The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka - 263. Wim Hof: On Breathwork Science, Cold Exposure, Immune Control, & Human Potential

Starting point is 00:00:00 If you go into the cold and you use the breathing the right way, you're going to feel better, you are sharper, and you learn to know who you are and what you can trust. It was the breath that allowed you to mitigate the effects of the cold. I am able to do more than we think is possible. It's in the power you can take over in your own mind. So you determined your susceptibility to the cult. That's what's so fascinating.

Starting point is 00:00:25 We are born to be the masters of our mind and captains of our soul. of our soul. What I love about your teachings and the breath work and the cold is like, it's bringing the control back to you. Breathing exercise, we are able to activate 100% neural activity in our brain. The breath is the life. Life force itself.

Starting point is 00:00:45 Just get it in. For people that are fascinated by the idea that they might have some control over their stress, where did they begin? The thing is what's most surprised me is that... I'm sitting down with a man who has literally rewritten the rules of human physiology. He's run a marathon barefoot in Antarctica in nothing but board shorts. He's helped a 76-year-old woman with Lyme disease, Summit Kilimanjaro, and 31 hours,

Starting point is 00:01:25 a climb that takes most people five to nine days. He's activated 100% of the human brain under clinical observation using nothing but conscious breathing. His name is Wimhoff, and the world calls him the ice man. But here's what I want you to understand before we get into this conversation. I've tried hyperbaric chambers. I've tried red light therapy, saunas, peptides, every supplement on the planet. As a single input in my life, Wimhoff's breathwork protocol has had the greatest impact on my health, my family, and my outlook on life.

Starting point is 00:01:56 Full stop. In this episode, WIM is going to show you how to take back control of your nervous system, your emotions, and your destiny, using a practice that is free, portable, and backed by peer-reviewed science. You don't want to miss this one. Hey guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. I'm your host, human biologist, Gary Brecker, where we go down the road of everything,

Starting point is 00:02:15 anti-aging, biohacking, longevity, and everything in between. You've heard me say this before about how excited I am for certain guests, for certain mentors, but today is extraordinarily special for me. And the reason is that in 2013, my mother, who's now 82 years old, she's sitting right in the room with us today, my mother told me about this breathwork session that she was going to go to in Orlando with a practitioner named Wimhoff and they were going to pack him in ice up to his neck

Starting point is 00:02:47 live at this event. She was going to be sitting in the front row. She's a Reiki practitioner. And I truly thought it was a bunch of hocus pocus. And so I didn't go. And in 2013, my mom, Judy Breka, met Wimhoff, the Iceman. And I regret not going that day because this man, this guest, has probably had as a single unit the greatest impact on my life and my family's life. I need to say that before we start the podcast because I have taken your courses.

Starting point is 00:03:22 I have practiced your breathwork as best as I can for five years now. it has as a single input in my life has had the greatest impact on my life full stop. I use it when I travel to accommodate to time zones. I use it to go to sleep. I use it to wake up. I use it to really stress. And I just want to say thank you for all that you have poured into the world. I am so excited to run this podcast with you.

Starting point is 00:03:51 Thank you for taking the time to come on to the ultimate hearing podcast. So the one, the only the Iceman, Wimhoff. Welcome to the ultimate human. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Wow. What an introduction.

Starting point is 00:04:02 This is amazing, especially it's coming from real respect. Yeah. And I love that. Yeah. I love it like science, non-speculative, evidence-based. There is more than we think is possible. I totally agree with you. And I want to dig in right now because I think you got the right platform to bring out.

Starting point is 00:04:27 What I got already evidence-based proven for humanity is a great message, how to get into the deepest of our brain and physiology and change our lives and take over autonomy. Couldn't agree with you more. You know, we had such a great conversation and connection before the podcast started. And one of the things that you and I completely align on is how in control we actually are. We're just, we just don't know it. And I think when I was in the mortality space, we knew that isolation was the most detrimental thing to humanity.

Starting point is 00:05:04 People feel disconnected. They feel isolated. Terrible things happen. One of the things that you have proven, and I want to back this story up a little bit, one of these things that you have proven is just how much control we truly have over our health, our nervous system, our cardiovascular system, our stress, our sleep, our waking energy. It is just so fascinating how powerful the human body and human beings really are. And you've tapped into that special innate power.

Starting point is 00:05:33 I do want to rewind the clock a little bit, though. So for my audience, that may not be familiar with you, I want to say that your journey really began when you were around 17 years old. This was the first time that you broke the ice and got into the cold. And at the time, you were a student of, you know, you were, you're studying like, was it religion, philosophy,

Starting point is 00:05:58 Buddhism? Oh, languages, traditions, esoteric disciplines. Yeah. Practices. So reading about it

Starting point is 00:06:07 and doing it. Mm-hmm. But it didn't really fulfill me. Yeah. My rumination and had the thinking brain just went on. Sunday morning, very silent,

Starting point is 00:06:19 everybody sleeping. I was out in the park. And they're just thinking. as I used to about what is this all about? Yeah, yeah, troubled like confused, confused. And then I saw

Starting point is 00:06:33 by a gut feeling the ice on the, it was wintertime in Amsterdam in a park and a thin layer on the ice and I felt attracted to go in. Why I did not know. But I looked around I stripped myself of the clothes.

Starting point is 00:06:53 I went in and there I felt without words, this is it. I was looking for this. Without knowing, I had found what I was actually looking for in books. And it is the cold. The cold that opens up a deeper realm of the physiology, both in the brain and in the body. But back then, I did not have any scientific knowledge about this.

Starting point is 00:07:21 I just felt it that way. I had felt a fork afterwards the whole day long. The other day I came back with the expectation, oh, is it maybe not going to feel so good like yesterday? It is just, yeah, a new thing and all. I went in and it happened again. Wow. And since then, 17, almost 50 years ago,

Starting point is 00:07:45 I am every day in the ice when I can. Yeah. When I'm traveling or something, sometimes I cannot. But that's all right. Because it changed my life. It changed the circuitry in my brain. I am able to do more than we think is possible. It's in the end, the power you can take over in your own mind.

