My journey with Wim Hof Method
January 2016
I distinctly remember going on my first Wim Hof Method Winter Travel in 2016 and secretly wondering, and hoping that these growing lumps would positively be affected by the combination of breathing, cold exposure and mindset. Not that I was truly admitting that to myself at the time, but in retrospect, it was one of a myriad of reasons in my embracing the Wim Hof Method into my daily life. Not that it was love on first sight. The humbling consciousness flip and shock of freezing cold water being given on a daily basis wasn’t my idea of fun and was super tough to begin with, especially if you don’t want humbling and hate numb toes, but I had finally discovered something that was pretty easy to learn and put into use. This Travel changed my outlook on things so much that I wanted to learn more and teach and share with others the relatively easy and simple steps and try for the instructorship of the method myself. Among reasons were possibly ‘the cold is good for swelling, right?’.
Of course the swelling didn’t go down, the problems lay elsewhere and had relatively little to do with inflammation, but my decision to do the instructorship resulted in me entering into a large network of people with vastly different backgrounds and interests, connected by the love and thrill of breathing techniques, meditation and cold. Some of whom I have built relationships with and have also supported me on this journey.
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August 2018 – December 2018
In my second year of instructing, I had become aware that the winter travels, consisting of week full of breathing, cold exposure and hiking in mountainous, snowy areas, regardless of instructing or co-instructing, were physically more challenging than in the previous couple of years since completing the instructorship. The workshops were taking alot out of me physically and mentally, leaving me to have to recover both the next 2 days. The following day after a course, I would be completely wasted. I started to reduce my workshop activities at the weekend to concentrate fully on my responsibilities with my printing company. It wasn't something I could physically do anymore at this point. I had taken a step back from activities concerning Wim Hof. Even in my own private rituals, the method wasn’t have the effect it had had before. The cold left me feeling sapped of energy and as my retention time were quite some way below 1:30 min, I wasn’t even sure the breathing exercises were, apart from the meditative state, having the desired effect. Going from being to hold my breath in the 2nd phase for approx. 4 min, I was struggling to hit 75 seconds. Hmm, and why was I continuously losing weight? Was this really all about just changing my diet and adding cold exposure to my regime over the last few years? I didn‘t think my condition was truly that bad at the time, but retrospect can be a pretty harsh and honest mirror. Idiot.
I should have checked with medical professionals a long time before I finally did. When you arrive at work in the morning with the exhaustion normally reserved for sleep-starved parents of a young baby, something has to give. If you who are patiently reading up to this point and are thinking ‘why not visit a doctor, dumdum’, I obviously feel this way too now. Alot was fear of actually finding out what was up. To have the lymphs checked would mean having one extracted in a little operation. Nah. No thanks. So I started to make a concerted effort of trying to eat more than I was. I just had no real appetite most of the time. Eating half a bread roll at the weekend for breakfast was filling.
2 rather heavy and unexpected flus in October split by a week’s gap of recovery and each lasting 2 weeks were a bit shocking due to the surprise of how quickly the symptoms appeared. After recovering from the second flu, a resulting cough that just wouldn‘t go away had just developed. Possibly Asthma?
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Fatigue. Night sweats. And itchy shins. Yes. Itchy shins. It turns out that this is quite common among cancer patients, and was another possible clue of an oncoming cancer diagnosis. I still find it unusual that something so mundane and insignificant but irritating as itchy shins is also a monster shit-sandwich sign of a cancer clue. Tut. Itchy shins.
The cough, almost a constant at this point, that could only be slightly relieved by sucking on sweets, was a daily battle. Singing in the shower always brought on a hacking cough that sometimes made me take a knee, and if really lucky, vomit. Totally normal in my estimation. It’ll clear up soon. You know how allergies are. Get to a doctor! Already! I mean ffs. I could still function and work on a level, so it wasn’t a complete disaster, but it was far from optimal.
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February 2019
A month previously, I had travelled to Poland to co-Instruct on a Wim Hof Method Winter Travel. I had stepped up my physical training a few months beforehand and felt confident all would be well. The cough would subside a little after physical activity. I was using infrared-light and a facial steamer, blowing off steams mixed with eucalyptus and tea-trea oil in the hopes that it would have some kind of desired effect. The breathing exercises were manageable but the retention times were really low.
Well, anyway, off to Poland I went armed with a battery of supplements including Vitamin B, C, D, Magnesium, Zinc, Cordyceps Mushrooms, and vinegar and honey to drink as a tea before bed. Trying to cover my bases with added supplements. Looking back… physically, it was one of the harder things I have ever done. The fatigue was immense but had been so gradual over the years that I really had no sense of just how bad the decrease had become. I still don’t really know how to gauge when the Lymphoma started to really affect me, and began to alter and decrease my fitness levels. Possibly 4 years?
The trip was very tough in every shape and form. The trips are an absolute joy to be a part of. 100 attendees with 8 instructors and Wim, having a right royal time of life. 2 Weeks being in a cauldron of human activity from all corners of the globe, topped up with yoga, meditation, ice bathing, breathing exercises and good vibes. But chronic fatigue was constantly paying me a visit too. Night sweats, total appetite loss... now I realised that maybe this wasn’t going away by itself with just a little time and patience. As already mentioned, I weighed 59kg by the time I left for Poland. So, great, you could see my abs, so I kind of looked fit but my arse was non-existant, sitting atop a couple of sticks. It was just weight loss from something other than fitness and nutrition... it could be Asthma... most probably?
A week laying in bed with plenty of nothing in the tank and the remnants of a cold brought home from Poland followed. Getting out of bed was a chore. I recovered enough to attend a weekend benefit event supporting Wim in Switzerland for the 'Swiss Ice Challenge'.
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Physically, the weekend went off without a glitch (apart from itchy shins), I was worried about my energy levels for the hike but it went OK compared to Poland, and I arrived back home feeling a little lifted. Once again. Hindsight. It was a very easy hike, but it still made me feel anxiety. (next - Diagnosis)