Order of Man - WIM HOF ｜ Factory Reset： How Cold, Breath, and Solitude Rewire Your Brain

00:00:00.000 You know about breathwork. You probably know about cold exposure. It's a thing all the major quote unquote influencers tell you to do. And look, I had some skepticism myself and that's why I wanted to have this man, the original cold exposure and breathwork guy on himself, Mr. Wim Hof.

00:00:19.100 He's a man who has redefined the limits of the human mind and body, and he's known globally as the Ice Man. Wim has shown millions of people how to take control of their physiology through breath, through cold exposure and mindset, from climbing mountains in nothing but shorts, which I've personally done myself, to teaching everyday men how to regulate stress, build resilience, reconnect with their primal strength.

00:00:46.760 His work challenges everything we think about from comfort and health and human potential. So today we're talking about cold, breath, discipline, structure, and what it really means to return to our, what he calls factory settings as men.

00:01:05.640 You're a man of action. You live life to the fullest, embrace your fears, and boldly chart your own path. When life knocks you down, you get back up one more time, every time. You are not easily deterred or defeated, rugged, resilient, strong. This is your life. This is who you are. This is who you will become. At the end of the day, and after all is said and done, you can call yourself a man.

00:01:30.740 Gentlemen, welcome to the Order Man Podcast. I am Ryan Michler. I'm your host and the founder, and I'm glad that you're here. We are into Christmas week, and I'm so very excited to have Mr. Wim Hof on the podcast. I've been working for years, years. I should go back and look and see when the last email that I sent him, or the first email that I sent him was, but regardless, here he is today, very excited about it, and I know you guys will gain a lot from this conversation.

00:01:59.140 Before we get into that, I do want to mention that I've been sharing with you about Montana Knife Company, and look, I love these guys. Like I said, I break bread with them. I hunt with them. We spend time together. I promote them, but I really want to be honest with you guys, and I've listened to so many podcasts over the years.

00:02:21.480 I'm so tired of hearing probably a lot of your favorite podcasts, hawk bullcrap that they just don't care about. I used to do it years and years ago, maybe a decade ago. Life insurance and underwear, business software. I'm not joking. These are all things that I've done.

00:02:42.480 But when I share about one of our quote unquote sponsors, this isn't a broker bringing this to me. These are people I actually care about. And I've got three, Origin, Sorenx, and Montana Knife Company.

00:03:01.480 So, if I tell you, hey, here's a great knife, here's a great product, here's something that's made in America, I stand by that because I actually use it.

00:03:11.860 So, we're a little late. If you wanted a Christmas present for your friend, colleague, brother, coworker, neighbor, etc., dad, or if you're a woman listening to this podcast, wanted it for the man in your life, you're a little late on the Christmas gift stuff.

00:03:24.120 But if you do want to get something, support a company that makes 100% of their products in America, then look no further than MontanaKnifeCompany.com. I've not been bought out. I have not been asked to hawk these guys. These are people I believe in. I believe in Josh. I believe in Jess. I believe in Brandon. I believe in their family. So, and their business, of course. Check it out. MontanaKnifeCompany.com. Use the code OrderOfMan. You'll save some money.

00:03:54.120 Use the code OrderOfMan at MontanaKnifeCompany.com. All right, guys. Let me introduce you to my guest. Again, another guest who does not need an introduction. But as you may already know, Wim Hof is a Dutch extreme athlete. He's a pioneer in the wellness industry. He's the creator of the globally recognized Wim Hof Method, which is a system that builds itself on three core principles, which is breathing, cold exposure, and mindset. We talk about all of these things today.

00:04:21.680 He has set multiple world records for feats such as prolonged ice immersion and extreme cold endurance, not as stunts or gimmicks, but as proof of what humans are capable of and that they can do far more than our modern culture probably suggests.

00:04:41.800 His work has drawn the attention of leading scientists, medical institutions. They've all studied his ability to consciously influence the nervous system and immune response.

00:04:51.740 And through his books, collaborations with scientists, live events, he has helped millions reduce chronic stress, improve mental clarity, boost physical performance, and reclaim a sense of personal agency.

00:05:07.580 And at its core, his message is very simple, but pretty radical, that suffering is not required, and comfort is not the goal of life.

00:05:18.600 And discipline, when you have it paired with purpose, can unlock resilience and vitality and longevity.

00:05:25.540 Wim's mission is to help people reconnect with nature, strengthen their nervous system, and live fully awake.