Starting point is 00:08:06 Yes. Because we have a brain and it works, as you say, separately. Like over-individualized we are. We are not living the life the way nature mended to be. So we don't feel that full-spirited being. because it's not altogether united within our brain, which is the seat of the unlimited power of the mind. But who felt the unlimited power of the mind?

Starting point is 00:08:36 Who felt omnipresence and omniscience and omnipotency? Who felt God, you know, divine? Great. Happy, strong and healthy. Those are the components I live now by, and I say it's accessible for everybody in the world. Wow. And along this journey, you know, I wouldn't say that you had an easy life. You know, I know that you've had some very traumatic events. You know, I've also know that you've done some incredible, you know, feats of physical accomplishment. And you have always gone back to the cold as a way to channel that stress and to get back in touch with yourself. And, you know, for those of you that are not familiar, I really encourage you to watch this documentary,

Starting point is 00:09:25 and I'll put a link to it in the show notes below. But this man has run marathons in the Arctic barefoot in a board shorts, no shirt, no water, has run marathons in the, what is it, the Nabi Desert. No, Nabi Desert. Not exactly a hospitable place. Also, you know, no shirt, pair of board shorts. No drinking.

Starting point is 00:09:50 No drinking. and nearly scaled Mount Everest had a foot injury and it had to come off the mountain, but scaled Kilimanjaro. And so the physical feats packed in ice for an hour and 53 minutes and no human being should be able to survive that, being packed up in ice, solid ice,

Starting point is 00:10:16 up to your neck for almost two consecutive unbroken hours. and what it is proven is the amount of control that you have been able to take back into your own body. The most fascinating thing for me as a data scientist is that you have broken the mold of the autonomic nervous system. And science and medicine say you have no control over the autonomic nervous system. you cannot influence your heart rate. You cannot influence your respiratory rate unconsciously. You cannot influence your immune system. And yet you have proven by actually the introduction of biotoxins into your bloodstream

Starting point is 00:11:04 with hundreds of other Wimhoff practitioners that even in the presence of deadly E. coli, which should inflame the immune system and immediately cause, you know, a dramatic immune cytokine storm response that through controlling your autonomic nervous system, influencing your own immune system, you actually didn't even react to deadly poisons. So I just wanted to set the stage for that, for those of you that are not familiar with Wim Hof in his work. I mean, it is astounding what this man has been able to do by taking back control of his own body. So, and now let's Let's walk through some of the science, you know. From then until now, what has surprised you the most about what you do?

Starting point is 00:11:54 So in 2014, we got the publications in nature in the end and the proceedings of National Academy. That should have alarmed to scientific world, that inflammation, which is the cause and effect of any disease, cytokin storms, that innate immune system can now be controlled. We can suppress through breathing techniques and faith, belief, your intention, your willpower.

Starting point is 00:12:29 Consciously we can tap into the innate immune system, into the autonomic nervous system, bring down inflammation. Once again, the cause and effect of disease. Since then, they should, the whole academic world should have gotten alarmed that we found a direction to gain a power over us, which is a huge problem since ever disease. Yes. And why is it not?

Starting point is 00:13:01 That is what surprises me the most. Why is it not that the academic world is gone into this and produces a thousand, studies because we are hitting on a primordial problem, humanity always has been suffering off. And now we found a solution. And why did they not go into? That is the world where we live in. We don't live in a world where we want autonomy for the people, freedom for the people, power in the people to beat their problems like disease and psychosomatic diseases and depressions and all and energy levels and all, all those things can be controlled.

Starting point is 00:13:55 Yeah. And I just pointed out a direction. I came, I'm a drop out of school. I came into the scientific arena first, 80 minutes standing in the ice. I showed no shivering, 200% more. metabolic rate going up just because I wanted to. I was talking to the people, their professors and all, while I was encased in a stressful environment of ice.

Starting point is 00:14:25 And then they saw, I was motionless. That is the power of the mind. The power of the mind, cold is like emotion, is like heat, it's an impact. Can we do something about it? Yes, we are the mind. We are born to be the masters of our mind and captains of our soul. I go very fast and we will go back.

Starting point is 00:14:51 The thing is what's most surprised me is that that university should have 10 Nobel prizes for having discovered a way, a natural, non-invasive way, how to battle inflammation, the cause and effect of disease. We only pointed it out. I came from nature into a hospital, university hospitals. There is no speculation there. It's just data. And you see it in the blood, the inflammatory markers, the cytokins, the IL-6, the IL-8, also in COVID.

Starting point is 00:15:30 It's the problem. It's the essence. And we just brought it down. And the IL-10, pro-inflammatory or anti-inflammatory, up. We turned everything around. What normally is like the cytokins, IL-6, IL-8, IL-2, whatever. The interlequines that cause the inflammation are up and we could not do anything. And that what makes it go down is going down.

Starting point is 00:16:00 We turn to table and we should have had many more universitarian studies. And I know you understand what I'm saying. I understand it to an extent that it's so fascinating to me because people, you know, when you get SARS-CoV-2 or COVID-19, you don't die of the virus or the infection. You die of the body's reaction to it. You die of the cytokine storm. The same thing happens with other viral pathogens. It's the over-inflammatory response from the immune system. It gets hyperactivated.

Starting point is 00:16:34 When we say that people are immunosuppressed or they have a weak immune system, it doesn't mean. that their immune system doesn't react, it means that it overreacts very often. So, you know, you get a viral infection and it takes so long for the immune system to lock in that that virus has built up to such a level that when the immune system finally engages, you die of inflammation. And the fact that we now have a mechanism to control that cytokine storm, proven, by the way, this isn't hyperbole. I mean, I'm going to link all of the studies that this man has done. With all of this, by the way, getting published in nature and some of these journals, these are very, very prestigious, peer-reviewed journals, and the science is there.

