 “Fear does not go away by itself. You have to confront your fear, mold it, then learn to control it in its own irrational reality. Every human being has the power to do just that. To go deep within and confront your inner being is a powerful act. Going deep and developing the will power is the only way.” ~ Wim HofSpoilers The Carnivore Diet was what reversed nearly all disease symptoms but I'll have to save that for another article. This has been written since May 2017... Oh how things have changed since only 3 months into a Rare Carnivore Diet w/ Supplementation. Beginning Thoughts~ This article is meant for those with reading-endurance and cursing-tolerance ^o^. ~ This article started out in one style and inevitably ended in another, much like a disjointed series of vaguely illogical dreams. Because of this, I thought I would add to it so that it would at least start and end the same, yet middle differently... Yeah, don't ask why? I am experimental (or a touch lazy), and my fucks to give are becoming as rare as a person who can confidently tell you what intrinsically motivates them. With that out of the way, I am confident you will glean some helpful and interesting information from this article. Ranging from scientific research to support this method's utilization as well as potential pitfalls (blacking out like a boss) and my personal story to give details as to what sort of progress I have seen from a health perspective. My only regret in writing this article is I wish I had implemented IRIS software with its timer-restriction mode activated so that it would have interrupted me every 20 min for a 2 min movement-break. This way I would have done some of Eric Goodman's exercises or Egoscue Method or just move like a non-idiot, so I wouldn't be stiff as a fossilized-turd because I sat glued to my laptop for hours on end writing this fucker... Other than that, no goddamn regrets I tell you. I completely recognize by the way that starting this off in a cursing-tirade is about as professional and self-limiting as a presidential candidate not allowed to lie (strange analogies are strange, just go with it) when it comes to this articles reach to be read by more people that is. To that I say, remember those rare fucks of which I have giveth?... Those fucks are like unicorn-status rare comrade... mythical unicorn-status (-_-.)... If cursing upsets you or downright abusive use of possibly my most favorite grammar tool known as the ellipsis... then there are plenty of other articles that go into detail about Hof and his method that are assuredly more grammar-considerate and free of fuckery. I am not the first to lead with cursing as a front-lining writing style, albeit less technique of mine and more of a natural way of being; like a ferret whose natural state is as a mischief-maker (they merely feel most at home stealing your shit and moving about like drunken maniacs). Speaking of a master-fuck-giver, I will take a moment to plug a book I recently recommended titled The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck authored by Mark Manson. Yes, by the way, that is an affiliate link. So if you don't feel like I should receive money for linking that then give me the big classic 'fuck you' by simply typing in the book title into Google (or whatever search engine you fancy?), so I don't receive a dime for recommending it. I am honestly fine with either. Just get a hold of that book if you want to accelerate your clarity-acquisition. Now back to this article's main intention. Cold-exposure has a lot in common with romantic relations... No, not in that they can leave you cold-hearted and on the brink of death due to hypothermia (don't let yourself become bitter from romance going differently than you expected... you're better than that). In that, chiefly it has a certain bittersweetness to it that makes you significantly uncomfortable at times. Akin to screaming FUCK and laughing like a madman from time to time sort-of discomfort, yet also brings you a sense of fulfillment knowing that you're living life (risking venture, vulnerability, and humanness) or pushing yourself into new reflections or introspections via outward explorations. It is this aspect of bittersweetness that makes this sort of practice so attractive albeit you may be second-guessing this as you do four rounds of breathing while you stare into the icy-waters enveloped by frigid temperatures; knowing that you'll soon be walking into those painfully unforgiving elements. At which point you may find yourself trying to convince your nervous system that "this is entirely sane and ok... right?"... Aside from that, it's a fucking blast I swear. One of the aims of this high-intensity cold thermogenesis, enough to cause shivering, is to increase irisin levels which rival that of an hour of HIIT high-intensity interval training, which is a byproduct of a hormetic effect that increases resilience. Non-shivering cold thermogenesis has some documented benefits as well, so don't think you need to push yourself daily to shivering-status cold thermogenesis, in fact, this may not be in your best interest to enter shivering-levels daily. Additionally, there is some cool research (the pun is wholeheartedly intended) about how cold thermogenesis decreases uric acid levels all the while increasing glutathione levels (your master antioxidant that your liver produces) which both have therapeutic application. Certain medical conditions could be a contraindication for this practice, and therefore should be avoided, or more slowly integrated. Some examples given are hypothyroidism, severe cardiac dysfunction, being in a fasted state, being severely underweight, Addison's disease, etc. However, there just isn't enough research to support a solid foundation to any of this to declare absolute avoidance in said diseases, and nothing replaces listening to your body... unless you're a cyborg with advanced integrated AI that can inform you of variables beyond your awareness and all?... In that case, keep being awesome. I hope that you sincerely take the time to explore this practice to the extent you're confident in expanding your body's resilience. I'd love to sit here and say I don't compete with anyone else but my self, but that would mean I was lying to you. And I really hate dishonesty, so when I get groups together to do these at the Boise river, don't think for a minute that I don't think somewhere in the back of my little egoic-head "GODDAMN, I wasn't the last person to walk out of that river that time." Granted this is an area you need to listen to your body and push at your own risk. It's a playful sort of group pushing to limits of sorts at times. The plurality of the time I do not compete with anyone but my self, if I compete at all. Because when you walk out of the ice-bath or iced-river, you will likely find your self fairly uncontrollably-shaking and wondering "what the fuck am I doing here, this man-bun dip-shit is gonna KILL US ALL"... which, by the way, is a very reasonable thing to think, all things considering. Just remember you're reading an article from a very unreasonable man. Notated by my near-insane level of functional optimism for overcoming health challenges of which a variety have contributed to nearly having killed me several times over. Also just ask each of my exes, I am sure they'll all tell you I had unreasonable goals for my self. Often illustrated by them describing me as a piece of fiction or having overblown aims, or notions of child-like future-attainment, which had to make partnering with me a fucking chore a portion of the time. In other words, take this all with a grain of salt (sun-dried grey sea salt) cause there is enough historical evidence to stack that I clearly see reality differently than most for better or worst. My life is far from the usual in most respects, in that I am often an outlier, not because I necessarily intend it to be, but just because I listen to the music of my off-beat drummer (that cat has no rhythm). Which means my metrics for a successful, fulfilling and meaningful life have little to do with outside references other than the testability and reliability of my values in the most honorably-applied of terms... most of the time. I am known to fail my way to success or just fail a fucking lot (like imagine a fuck-ton had sex with a bucket of fucks) and yes risk looking like a cocky-ass or just plain dumb-ass because my confidence in my methods is sometimes grossly over-stated. The market, and life itself, teach me when my intended purpose(s) don't stand up to the truth of a given physics, I then course-correct but not before ramming my head into the wall a few more times cause you know... some of us sign up for the beast-mode hard-setting in life. Ending the beginning section, so we can now delve into the middling-section, so you know, you can get to why you clicked this bloody thing in the first place. The below photo is the first group Boise Wim Hof Method get-together. My buddy Tyler and I entered the river before in January 2018, but since then we started up this FB private group and enter the river every couple of weeks. I ask if you wish to join you must be either able to come to Boise or live here and well... you'll see the couple questions I prompt you with when you ask to join. I don't mean to be a prick, but I won't approve you if you live somewhere else unless you indicate in the questions that you make it out to Boise at times. It is a Boise Wim Hof Group, so don't get your shorts in a bunch if I don't reply if I see you're from North Korea or some jazz. There is some shit-talk in here of bowel movements of strangeness and whatnot, but it'll all make sense as to how that's pertinent to this method (from a personal health-advancement point of view, not as a 'you're going to shit like a pro' prospect). No worries, I spared you all of the photos of my shit, cause even I have limits on how forward I ought to be with writing ^o^. I draw that line at showing shit, because we see enough of that on the news already in the form of a president.  That's me to the left in pants soaking wet cause I fucking despise shorts. And while I look all tough there, I'm fucking shaking like a kitten caught in the eye of a storm with nothing but a mild sense of where to go to get warm. Photography credit goes to TJ Proctor for filming and taking photos of us as we delved into the waters. ~ Self-Territory ~The self is a largely unexplored territory of the mind in which you are the only rightful captain to lead its expedition in discovering its upper-echelon limits, its meaningful pain, its beautiful brokenness, its disciplined darkness, its relentless desires, its thirst for experience, its mistaken identities & its coldest depths of mystery... Stress, many of us have come to know the meaning of this word as being something we want to reduce by all measures within our life. Typically connected with nearly every single disease process known. It's the go-to for what gets blamed for when relationships turn sour of all kinds. It's that feeling you get when two people are in the same room as one another whom deeply despise one another, it feels like you could take a knife out and cut off a piece of the stress, cause the field of tension is damn near palpable and tumor-like. It's that unnerving realization that life will never be the same again after being diagnosed with a terminal illness or chronic disease that is classified incurable. Stressors both big and small come in an endless array of options for us in this crazy ride known as being human. Financial stress can arc into our health reserves while relationship stress can rob our financial vaults, vice versa and so on and so forth. So what about stress that leads to positive or healthy outcomes? Why is it so rarely spoken about? There once lived a man by the name of Hans Selye who was an endocrinologist who coined the term Eustress which consists of the Greek prefix eu-meaning "good", and stress, literally meaning "good stress." I hope after reading this article that you walk away with a different perspective on stress altogether. It's not a one-way street, in fact, there is a spectrum of reactions/responses to circumstances that will either lend one to experience distress or eustress. How you frame your narrative makes all the difference in 'your world' and therefore how you move about the actual world. Wouldn't you prefer to go about the world like an adventurer pursuing vast treasures, yet non-attached to the outcome because the journey is so rich with experience, that the result really is but the gluten-free/sugar-free icing on that grainless ketogenic cake? As opposed to framing like Golem, whose obsessed by some material thing or some "end" that he might as well be cracked-out on PCP laced with cocaine, all because he ended his sense of fulfillment the moment he became obsessed with possessing some end? It is crucial to keep in mind that the perspective we weave all of our experiences with can be one of the most significant predictors to desirable or less desirable outcomes in any given circumstance. The irony is a journey-centered emphasis will typically lead to improved results on a personal level, provided one still holds themselves to critical goals or aims they wish to see actualized. The way we narrate our circumstances will help to determine the direction in which we experience stress. At the very least it will help determine our likelihood of recognizing, and creating opportunities that have the potential to alter our circumstance in a way that is more aligned with our values. A life full of pain needn't be one full of suffering. As always this is easier said than done, yet speaking from a long series of intense and debilitating disease processes. I can attest to the fact that not only can it be done, but it must also be the choice we step into if we have any interest in leaving humanity (hopefully the world) better than if we didn't exist in the first place. Thinking on a universal scale, while we may be seemingly insignificant in contrast to the sheer titanic size of the cosmos, our thoughts and actions very much matter in this life. It affects not only the people we love and care about, but it changes our trajectory towards our unique human potential. We mustn't let illness, including chronic pessimistic-thinking, to erode our dreams of making first our own life better and thereby improving our relationship with others, society, country, world, interplanetary, etc. We must be better stewards of this planet, and that starts by having a strong foundation in healthier habits. The main reason I am writing this article isn't to tell you about my adventures into The Wim Hof Method. Instead, this is a call to action to anyone reading to look inside your own heart and mind to begin to change your relationship with stress consciously. Because stress can fuck you hard or you two can develop a consensual relationship, the responsibility lies in your hands. My hope is at the end of reading this that you will take the necessary action to begin to implement a new health-promoting habit (this or some other) that influences your nervous systems functioning. This way you find it even more effortless to be kind, courteous, disciplined, eudaimonic, and maybe even a little magnanimous. Perhaps you'll become Wolverine out there roaming the mountains in nothing but jeans, ready to take on the cougars with your bare hands (and knuckle blades of course) like the ultimate badass. You'll become so brutally integrated into freezing temps that even the cougars won't fuck with you, plus I mean, I'm pretty sure wild animals would reconsider messing with a ultra-predator like Wolverine. Below gives the critical characteristics of distress and eustress. Eustress is by definition the beneficial stress—either psychological, physical (e.g., exercise), or biochemical/radiological (hormesis). Sorry on video quality, still learning the hard way on content creation ^o^.
