dI hate the cold. Unfortunately it is a feeling of human nature that I do not tolerate. And I’m sure I’m not the only one. It was, therefore, with a certain curiosity that I attended a seminar in Milan on the Wim Hof method created by Wim Hofin fact, an athlete of Dutch origin -also called The Iceman – famous for running a marathon in -20 degrees o having tackled Everest in shoes and shorts.
Hof devised a technique that involves immersion in ice water through three pillars: breathing, exposure to cold and concentration. His method activates a significant increase in energy resources and allows you to resist effortlessly at very low temperatures.
The benefits of the method are many: increases adrenaline exponentially, turns out to be a good antidote for anxiety and depression because raises levels of dopamine, the good mood hormone, at 2.3 percent. It also involves a reduction of inflammation and autoimmune diseases.
For women then the Wim Hof method is a real panacea.
Wim Hof (Photo by Tristar Media/Getty Images) (Photo credit should read DEVENDRA MAN SINGH./AFP via Getty Images)
Lulu Berton, the first female teacher of the Wim Hof method in Italy
The appointment to find out more is at the Mare Culturale Urbano (the next one will be held, again in Milan, on May 27 at the @weareplaymore sports centre).
Lulu Berton, journalist, professor of the Master in Mindfulness Meditation at the University of Pisa, has been the only female teacher in Italy, the first woman to be certified with Wim Hof, after years of study in close contact with Wim himself.
Moreover, she is also a certified teacher yoga, he studied in Los Angeles with masters such as Himalayan yogi Yogrish Vishveketu.
In 2014 he met Wim Hof and in fact decided to follow him in various trainings and extreme expeditions between Spain, America and Poland.
It starts with cold showers
At the entrance to the location vI have a round aluminum tub and a set of large bags of ice. Inside a room, of what was once a farmhouse, there are about twenty people sitting on the floor.
To prepare us, Lulu sent everyone a to-do list recommending that we take gradual cold showers before the fight. The first week was necessary always start with a regular hot shower and then switch to a cold one for the last 15 seconds, and so on the second week up to 30 seconds.
Lulu Berton introduces the seminar with the story of Wim Hof. She says that he is the biggest wellness celebrity in the world.
Wim Hof (Photo by Tristar Media/Getty Images)
The Story of “Iceman”
Wim Hof, after the death of his wife in 1995, to overcome the pain, start training in the most extreme conditions. He dives into the ice-cold water of a pond in Amsterdam and then, in sequence, he accumulates a series of unique experiences that lead him straight to the World Guinness Records. Like, for example, a marathon at the Arctic Circle, in Finland, with temperatures close to -20.
A hero”. Little by little he becomes passionate about it yoga, kung fu, karate, Buddhism, Hinduism and Sufism. Almost everything. And he begins to conceive his method.
The Wim Hof method begins
Lulu Berton then immediately enters the merits. After a few warm-up yoga positions we start, in sequence, to do 30/40 deep breaths inhaling completely up to the belly and chest and then letting go without forcing.
He explains that, in addition to strengthening us and increasing sporting performance, this practice reconnects us to ourselves to find within us the source of happiness.
The second step is apnea, we are invited to hold our breath until we feel the need to breathe again.
We repeat a couple of cycles. At the end I feel completely relaxed. Light as a feather, as if I’ve cleared space somewhere inside me.
The frozen pool by Garden Lab for the Wim Hof method
We dive…
When the immersion phase arrives – about 40 seconds – I confess that I backed out. Not because I wasn’t convinced, but because I preferred to make the choice to stay in my comfort zone. I wasn’t ready for the Big Ice Leap yet.
Of course I’m the only one. Patience.
All the other course participants instead dive into the ice in groups of four. There are also a father and daughter, couples, sportsmen.
People eager to improve the quality of their lives and to challenge themselves.
The moment of the challenge in the ice water with the Wim Hof method
It’s very hard, their eyes they speak because the breath stops and the words remain choked in the throat.
Lulu Berton, very calmly, guide each group step by step. Time seems suspended in those ten seconds.
They all resist, maybe they suffer for a few momentsbut when they come out they all have a big smile on their faces.
They have certainly traveled within their limits. A triumph.
iO Woman © REPRODUCTION RESERVED