Starting point is 00:17:18 And I think that academia fears humanity having control of their own destiny. There is the power. And humanity having control over our own health. And we know that the Bible says this, so a man thinketh he shall become. And when we get infected with disease, with pathology, if we give up and say, I no longer believe in what God gave us, I believe only in what man makes us,

Starting point is 00:17:46 I'm going to need a pharmaceutical, a synthetic, a chemical to fix this, rather than the deep belief that we can heal ourselves and using things like cold and like breathwork. And I want to talk about some of the mechanisms because this is now no longer like a, you know, tree-hugging society that's out, you know, breathing in the wilderness. This is data that has been done at some of the leading universities

Starting point is 00:18:10 in the world, leading research institutions in the world. So let's walk this back. And for people that are fascinated by the idea that they might have some control over their stress, over their inflammation, over their mood, over their emotional state, where did they begin? Like, how does the journey into breathwork and the cold begin for them? If your energy is low during the day, the problem usually started the night before. Sleep affects focus, mood, metabolism, literally everything. And most people never learn how to properly support it. Our free sleep challenge is April 29th and 30th,

Starting point is 00:18:50 and it's designed to teach the basics of better sleep in a way that's realistic and easy to apply. If learning how to sleep better feels like the right place to start, we'd love to have you join our challenge on April 29th. Now let's get back to the Ultimate Human podcast. First of all, don't make it overcomplicated. Don't overthink. We got it proven. It's there.

Starting point is 00:19:12 It's a matter of choice. Do you want to have the power over your emotions, the regulation of your emotions? We did the studies. Do you want the power over stress? We did the studies, comparative studies. And it shows that we found very effective ways how to bring down, for example, stress. instead of stress being the absence of stress, health being the absence of stress,

Starting point is 00:19:39 no, we face it. We have the powers. Step into it. Yes. To navigate the stress and to become a better human, then the stress is able to jeopardize us in whatever way, emotionally, physically, spiritually. It doesn't matter.

Starting point is 00:19:56 It always comes to this nervous system. which is jeopardized by toxins produced through the stress. And are we able to deal with that? Yes, we are. We are able directly to go into the adrenal axis, just to spike it and to get the shit out what should not be in. That now is there. And how do you do that?

Starting point is 00:20:25 A little bit of breathing. So we can actually get toxins out. Yes. And I'm doing the studies right now in San Diego. it appears to be that the brain waste, which is also part of the quality of thinking, yeah, the glymphatic brain waste clearance, this works 800% better than normal. Breath work. Yes, sir.

Starting point is 00:20:48 Wow. That is the cold and the breath. And you are able to activate the adrenal axis and make it go into the spinal fluid to that cleansing the lymphatic brain waste eight times better. That is one. Then we did a study recently published in nature with 500 people.

Starting point is 00:21:12 500. 500. And compared to meditation and mindfulness in the corporate world. In the corporate world, it's one trillion a year in 2030, about six trillion a year because it's cumulative. It's a real problem.

Starting point is 00:21:30 stress is the real problem. Not only in the corporate world, everywhere else in the world, too. The thing is, we should not go like an ostrich into the sand. The stress is not there, and I don't want to. It is there.

Starting point is 00:21:47 The lion comes and eats you. Yes. That is the stress. Now, we are able, very able, with some natural non-invasive tools to battle that stress, to create a, a coordinator's circuitry in the brain

Starting point is 00:22:03 that is suddenly much more able than before thought possible to battle the stress and to be, we are built to take on any way stress comes to us. But we alienated from those mechanisms inside our body and mind. And so what they found was 300% better cognitive awareness. than mindfulness. 300% more resilience towards stress compared to mindfulness

Starting point is 00:22:39 as a stress tool and 400% more energy boost compared to mindfulness. This is what we use in the corporate world. The corporate world is like production and numbers and this and that and it's just production. We don't care too much about the people.

Starting point is 00:22:57 We need to produce. We need to work. competition is luring upon us we got to be better and all hey 300% better than the usual stress tools

Starting point is 00:23:10 in cognitive awareness sharpness of mind and then 300% in resilience towards stress 400% energy boost and then they found two if you go into the cold and you use the breathing

Starting point is 00:23:26 the right way by which the adrenal axis is able to cleanse the whole body, the way and then become clean. Yeah. Without the absence or without the presence of cortisol, long term, which is detrimental. Yes. We use hormesis, self-inflicted, acute, stressful exercise. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:23:49 And it doesn't take long. And if you just do that in the morning, you're going to produce better, you're going to feel better. You are sharper. and you learn to know who you are and what you are, and what you can trust. And that's the study we did with Harvard Inside. Suddenly the people trusted. Trust themselves.

Starting point is 00:24:11 Trust themselves. And from there, there was no competition. There was working together. There was an open energy. And they talked to the authorities because they knew who they were. You are not going to tell me what I am or what I got to do. I know what I'm here for. And here it is clear, nice,

Starting point is 00:24:34 because that is the seventh neurological network within us. Six cents, seven cents. It's your purpose. And this is the time we enter into the science of the soul, the time for the soul. No longer, we are not here for the system. We are here to realize our soul. And that is, when we are there, we trust back into God presence.

Starting point is 00:25:04 Even the Catholic Church even comes with its PhDs to me. They say this is a highly esoteric mystical discipline. And how long does it take? 20 years of learning? Half hour. Wow. So in this study with 500 people, what specifically did they, I assume there was a control group that,

Starting point is 00:25:26 didn't do these things. And then in the non-control group, they were doing breathwork and cold exposure. But what did that look like? Was it cold first, breathwork after? Was it breathwork in the cold? What did the study design look like? They did, they had all watches.

Starting point is 00:25:45 So like whoops or something to measure? Whoop watches. And so everything is registered. And they did breathing every day. They would start in the morning with breathing. Yes. Okay. What did that look like?

Starting point is 00:25:58 Hyperventilation. What is it? 20 minutes? 20 minutes of breath for it. It's a, the way it works is very simple. You create a respiratory alkalosis by breathing of the CO2. The cell is not able to fill it up so quickly. So the blood becomes alkaline.

Starting point is 00:26:22 When it is alkaline, so alkaline, you don't need. to breathe. There is no breathing trigger because it depends on the amount of CO2. So the CO2 is a little time absent. But in that little time of absence, we don't need to breathe because we are alkaline. It just goes back to the right homeostasis of alkalinity. And you feel like nice. Parasympathetic nervous system is on, but is sympathetic as well. Yeah. It is, it's, it's, it's, It's a quite contradictory of, it's a biohack. It's an ultimate biohack. We are able to get into the vagus nerve,

Starting point is 00:27:05 into the parasympathetic nervous system, at the same, consciously, at the same time, sympathetic nervous system. And what now happens, that is the autonomic nervous system. What happens is we enter into the deep brain because we are not breathing. There is the breathing reflex mechanism. This is in the breath hold. Yes, in the breath hold.

