So you heard about Wim Hof and his crazy retreats? You might have watched the documentary from Vice  or Yes Theory. If not do it now! These documentaries already give you quite a good impression of what will happen.

The big thing: There is much more that happens behind cameras or isn’t shown due to dramatic reasons. So if you wanna know what happens when cameras are off, read on!

Early arrival

I arrived late in the evening. Some hours before the main part of the group came. The rest of the folks got picked up by buses from the airport and brought out to the mountains of Poland. So I enter alone and he is sitting there in his poncho and sandals. He is talking about how this week will change our perception of what is possible. And how we will get the stick out of our asses… Well actually he was talking about a big giant dildo… (Yeah he likes jokes about dildos…)
So this became a theme of the entire week: Letting go of our conditioning and just go with the flow… Just like Wim… Going with the flow and the energy that comes from deep breathing and cold exposure.

A free soul

If you want to experience what he means by getting the stick out: Go and talk to Wim. He speaks straight from his balls mind. He comes into the room and starts to sing out with a loud voice, plays the guitar or drums. From time to time he will grab the mic and preach about how this method has changed the science. And how they will fight a lot of diseases. Bringing up all the stories from his lifetime. It’s fun to hang around with him because he fills the room with joy and excitement.

And then you have your instructors… First I thought I wanna be all the time with Wim but I learned that it’s very good to have different instructors. They added so much to this experience. They were able to explain the methods very precisely. Wim was sometimes all over the place and we had a hard time to follow along. But our instructors prepared us for that so we could understand him.

Being connected in pain!

These instructors teach you the breathing method… Then they challenge you to do things like jumping into an ice cold river. You stand there in your warm clothes and think they must be joking…

The instructors look at you and then one member of the group starts to take off clothes and you just follow along. When I jumped into the water my body started to go through different phases of adaptation. The first part is feeling cold, then there was pain coming. It starts to grow until you think you can’t take it but you just take it. You stay together as a group in a big circle. And you connect in this painful moment. Around you, everybody is struggling and doing his best to stay strong. There is a moment of peace in there. And it’s hard to describe but your body is giving up the fight and tries to fight the cold with heat. It’s a moment of silence. No thoughts, no emotions… And the crazy thing: I can now close my eyes and move directly into that feeling. And it’s giving me so much strength…

This is the part he is talking about when he says:

GOING DEEP!

There is a feeling of joy afterward and the trust that builds is immense. Trust towards your group and the instructors. After a week of following these instructors, you would do everything with them.

How could we be so “crazy” jumping into that cold water? Or walk in shorts up a mountain while there is a storm going on?
Stay tuned for the next article we will learn what it means to become “high on your own supply”!