Descriptions of practices here are historical and educational, not personal instruction or health advice.
Safety note
The breathing technique lowers carbon dioxide in the blood, which delays the urge to breathe and can make people faint without warning. Never practise it in or near water (including baths, pools, swimming or diving) or while driving, or anywhere that fainting could hurt you: people have drowned doing breath-holding exercises in water. Practise only sitting or lying down, and do not combine the breathing with cold immersion. Cold exposure carries its own risks, such as cold shock, heart-rhythm problems and hypothermia; build up gradually and never alone. Consult a doctor before starting, especially if you are pregnant or have heart or blood-pressure problems, epilepsy or another medical condition. This page is not instruction or medical advice.
Life
Wim Hof was born in Sittard in the Netherlands. From his late teens he trained himself to tolerate extreme cold, and became known as 'the Iceman' for feats such as long immersions in ice, a barefoot half-marathon above the Arctic Circle and climbs in shorts on high mountains, several of them recorded as world records. His Wim Hof Method combines three elements: a breathing technique (rounds of deep, rapid breaths followed by breath-holding), gradual cold exposure, and commitment or focus. In a 2014 study at Radboud University Medical Center, published in PNAS, volunteers trained in the method showed a smaller inflammatory and flu-like response to an injected bacterial toxin than untrained controls; it was a small study and its authors called for more research. Wider claims made by some followers about curing illness go beyond what the studies show. ORDL presents the method as history and context, not as instruction.
The system
- Breathing: rounds of deep, rapid breaths followed by a breath-hold on the exhale.
- Cold: gradual exposure, from cold showers to ice baths.
- Commitment: focus and patience to practise steadily.
- Claim under study: the autonomic nervous system and immune response can be influenced voluntarily.
Key works
- Becoming the Iceman (2011, with Justin Rosales) Amazon
- The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential (2020) Amazon
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Where to start
- The Wim Hof Method (2020) is his own full account; read the safety note above before trying anything it describes.
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