Starting point is 00:27:28 So it goes directly to the brainstem. And in the brain stem, you have the mechanisms to react on CO2 and alkalinity. But there is no CO2. So the brain thinks there is danger. The non-thinking brain thinks acts as if chemically there is danger. What happens? Hypoethalamus, pituitary gland, adrenal glands. an adrenal spike.

Starting point is 00:27:59 After 90 seconds of not breathing, after exhalation, you got five times more blood flowing flushing into the heart and brain. It's all survival reflexes. The thing is, anything that should not be in the body is being exposed

Starting point is 00:28:16 because it hits direct to the greatest possible functionality of our being to survive this situation. Well, you feel great. Yeah. And this was over a 20-minute controlled period. So is it controlled hyperventilation and then a long pause,

Starting point is 00:28:37 then controlled hyperventilation and a long pause? Could we demonstrate it maybe? We got a lack of words and definition about this. I say hyperventilation is a kind of state, wrong state of breathing. Okay. And what I say is a deep breathing. So is it letting go. Yeah, very simple.

Starting point is 00:29:01 So very simple. And this for 30 or so breasts. If you do this, one month ago, I was with the strongest guy in the world, the strongest man. It's Eddie Hall. He was the first one to lift 500 kilos. Yeah. Yes, there is a thousand pounds. He was the first one.

Starting point is 00:29:21 So I was with him. And I said, yeah, you're good. You might be better than others. but who says you are the best of yourself. So let's go into the breath for that. So first you do dumbles. 60 pounds here, 60 pounds here, and go like this. As much as you can.

Starting point is 00:29:44 To complete failure. Yes, 60 times he went. Yes, 60 pounds here, 60 pounds here. 60 times he did. And lost, you know. that way. Then I took him out. We talk a little, drink tea, water,

Starting point is 00:30:05 something distracted. Out of his mind. Still, the soreness was still in the arms. After 10 minutes, we went back to the same place. They say, now we are going to do deep breathing. Not hyperventilated, it's a deep breathing. I call it deep breathing. Because hyperventilation, people have a,

Starting point is 00:30:27 negative connotation. So, and do one thing with your mind. You follow the breath, nothing else. Ah, just tune into your breath. Give the best. Does it matter, nose or mouth? Give the best and the best is able to come. That is all.

Starting point is 00:30:43 Nasal or mouth or doesn't matter? It doesn't matter. Just get the air in. Just get the air in. There's nothing complicated about it. It was somebody asking me, do I have to through my this, nostril that or the diaphragm or the lungs

Starting point is 00:30:59 the belly do I have to summon say hey use any hole you got just get it in just to make it so overcomplicating things it is the breath the breath is the life life force itself

Starting point is 00:31:16 just get it in and so I told him that and he did that and instead of and then say and now you take the dumbles again, the same dumbles. 60 pounds, 60 pounds, and you go again. You still had the sonners of the exercise 10 minutes ago in his body.

Starting point is 00:31:38 And he did 90. 90 and he was not tired. Wow. It was not tired. What is that? You can be better than somebody else, but are you the best of yourself? And that is the power of the breath. Wow.

Starting point is 00:31:54 And we should bring. this into the secondary schools to the children. Because if they know that, then you become the best of yourself. You learn to cleanse yourself completely, the adrenal access, than any emotional conflict you have because you have talents, but maybe not for this system. So you don't get conflict with yourself because you know how to cleanse yourself of the difference you are exerted to be.

Starting point is 00:32:27 You got to do this, you got to do this, but maybe you are a carpenter. Maybe you are a woodworker or a doctor or a painter or a musician, but the systems demands of this and this are the careers. This is the way you can make money, and this is the way the system survives. No, we are sold, and we have talents. to realize what our soul is all about, to get into the depth of our physiology, of the mind and the body.

Starting point is 00:33:02 For that, we have talents. Those are the way to deal with matter. And if you want to get into psychology over physiology, mind over matter, you will have to learn to regulate your emotion in the depth. And we did the studies there in Detroit. I've seen them. We're in state. And they say, and now we got the compelling evidence of the key components of the autonomous

Starting point is 00:33:33 processes in the brain, autonomous is outside the world. Now we found the key components related to mood regulation. That is emotion. Emotion is the expression of our soul. It's very simple. And once you are able to cleanse because of the stress accumulated from, working in a system which is not necessarily exerting your talents. Yeah, you get problems.

Starting point is 00:33:59 You learn to deal with that stress. Yeah. And your emotion stays clear. And with that, the soul stays clear. You can use anything in the world to get to the soul. If there is a system, you can abide to the rules of the system and have a position in the system without losing your soul. And use it to use it like,

Starting point is 00:34:23 The Buddha principle in the old ways of martial art, use their power of the opponent and lock them up. And there you bring peace. And that is within us. And we don't know how to do that, but it is not difficult. It's just simple. Use any hole you got. And just get the air in.

Starting point is 00:34:45 One of my favorite biohacks outside of breathwork by far is mineral salts, Baja Gold, sea salt. It's got all of the tracements. minerals that the body needs. You know, most of us are not just protein deficient, meaning amino acid deficient or fatty acid deficient. We are mineral deficient. So a quarter teaspoon of this in water first thing in the morning will make sure that you get all of the essential minerals that you need. It tastes amazing. In fact, I made a bake today. I actually made a grass fed steak with grass fed butter and I put just mushrooms and a little bit of rosemary and I

Starting point is 00:35:13 sprinkled Baja Gold Sea salt all over the top. Try it. It'll be your new favorite for cooking too. It's the cheapest and one of my favorite biohacks. I don't know, a 15 or $20 bag of will probably last you five years. And it's literally the world's best biohacking secret. Now let's get back to the Ultimate Human podcast. You know, what I find is so, it's just fascinating is I can't think of another singular practice or singular supplement or singular ritual that cleanses the body of toxins, right? Which in and of itself improves our immune function, right?

