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Meet the Author of The Wim Hof Method

The Author
Wim Hof, a.k.a. “The Iceman,” holds multiple world records for his feats of endurance and exposure to cold—such as climbing Mount Kilimanjaro wearing only shorts and shoes, running a barefoot half-marathon in the Arctic Circle, and standing in an ice-filled container for more than 112 minutes. The benefits of his method, now practiced by millions, have been validated by eight university research studies. For more, visit wimhofmethod.com.

Wim-Hof-Method-3DThe Book
Wim Hof shares the life-changing technique that anyone can use to supercharge their capacity for strength, health, and happiness. Join this trailblazing teacher for in-depth instruction on the three pillars of his method (Cold, Breath, and Mindset), the science supporting his techniques, his incredible personal story, and much more.

 

 

 

 

Show us a day in your life.

Every day is a challenge to do more, as in mindset. My mindset always has been going for the full, everything you got.

Wim in split

wim in tubStrong exercising, breathing, postures, power, and ice water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I feel everyday gratitude for what has been achieved, which is helping many, many people. My soul knows: you give it all, you get it all.

wim IGWim-shavasana Wim's yard

Wim-with-his-son

I am very hungry to learn more and go deeper. I spend my days spreading the message as wide as I can. I love my garden, coffee, and my kids—so much richness in my life.

Wim-with-family

So, I see my everyday routine as a new opportunity to experience full gratitude. I am alive!  

Has your book taken on a new meaning in the world’s current circumstances? Is there anything you would have included in your book if you were writing it now?

This book is needed more than ever. We need to not only strengthen our immune systems but to acknowledge that we are capable of dealing with the influx of information by reconnecting with our inner knowing—our core being. Anxiety and stress alike, we are able to create a new foundation for health, happiness, and strength in these challenging times. It’s a great gift to yourself to read this book. 

Share a photo of you and your pet. Did your pet have a role in helping you write your book?

wim and zina

Zina is my guru, she is my brown shadow. She is so unconditionally loyal. She gives me beautiful light—we are true companions.

Wim-Hof-Method-3D

Learn More

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Underneath the Midlife Crisis

Tami Simon speaks with James Hollis, licensed Jungian analyst practicing in Houston, Texas, and the author of 13 books, as well as the Sounds True audio learning program Through the Dark Wood: Finding Meaning in the Second Half of Life. Jim speaks about the importance of realizing our real self versus our adapted self, moving through experiences of fear with courage and persistence, and what the most important questions are that we ask ourselves as we approach the end of our life. (43 minutes)

Ram Dass: Soul Land

Last week, the Sounds True community was saddened to hear of the passing of Ram Dass, one of the great lights of American spiritual inquiry. Born Richard Alpert, Ram Dass (meaning “servant of God”) rose to the forefront of psychedelic exploration and the movement toward Eastern philosophy in the 1960s and ’70s. He wrote the all-time classic Be Here Now in addition to many other published works, including Sounds True’s Walking Each Other Home. This special edition of Insights at the Edge presents an interview between Tami Simon and Ram Dass from 2012. During this conversation, Ram Dass and Tami discuss a deeper exploration of the self and the individual soul. They talk about experiencing the guru Maharaj-ji living on through the bodies and teachings of his students. Finally, Ram Dass considers the everyday experience of the atman—what he calls “the mega soul” beyond all others.(64 minutes)

Clarissa Pinkola Estés: The Dangerous Old Woman, Part...

Tami Simon speaks with Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, an internationally recognized scholar, award-winning poet, diplomat, senior Jungian psychoanalyst, and cantadora. “CPE” as Tami calls Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés, or “Dr. E” to others, recorded Women Who Run With the Wolves with Sounds True in 1989, three years before the book ever reached bookstores. Now Dr. E is launching her masterwork over three decades in the making: The Dangerous Old Woman, launching as an online event series at SoundsTrue.com beginning April 6, 2010. In the second of a two-part conversation, CPE discusses The Dangerous Old Woman. (56 minutes)

A cure through love

It was Freud, in a letter to Carl Jung, who said: “psychoanalysis in essence is a cure through love.”

It hurts us so much when those around us are suffering, when those we care about are struggling. Maybe it’s one of our co-workers, an elderly person who is all alone, a client terrified in the face of a cancer diagnosis, one of our children whose self-esteem has been crushed, our partner who is so sad that our relationship is not flowing, or a close friend who is grieving the loss of her lover. What do we do? How can we help? What are the most effective ways to lessen their grief, their sadness, their anxiety, their shame, their fear? We hear that to truly love another is the most powerful form of healing – but what does this mean? When we’re with someone who is suffering, we can create with them a holding environment which allows their subjective experience to be exactly what it is. We can stay very close to their experience, allowing it to be metabolized in the space between us. They feel us right there with them, that warmth, that space in which all is welcome. They are able to be what they are, right then and right there, and know at the deepest level that they will be received, that they need not hold anything back, that there is a certain safety and ground in which all of the most precious pieces of their psyche, their heart, and their body can dance, can express, can unfold, and can become illuminated within the sacredness of the relational field.

