“I do not fear death, I fear not to live fully. If I live fully I am not into death.” -- Wim Hof

Wim Hof, a man from the Netherlands, has recently brought to light a meditation technique that he claims gives humans control over normally autonomous systems in the body. Some of Hof’s accomplishments include: climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in his shorts in two days, climbing to 6.7 kilometers altitude at Mount Everest wearing nothing but shorts and shoes, running a marathon in the arctic circle in Finland wearing nothing but shorts, and holding the world record for being completely submerged in an ice bath while maintaining a constant core body temperature. He accredits all of his accomplishment to his style of meditation, breathing techniques, and training.

Legends have spoken about people who have been able to do miracles such as these since biblical times, so why is Hof so special? Hof is unique because he has brought his methods to doctors and researchers asking them to study him and he teaches people to accomplish what he can. Hof claims that anyone can accomplish what he has with the right training. So how has he proved his methods?

Hof went to a hospital and claimed that, after being injected with a short term neurotoxin, he could pass the toxin through his system without experiencing any symptoms. A person without his training and knowledge would experience terrible fever, sweats, aches, and several flu like symptoms, however Hof passed the toxin with none. He then trained several followers of his for one month and had them go through the same test to make sure that he was not anything special and they passed in the same manner. Hof and his disciples fended off the disease without prompting an excessive immune response by secreting an extremely high amount of adrenaline into their bloodstream, otherwise known as the fight or flight response. Hof proved that a system previously thought to be autonomous can be controlled by the human mind. Hof and his disciples have control over their heart rate and certain hormone secretion to the point where they can suppress an immune response. Doctors claimed that Hof’s adrenaline levels were higher than a person who goes sky-diving for the first time.

Hof’s methods are proprietary and sold in a variety of packages, but as a whole they are very simple. Contrast showers to stimulate your circulatory systems, special breathing techniques that force the body to hyperventilate, and extreme concentration lead to ultimate fitness. Hof also claims that believing in what you are doing is the only way to achieve it.

The "take home" message from Wim Hof is that the human body is capable of much more than we give it credit for. If we can teach ourselves to control our immune response systems then we can prevent disease, swelling, and several other health concerns. Also, Wim teaches that we should never set limits on ourselves, but always explore new things that we can be potentially be great at. If you ever find yourself plateauing in a sport, school, job, or anything in life, try to switch your routine up. Maybe meditate, maybe exercise, or maybe hike Mt. Everest in your shorts like Wim Hof did.