Wim Hof

2022 - 4 - 12

Freeze the Fear

Post cover — Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

'Can I get out now please?': Could Wim Hof help me unleash my ... (The Guardian)

The extreme athlete, self-styled Iceman and now a wellness guru claims his breathing techniques and cold-water immersion can help fight modern ailments.

“Imagine the love of your life, the mother of your children, slipping away over the years, and you can’t do anything,” he says. So he gets me to lie on the sofa, and we do the breathing. When he was 17, walking in Beatrixpark in Amsterdam one Sunday morning, he saw the thin layer of ice on the surface of the canal and felt the urge to take off his clothes and get in. He says the trauma of his birth was instrumental in making him who he is now. He says he can manage the part of his nervous system that is responsible for breathing and heart rate, as well his adrenaline, dopamine and serotonin. “I almost suffocated, I came out purple,” he says. But still he was full of energy, so he ran on up to the top of the mountain, overtaking a mountain goat on the descent. There, I have to behave, I’m not a behaving kind of guy,” he says. “A cold shower a day keeps the doctor away,” is another; and “We go, no ego.” I had put it to him that some of his claims are quite bold, and that he has his critics. He used to live in the house here, now he lives in Amsterdam with his second wife, Erin, and their four-year-old son, Eden, the youngest of his six children. I feel a bit tingly, hear a slight ringing noise, but I can do it, a minute and a half, he times it on his phone.

“5 things I learned during a cold-water dip with Wim Hof” (Stylist Magazine)

As his BBC One series Freeze The Fear begins, Stylist meets Wim Hof for a masterclass is cold-water therapy.

I can see how people get hooked, and though I won’t be submerging myself in ice like Hof himself every single day, I’m certainly going to brave the elements again when I need a quick body-and-mind boost. To “Wim Hof” the right way (yes, his name is a verb now), the water must be at an “uncomfortably low temperature” to maximise the rush of endorphins and affect your whole body’s physiology, he tells me. He coaches me in deep breathing – expanding my diaphragm to its full potential – and then holding my breath for a minute to slow down my heart rate and calm the nervous system. A central pillar of the Wim Hof method is breathwork, both before and during the cold-water immersion. And though I’m an unlikely person to jump on such a chilly bandwagon, my own experience with The Iceman was undeniably eye-opening. It’s around the time I lose feeling in my thighs that I begin to question whether taking my cue from an extreme athlete was a good idea.

Freeze The Fear: Wim Hof paralysed with fear after wife's suicide (Metro)

Hof explained that he was overcome with anxiety after his first wife Marivelle-Maria died by suicide in 1995, but soon learned how to control his emotions. 'If ...

I always did jumps everywhere, the crazy most extreme. ‘This was a beautiful woman and suddenly this darkness came in, and guys, I was left devastated, heartbroken. The Iceman’s Wim Hof revealed how his late wife’s suicide left him ‘paralysed with fear’ in tonight’s first episode of the new BBC One series Freeze The Fear With Wim Hof.

Who is Wim Hof in Holly Willoughby's Freeze the Fear? (Manchester Evening News)

Freeze the Fear, an icy new TV show hosted by Holly Willoughby and Lee Mack begins on Tuesday (12 April). The show will see eight celebrities test their ...

Hugh Jackman and Kendall Jenner are among the stars who've tried their hand at plunging into icy temperatures, inspired by the extreme athlete. He has also contributed to scientific understanding by showing that 'the autonomous nervous system related to the innate immune response, can be wilfully influenced,' something that was previously unknown to science. Actress Tamzin Outhwaite, tenor Alfie Boe, Manchester United star Patrice Evra and dancer Dianne Buswell are among those swapping their cosy lives in the UK for the Italian Alps.

Wim Hof wife: How the Iceman's grief over late wife inspired his ... (Daily Express)

WIM HOF, also known as The Iceman, is best known for braving extreme temperatures and encouraging others to push their bodies to the limit in order to reach ...

"I want to share the love. I was left alone with four kids to look after and no money, dealing with the deep emotional agony and yet needing to be strong for my children. The 62-year-old Dutch motivational speaker is fronting the new BBC series, Freeze the Fear, which will see the Iceman training eight famous faces in a series of gruelling challenges using cold therapy and other extreme methods. But his late wife's death is what first inspired him to find new methods of coping. It healed me. "I truly realised the benefit of the cold when I was grieving the death of my wife, Olaya, in 1995," he explained.

Wim Hof breathing method explained: How the Iceman's WHM ... (iNews)

Hof says he is able to achieve these superhuman feats through his Wim Hof Method which is a combination of breathing exercises, cold exposure and ...

Four people drowned while attempting the Wim Hof Method in 2015 and 2016. - After the last exhalation, inhale one final time, as deeply as you can. Once at full capacity, hold your breath for around 15 seconds, then let go. I don’t want anyone else to be in the same stressful situation that I was left behind in.” - Breathing It healed me.

Wim Hof: who is he, what's his breathing method, when is his Freeze ... (NationalWorld)

Wim Hof, famous for his breathing method, will appear in a BBC One show set in the freezing Italian mountains · Sign up to our NationalWorld Today newsletter.

Who is the celebrity line up for Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof? When is Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof on TV? The extreme athlete has written a number of books, including; Becoming the Iceman (2011), Way of the Iceman (2015), What Doesn’t Kill Us (2017), The Wim Hof Method (2020 and The Iceman Speaks (2020). Wim Hof attributes his capabilities to the Wim Hof Method (WHM). The 62-year-old has previously set the world record for fastest half marathon barefoot on ice and snow, the world record for longest time in full-body contact with ice, and the Guinness World Record for farthest swim under ice. Hof created the Wim Hof Method, which combines cold therapy, breathing and meditation.

Who is Wim Hof? Freeze the Fear star's extreme antics explained (Radio Times)

The extreme athlete will be guiding eight celebrities through a series of chilly challenges – but who is he?

For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to the Radio Times podcast with Jane Garvey. According to Amsterdam-based paper Het Parool, four people have died whilst trying out the method, having drowned in pools of water. "Instead of being guided by my broken emotions, the cold water led me to stillness and gave my broken heart a chance to rest, restore, rehabilitate. His fascination with the cold began at the age of 17, when he felt an urge to jump into freezing water whilst walking through a park. With conviction, he mixes in a non-sensical way scientific terms as irrefutable evidence." He has written five books, including 2020's The Wim Hof Method, 2012's Becoming the Iceman and 1998's Climbing in Silence, and claims that through his method of withstanding the cold, which involves cold therapy, breathing exercises and commitment, it's possible to "become happier, healthier and stronger".

BBC's Freeze the Fear: Who is Wim Hof aka The Iceman? (WalesOnline)

Freeze the Fear with Wim Hof will see eight celebrity contestants undertake a series of challenges that will test them to their limits, both physically and ...

He strongly believes in the benefits of a cold shower and has his own set of techniques, called The Wim Hof method. Wim has made it his mission to share what he's learned with the rest of the world. Wim first discovered a passion for the cold when he was just 17, but said he only began to explore its benefits following the death of his wife in 1995.

BBC Freeze the Fear: What is the Wim Hof Method and is it good for ... (Birmingham Live)

Lee Mack and Holly Willoughby host Freeze the Fear, an all-new extreme celebrity challenge. They are joined by Wim Hof, an extreme athlete who rose to fame ...

But what is the Wim Hof Method and is it actually good for you? It is also not recommended for pregnant people, and those taking any medication should speak to a medical professional before trying the method. The 'Iceman', 57, is known all over the world for his incredible ability to withstand freezing temperatures.

Wim Hof

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