Starting point is 00:35:47 I mean, I was asked on a podcast a few months ago, if I was to, put all of the top leading anti-aging, longevity experts in a room and have them agree on one theory of aging, what would it be? And I said, we would all agree on the theory of immunophatee, just a slow, progressive overwhelming of our immune system. We're micropoisoning ourselves all the time, and it may not be just the glyphosate or just the fluoride in the water or just the chlorine in this and just to process foods, but those things accumulate and eventually they collapse the system. and so through breathwork to be able to detoxify, but to also impact the mental side,

Starting point is 00:36:29 you know, the mood, the emotion, to get rid of stress, trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder, these conditions that are conditions of the mind, the conditions of the psyche, and to be able to cleanse both of those with a singular practice that is free, that you can do anywhere in the world,

Starting point is 00:36:48 that's portable, And I think this is why it doesn't get the adoption that it deserves because it's so accessible. It can't be that good. Yes. You know, or else, you know, somebody would have a patent on it. You know, Pfizer would sell it in a pill. And then when you add the hormetic stress and you think, I'm cleansing,

Starting point is 00:37:10 I'm releasing trauma, I'm shifting the state of my nervous system. We talked about this on the balcony earlier, how 82% of all autoimmune disease is found in females. It's not because autoimmune disease is selective by sex. It's selective by weakness. And very often, women don't feel safe in their own bodies. When you don't feel safe, you're trapped in this sympathetic state, this state of fight or flight, and the immune system doesn't work in that state. And so what happens is it weakens and you're susceptible to attack.

Starting point is 00:37:41 And so, I mean, if there's no other message that comes out of this podcast, is that breathwork just has to be a part of your daily routine. full stop. Absolutely. So I want to go back to this study. So they did 20 minutes of this controlled breathing. At the end of either 20 or 30 rounds of breath, they did a prolonged breath hold. And it was during this breath hold that the CO2 was building up.

Starting point is 00:38:06 They felt fine. CO2 is the main vasodilator in the body is dilating the microvascular, which, by the way, our heart is only circulating 30% of the blood in our body. 70% of the blood in our body is circulated by vasomotor activity, so there's no pressure in those vessels. So if we can dilate and relax them, just think about the amount of blood flow that's going to tissues that previously were not getting any nutrients,

Starting point is 00:38:34 any oxygen. We were trapping inflammation in there and not getting it out. So they would do this 20 or 30 minutes of controlled breathing. And then when they go into cold water, they would do cold water immersion? Yes, cold showers. and once a week coming together. As you mentioned in the beginning,

Starting point is 00:38:50 we are over individualized in this society. We are social human beings. And that is not just flower power, it is energy. Yeah. And it interacts with our nervous system. It just runs better. When I get people, hundreds of people, doesn't matter their age,

Starting point is 00:39:12 profession, background, and even conditions. In four days' time, just exposing these people to elemental environmental forces like cold and breathing, they come together. And the last day they go climb a mountain, never been in the cold before, but they all do it in their shorts and bikinis outside

Starting point is 00:39:40 for four or five hours in freezing temperatures. and they feel humanity. They feel great. They feel purpose, a depth of spirituality, which goes beyond what we think it feels. And that brings the people all so together that they get lifelong friends just in four days. Yeah, yeah.

Starting point is 00:40:06 Well, you know, there's something to be said for that because, you know, doing hard things together really brings a bond. And I agree with you, you know, we are so starved for connection, community, and purpose. And, you know, the digital age has made us more isolated and more disconnected. We knew in the mortality space, and I talk about this all the time, that if you want to cut a human being's life expectancy in half, and I mean in half, at any age, you put them in isolation. You know, broken heart syndrome in the elderly is a very real thing. Married 50 years, 60 years, a spouse passes.

Starting point is 00:40:42 It's real. It's very real. It's immediate isolation. Death, I suffered it. Yeah. No, I know. You've got a broken heart syndrome. Oh, yeah. I know you lost your wife.

Starting point is 00:40:52 But I could not stop. Yeah. I could not stop because I had four children. No money. And now you have seven. Now it's all prosperous. But how, where did that? Yeah.

Starting point is 00:41:02 Oh, yeah. I love it. The cold is not only good for you call your family. It's a fertile system. Clearly it makes you fertile. Oh, yes. I got my oldest son is there 42. My youngest is 16 months.

Starting point is 00:41:15 Oh, wow. That's amazing. Yeah, and we are just fully in love. My wife is 30 years younger, but it's energy. My energy, I got a childlike energy. Yeah, me too. It's infectious, man. I'm getting energy from you right now.

Starting point is 00:41:32 My head's going to blow up. It's there. And about the digital age and the isolation through that, it's not only that. I talk to neurosurgeons, they put me there. dilemma, their problem. And their problem of the new generation is going to be that their brain are shrinking because they are too much on iPads and those devices while we are human beings that need to be stimulated from all sides. And then everything is growing and the brain is working, which is the central nervous system. And if it doesn't work, if you don't use it, you lose

Starting point is 00:42:11 it. So that is all happening. And I told this neurosurgeon one of the authorities in the world with a huge institute in Germany, very meticulous and great, but not knowing what to do, how to tackle that problem for the new generations to come. And I said, it's very simple. You do their breathing. Because what you do, you alkalize the blood. You ignite the adrenal axis. It goes into the spinal fluid. You squeeze to the head as if you got a poo and it doesn't want to get out. And you cleanse the brain of its brain waste.

Starting point is 00:42:56 And anything that was not flushed with blood flow and neural activity right now or the blood flow, the spinal fluid, cerebrospinal fluid, suddenly is everywhere. And we showed this in brain scans how to activate 100% of our brain through breathing exercises. They saw it's a disco. It's a disco. It's a disco. And you will dance afterwards. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:43:24 Because you feel good. Yes. You know, you don't need alcohol for that. Get high on your own supply. Yeah, I love that. That one's going to go viral. So, you know, what I love even more about this is. is the individuality, the portability of it,

Starting point is 00:43:41 that you can do it anywhere, you know, you suggest, or would you suggest, for somebody that's, like, convinced that they want to go down this road, would you suggest that they just take 15 or 20 minutes in their morning and get outside and just do some breathing? Yes. And just that change.