Personal Back Story Primer It isn't uncommon to read or hear of second-hand anecdotal reports about how breathing practices are capable of transforming the body/mind in a variety of ways. And with all of the information overload nowadays with people competing for your attention, it can be difficult to determine where to start with all of these "transformational practices"? What has been vetted by the scientific community? Does it matter whether the scientific community has vetted it or not? Well, that depends on a variety of variables as well. If you are using some practice to sharpen your focus or expand your awareness, it isn't always relevant how much research has been done on it, so long as you see results, and it isn't sacrificing one of your chief values. Some science certainly helps entrust that your time is best honing a meaningful practice. The results should speak for themselves though, cause you should be able to levitate and go Super Saiyan by the end of your training... Not really, well I mean shit, maybe? If you do manage to enter Super Saiyan status I ask that you contact me, cause I'd like to see if I could attain that level, I mean, I always wondered what I might look like with blond hair that defied gravity? ~ Skip to the ice bath pictures if you want to dive into the details of the changes. ~ That being said, for those uninterested in tradition, dogma or ancestral lines of inheriting practices. Is there a practice that stands out as being not only open to scientific scrutiny but also has a series of individuals showing significant clinical improvements in areas of biomarkers of inflammation which leads to the dampening of symptoms from a variety of inflammatory conditions and immune conditions? The Iceman himself Wim Hof has made a simple practice readily available to the public at large for some time now. Having read a variety of scientific research regarding his practice's impact on epinephrine, cortisol and hs-CRP levels in the body, it caught my attention a couple of years back. I still didn't feel ready to take that challenge on quite yet. Not until a buddy encouraged me to do it in April of 2017... That sly son of a bitch and his charismatic ways of saying "Hey let's do ice baths like a bunch of cool cats cause that sounds like a good time..." Yeah, wasn't so fun initially, and well really any time for that matter, but it's entirely worth it, and it'll all make sense at the end of this article. Mind you I am dealing with a complex series of intestinal infections (four years strong starting back on March 15th 2014) coupled with intestinal lining permeability weakness. Which brought about sepsis from a combo of food poisoning with some binge drinking that wiped out my diversity of gut bacteria. Sprinkle in some gluten-containing foods that impacted an already irritated lining for increased permeability, in conjunction with having a variety of genetic polymorphisms that affect methylation pathways, etc. And you get this shit-storm like some living nightmare ready to execute all that which brings about joy. Because of all of this, I had some hesitance as I wasn't sure how strong of an immune-reaction might occur by doing this method. The reason for that line of thinking is that every attempt to get rid of these low-grade (at this point) lab-verified infection(s) is because all of the anti-infective and downright "going to war" tactics have only made me progressively weaker. Also much more vulnerable (not precisely the kind of vulnerability one thinks of as being healthy as you'd find in relationships with other humans) without fail let alone racking up 3 ER visits in just the past three years ($24K in just ER bills). As well as about $15-20K each year since 2014 just in supplements/protocols/doctor visits/diagnostics which has led to totaling over $80,000 in bills within four years in the pursuit to understand and conquer a mysterious series of infections, immune-dysfunction, and dysbiosis. Yeah, infections are the war-generals of the micro-universe. They have the strategies of Nazi Germany with their stealth-tactics, defense-tactics and communication-tactics that once they all come together form some of the most insidious of strategies to take over a human-ecosystem. The cunningness of said infections, especially when there is a group of them, is remarkable especially because you often are unwittingly contributing to their strategy to dig deeper roots into you. Now this article might take a turn into a slightly more serious-tone if but for a couple of paragraphs. The symptoms have been beyond unsettling, unrelenting and at times life/mind-shattering... My most honed faculty being my intellectual capacity and determination to overcome any problem I've ever encountered, now was being turned against me from a series of pathological bacterial infections coupled with intestinal barrier thinning and their (infections) byproducts both in their growth, death, and regrowth. So no matter if I was winning or losing, in the end, they always had the upper hand as it would release a relentless amount of LPS (lipopolysaccharide a.k.a. lipoglycans and endotoxins, which are highly toxic byproducts of specific pathogens) in which attributed to creating intense brain fog, suffocating fatigue as if a vampire was siphoning your life-force away from you, crippling pain in the neck, back and gut, massive tachycardia upward to 210bpm (beats per minute) randomly set in and set in during every night of sleep for a solid 9 months straight at one point, incremental sleep-debt due to this complicating factor, inability to eat hardly any food for years (was down to one food for about a month then three-five for six months and now [at time of writing this] I am at twelve foods), which led to micronutrient deficiencies that escalated psychological decay (just a partial list of symptoms)... Psychological barriers kept breaking down, day by day which allowed for massive paranoia, schizophrenic, and at times total psychotic breakdowns of which family had a few opportunities to be present to witness their comrade completely break to the point that I was frantically punching a refrigerator screaming and weeping at the heights of mania. All in a simultaneous display of rage, depression, and madness due to the exponential scale of neurotransmitter imbalances brought on by chronic inflammation from the GI tract and all of the endotoxin byproducts that were congesting my liver and overburdening the methylation pathways. This is the same person whom they've seen survive 8 lung collapses, mercury intoxication, clinical insanity from mercury poisoning, nearly bleeding to death from spontaneous nose bleeds that required medical intervention, asthma attacks that strangled me until my lips turned blue, vomiting nearly every day for a year straight when I was younger due to unknown causes, etc. Metaphorically-speaking there were periods of several months on and off as I was coming to grips with understanding some of the physics behind my emerging pathologies and vectors of illness that were akin to another person trying to kill me. As if someone far more powerful than I, had one hand around my neck keeping me in submerged water occasionally letting me up for air only to open my eyes to his other hand holding a gun to my head. As I exhaust my glycogen stores of stored energy, the weakness of 'hitting the wall' sets in and my ability to resist drowning, as he chokes me just enough not to have me black out. As I come up for a breather only to see there are several other people in the surrounding area with a variety of weapons as if a reminder that even if I defeat the opponent currently dominating me, that I will hardly be in a position to handle the remaining ones... In other words, I felt staggeringly fucked beyond any reasonable belief. All of this led to an extremely and rapid limitation in dietary variety, at one point having to go about 6 weeks without eating a single solid food because the intestinal inflammation verified by a CT scan during one of the ER visits was so severe that it's precisely where Crohn's typically sets in (ileum) and there was concern of blockages, intestinal permeability leading back to sepsis, etc. One of the GI docs looked at me like she was giving me a Cancer diagnosis, my weakness and mental madness were at an all time high. It felt like an enemy was deeply rooted in and wasn't going to be told it had to leave without taking a part of me with it or possibly take me to the grave. Feeling this metabolically vulnerable and weakened, it was difficult to navigate as my communications network (thinking brain) was substantially handicapped. The neurological inflammation, imbalances, and toxicity were so abundant that my ability to research to get well was deeply compromised and relying on the medical community was proving to be a dangerous decision as well, more due to their poor understanding of this complex of a situation. I mean that sincerely and am not faulting the medical community for being incompetent at this level of sensitivity and complexity. I felt it a gamble of a lifetime but quickly realized with my history with the medical community, that I stood a better chance in the land of self-experimentation and exercising the knowledge I had already attained up to that point by increasing the variables of wellness incrementally. All to regain mental clarity and enough energy reserves to continue to work to fund my R&D (research & development) in getting well, which was averaging 2-3K a month regardless of incoming revenue. I tapped into my lines of credit with the intuitive confidence that my determination would render greater than any pathology and my future self would be able to pay back my debts. Some of the confirmed data below (Diagnostic Solutions Laboratory GI-MAP DNA Stool Analysis) gives some insight into the complications of the matter, see attachment for complete data from one of the labs:
