Our Supporters: Wim Hof
Wim Hof
Guinness World Record Breaker and Extreme Athlete
Wim Hof is an extreme sports athlete from the Netherlands who has broken over 20 world records. He specialises in surviving extremely cold temperatures.
About Wim Hof
Wim Hof is a Dutch extreme sports athlete who is also known as ‘The Iceman’. This nickname references the 26 world records broken by Wim Hof. These include:
- Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in shorts
- Running a half marathon above the Arctic Circle barefoot
- Standing in a container, covered in ice cubes, for over 112 minutes.
- Swimming underneath ice for 66 metres
To reach these incredible accomplishments, Wim Hof has engaged in extensive training. This rigorous regime has taught him how to control his breathing, blood circulation and heart rate in order to survive and withstand extremely cold temperatures.
The Wim Hof Method
Wim Hof has made it his mission to create a ‘strong, happy & healthy’ world. So, he conceived his eponymous Wim Hof Method.This method combines breathing techniques, cold therapy and strong commitment to encourage people – regardless of age or fitness levels – to control their body and their mind in order to accomplish incredible things and harness the healing power of nature.
His defiance of the supposed limits of the human body drew interest from the scientific community, and in a now renowned study, Wim Hof showed that one can voluntarily influence their sympathetic nervous system— something hitherto thought impossible.
The sympathetic nervous system is the part of the brain that is responsible for feelings of anxiety and stress (read more about that in our breathing techniques for concentration blog). The Wim Hof Method has also been shown to activate the parts of the brain that suppress our pain.
The WHM is practiced by hundreds of thousands of people across the world, affording them less stress, better sleep, and a more resilient immune system. You can read about all of this in Wim’s new book: The Wim Hof Method.
You can learn The Wim Hof method through a variety of courses over on his website. Maybe you’ll become the next Guinness World Record Holder!
The Global Classroom is thrilled to welcome Wim Hof to our seventh classroom – Deep Breath – which takes place on World Breathing Day. Join us on April 11th 2021 at 16:30BST.