In my experience, most of us, when confused or hurt or anxious or sad, want so deeply for our experience to be seen, to be met, to be touched, to be received into that relational field of space, kindness, presence, and warmth. We can be there for another in this way and really allow them to fall apart, to go crazy, to be confused all the way, to touch all of those thoughts, feelings, emotions, and sensations that have been kept at bay for so long. It sounds so simple, but in practice is in fact a revolution. When they know that we aren’t needing them to be different, when they know we will walk with them into terror, panic, depression, grief, anger, and fear, they soften, the space around us softens, and we are invited into the mystery, guided into the unknown together. We’re never sure what will be revealed there, but we are called nonetheless to move into this new territory together, with some crazy sense of faith that there is an intelligence here, a creativity that is pouring out of the beyond.

We long to somehow receive permission to be what we are, for another to understand how we are organizing our experience, for another to somehow be willing to enter into a burning love-field with us, without needing us to be different, to be “cured,” transformed, or even to heal. When we are truly met, when our subjectivity is deeply touched by another, with no agenda, a very organic process of healing is initiated – one that does not come from us or from our friend who is suffering, or even from what we want or think should happen – but seemingly from some mysterious Other. That Other is a raging field of intelligence and creativity, and has come to touch us, to hold us, and to show us something precious. When we allow ourselves to enter deeply into the subjective experience of another – and when they feel us with them inside of the cracks and crevices of each and every cell of their heart – love takes over, grace begins to whisper its secrets, and we turn toward home, together.

heart

How Trees Boost Your Immune System

Qing Li, the medical professor in Tokyo, put together a list of basic rules to create the ideal interaction between forest trees and the human immune system. Professor Li is one of the leading scientists in the area of forest medicine. He advises:

 

  • Remain in a woodland for at least two hours, while walking approximately 1.5 miles (2.5 km). If you have four hours to spend there, hike about 2.5 miles (4km). In order to boost your natural killer cells and anti-cancer proteins over a longer period of time as well, it is recommendable to spend three days in a row in a forest.
  • Make a walking/hiking plan that suits your physical condition. Make sure you don’t get tired during your time in the woods.
  • If you feel tired, take a break whenever you want and as long as you want. Look for a place in the forest where you feel comfortable.
  • If you’re thirsty, try to drink water or tea.
  • Pick a place in the forest that you spontaneously like and invites you to stay. Stay there for a while, sitting and reading, for example, or meditating, whatever you want, but enjoying the gorgeous ambiance and relaxing.
  • To lastingly maintain the number and activity of your immune system’s natural killer cells and anti-cancer proteins, Qing Li recommends staying in a forest region two or three days per month and advises spending about four hours each day in the woods.
  • In addition to his advice, I’d like to add the following tips that I consider very helpful:
    • The contents of the anti-cancer terpenes in the forest air change over the seasons. The highest concentration is in summer and the lowest in winter. They increase rapidly in April and May, and in June and August, reach their peak. During these months, there are the most terpenes in the woods for your immune system to absorb.
    • Furthermore, you can find the highest concentration of terpenes in the middle of the forest, since tree population is the densest there. The tree leaves and needles form an especially rich source. Additionally, the dense canopy prevents these gaseous substances from escaping the forest. Therefore, it is advisable to go further into the woods and not just spend time on the edges.
    • When the air is moist, for example after rain or during fog, a particularly large amount of healthy terpenes is swirling around the forest air. This means we weren’t going crazy when we felt especially good during a walk in the woods after rain showers.
    • By the way, anti-cancer terpenes are the densest in and near the ground, where we humans are normally present. Higher up, some of them are destroyed by the sun’s UV light that manages to get through the canopy here and there. Thus, it appears as if the distribution of this healthy substance was actually tailored to our body size.

 

Important: Don’t forget that forest medicine is especially helpful when it comes to preventing disease. However, if you are already sick, or feel sick, please go straight to your doctor. Forest medicine is under no circumstances a replacement for conventional medical check-ups.

 

Looking for more great reads?

Excerpted from The Biophilia Effect by Clemens G. Arvay.

Clemens G. Arvay, MSC, is a biologist and nonfiction writer who studied landscape ecology and applied plant science in Vienna and Graz. He centers his work on the relationship between man and nature, focusing on the health-promoting e?ects of contact with plants, animals, and landscapes. His most recent book is The Healing Code of Nature (Random House Germany, 2016). He lives in Austria. For more, visit arvay.info.

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