curious about it. Tell us about your story. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts, and share with your friends and family on social media, and

everywhere you can share it, because this is a groundbreaking podcast that I think will help millions of people, if really you dig in and share. That's power. Thank you so much. Happiness and strength for everybody. That's power. It's called love. Love. Amen to that. All right. Well, thank you all for joining us on The Doctor's Pharmacy. Thank you, Wim, for being here. And I will see you in an ice bath soon. Yes. Love it. Hey everybody, it's Dr. Hyman. Thanks for tuning into The Doctor's Pharmacy. I hope you're loving

this podcast. It's one of my favorite things to do and introducing you all the experts that I know and I love and that I've learned so much from. And I want to tell you about something else I'm doing, which is called Mark's Picks. It's my weekly newsletter. And in it, I share my favorite stuff from foods to supplements to gadgets to tools to enhance your health. It's all the cool stuff that I use and that my team uses to optimize and enhance our health.

And I'd love you to sign up for the weekly newsletter. I'll only send it to you once a week on Fridays. Nothing else, I promise. And all you have you do is go to drhyman.com forward slash pics to sign up. That's drhyman.com forward slash pics, P-I-C-K-S, and sign up for the newsletter and I'll share with you my favorite stuff that I use to enhance my health and get healthier and better and live younger longer. Now back to this week's episode. Hi, everyone. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode.

Just a reminder that this podcast is for educational purposes only. This podcast is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional. This podcast is provided on the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services. If you're looking for help in your journey, seek out a qualified medical practitioner. Thank you.