Starting point is 00:44:00 And what could they expect that they just did that seven days a week? What might they expect that? I bring it back. It's a Kilimanjaro is a mounted. It's a big one. And six kilometers, less than half the oxygen. And there was a man coming to me suffering from Lyme's disease. And 76 years old.

Starting point is 00:44:23 He was 76 years old. And he said, can I come with you to climb to Kilimanjaro in the record time you proposed? Because this is a mountain that can be done between five and nine days. because of acclimatization. We cannot produce enough oxygen at those altitudes. That's why we have to go slowly but surely. So the body is able to adapt to the thinner air to produce enough oxygen inside.

Starting point is 00:44:56 It's producing more red cells. More red blood cells, yeah. And that is called acclimatization. It takes five to nine days. And then only 40% will be able to size. It's fully dressed because up there it's also Arctic cold. It's Africa, but at six kilometers is the wind and ice and snow. And it's really, and with half the oxygen, you don't have the fuel to combat it to create energy.

Starting point is 00:45:28 Right. So those predicaments, they are there. And for that, five to nine days, only 40% is summiting, fully dressed. fully dressed. And this man, 76, he wanted to climb the Kilimanjaro within 35 hours, 35, not 5 to 9 days, in a short. That's what I said. The people who are going to come with me in this expedition, they're going to go. We are going to do it within 35 hours. And with that, we beat any physiological law of alpine acclimatization and high altitude sickness and all that all that physiology nah yeah we can do that a lot faster and better yeah and so he came and when he came he had no

Starting point is 00:46:23 experience in mountain climbing at all he was 76 he was suffering from the lyme's disease but what i saw in this man was motivation so that That is every time I ask first to the people, if you embark in this journey of breath and cold, have motivation. It is scientifically endorsed. So it works. It is a matter of choice. Wow. Go wholeheartedly within it and you will see the wonder of life.

Starting point is 00:46:58 Because life is a miracle and miracles happen all the time if you only go to life. and that life force you are able to control into the depth as this man did. He did it in 31 hours. He did it 31 hours. No mountain climbing experience, 76 years old, suffering from Lyme disease. But what had he learned? He was a student of yours. Had he obviously knew who you were.

Starting point is 00:47:25 Do some breathing. Do this. It is not complicated. So how did that ascent look from a breathwork standpoint? How did you continue to act? acclimate at such an accelerated rate. The only thing we do there on the mountain different than others, we don't wait until the lack of oxygen is there.

Starting point is 00:47:45 We breathe consciously. So we are never getting trapped by a sneaky coming in deficit that builds up and suddenly you get high altitude sickness. No, you go and do conscious breathing. What I say is this, just breathe more than you feel you need. You know I'm all about optimizing performance, and lately I've been using the ion weighted vest during my workouts, and it's been a game changer. It isn't your average weighted vest. It's designed to fit like a second skin, activating your core, improving blood flow, and even helping you with recovery while you train.

Starting point is 00:48:26 What I love most is that the weight is perfectly distributed. It doesn't pull on your shoulders or throw off your alignment. I'm doing strength training or cardio or just taking a walk. I'm burning more calories, building muscle and pushing my endurance even further. If you're serious about leveling up your training and unlocking your full potential, check out the ion weighted vest at iongear.com. That's A-I-O-N-gear.com. And you can use code Ultimate for 10% off and start training smarter today.

Starting point is 00:48:55 Now let's get back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. So your attention is on your breath. That is consciousness. So you're consciously attentive to your breath. And while you're ascending, you're maybe taking deeper breaths, more frequent breath. So you're not letting your autonomic nervous system regulate your breathing. You are in control of your breathing. Yes.

Starting point is 00:49:18 That is consciousness. Consciousness is breathe more than you feel you need. That makes you conscious. And then you feel when the deficit is coming in, you compensate with deeper breathing. and it is not frenetic, it is not paranoid. That is not the way you go. Just a little bit more creates that consciousness that knows how to detect any deficit that is going to happen.

Starting point is 00:49:45 And if you just pass that deficit and it never occurs, you can just simply walk to the top. You know, my wife and I have a, we have a home in Colorado that's at 10,500 feet. We have a log cabin. It's a favorite place in the world. And for the first few days that I'm there, I always... There's 33% less oxygen tension in the air.

Starting point is 00:50:09 Yeah, yeah. I think it's 13.7% something like that. Atmosphere or sea level, it's what, 21%. So at that altitude, it's about 13.7-ish. Which doesn't sound like a big deal, but it's a huge deal, right? I mean, it's 7% reduction in oxygen is like a third, like you say, less oxygen. and if you're not conscious of that and you're just breathing normally, which is what happens to me when I sleep, because I'm not conscious. And so for the first three, sometimes four days, I always wake up with a mild headache.

Starting point is 00:50:42 It's not a migraine, but it's a headache, and I'm foggy and slow to get out of bed. And the first thing I do is I get outside and I do three rounds of 30 breaths with a breath hold in between. and not only is the headache gone, but I feel so alive and so connected. Just, it takes me maybe, I don't know, 12 minutes or something. And I go back inside, I don't even feel like I need coffee. And then when I'll put a rucksack on and I'll just, I have this little four-mile loop in the woods.

Starting point is 00:51:15 And when I get back from that ruck walk, I'm telling you nothing makes me feel better. You see all the fancy stuff I have here in Miami. nothing makes me feel better. Not red light, not hyperbarics, not sauna. Nothing makes me feel better than that. Round of breathwork, a little bit of weight, four and a half miles through the woods.

Starting point is 00:51:35 And I try to just draw my attention to what's going on there. There's a funny little squirrel. He's been there for years, and he hates me. And he really does. He's like an angry little thing. And I've taken videos of this on posted on social media because I'm like, this squirrel, like, legitimately doesn't like me. And so when I start going in the woods, he starts chirping.