I now order these labs for my clients and work with anyone regardless of where they live within the USA. Feel free to e-mail through the link below to get a test-kit sent to you and see if I would be a good fit for you to identify what's really preventing you from healing. * Affiliate Disclosure: I receive 6% of purchases through WellEvate Fill out Dr. Ben Lynch's Gene Survey's to learn more about how you can improve your health through understanding your genetic SNP's. My self-experimentation all came at a cost, at times even landing me in the ER a couple of times. It isn't for the faint of heart, and I understand entirely why people prefer to delegate their medical decisions to the medical professionals. However, being able to predict their thinking broadly and studying the typical outcomes of their suggestions it seemed the higher risk in my eyes was to rely on the scientific standard of the modern era in treating a disease process that was sinking its roots deep into the intestinal lining and cardiovascular system. Immune-suppressive drugs, removing portions of the intestinal tract, subjugating the body to an onslaught of antibiotic warfare, diagnostics that could put you in a tailspin via electrolyte imbalances, etc. I am not writing this to knock other peoples decision to go that way. I say know thyself, if you know yourself well enough and know you'd rather entrust your body to the medical community than by all means you've made a choice aligned with your knowledge of self. I have fortunately already come close to death over 14 different times and knew I rather die getting my self well than approach this with a less comprehensive 'systems thinking' as currently is available for this undiagnosed pathology in the paradigm within the US medical system. I still have medical doctors and functional medical practitioners I see to follow up on labs, etc. I think it wise to have an on-going relationship with a couple of practitioners within the field both to educate one another and be informed on variables outside your initial comprehension. I have received help from an MD and DC both trained in functional medicine at different junctions throughout this process. Albeit, I have found the most significant success in self-experimentation. Nonetheless, I continue to seek out other practitioners I feel would compliment my treatment strategies and making a more fully-rounded approach. I have been able to consistently 'buy time' from some potential upheaval that now silently sits confined to the lower right quadrant of my small intestine and aspects of my cardiovascular system. The gradual process of healing the GI tract has been extensive and hard-earned. I am confident there are even better methods or means to getting to the root of this condition and my pursuit of experimentation is apt to land me closer to the mark rather than farther away. I am somewhere around 336 (420+ as of re-editing ^_-.) experiments since March 15th 2014 in attempting to reverse this disease process, and the best new tactic has been intermittent fasting, which in some studies have shown to help regulate intestinal infections. Thankfully protocols like autoimmune-paleo, GAPS, SCD, FODMAPS, etc. All of these borrow from great clinical pearls to control symptoms to regain function for periods of time. Along with base supplementation and mitochondrial supportive nutrients has led to higher fields of clarity and longer endurance (albeit it used to only be just a 15 min walk or so that would bring on symptoms, this is a significant step up over taking a shower causing complete exhaustion and tachycardia just eight months ago). The other variables that have helped with my resilience expanding have been simple and very gradual low-level daily strength-training (plyometrics like push-ups, pull-ups, squats, etc.), systemic methodical supplement experimentation, clinical labs to better target supplementation, acupuncture, breath-training, cold exposure, and meditation. Update Dec 2018: The Carnivore Diet goes well beyond any small success I had with all the diets and supplements I hinted at above. I'll be dropping hints of that for the next article throughout this one ^_-. And this is where Wim Hof comes into play. How has my health changed since adding in the cold exposure, mild strength training, stretching, meditation and breath-work? Since his Method very gradually expands into each one of these which gradually changes your sense of strength both literally and subjectively. So what can someone who has been experiencing an onslaught of inflammation and infectious infiltration expect to see when undertaking this practice? Well, obviously every case is individual. Considering how weak I was at the start of this course, my strength has more than quadrupled in regards to the number of push-ups, breath-retention times, the cold-exposure time before symptoms of coldness impact me. As well as the resilience to when my experiments backfire, overall inflammation has decreased an estimated 65%, and it was at about a 50% reduction just within the first full five weeks of practice, so it seems to go exponential than incremental once you hit a plateau. This is marked by having virtually ZERO inflammation in my gums which was an on-going issue that seemed to carry throughout portions of the GI tract which would be symptoms of literal tenderness of the abdomen from physical touch, pain after eating, distention after eating, bloody or literally puffy gums as inflammatory cascades were taking over my system (this was a symptom mainly on but sometimes controlled throughout the 3 years, but since Wim it literally exists maybe 5% of the time if that), etc. I've also seen a massive decrease in one of the more challenging symptoms, being tachycardia upon every single night since July 25th 2016 after a cayenne incident landed me in the ER (nightshade sensitivity that led to significant damage to the lining at the end of the small intestine, I was using cayenne in capsule form as a prokinetic to aide in improving slow motility and while it worked well on that front I didn't take into consideration I could develop a nightshade sensitivity when coupled with compromised intestinal permeability which apparently isn't uncommon in those with intestinal permeability issues.) I know what you're likely thinking. "Why isn't this dip-shit undergoing triple or quadruple-therapy to use antibiotics to get rid of the infections?" Good point I say you cunning prickly scientific-friend you. I have chosen not to undergo antibiotic therapy as the gamble seemed more dangerous with my medical history of allergy and reactiveness to drugs. NOW, this isn't to say that it isn't a viable treatment option for this sort of condition and I may yet do it, but I was confident as weak as I was at the start it would have done more damage in the long-term then help. I felt I couldn't risk the reaction on top of the immune-assault that was going on and we didn't realize I had sepsis until my body got it under control within four days on its own. Which routine decisions are you certain are impossible to regret? |
 Doing a ice bath at my comrade's place. |  Lasted in here for about 4 minutes and 20 seconds. |
The reason for these kinds of results as best as I can ascertain is primarily from this methods ability to rapidly increase epinephrine and cortisol levels intermittently in small windows with the breath method. Which both have an overall healthy anti-inflammatory effect when exposed to for a short duration. At the bottom of this article, I go into a little more detail regarding these substances and their anti-inflammatory effects. The blood pH changes that come with the practice likely play a small role in some of the health benefits as well. Granted I think many people online simplify this and don't realize that for example, the body maintains different pH's throughout. For example, the mouth ought to be more alkaline, the skin more acidic, the stomach more acidic, the small intestine more alkaline, the large intestine more acidic, etc. Even that is a bit oversimplified. The bigger changes will be found in new blood vessel formation from the bohr's effect, adrenaline and tissue oxygenation (not blood oxygenation) due to temporary hypoxic states.
I am unaware of any research or clinical significance of urine or oral pH testing, and how it impacts overall health. The whole idea of alkalinizing the body is a gross misunderstanding of optimal health and not something I have found to be relevant hardly at all. Yes, acid and alkaline balance matters a great deal but maybe not exactly as we commonly see on the internet. No, you probably wouldn't be better off trying to alkalinize your body with high pH foodstuffs, supplements, water, etc. Granted most of the foods, supplements and the like all have other benefits. I just wanted to address that in this article as a partial thing to raise awareness. The below will account for some of my changes within subjective measurements since doing this method. I do think the pH discussion is compelling nonetheless, and there is apt to be some truth to it, but I am just currently unaware of the data.
The 13 Vectors of Improvement
Within the below categories 11 of which are symptoms from pathology and 2 of which are measures of resiliency, e.g., breath-retention times and duration/intensity of cold-exposure:
I am unaware of any research or clinical significance of urine or oral pH testing, and how it impacts overall health. The whole idea of alkalinizing the body is a gross misunderstanding of optimal health and not something I have found to be relevant hardly at all. Yes, acid and alkaline balance matters a great deal but maybe not exactly as we commonly see on the internet. No, you probably wouldn't be better off trying to alkalinize your body with high pH foodstuffs, supplements, water, etc. Granted most of the foods, supplements and the like all have other benefits. I just wanted to address that in this article as a partial thing to raise awareness. The below will account for some of my changes within subjective measurements since doing this method. I do think the pH discussion is compelling nonetheless, and there is apt to be some truth to it, but I am just currently unaware of the data.
The 13 Vectors of Improvement
Within the below categories 11 of which are symptoms from pathology and 2 of which are measures of resiliency, e.g., breath-retention times and duration/intensity of cold-exposure:
- Gained an estimated 1-1.5 pounds of muscle (isn't much but is notable even in my practice as clients have remarked on the additional strength of applied pressure, this seems to grow week by week as I am doing hundreds of push-ups every day along with adding in some Ido Portal hanging and pull-ups to the mix. I was hesitant on the strength component due to the poor sleep equalling poor quality of repair and may be asking more of my system than I need to, but the pay-offs seem far greater than the down-sides. I can't say the same yet for aerobic activity though, but I haven't seriously engaged that vector with the same level of slow titration, which I suspect will lend to equally useful measures at overcoming this pathology once and for all.) Update Feb 2018: Gained a total of 5.0 pounds of which about 4 is muscle and feeling way stronger, able to easily do 200 push-ups on a given day with little to any struggle.
- Reduced oral-specific inflammation by 95% (I leave five percentage there because it is scarce that I notice it, maybe two days out of 80 and when I do, it is so mild it could hardly be called inflammation compared to what I was living with.)
