Wim Hof methods - anyone used, thoughts?

[johnram]

how do you feel it, as in can you relax into it? does it invigorate you?

what i used to also do, was have a warm shower as normal, but last 20 seconds, finish with a cold blast

[EasyStreet]

Hi!

Can't relax into it yet, but I can sense that I'll be able to if I stick with it.

Today, I tried cold from the start and only lasted about 5 seconds, Bad idea.
Then I turned on the warm water for about 5 minutes and then went cold. Counting out loud one thousand one, one thousand two.........

I felt renewed, energized, and "full of agency" (that's one of my issues, I learned passivity as a response to abuse, and I'm trying to activate my abiity to act on the world instead of just reacting when stressed).

Can you relax into it?

[johnram]

I relate deeply to that passivity part, and want to empower other aspects of me, that i feel are there but depressed at times, or walled up

the cold does a bit of that for me, i find a hot shower can make me slothful too

i cant relax into it fully, as you move an inch and a new area suddenly feels it, and i tend to keep me head out bar a few times (maybe thats cheating?)

but usually after that first few seconds, i just remind myself, its just water, this is how people bathed for years, and then give myself a little kick

glad you are finding it useful, at the least its an experiment

[johnram]

So you guys just motivated me to look up what a Joe Rogan is:). Thank you.

The Kneipp stuff is usually used in combination with exercise, diet change and what one may see as mindfulness. One of the differences to what Wim Hof sells seems to be the more gradual, less aggressive approach and the lack of focused breathing exercise.

Can imagine Wim stole some of this, and rebranded it, fair play to him, as it may help some people

Joe is interesting, think natural reaction would be to be put off by him , what was your impression?

[EasyStreet]

Going only by bio/resume/CV, Joe Rogan would turn me off. But my son (whom I respect beyond measure, he's like an undamaged (within normal range, I think we are all damaged, some just hide it better than others) version of me) recommended him and once I listened and picked up on his energy, I was hooked.

So hard to find people who are genuinely open minded and curious today. We all crawl into our caves and hide with our tribes when we do come out.
I've been guilty of the echo chamber too. Trying to break out.

With Rogan, I can listen to people with whom I might disagree, because Joe is not going to throw softballs like so many others. Genuine intellectual curiosity, how curious?

Enjoying this very much.

[ephes]

i have it turned on, but looked through the FAQ and it may be turned off generally

its fine, i have anonymity needs also, so lets not stress it

I'm sorry if my last post made you uneasy. I am not based in your neck of the woods, not even close. From what you've shared it's clear I don't know you personally. Which is why I would be comfortable sharing information, information that would in any case only make me identifiable to people who already know me quite well, which you don't. Also I would also never ask information of you to identify you.
Concerning your post I didn't respond to, there's an upcoming clinical trial which I believe could be interesting to you. I telephoned this place today for another study which unfortunately is already full, but learned about an upcoming clinical trial that's not listed on the typical sites (yet?) will start in a few months. The scientist responsible keeps an unofficial list of willing participants on which I asked to be added, apparently, this sort of thing fills up fast. There's cheap and easy flight connections from where you are and you could most likely do it in one day, there's 2 interventions total.
I don't want to post it here as it would identify my country, and as you've certainly noticed I'm privacy obsessed.
If you'd like we can try to make private messaging work or I could ask a moderator to relay the info to you.

[ephes]

