I FEEL AMAZING Wim Hof Experience Personal Account (Fort Collins, CO)
I FEEL AMAZING, simply amazing, I got comfortable with discomfort!
The really awesome thing is why I feel this way. I just spent a day doing a Wim Hof experience where we used our breath to control our bodies and draw energy deep from within to overcome stress. Not only overcome stress, feel amazing about it. We started with breathing and exercises to generate heat and focus our minds on making a cauldron out of our rib cages and use all of the muscles between the ribs as well to get extra heat going. The day was 32 degrees F out with 30 mph gusty winds at times, and we were at Greyrock Mountain trailhead. We one by one went into the frozen river water that was just above freezing. Before going in sitting by the side of the river I did some more practice breaths and mental focusing on what needed to be done. I was also nervous as hell, going first, and never had done anything more than a cold shower before. When I went into the water, my entire body tried to revolt, my survival instincts told me to get tf out of there, I took painful breaths as the water washed over my shoulders as I lay down into the stream leaving my arms and head out of the water.
Focus the mind and do incredible things
Longer video (contains more on the mental focus instruction from my first teacher TATE!)
Afterward we, there were 5 of us, 3 participants and 2 instructors, went on a 6 mile hike in the mountains at elevations over 7,000 wearing minimal clothing. It was 32 ish degrees and wind gusts of 30 mph and we were walking around the paths wearing shoes, backpacks, and pants or shorts.
Greyrock Mountain Trail
Most people wanted to know if we were brave or crazy, we normally said both. We all had to focus on our breathing to overcome the cold, reduced oxygen, and the exertion of climbing the terrain around the mountain. Here again, me and everyone knew it was cold, had to focus on their breaths to keep their body warm, but everyone was loving life (at least when we got out of the wind in some of the draws and spurs) we were howling for joy and didn’t care who could hear it. The hike was simply amazing with the view of the Colorado mountains, the live forest mixed with the burn scars, and the bright blue sky and puffy white clouds. I felt so alive, I knew I was cold, I knew I had to breathe to maintain, and that was ok. I was light on my step and energetic and I could feel energy of something magnificent around me.
These feelings continued on into the night. I was riding high. Everything felt right, and even the discouraging thoughts that popped up in my mind, I thought about them for a moment, then they faded away, and it was ok. No normal clenching other anxiety symptoms. It really just felt good man, some discomfort during the day brought on sheer joy for the rest of it. Now its 3 days later and I still feel really good. I plan to repeat the breathing, the ice baths at home, and cold weather exposure again. I think I will pick up a water basin or trough or something like that and keep it in my garage which is chilly af anyway. Well that’s about all I have folks, thanks for listening. Also, if you don’t believe that I was feeling absolutely amazing, here is a pic of me after a hot bath the night of the event.
I could not stop smiling
Feeling Amazing after a hot bath at the end of the day!