- Reduced nocturnal-positional tachycardia from (our best assessment currently) a hiatal hernia is putting pressure on the vagal nerve causing the tachycardia (100 - 200bpm every 3-4 hours of lying flat or even inclined) by 90% in an inclined position (haven't tested sleeping flat yet). Also improved interrupted sleep to average every 4-6 hours instead of 3-4 hours. Update Feb 2018: The plurality of all nights I can sleep all the way through unless an experiment goes wrong or some die-off occurs, or a new food doesn't go well. Being one of the more critical physical improvements of all of them on the front of reversing the disease process. Also was able to decrease the incline 5-10 degrees taking that much less pressure off the low back. Update Dec 2018: I have been able to sleep flat now for several months and have greatly improved this limiting symptom.
- Increased appetite by about 35%. I come to this percentage because I added an entire meal which would be one-third of my daily consumption to my daily routine. Now I can eat three meals a day compared to being restricted to two meals only due to inflammation for literally years., this is a massive upgrade, and it came early in the Hof, I'd say about the month marker. Also an increase in ability to eat a larger volume of food, I think partly by healing the hiatal hernia because that would also trigger tachycardia if I ate a bigger meal of even non-reactive foods. Due in part because of the oral inflammation has decreased so much and thus the intestinal swelling has reduced. It has allowed for more flexibility in both lengths of time from meals because I can do bigger meals without virtually any symptoms now. Often after eating I would feel fatigue, due in part to subsequent tachycardia that exhausted me.
- An increase of I'd say approximately 20% in my overall resiliency as measured by my ability to recover from when experiments go wrong, regarding it takes me fewer days, by about a fifth of the time to return to my original plateau. And I am less rocked by interventions that proved to be too much for my system or altogether poorly sequenced or incompatible entirely from either new food introductions going wrong or supplemental or other practitioners protocols. While not large, it's still notable, and it feels to be growing slowly week by week, and I suspect as I experiment with aerobic titration that will lend to significant gains metabolically via enhancing mitochondria within the muscles which should increase my ability to feel more confident about doing things outside of merely work and research. Update Feb 2018: I would say this increased to a total of increase by 40% as a whole cause my strength has grown significantly and ability to recover from experiments that go wrong, etc.
- I expanded my foods by two new ones which in percentage would be a 10% gains, however, I do not particularly attribute this to Hof specifically. It simply came quicker to discover I think because my oral inflammation and GI inflammation reduced which gave me the confidence (because I could see faster recovery times from failed experiments) to add a couple of new foods to my food list. Also, since taking 200mg or so of niacin by Seeking Health split up throughout the day my geographic tongue vanished afterward, but this was just before starting Wim. I had an epic fail with tomatoes (this is when I put two to two together regarding nightshade foods being a big issue, anyway long-story made short I had severe nose bleeds 3-4 days in a row around eight total that almost led to a blood transfusion at the hospital, and yes I still did the Wim Hof Method every day even then, albeit skipped cold showers entirely on one of those days cause I was so loopy and weak from blood-loss) the big success was wild yams though along with avocado mayo by Primal Kitchen which is bloody fantastic!
- Increased socialization by 45% as measured by literally having the energy to spend with friends doing things like a VR outing at a local VR center. I felt some mild fatigue yet was able to override it where it usually would take me down. Attended the TED talk in Boise at which I had a fresh opportunity to speak with one the speakers and hang with friends at the after-party (felt good for that other than a bit dehydrated). Meeting with old friends that I haven't spent time with since getting sick due to just not having the energy to speak aloud or do much of anything aside from work, research and doctor appointments. Just talking caused fatigue, so that level of fatigue has changed a lot. Update Feb 2018: This has returned to all-time highs now, I would say this has moved from 45% at the time of writing this in May 2017 to now upwards of a total 75% increase and rarely does my health make me have to cancel plans, albeit it still restricts activities and travel thus far. Update Dec 2018: I have taken quite a few camping trips and an out of state trip with no real issue since Carnivore Diet. This has entirely changed the limitation factor.
- Decrease in fatigue from speaking aloud by 85%, as tracked by the days journaled on fatigued days via speaking compared to days that I wasn't. I have a good contrast too because I have a practice doing manual therapy via massage & bodywork and this rarely would fatigue me except when I had to relay info verbally aloud to a client. In fact, there have been days I had to speak via a phone text right in front of my clients because speaking aloud would create so much fatigue I just couldn't stand and talk at the same time. This percentage might be significantly higher just because now I can speak aloud a lot and go on for hours and not notice any adverse effects the plurality of the days that have gone by since about week 2. Indeed one of the better changes has been, and I find it odd that speaking seems to exhaust me literally as it has throughout the past three years. Now it makes up a small percentage of my fatigue, it seems more physical movement like walking can bring about a drop in energy, but even that has improved significantly. Update Feb 2018: This has moved up to 95%+ as I virtually never deal with this issue thanks to the liver support and adaptogen stacking.
- A 20% increase in gut-motility and digestibility (still not where I want it to be but a significant and steady improvement) of foodstuffs as marked by a decrease in fermentability of tolerated foods, which has decreased bloating and improved transit time of food. As well I don't have to chew as long as I used to and not have any side effects where if I failed to masticate food 50-100 times I would. Granted I still think chewing food for longer is overall a smart strategy I have put this to the test and have been impressed. Also, the ileocecal valve manipulation both while on the toilet and before bed does significantly improve the area in which I have the biggest weakness. However, the food reaching that point has enhanced in transit-time which I deduce mainly to how the breath-work massages the viscera and squeezes the liver/gallbladder/pancreas/spleen which has added benefit let alone the oxygenated blood reaching these sites at a higher level improving overall function. While it's difficult to say this is the primary cause for improvement, it lends possible evidence that one can impact digestion through daily breath-work. Which I realize seems obvious enough but to move the needle in this vector is no small feat when dealing with dysbiosis. I am sure the cold-exposure component has added benefit by manipulating both vagal nerve tone and the vascular system thereby improving oxygen-rich blood reaching these organs at a more concentrated level. Which is interesting because bile is one of the best weapons against SIBO/SIFO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth and fungal overgrowth.) So if you improve bile-flow, you will long-term help prevent dysbiosis albeit at the onset might notice some die-off symptoms of which I did see a touch of fatigue at the first week of practice.
- Inflammation of my bladder has decreased by 75% as marked by a sharp decline in inflammatory incontinence after using the restroom around the 5th week. Another new issue since the July 2016 cayenne incident (yay for experiments that backfire royally). It seemed like when the lower R quadrant blew up with inflammation it impacted bladder function to a small but annoying degree. Also, there was a reduction in urination urgency (also brought on only after the cayenne incident) by 85% at around the 6th week of consistent Wim Hof Method practice.
- My experience of rapid-onset anxiety which is almost exclusively brought on from excess outside-stimulation has improved by 80% as tracked by the decrease in aversion towards large group settings because I have more energy resources to deal with these situations. Neuroinflammation better explains this anxiety via infectious organisms producing a significant amount of LPS amongst other epigenetic inflammatory cascades, etc. thus outside-input like loud sounds, visual complexity, intense scents, etc. drain the energetic neurological resources via mitochondrial taxation. In other words, those with neuroinflammation for many reasons are suspect to outside sensory-overload leading to excitotoxicity as it were from loud noises, elaborate visuals, complicated or overwhelming scents, etc. Even people who naturally are not anxious will get a chance to experience this loveliness if they have a similar circumstance as I in regards to deep-seated infections and tissue damage of the 2nd brain called the gut. Granted, I have never particularly cared for large groups and never liked concerts, etc. Update Feb 2018: Thanks in part to the liver-support and adaptogen-stacking this has improved to 99%. I virtually never have to deal with this issue unless an experiment fails big time.
- Increased resistance to cold-water by 500% over the course. I remember when 45 seconds which used to feel intense, and now my average doesn't feel like hardly anything at a 3-5 min marker. Also, there are times where I withstand 12 min pure cold showers with little consequence of coldness setting in, granted I average three and a half minute cold showers very comfortably. I still do notice coldness set-in 20 min, or so after the epinephrine I presume has settled, however even that is something I can work through. I am learning from all of 45k+ people on the Facebook group who practice Wim Hof though to trust and listen to your body and don't force yourself. I do push my self but not to the extent in which I would go. Update Feb 2018: This has increased to 700%+ as I never use hot water unless washing hair now, and take longer cold showers and do river dips regularly for 5 min at a time until involuntary shaking kicks in.
- Increased breath-retention time by went from 90 seconds to averaging around 3 min so an increase by 200%, this doesn't count my record retentions which are as high as 6 min and 9 seconds which was my last breath-hold on the last round of the last day of the 10-week course just last night. Granted I did ten rounds in a row doing his 45 min breath challenge, and most of those rounds averaged only 3 min and 30 seconds. I pushed hard to get that retention up and to be honest, I am not sure if it's relevant to any enhancement biomarker-wise, etc.? Nor do I know how wise that is? Just an interesting thing to notate.
"Healthy volunteers practicing the learned techniques exhibited profound increases in the release of epinephrine (adrenaline), which in turn led to increased production of anti-inflammatory mediators and subsequent dampening of the proinflammatory cytokine response elicited by intravenous administration of bacterial endotoxin."