So I chickened out of the cold lake yesterday... But I did it today early in the morning. Very slow jog down to the water for about 15 min, then 4 - 5 min in the water. It took 2 min to lose sensation in the skin, going slow and it took more effort than I remember to keep the breathing even, after that I could swim normally. The water was almost 11°, same as the air, with no wind, so not extremely cold.
The physical experience itself was invigorating and elating, I didn't get anxiety from the cold exposure. I think the formula with warming up beforehand is useful for this.
However, there was a helpful employee of the facilities who walked up to me and offered to let me change in the employee's locker area because the facilities hadn't opened yet (I specifically went before opening hours to avoid people). I thanked him very much and accepted. He then stood there at the edge of the water and watched me during an entire lap, possibly to make sure I'm ok. A calm, prolonged (non hostile) look into his eyes made him stop, as it will with people from my own or similar culture, while it will be seen as an invitation by others. There's many different cultures here and it can be difficult to gauge the right reaction towards men. Then I changed back and before I could scuttle away he handed me a small bottle of mineral water "as a gift for the running". Of course there's 3 different public drinking fountains within a radius of 50 m, one right at the entry of where he works. But still, it was kind and I thanked him profusely.
I reflexively and quickly assess what people want/need from me and feel compelled to do what makes them happy (as long as they don't go about it in a directly demanding or aggressive manner, that is). He wanted to feel chivalrous and wanted me to be thankful and pleasantly surprised. And it truly was 90 % kindness and only 10 % unwanted attention so I don't regret being nice. Kindness should be repaid with kindness.
But next time I'll go when the facilities are open, or I'll just go to a spot I know that's a bit hidden. It's a dead end of the lake path along the lake outside opening hours of one of the parks. So there's likely not many or no people there early in the morning.
I wish I wasn't so scared and unsettled by human interaction. I put on a facade when I step out the door and I come across as confident and content. No one would suspect that I'm a social recluse when they see me walking in the street. But that face is just my first line of defense, while inside I shiver and and desperately hope that no one interacts or invades my personal space. And then someone inevitably comes up and asks for directions or something and ZAP! I'm back in character and will do what I can to help, sometimes engaging in discussion or making little jokes, like I'm totally not a trainwreck inside.
Men freak me out more than women these days. But if I ever want to go back to work in my former, male dominated career, I'll have to find a way to deal with them.
I like that I'm not scared of talking to you guys on here

[EasyStreet]

Hi,

Got other info on the cold shower, a lot of people swear by it.

Tried different method this AM, that of slowly increasing the water, and consciously adapt "relax into" to it.
Not as shocking, but still effective.

And Ephes:

I reflexively and quickly assess what people want/need from me and feel compelled to do what makes them happy (as long as they don't go about it in a directly demanding or aggressive manner, that is). He wanted to feel chivalrous and wanted me to be thankful and pleasantly surprised. And it truly was 90 % kindness and only 10 % unwanted attention so I don't regret being nice. Kindness should be repaid with kindness.
But next time I'll go when the facilities are open, or I'll just go to a spot I know that's a bit hidden. It's a dead end of the lake path along the lake outside opening hours of one of the parks. So there's likely not many or no people there early in the morning.
I wish I wasn't so scared and unsettled by human interaction. I put on a facade when I step out the door and I come across as confident and content. No one would suspect that I'm a social recluse when they see me walking in the street. But that face is just my first line of defense, while inside I shiver and and desperately hope that no one interacts or invades my personal space. And then someone inevitably comes up and asks for directions or something and ZAP! I'm back in character and will do what I can to help, sometimes engaging in discussion or making little jokes, like I'm totally not a trainwreck inside.
Men freak me out more than women these days. But if I ever want to go back to work in my former, male dominated career, I'll have to find a way to deal with them.
I like that I'm not scared of talking to you guys on here

I could have said this myself.

Another day, another shower!

[ephes]

I'm not good at saying things like that, but I wanted you to know that with your last few words you made me feel understood. And "another day, another shower" was exactly what I needed to hear and it made me feel consoled and warm. That positive reaction is not something I usually get out of people's words and I'm surprised. This means a lot to me. Thank you.

I'm glad to hear you're finding good methods for the cold shower! And happy to hear that you managed to do another one. Did you do it again this morning?
I took another dip in the lake this morning, and maybe, eventually, I'll graduate to the cold shower though at the moment I don't have the willpower to stay off the warm water faucet.

All the best to you!

[EasyStreet]

Makes me happy to read that, Ephes! Still having morning coffee, will deal with shower later!

Be well.