Starting point is 00:52:00 And then he's chirping to all the other squirrels. And then I kid you and I start to chewing off eggorns, and he holds him in his paws and he throws them. He literally throws them right down at me. And then he'll follow me in the treetops and throw acorns down on top of me while he's... Like, if I spoke squirrel, there's some F-bombs going on up there. He's a hangary, grangry little thing.

Starting point is 00:52:22 and show every year for a few years. But, you know, it's like I connect with him. I'm like, hey, I know I'm in your space, man. I'm not going to mess with anything. I'm just passing through. But, you know, I come at peace. But maybe one day I'll do some breathwork with him. But really connect with nature.

Starting point is 00:52:42 That's a great story. But, you know, it's truly one of my favorite things. And I don't know how to describe it or emphasize it. Physiologically, I'm not even sure why it works so well, but I'm so happy. Like sometimes I get back to the house and I tell Sage, I'm like, I'm so happy right now, I feel like I could burst. Like I might be the first person to die of spontaneous happiness.

Starting point is 00:53:05 Like sometimes I need some bad news just to take the edge off, right? Right. Is that possible? Can you die of spontaneous happiness? So again, I want to now go back. We've talked about the breath. and I want to go into the cold because some of the feats, the physical feats that you've done that you have accomplished in the cold. I mean, I think, you know, I ran 18 miles in Antarctica and my son ran a full marathon in Antarctica. He did the Great World Race, seven marathons, seven continents, seven days. It was freaking miserable, first of all.

Starting point is 00:53:42 And I had size 14 Timberlin boots, three layers of socks. I had long johns. I had windbreakers. I had a puffy gear. I looked like the Michelin man. Remember the Michelin Tire Man? Okay, that was me in Antarctica. And I marched 18 miles.

Starting point is 00:53:57 The thought of actually touching that snow barefoot, taking all my clothes off down to a pair of board shorts, and going six more miles than what I did in this full gear, is mind-numbing to me. So there's something else there. something that you're able to tap into, something you are able to access because physiology says your feet would freeze,

Starting point is 00:54:27 you would get frostbite, you would not be able to keep the pace, which was just over two hours, which is a phenomenal pace at sea level in the best Nike running shoes. What else was it that allowed you to reach that level of physical feet? Yeah, I like the squirrel story.

Starting point is 00:54:47 Maybe if you go with me, it'll be nice, but he's there every year. We're going on four years now. Yeah, we might come together there on the altitude. Yeah, great. I've been a mountain guide for 10 years. And I know I did some feet over there. Running and breathing makes me able to go faster than normal. And in high altitude.

Starting point is 00:55:13 And so I did it with 26 people. with Crohn's disease, arthritis, cancer, asthma. We did it all in record time. Just using the breath. Using the breath enables us to go deeper into our physiology and to be just a little bit upfront the impact of nature itself. Whatever that is. And one of them is the cold.

Starting point is 00:55:43 The cold is a power which with this, same awareness we were talking about a little bit more breathing, just breathe a little bit more than you feel you need. That is consciousness. That consciousness I use. I use, for example, in a scientific experiment with a perfusion vest, which is used by firefighters to stay cool, they get icy water flowing through in their... I use that after knee surgery.

Starting point is 00:56:17 In the vest. And then they used that in a thermophysiological experiment in Detroit and the hospital to test, to see if people are able to use parts of the mind that cope with the stress, cold is stress. So what they do is pumping cold water into the vest, into the vest, into the, the tubes and they measure the skin temperature and they look inside the brain what is happening, how the person is dealing with stress. And nobody could really do something against that.

Starting point is 00:56:59 And what I was doing, there was this, I'm talking squirrels, there was this, this not so tall, it looks like Napoleon, a professor. Yeah. And he swims every day, he swims every day, 800 meters butterfly. You know, that it says he is into breathing without knowing. And he's got a lot of energy. But he had difficulties pouring ice cubes in the container, which was pumping water, me being in the fMRI, motionless,

Starting point is 00:57:42 because I was warming up the water. And I was, so my skin temperature never went down. Wow. And it came in and then warming the water again. And then ice cubes again, cold, and you see fluctuation of skin temperature. And then you look inside the brain. What did I do? I just set my intention.

Starting point is 00:58:11 I don't want to call today because today I got the chance to show that we can do more than we think. That is so powerful. I want to just lock in right there. You set the intention. Yes. So you determined your susceptibility to the cold.

Starting point is 00:58:28 That's what's so fascinating. Yes. You took control of that situation. And that is what I did in all these, I learned that in all these records I did, and all the challenges in the cold. and we all have that power interoception, top down, regulated, interoception, which is part of the central nervous system,

Starting point is 00:58:52 and it commands the central nervous system to do what you say. And a cold is emotion. You can learn to deal with emotions. You want to feel good? You can. Do you want to feel good? Then train your nervous system. Do you believe that you can feel good?

Starting point is 00:59:09 Yes. That's the thing. Train your nervous system. Like you train muscles, you can train the nervous system very rapidly. It is actually awakening. We get back to the be motivated. That is the way to start. We got all the evidence.

Starting point is 00:59:28 It's already there. Don't mind about that. Just do it. And I was before Nike was just do it. I did that 40 years ago. When Nike was not there, or at least it was not out there. I always said to the people as a mountain guide, it said, oh, what do you have to do?

Starting point is 00:59:50 I said, just do it. And that is the belief in yourself to pacify yourself in very stressful situations. Because we did upsyling and bungee jumping and going into rivers and all. And don't mind. Use the mind. I think it's so powerful because I think, you know, the vast majority of society has a victim mentality. You know, these things are happening to me. They're beyond my control.

Starting point is 01:00:20 I'm where I am in my life because of this or because of that or from this person or from that person or, you know, I just haven't had a chance. The luck of the draw, you know, then emotion turns to things like anger and resent and hatred because either somebody has something that. you want that you feel that you deserve and we just feel like we're not in control and what i love about your teachings and the breathwork and the cold is like it's bringing the control back to you like you are the you are the determine your destiny you know for me my my my entire life changed when when i stopped the pursuit of happiness and i realized that happiness was in the pursuit right i i said what are the things that make me really happy? With my family, you know, my wife,

Starting point is 01:01:13 you spending time with my parents, spending time with my kids, having them in my sphere. And so I designed this life that included those things. And now from an outsider looking in, they're like, oh, you're so busy, you travel all the time, you're never home, you know, you're all over the world. But I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be, right? Because no longer, I don't have a destination in mind.