~ Proceedings of the National Academy for Sciences ~
(click the link above to be directed to the study)
~ Proceedings of the National Academy for Sciences ~
(click the link above to be directed to the study)
Tyler-san Undergoing A Outdoor Ice-Bath
 Tyler adapted to the cold at a faster pace. | Look at this cheery chap to the left. He's happier than a cat hopped up on cat-nip while getting fed top-dollar food. It is my comrade Tyler who encouraged me to do the Wim Hof Method with him. We both decided to take the plunge into the ten-week course precisely at the same time, and his comments have been more in the mood enhancement. He has said that this is the happiest and most alive he has felt in years. He and I are undergoing our next experiment but still carrying over Wim Hof Method in daily practice. We have a few experiments towards improving health and mind/body vitality. The next one we are going to undergo as it appears to be a great compliment is Buteyko Russian Breathwork, Self-Authoring & Foundation Training. We are looking to undertake several other experiments that run for 1-3 months at a time for core-foundation practices to keep us moving through transformational practices. All of this in the vein to better advance our skill-set acquisition to help embody skills that lend to more significant strides in self-mastery and being able to help others. |
Breath Hold Records
~ As of May 2017 ~
 This breath-hold occurred on the 45 min challenge. |  One of my longest breath-hold times I have done. |
As you can see from the above, some of my breath-hold times are relatively high and range a great deal. It is rare to enter the four min+ mark for me, and I don't fully understand why some days I have more significant retention times than others? Nor do I know if it's relevant to any health-gains as it were? I think I may have done some micro-breathing on some of my holds, however, I learned to pinch off my nose when seeking to hit new records.
My highest record is the one to the upper left which just so happened to be the last retention of the last day of the ten-week course with a breath hold time of 6 minutes and 9 seconds. If you can't tell already by now, I wholeheartedly endorse the Wim Hof Method, however not with some caution. My comrade Tyler blacked out on the last day of the ten-week course in the shower, and he got lucky that he walked away with just a gash to his side. He was doing the heat-flush which after I think doing the 45 min breath challenge, it was just too much on his body. He said he had no warning; only that he was doing the breath-retention (on the inhale when around water) along with the heat-flush which he said he pushed himself hard on. He was out for about 3 min.
I use about half my intensity when in the shower or doing ice baths. However, as time moves forward under the supervision of other trained individuals in this practice, I will push my self more. I just want to drive home that I don't want to encourage anyone doing this method in submerged water because all it takes is a second and you could end up dead. If doing submerged practice, do it with someone readily monitoring you right in front of their eyes so they can pull you out if you black out! It doesn't add to any health benefits as far as I can tell. As your fat begins to transform from white fat to brown/beige fat (mitochondrial dense fat which is thermogenic) just from the cold showers gradually getting longer or doing ice baths, you glean all the significant health benefits from cold-exposure just doing that.
On top of that, the breath-work needn't ever be done in water to reap additional benefits as far as I can tell. At the time of writing this I sit up first thing in the morning in my bed every single day and do four rounds of the breath-work than a 5th round where at the end I do the push-ups on the exhale of the final breath, of which I am averaging 50 full consecutive push-ups each morning. I partly do this to make sure it remains habitual, and if I black out, I am in my bed, so it's highly unlikely I will injure my self. I have no indication (granted it doesn't appear anyone gets a warning) or concern of blacking out, however as years go by and I continue this practice the probability remains that one day it might just happen.
My highest record is the one to the upper left which just so happened to be the last retention of the last day of the ten-week course with a breath hold time of 6 minutes and 9 seconds. If you can't tell already by now, I wholeheartedly endorse the Wim Hof Method, however not with some caution. My comrade Tyler blacked out on the last day of the ten-week course in the shower, and he got lucky that he walked away with just a gash to his side. He was doing the heat-flush which after I think doing the 45 min breath challenge, it was just too much on his body. He said he had no warning; only that he was doing the breath-retention (on the inhale when around water) along with the heat-flush which he said he pushed himself hard on. He was out for about 3 min.
I use about half my intensity when in the shower or doing ice baths. However, as time moves forward under the supervision of other trained individuals in this practice, I will push my self more. I just want to drive home that I don't want to encourage anyone doing this method in submerged water because all it takes is a second and you could end up dead. If doing submerged practice, do it with someone readily monitoring you right in front of their eyes so they can pull you out if you black out! It doesn't add to any health benefits as far as I can tell. As your fat begins to transform from white fat to brown/beige fat (mitochondrial dense fat which is thermogenic) just from the cold showers gradually getting longer or doing ice baths, you glean all the significant health benefits from cold-exposure just doing that.
On top of that, the breath-work needn't ever be done in water to reap additional benefits as far as I can tell. At the time of writing this I sit up first thing in the morning in my bed every single day and do four rounds of the breath-work than a 5th round where at the end I do the push-ups on the exhale of the final breath, of which I am averaging 50 full consecutive push-ups each morning. I partly do this to make sure it remains habitual, and if I black out, I am in my bed, so it's highly unlikely I will injure my self. I have no indication (granted it doesn't appear anyone gets a warning) or concern of blacking out, however as years go by and I continue this practice the probability remains that one day it might just happen.
How Does The Practice Look
After The 10 Week Course?
As you will see whenever you go through the course, it has a variety of components ranging from breath-work, meditation, yoga, mild-strength training, cold-exposure and mental focus. I break it up to fit my lifestyle. I am fortunate enough to have worked towards being full-time (24 hours on average a week) with hands-on practice and nutritional practice. I work 16 days a month; this doesn't account for all of the other work on the business as it were. However, I am at a point where it doesn't demand a great deal from me to maintain the high level I expect of my practice.
I take a cold shower in the morning and do breath-work at night. I average 5 min (a near 5 min song like Skyfall from Adele) then sometimes will do some warm water for a min or so then end with cold depending on my health. Update Feb 2018: I only use warm water when washing the conditioner out of hair now so just feel warmth two to three times a week. I always start each shower cold and end cold at a bare minimum. However, it has gotten to the point where the bulk of my time in a shower is pure cold which is fantastic and invigorating. I do a variety of the yoga poses throughout the day, however this area I am a little slack on.
At the time of writing this I end each night with a 20-30 min meditation, also in bed. I've added mouth-taping to my routine (also see best sleep practices on our page here) which has improved sleep and massively induced recall of dreams. I started this in the last week of Wim Hof course. Ironically I found out this is part of the Buteyko practice which just so happens to be the next practice we are going to delve into as it seems to compliment the Wim Hof Method of intermittent hypoxia (reduced levels of oxygen) training. As I begin to stack other practices onto this one, it will be interesting to see what sticks and what doesn't. Ultimately this is foundational and proof enough to maintain daily until the day I die. I know that sounds painfully confident considering the brevity of time, but I think when you delve into it and give it a solid 5-6 weeks of commitment you'll find yourself saying the same thing.
The essential feature of intermittent hypoxia (IH), is repeated or recurrent episodes of low oxygen (hypoxia), interspersed with periods of normoxia (normoxia is used to describe oxygen tensions between 10–21%, and hyperoxia for those above 21%). I am most grateful for both Wim Hof and his team for putting together this course. If I had one critique for the class, it would be to make it an 8-week course and give more in-depth instruction on how to do the heat-flush. Otherwise, sitting down each day to have Wim take you through step by step was bloody impressive, and his passion is utterly infectious. His heart is gold and determination to prove just to what degree the body is capable of healing itself is remarkable. Forget any of the incredible feats that he has held; his willingness to undergo the scrutiny of the scientific field is both inspiring and life-changing.
I take a cold shower in the morning and do breath-work at night. I average 5 min (a near 5 min song like Skyfall from Adele) then sometimes will do some warm water for a min or so then end with cold depending on my health. Update Feb 2018: I only use warm water when washing the conditioner out of hair now so just feel warmth two to three times a week. I always start each shower cold and end cold at a bare minimum. However, it has gotten to the point where the bulk of my time in a shower is pure cold which is fantastic and invigorating. I do a variety of the yoga poses throughout the day, however this area I am a little slack on.
At the time of writing this I end each night with a 20-30 min meditation, also in bed. I've added mouth-taping to my routine (also see best sleep practices on our page here) which has improved sleep and massively induced recall of dreams. I started this in the last week of Wim Hof course. Ironically I found out this is part of the Buteyko practice which just so happens to be the next practice we are going to delve into as it seems to compliment the Wim Hof Method of intermittent hypoxia (reduced levels of oxygen) training. As I begin to stack other practices onto this one, it will be interesting to see what sticks and what doesn't. Ultimately this is foundational and proof enough to maintain daily until the day I die. I know that sounds painfully confident considering the brevity of time, but I think when you delve into it and give it a solid 5-6 weeks of commitment you'll find yourself saying the same thing.
The essential feature of intermittent hypoxia (IH), is repeated or recurrent episodes of low oxygen (hypoxia), interspersed with periods of normoxia (normoxia is used to describe oxygen tensions between 10–21%, and hyperoxia for those above 21%). I am most grateful for both Wim Hof and his team for putting together this course. If I had one critique for the class, it would be to make it an 8-week course and give more in-depth instruction on how to do the heat-flush. Otherwise, sitting down each day to have Wim take you through step by step was bloody impressive, and his passion is utterly infectious. His heart is gold and determination to prove just to what degree the body is capable of healing itself is remarkable. Forget any of the incredible feats that he has held; his willingness to undergo the scrutiny of the scientific field is both inspiring and life-changing.
Mechanisms of Action?
You might be wondering what mechanisms of action might be at play to be able to reduce inflammation levels in the body system-wide this effectively? As well as provide all of the both anecdotal and scientifically validated benefits from the daily practice of Wim Hof Method? Well, in this section we dive into the nitty-gritty regarding the evidence currently available on the front of Wim Hof Method and its impact on the human body. Might there be any contraindications for the practice? To what extent might one be able to reverse a disease process just with this alone? Many questions and as frequently seen with science, it often raises more questions than it answers ^_^. Below are some of the findings for Wim Hof Method along with cold-exposure and intermittent hypoxia training (his breath method as explained in scientific jargon).
~ This part won't be for everyone so feel free to skip past if science bogs you down ^o^. ~
~ This part won't be for everyone so feel free to skip past if science bogs you down ^o^. ~
- The role of outcome expectancies for a training program consisting of meditation, breathing exercises, and cold exposure on the response to endotoxin administration: a proof-of-principle study: The trained group (n=12) reported fewer flu-like symptoms; showed profoundly increased plasma epinephrine levels at the start of the experiment, followed by a more rapid and profound increase in anti-inflammatory IL-10 levels; and lower subsequent pro-inflammatory TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-8 levels than the non-trained group in response to endotoxin administration... (full paper in PDF)
- Chapter: Biology Now - Endocrine and Immune systems - Testing the Iceman: At various times before and after the injection (e. coli endotoxin), Kox measured Hof's blood levels for hormones and cytokines. Kox then compares Hof's results to those of a control group of 112 healthy volunteers who had previously taken the same test. To the scientists surprise, as soon as Hof began practicing his breathing techniques, his adrenaline levels skyrocketed. And unlike the other volunteers, Hof reported almost no flu-like symptoms... (full paper in PDF)
- Controlled Hyperventialtion After Training May Accelerate Altitude Acclimatization: The trekkers used breathing techniques {Wim Hof} (permanent controlled hyperventilation) aimed at keeping oxygen saturation (SpO2) greater than 90% during the ascent both prophylactically and therapeutically. At regular intervals, all trekkers participated in 30-minute breathing sessions, filled out a safety checklist based on the Lake Louis Scoring System (LLSS [Figure 2]) with a “buddy,” and were examined by the medical doctor... (full paper in PDF)
- The Influence of Concentration/meditation on Autonomic Nervous System Activity and the Innate Immune Response: A Case Study: Results: The ex vivo pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokine response was greatly attenuated by concentration/meditation during ice immersion, accompanied by high levels of cortisol. In the endotoxemia experiment, concentration/meditation resulted in increased circulating concentrations of catecholamines, and plasma cortisol concentrations were higher than in any of the previously... (full paper in PDF)
- Blood tests during meditation and breathing exercises in New York led by K. Kamler M.D. & G. Stewart: The brain is the largest consumer of oxygen in the body. Wim believes that by meditation he diverts some of his brain oxygen to his peripheral blood vessels to increase blood flow and thereby maintain body warmth. Standard medical dogma states that once your core temperature falls below 90 degrees you stop shivering – a process that generates heat... (full paper in PDF)
- Cold exposure stimulates beneficial brown fat growth: Long-term mild cold exposure can stimulate brown fat growth and activity in humans and may benefit glucose and energy metabolism, a new study finds. Brown fat, also known as brown adipose tissue (BAT), is a special kind of fat that burns energy and glucose to generate heat... (full abstract)
- Gut microbes trigger fat loss in response to cold temperatures: Exposure to cold temperatures is known to mimic the effects of exercise, protecting against obesity and improving metabolic health. A study now reveals that the beneficial health effects of cold exposure are mediated in part by gut microbes. The researchers found that cold exposure dramatically alters the composition of intestinal bacteria in mice and that this microbial shift is sufficient to burn fat, improve glucose metabolism, and reduce body weight... (full abstract)
- Fat cells that amplify nerve signals in response to cold also affect blood sugar metabolism, researchers report: The study, recently published in Cell Metabolism, also found that beige fat, unlike the better-known white and brown fat, has interesting anti-diabetic effects on blood sugar metabolism that seem independent of temperature regulation. Impaired glucose metabolism is a hallmark of diabetes... (full abstract)
- Embrace the cold: Evidence that shivering and exercise may convert white fat to brown: A new study suggests that shivering and bouts of moderate exercise are equally capable of stimulating the conversion of energy-storing "white fat" into energy-burning "brown fat." This makes brown fat a potential therapeutic target against obesity and diabetes... (full abstract)
- Stay cool and live longer? Genetic program promotes longevity in cold environments: Scientists have known for nearly a century that cold-blooded animals, such as worms, flies and fish all live longer in cold environments, but have not known exactly why. Researchers have identified a genetic program that promotes longevity of roundworms in cold environments -- and this genetic program also exists in warm-blooded animals, including humans... (full abstract)
- The ICEMAN study: How keeping cool could spur metabolic benefits: A new study being presented today at ICE/ENDO 2014, the joint meeting of the International Society of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society in Chicago, demonstrates that ambient temperatures can influence the growth or loss of brown fat in people. Cool environments stimulate growth, warm environments loss.... What we found was that the cold month increased brown fat by around 30-40%... (full abstract)
- Nonshivering thermogenesis: Nonshivering thermogenesis was originally defined as a cold-induced increase in heat production not associated with the muscle activity of shivering. Recent research shows it to be a metabolic process located primarily in brown adipose tissue and controlled by the activity of the sympathetic nervous supply of this tissue... (full abstract)
- Variable Cold-Induced Brown Adipose Tissue Response to Thyroid Hormone Status: In addition to its role in adaptive thermogenesis, brown adipose tissue (BAT) may protect from weight gain, insulin resistance/diabetes, and metabolic syndrome. Prior studies have shown contradictory results regarding the influence of thyroid hormone (TH) levels on BAT volume and activity... (full abstract)
- RTN3 Is a Novel Cold-Induced Protein and Mediates Neuroprotective Effects of RBM3: Cooling and hypothermia are profoundly neuroprotective, mediated, at least in part, by the cold shock protein, RBM3. However, the neuroprotective effector proteins induced by RBM3 and the mechanisms by which mRNAs encoding cold shock proteins escape cooling-induced translational repression are unknown... (full abstract)
- Intermittent Hypoxia and Experimental Parkinson’s Disease: Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative disease which is characterized by a progressive degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the midbrain. A most reliable mechanism causing the apoptosis in dopaminergic structures of the brain during aging and Parkinson’s disease is the activation of oxidative stress... (partial abstract)
- Intermittent Hypoxia Promotes Hippocampal Neurogenesis and Produces Antidepressant-Like Effects in Adult Rats: The aim of this study was to investigate the potential regulatory capacity of an intermittent hypobaric hypoxia (IH) regimen on hippocampal neurogenesis and its possible antidepressant-like effect... (full abstract)
- BDNF Secretion by Human Pulmonary Artery Endothelial Cells in Response to Hypoxia: Within human pulmonary artery, neurotrophin growth factors [NTs; e.g. brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)] and their high-affinity receptors (tropomyosin-related kinase; Trk) and low-affinity receptors p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75NTR) have been reported, but their functional role is incompletely understood. We tested the hypothesis that BDNF is produced by human pulmonary artery endothelial cells (PAECs)... (full abstract)
- Reactive oxygen species and respiratory plasticity following intermittent hypoxia: The neural network controlling breathing exhibits plasticity in response to environmental or physiological challenges. For example, while hypoxia initiates rapid and robust increases in respiratory motor output to defend against hypoxemia, it also triggers persistent changes, or plasticity, in chemosensory neurons and integrative pathways that transmit brainstem respiratory activity to respiratory motor neurons... (full abstract)
- Mild Acute Intermittent Hypoxia Improves Respiratory Function in Unanesthetized Rats With Midcervical Contusion: These results suggest that mild acute intermittent hypoxia can elicit differential forms of respiratory plasticity in sham surgery versus contused animals, and may be a promising neurorehabilitation approach to improve respiratory function after cervical spinal cord injury... (full abstract)
- Intermittent hypoxia as a means to improve aerobic capacity in type 2 diabetes: Exposure to hypoxia triggers the release of erythropoietin, the hormone regulating red blood cell production, which increases Hb mass and consequently BV. Exposure to mild intermittent hypoxia (IH), characterized by few and short episodes of hypoxia at a fraction of inspired oxygen ranging between 10 and 14% interspersed with cycles of normoxia, increased red blood cell volume, Hb mass, and plasma volume in patients with coronary artery disease or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which resulted in an improved VO2max in both populations... (full abstract)
- Intermittent hypoxia revisited: a promising non-pharmaceutical strategy to reduce cardio-metabolic risk factors?: Conversely, LDLc (3.00 ± 0.68 vs. 2.51 ± 0.60 mmol L-1; p < 0.05), LDLc/HDLc ratio (2.52 ± 0.66 vs. 2.26 ± 0.70 mmol L-1; p < 0.05), and SBP (118.6 ± 13.3 vs. 109.6 ± 11.3 mmHg; p < 0.05) were all significantly decreased after 10 sessions. A short course of recurrent IH appears to be a safe and effective non-pharmacological method of reducing key cardiovascular risk factors associated with metabolic disorders... (full abstract)
- Effect of intermittent hypoxic training on hypoxia tolerance based on brain functional connectivity: Furthermore, early hypoxia of the brain was represented on brain connectivity before mental fatigue was detected by conventional neurobehavioral evaluation. The decrease of connectivity tended to slow down in hypoxic conditions after training, which indicated that hypoxia tolerance strengthened because of the hypoxic training... (full abstract)
- Unexpected Benefits of Intermittent Hypoxia: Enhanced Respiratory and Nonrespiratory Motor Function: Two unexpected and only recently recognized benefits of IH are 1) improved respiratory and nonrespiratory somatic motor function, and 2) increased growth/trophic factor expression in the central nervous system (CNS). Even modest, low-dose IH protocols improve motor function and increase CNS expression of multiple growth/trophic factors, including brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and erythropoetin (EPO), albeit through distinct cellular mechanisms... (full abstract)
- Regeneration in the nervous system with erythropoietin: Almost seven decades prior, EPO was correlated to depressed oxygen levels. In parabiotic rats when only one partner was exposed to hypoxia, EPO was demonstrated to increase hemoglobin levels (154). Prior to such studies, EPO levels were believed to be correlated with decreased red blood cell counts. However, EPO expression is now known to be regulated by changes in oxygen tension and not by the concentration of red blood cells (144, 155, 156) (Table 1). Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) modulates the expression of EPO and the EPO receptor (EPOR) to increase the production of EPO as required (126, 144, 157, 158). Independently, HIF-1 is an agent that can promote cellular protection against injury (159–161). Once HIF-1 is activated, gene transcription of EPO and EPOR occurs and is controlled through the transcription enhancer region in the 3’-flanking region of the EPO gene that binds to HIF-1 (126, 129)... (full abstract)
Why Is The Method Effective At Lowering Inflammation?