Starting point is 01:01:35 Like I don't have an end date. They don't have an exit strategy, you know. But I will say, Oim, that this was largely due to you and your teachings. And my son and I, both six years ago, you used to have this course online. I don't know if it's still on there. It was about a 10-week course. And we completed all of the modules. At one point, we were going to sign up to go to the Pyrenees Mountains and do this retreat with you.

Starting point is 01:02:03 But that was one of the more material changes. in my life. It was right about the time that I decided I would schedule all of my meetings and travel around sleep and exercise. It was the day that I decided when I finished that course

Starting point is 01:02:18 that breathwork would be non-negotiable. And there hasn't been a day in my life ever since, no matter where I'm in the world, that I haven't done it. I do it on airplanes. But people think I was on Emirates Airlines and you got the little lounge in the back.

Starting point is 01:02:31 Everybody's standing around the bar. I'm sitting at the table doing breathwork sound like I'm, you know, about the high ventilate and pass out. And I'm awake the entire flight and I'm functioning the entire flight. It's just so fascinating. So it was the breath that allowed you to mitigate the effects of the cold. Absolutely. In breathing exercise, we are able to activate 100% neural activity in our brain.

Starting point is 01:02:59 That means anything that is deprived of blood flow, and glimphic presence, the right way, the right homeostasis, creates a non-accessible pathway. We cannot enter with our will when there is less blood flow. So what we do, we cleanse the brain of brain waste through these breathing exercises. And then we activate all the brain, the way nature matters to be. it's our brain it should be 100% in a possible contact with our will to use the brain for whatever we are our path demands and there it comes a fearless state of being a fearless state is where the whole brain is serving with that the brain is the seat of the unlimited power of the mind suddenly with the whole brain possibly functioning, not being older. It's like a house. You should be able to get into any room of your house.

Starting point is 01:04:10 And it should be clean. Yeah. So you clean up the house and then you should be able sometimes there, but not all the time everywhere. Yeah. It's a brain. Leave it. So it's the seed of the mind. And the seed of the mind is there connected to the unlimited power of the mind. What is that? That is we are senders and receivers. With the omniprae. And the omnipotency is there. We just send a signal not only into our own bodies, into the reception, central nervous system, but out there into the omnipotency, omnipotency, omniscience, and omnipresence. It's all there.

Starting point is 01:04:51 And then God is revealed. It's no longer a person this and that, has died on the cross. No, it's here and now. It's divine, that power. Wow. And I want just to show the directions that that is there. You are the owner of your, a rightful owner of your own mind, your own brain. But are we schooled that way?

Starting point is 01:05:16 For that, we are here talking common sense to the people. Look at this logic. It's based in an neurological studies, immunological studies and whatever studies, It shows that we can do much more than we think. And one thing is to have trust back, confidence back, creativity, empathy, the love of life itself. I say that it is composed by being happy, strong, and healthy. The characteristics of our soul. Once that happens, a happy man doesn't go to war.

Starting point is 01:05:57 A happy man is not into greed. He is unconditionally there. This is the way we can, if we show this neurologically how that all works and immunologically, how that all works, how to beat inflammation, how to improve your dopamine. So there is no depression. And that is not the only thing. It is giving people the power back the way nature meant it to be,

Starting point is 01:06:27 to live up to your purpose, to feel the depth and be driven by love for life. And it is free and accessible. So for my audience who is just on fire right now after watching this, where do they find out more about you? Where do they go to take the next step? It's all for free in the end. If you want to see me,

Starting point is 01:06:52 man, you got to pay because you got to take a plane, something like that. If you want to hear me talk and rant on stage, Hey man, I'm good at it. And I make good jokes. He is funny. I will give it to him. He has been rolling laughter five minutes after he walked in.

Starting point is 01:07:09 But is there a place where I can send people to learn more about breathwork, to learn more about cold exposure, to follow your teachings, to read some of what you author. Absolutely. We say do it safely. Yes. Do it gradually because we got to deconstruction. from the conditioned state where we're in.

Starting point is 01:07:31 We are kind of trapped and we show the keys how to get out. Yeah. In the brain and in the body. And I just follow these steps. Go to the Wimhoff method. The Wimhoff. Wimhoff. All right, I'll link that to show notes.

Starting point is 01:07:46 They gave me that method to the, people told me I'm the Iceman. No, I'm just an Iceman. So, but easy, it's okay. I like the name. I'm the Iceman. People have been called way worse. It's not Superman.

Starting point is 01:08:01 It's the ice man. Yeah. I'm not a marvel, but marvelous. Yeah. So something like that. I love life. I want you to love life. Yes.

Starting point is 01:08:10 That is what I want. So just get into it. I'm the only guy who has never been on his own website. That's me. But everything around me is being arranged. Hey, and there is a lot of information there by which you are able to go gradually into something unbelievable. And that is who you are.

Starting point is 01:08:33 That is so great. So, Wham, I wind down all of my podcasts by asking my guests the same question. There's no right or wrong answer to this question. But what does it mean to you to be an ultimate human? Yes. You reminded me to breathe. Yeah.

Starting point is 01:08:51 I just take in the life force to live, to my purpose, to change the world, to bring about a world where my children are able to enter into a paradise. And that is this world. To stop the war, to stop disease, to stop darkness, to stop depression, to stop pollution, is living in harmony with nature. That means the harmony of the inner nature with the omnipresence and feel God every day, every moment.

Starting point is 01:09:23 That's amazing. That may be the best answer I've gotten on the ultimate. human. Whim, I cannot thank you enough for giving me some of your precious time. I think we only started because there's so much work to do spiritually. We got to stop these wars and inflammation and all. And you are the right man to bring it out. I thank you from the heart, but also from as a man.

Starting point is 01:09:47 Yeah. Thank you. Thank you, my friend. Wow. Until next time, guys, that's just science.

The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka - 263. Wim Hof: On Breathwork Science, Cold Exposure, Immune Control, & Human Potential

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