How is it that this method seems to be so effective at lowering inflammation within the body system-wide? To answer this, it isn't apparent exactly how but we have some clues to bring us closer to the truth. Given the current evidence generated through studying this method and similar methods along with studying the endogenous biomarkers that increase or decrease with this practice. We can extrapolate on how this method causes a significant increase within endogenous (internally-created) generation of epinephrine (adrenaline) and how that might lead to a lower inflammatory load within the body (lowering pro-inflammatory immune response primarily) thereby affecting many pathologies and diseased states. In addition, this method acutely and temporarily raises cortisol levels (stress hormone) which notoriously lowers inflammation within the body as well under short-durations.
Exogenous epinephrine is administered to clients who experience anaphylactic shock just because it causes vasoconstriction, which decreases the permeability of the blood vessel walls that are necessary for the infiltration of immune cells and liquids into tissue. There is a significant impact on regulating immune response within the body coupled with lowering some inflammatory pathways. Cortisol is quite possibly the most significant naturally-occurring anti-inflammatory albeit it would be inaccurate for me to state that both cortisol and epinephrine only produce anti-inflammatory effects. They provide a complex array of anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory effects within the body. Too much or too little of either create for a variety of vectors of illness-potential, so as with everything within the body; a balance is going to be the optimally sustainable model as it were.
The 2nd abstract below is particularly interesting and gives some insight as to how an individual with a pro-inflammatory condition like psoriasis might benefit from a method such as Wim Hof. Because it up-regulates cortisol levels (acutely & temporarily raises cortisol but then lowers them several minutes afterward) which might help replete the cortisol deficiency by driving sharp spikes of cortisol up. Psoriasis has been identified as primarily having a chronically depleted level of cortisol which may be an avenue of prevention and treatment within this pathology. While this is a stretch of the research but it would be a small investment on your wallet and time to find out if this turned out to be a way to help control inflammation in your body.
Exogenous epinephrine is administered to clients who experience anaphylactic shock just because it causes vasoconstriction, which decreases the permeability of the blood vessel walls that are necessary for the infiltration of immune cells and liquids into tissue. There is a significant impact on regulating immune response within the body coupled with lowering some inflammatory pathways. Cortisol is quite possibly the most significant naturally-occurring anti-inflammatory albeit it would be inaccurate for me to state that both cortisol and epinephrine only produce anti-inflammatory effects. They provide a complex array of anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory effects within the body. Too much or too little of either create for a variety of vectors of illness-potential, so as with everything within the body; a balance is going to be the optimally sustainable model as it were.
The 2nd abstract below is particularly interesting and gives some insight as to how an individual with a pro-inflammatory condition like psoriasis might benefit from a method such as Wim Hof. Because it up-regulates cortisol levels (acutely & temporarily raises cortisol but then lowers them several minutes afterward) which might help replete the cortisol deficiency by driving sharp spikes of cortisol up. Psoriasis has been identified as primarily having a chronically depleted level of cortisol which may be an avenue of prevention and treatment within this pathology. While this is a stretch of the research but it would be a small investment on your wallet and time to find out if this turned out to be a way to help control inflammation in your body.
- The anti-inflammatory interactions of epinephrine with human neutrophils in vitro are achieved by cyclic AMP-mediated accelerated resequestration of cytosolic calcium: These effects of epinephrine on the clearance of Ca(2+) from the cytosol of FMLP-activated neutrophils were attenuated by propranolol, and are compatible with enhancement of the activity of the cAMP-dependent Ca(2+) sequestering/resequestering endo-membrane Ca(2+)-ATPase. We conclude that epinephrine down-regulates the pro-inflammatory activities of neutrophils by cAMP-mediated enhancement of the clearance of cytosolic Ca(2+)... (full abstract)
- Endogenous glucocorticoid deficiency in psoriasis promotes inflammation and abnormal differentiation: The factors involved in maintaining a localized inflammatory state in psoriatic skin remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate through metabolomic and transcriptomic profiling marked suppression of glucocorticoid biosynthesis in the epidermis of psoriatic skin leading to localized deficiency of cortisol... (full abstract)
- Continuous cold exposure induces an anti-inflammatory response in mesenteric adipose tissue associated with catecholamine production and thermogenin expression in rats: Cold exposure for 7 days stimulated the infiltration of macrophages, evaluated by F4/80 and CD68 expressions, and expression of anti-inflammatory mediators, while pro-inflammatory cytokines were inhibited... (full abstract)
Interviews On Wim Hof Method
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Important Discussion On The Method
Some of these bullet points below are discussions carried over by scientists who have studied the Wim Hof Method or similar breathing methods:
- Wim Hof and his trainees had increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol and decreased immune function during the experiments described in this chapter. How might these changes negatively affect their endocrine and immune systems over the long term?
- Mouth breathing isn't a good thing, is it? There are some interesting studies (1, 2, 3,) demonstrating that mouth breathing isn't the best way to breathe. I have looked into this quite extensively and rather than recreate the wheel I found this article here to be of the most help in understanding more of the oxygen and carbon dioxide exchange using Wim Hof or Buteyko. One of the main takeaways from this article though is just that the Wim Hof Method doesn't increase oxygen concentration, but instead it is a way to offload both carbon and oxygen. By unloading carbon, it changes the response (or feeling of need) to take a breath. Hence you can hold your breath for longer doing the 30 breath's, not because you're oxygenating the tissue or blood but rather because you've offloaded enough carbon to reduce the reflex to take a breath. Knowing this is helpful because it would appear there are significant benefits to doing different kinds of breathing practices for various outcomes and thus why we will be exploring Buteyko here next on top of maintaining the Wim Hof Method.
- Temporary pH changes within the blood can be seen after doing the Wim Hof Method upwards to 7.7-7.8 within the blood (normal ranges are within 7.35-7.45) while significant do not confer to the primary benefits listed throughout. I am curious how this impacts the overall immune health and how can this be best utilized at the onset of infection incubation?
Ending Thoughts
(not directly to Wim Hof, but hey... don't be half-assed, finish this article to completion.)
Breathe, motherfucker... Quite possibly Wim Hof's favorite maxim. We often forget to breathe let alone really explore any methods of conscious breathing to access more in-depth states of wellness. I slacked off for 32 fucking years for divine-sake. I'll have you know however that I haven't missed a single day since starting in April 2017.... of the breath component that is. [Update Dec 2018: Yeah... so I've missed a few days since.] I've missed a shit-ton of days of the cold-exposure and meditation components. However now (over the last three months) the cold part is engrained as thick as the breathing is because it became a new standard daily. Now I just have to be less of a lazy-ass about the meditation daily, and I can congratulate myself with a... well congratulation I guess. We take for granted our breathing because its an autonomous function of existence, yet the irony is we are so goddamn busy that we are converting most of our life into autonomous-actions. So we don't have to consciously decide how we are going to live out the day or even live by our values at all?
This conundrum we human beings (ecosystems of micro-organisms) find ourselves in can be a true clusterfuck of an experience. I am confident I don't have to say this to you, as you have investigated the fuckery that is the clustery, that is life at times. Undoubtably life has either shit on you, pissed on you, vomited on you or 3 girls one cupped you (if you don't know what this is please do NOT search it, I actually have never seen it and am grateful to have spared my sanity of said tumultuous times those ladies likely had). So you know what it's like to want to make life easier on your self in one fashion or another. Yet is that really what any of us need more of? Do we need more comforts? Do we need life to be easier?... I mean shit, I would like my health to be easier. Yet 95% of the time I find myself enthralled by the journey of returning to optimal health. Aside from like most of the time when I really just wanted a goddamn solution. Update Dec 2018: The Carnivore Diet after 60 days has dramatically shifted my life, and after 103 days it has completely transformed my life.
In hopes of not coming off too inspirational-like, which might seem ironic (irony may be overused and incorrectly used but I rule written words with an iron-fist, so how's that for irony?...) considering one of my writing projects. I really just want to get to this, if you do not consciously direct your self into daily discomforts to better your health and awareness, than life will do it for you until you fucking die... Yeah, not exactly the Hallmark ending you might have hoped for. The truth is, you have this body and mind that you're goddamn lucky to have.
Even I, with this ridiculously complicated issue that inhabits my body, I am fucking lucky to be alive. Plus hey I get tons a fucking lessons out of this ridiculously expensive, insane, and exhausting journey towards a more optimal state. Let the disease be thy teacher as it were. Don't get me wrong though, I am ready to bloody graduate because this teacher is a fucking asshole. Funny how you can be grateful for asshole teachers though, granted I feel like I signed up for the Gordon Ramsey of teachers... He's fucking brilliant but also a bloody prick, yet you can't help but love the son of a bitch.
I have no tolerance for complaining so I don't even tolerate my self if I even think about complaining. I'll poke fun at my self and sometimes get Hulk-Rage pissed and want to Hulk-Smash the shit out of some coffee table or wall (hey don't assume inanimate objects are innocent, they may have it coming). That being said I keep my inanimate-abuse down to a controllable level, as in virtually never nowadays but I don't want to completely revoke my wall-punching-card cause you never know when you'll have to teach a wall a lesson or two. They can be obstinate stiff-minded pricks after all. So what am I trying to say after this curse-laden series of paragraphs deemed ending thoughts?... Find something worth the discomfort and pursue it with the mindset that it will help forge you into a person better equipped to handle stressors in life. This hopefully makes you less of a dick to others, and your self. May it make you more disciplined, more aware and less dominated by unconscious-decisions and less afraid to live life on your terms.
Let nature educate you and by the way you are not as fucking special or interesting as you think you are. I mean unless you're Elon Musk (yeah you didn't really think I would make it through a whole article and not somehow bring my distant-man-crush-spirit-animal into the mix did you?)... Even though he's just a fucking dude too... a dude who (him and his teams) launches & lands rockets, builds sexy electric cars, and is changing the course of history, and yeah you get where I am going with this. Even he still eats and craps and is probably lonely as fuck because his workload is 80-100 hour work-week-sorta-crazy. What's to admire about him isn't his accomplishments, as much as his willingness to sacrifice comfort for a life he feels is more meaningful, even if he likely doesn't enjoy his life near as much as everyone thinks.
See that's a key, right there. Find or create your purpose of what makes a meaningful life for you. One you're fucking willing to endure, suffer and feel mind-bending pain over because its that meaningful for you. It may be building a life in the forms of a family and house? Maybe it's traveling the world like a ninja? Maybe building an empire or castle in the sky? Maybe to write the most brilliant novel? Maybe to act in truly inspiring films? Maybe all of these cause you're fucking nuts and your values weren't always so clear? Any and all of these are great, if and ONLY... if it comes from your heart, your intuition, your personal definition of success in WHICH you've set out to deliberately test in the market of ideas and self-creation?
This conundrum we human beings (ecosystems of micro-organisms) find ourselves in can be a true clusterfuck of an experience. I am confident I don't have to say this to you, as you have investigated the fuckery that is the clustery, that is life at times. Undoubtably life has either shit on you, pissed on you, vomited on you or 3 girls one cupped you (if you don't know what this is please do NOT search it, I actually have never seen it and am grateful to have spared my sanity of said tumultuous times those ladies likely had). So you know what it's like to want to make life easier on your self in one fashion or another. Yet is that really what any of us need more of? Do we need more comforts? Do we need life to be easier?... I mean shit, I would like my health to be easier. Yet 95% of the time I find myself enthralled by the journey of returning to optimal health. Aside from like most of the time when I really just wanted a goddamn solution. Update Dec 2018: The Carnivore Diet after 60 days has dramatically shifted my life, and after 103 days it has completely transformed my life.
In hopes of not coming off too inspirational-like, which might seem ironic (irony may be overused and incorrectly used but I rule written words with an iron-fist, so how's that for irony?...) considering one of my writing projects. I really just want to get to this, if you do not consciously direct your self into daily discomforts to better your health and awareness, than life will do it for you until you fucking die... Yeah, not exactly the Hallmark ending you might have hoped for. The truth is, you have this body and mind that you're goddamn lucky to have.
Even I, with this ridiculously complicated issue that inhabits my body, I am fucking lucky to be alive. Plus hey I get tons a fucking lessons out of this ridiculously expensive, insane, and exhausting journey towards a more optimal state. Let the disease be thy teacher as it were. Don't get me wrong though, I am ready to bloody graduate because this teacher is a fucking asshole. Funny how you can be grateful for asshole teachers though, granted I feel like I signed up for the Gordon Ramsey of teachers... He's fucking brilliant but also a bloody prick, yet you can't help but love the son of a bitch.
I have no tolerance for complaining so I don't even tolerate my self if I even think about complaining. I'll poke fun at my self and sometimes get Hulk-Rage pissed and want to Hulk-Smash the shit out of some coffee table or wall (hey don't assume inanimate objects are innocent, they may have it coming). That being said I keep my inanimate-abuse down to a controllable level, as in virtually never nowadays but I don't want to completely revoke my wall-punching-card cause you never know when you'll have to teach a wall a lesson or two. They can be obstinate stiff-minded pricks after all. So what am I trying to say after this curse-laden series of paragraphs deemed ending thoughts?... Find something worth the discomfort and pursue it with the mindset that it will help forge you into a person better equipped to handle stressors in life. This hopefully makes you less of a dick to others, and your self. May it make you more disciplined, more aware and less dominated by unconscious-decisions and less afraid to live life on your terms.
Let nature educate you and by the way you are not as fucking special or interesting as you think you are. I mean unless you're Elon Musk (yeah you didn't really think I would make it through a whole article and not somehow bring my distant-man-crush-spirit-animal into the mix did you?)... Even though he's just a fucking dude too... a dude who (him and his teams) launches & lands rockets, builds sexy electric cars, and is changing the course of history, and yeah you get where I am going with this. Even he still eats and craps and is probably lonely as fuck because his workload is 80-100 hour work-week-sorta-crazy. What's to admire about him isn't his accomplishments, as much as his willingness to sacrifice comfort for a life he feels is more meaningful, even if he likely doesn't enjoy his life near as much as everyone thinks.
See that's a key, right there. Find or create your purpose of what makes a meaningful life for you. One you're fucking willing to endure, suffer and feel mind-bending pain over because its that meaningful for you. It may be building a life in the forms of a family and house? Maybe it's traveling the world like a ninja? Maybe building an empire or castle in the sky? Maybe to write the most brilliant novel? Maybe to act in truly inspiring films? Maybe all of these cause you're fucking nuts and your values weren't always so clear? Any and all of these are great, if and ONLY... if it comes from your heart, your intuition, your personal definition of success in WHICH you've set out to deliberately test in the market of ideas and self-creation?
What do you want? Why are you here? Who are you?
Your problems aren't that different from the rest of us. Do not let negative thoughts or emotions rule your mind. Let them in and out of your mind-stream and if they are being real punchy, direct them into outlets that serve you in the long-term. Sulk if you have to, I mean I fucking did for like four days in a row which was weird for me but it gave me a reverse-wake-up-call, wait... no just a normal wake-up-call to stop focusing on the confusion of a pathology, and stabilize, study and re-strategize. Prioritize your thoughts so your emotions have a canvas to create your art with, that art being your life.
You're gonna get sad, fucking pissed, manically happy, (I say 'get' like emotions are STD's or some shit ^o^.) etc. Don't get too caught up in the emotions or thoughts. This is your shot man, or lady, or non-binary comrade. This life is what you got. Will a practice like this radically change your life? Maybe, I don't know? I'm not fucking Nostradamus. However I can say I am even more focused and better equipped to handle destabilizing events because of it. This is just one of multiple practices I will be stacking together in order to become more resilient and explore life and my potential. I will leave you with one ending question but not before my last ranting paragraph.
Hints, do you like hints? Well, I'll give you a hint regardless... I make my bar for "what it takes to make a meaningful or fulfilling day" very low so the plurality of my days are a goddamn success on the most base of levels that I call Tier One. That being, laugh often & hard, smile a lot, eat ancestral compatible foods, compliment peoples & cats (don't you fucking forget about our furry Nazi comrades, such lovely sociopathic fur-balls they are), do some form of disciplined-discomfort, progress my creations, read/listen to nourishing content, breathe deep, cold immerse, and most of all learn how to be present within a larger life-strategy that keeps me intimately connected with my most authentic of values... In other words don't fucking stop trying on different definitions of "meaningful" and "success" until you find what is right for you. I figure if I can be successful in my Tier One's definition of a meaningful day fairly regularly than I am Rockstar, and if I can reach Tier Two, well then I am a Fucking Boss, and if I execute to Tier Three... well then I will be shaking Musk's hand directly and writing HIM a check to keep building cool shit, cause... why the fuck not? Below you'll find my first video journaling, real brief but fun ^_-.
You're gonna get sad, fucking pissed, manically happy, (I say 'get' like emotions are STD's or some shit ^o^.) etc. Don't get too caught up in the emotions or thoughts. This is your shot man, or lady, or non-binary comrade. This life is what you got. Will a practice like this radically change your life? Maybe, I don't know? I'm not fucking Nostradamus. However I can say I am even more focused and better equipped to handle destabilizing events because of it. This is just one of multiple practices I will be stacking together in order to become more resilient and explore life and my potential. I will leave you with one ending question but not before my last ranting paragraph.
Hints, do you like hints? Well, I'll give you a hint regardless... I make my bar for "what it takes to make a meaningful or fulfilling day" very low so the plurality of my days are a goddamn success on the most base of levels that I call Tier One. That being, laugh often & hard, smile a lot, eat ancestral compatible foods, compliment peoples & cats (don't you fucking forget about our furry Nazi comrades, such lovely sociopathic fur-balls they are), do some form of disciplined-discomfort, progress my creations, read/listen to nourishing content, breathe deep, cold immerse, and most of all learn how to be present within a larger life-strategy that keeps me intimately connected with my most authentic of values... In other words don't fucking stop trying on different definitions of "meaningful" and "success" until you find what is right for you. I figure if I can be successful in my Tier One's definition of a meaningful day fairly regularly than I am Rockstar, and if I can reach Tier Two, well then I am a Fucking Boss, and if I execute to Tier Three... well then I will be shaking Musk's hand directly and writing HIM a check to keep building cool shit, cause... why the fuck not? Below you'll find my first video journaling, real brief but fun ^_-.
How do you make now the most meaningful now?
Cheers Comrade,
Brandon A. Trean BCTMB, HHP, NC
P.S. Yeah it's a stupid fucking amount of rather silly abbreviations... but their my goddamn abbreviations ^o^.
P.S.S. If you're wondering what the fuck I meant by Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 of a meaningful or successful life? Fret not, that's in the next article -_^.
Brandon A. Trean BCTMB, HHP, NC
P.S. Yeah it's a stupid fucking amount of rather silly abbreviations... but their my goddamn abbreviations ^o^.
P.S.S. If you're wondering what the fuck I meant by Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 of a meaningful or successful life? Fret not, that's in the next article -_^.
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Always in pursuit and practice of the truth behind the truth regarding the physics of wellness. No dogma, just practical, clinical and scientific means toward a vital life.
Brandon A. Trean BCTMB, HHP, NC
Boise Massage Therapist & Nutritionist
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