00:05:31.340 We cover a lot of that today.

00:05:32.820 He's engaged, he's alive, you're going to hear that, and he's the author of his latest book, Exposure, which reveals the decades of work he's done to bring this conversation to the mainstream.

00:05:45.540 Wim, thanks for joining me on the podcast today.

00:05:47.380 This has been a long time coming.

00:05:48.540 I've been very excited to be able to have this conversation with you.

00:05:53.220 Yeah, great.

00:05:54.220 Do you see the painting in the back?

00:05:56.140 I do.

00:05:57.100 I just made it.

00:05:58.920 Oh, you did?

00:05:59.700 Today.

00:06:00.060 Is that, it looks amazing.

00:06:02.420 Is that, is that a new hobby, or have you been doing that for a while?

00:06:06.140 Ah, I've been there painting all my life.

00:06:08.800 Oh, okay.

00:06:09.820 Yeah, only recently I'm getting out there and show with Aaron there what I'm doing when I'm home.

00:06:18.580 Oh, good.

00:06:19.100 Well, you got to have something to keep, keep you, keep you young and fresh, right?

00:06:24.020 Yep.

00:06:24.420 Oh, that, you know, being creative, it's like timeless.

00:06:32.340 And then today I was in the lake, and it's a cold lake.

00:06:38.780 And that's where I find, yeah, speechless moments with myself deeply.

00:06:45.780 And it's great every day.

00:06:49.520 I think that's something a lot of people are missing is the time that you have by yourself.

00:06:54.520 We're so distracted and we're inundated by technology and resources and marketing messages

00:07:01.060 that it's hard to get some of that quiet and that solace.

00:07:03.920 I think a lot of people are either afraid of it or don't know how to handle themselves when they're alone.

00:07:09.020 Yeah, the thing is, I practice every day.

00:07:16.600 I do a ritual, a ritual to cleanse myself deeply inside and to be ready for the day.

00:07:24.880 And with that ritual, which is the cold breathing and some exercise, but also music.

00:07:31.360 Music to me is talking from the heart.

00:07:39.400 And then the cold brings me to the factory settings of Mother Nature.

00:07:45.640 And then the breathing makes my anxiety, if there is any, go away because I changed my biochemistry.

00:07:54.380 And then I get into the mindset that today is my last day or my first day.

00:08:02.760 It does not matter.

00:08:04.100 I will take it all on and give my best.

00:08:09.160 That is more or less the way I start every day.

00:08:13.460 Do you think when you do this ritual, do you think it helps with your mental and emotional strength?

00:08:24.740 Because I think that's what most people seem to be missing is this component that's hard to quantify.

00:08:31.300 You can go to the gym, for example, and lift weights and know that you lifted more than you did before.

00:08:36.680 But I think the mental and the emotional side is where people really struggle because it's hard to quantify.

00:08:43.460 Yes.

00:08:44.320 If you go into the cold, you go into the deepest part of the brain.

00:08:48.960 And the deepest part of the brain is not thinking brain.

00:08:52.160 It's not the thinking brain anymore.

00:08:54.980 So once it works, activated by going into the cold, suddenly you switch off the thinking brain.

00:09:03.400 This is what people might not understand.

00:09:08.000 But in our modern society, we are so engaged with our thinking brain that we don't know how to switch it off anymore.

00:09:21.580 And once that happens, when we go in rounds and rounds and rounds and rounds, the blood flow goes when your thinking brain is on.

00:09:30.940 It goes where is the neural activity of the thinking.

00:09:34.920 That's the human brain.

00:09:36.940 But the depth of the brain, that is the reptilian brain, which has no words, which has no thoughts.

00:09:45.040 It has deep feelings, the feelings of danger, the feelings of cold, the feelings of heat, the feelings of the wolf, the tiger.

00:09:58.060 All that is in the deep brain.

00:10:00.900 It's connected to the instincts.

00:10:04.400 And we don't and never challenge our body and mind anymore therein.

00:10:10.300 And thus, the blood flow also doesn't get there then.

00:10:16.460 But if you go into the cold, you learn to activate that deep brain consciously because you are doing it.

00:10:27.000 And with that, you learn to shut up the thinking brain and you get into this pure state of unconditional, primordial feeling, life.

00:10:44.140 And when you access that reptilian brain, because I've heard a term, the reptilian brain, and then the mammalian brain is what I've heard.

00:10:50.820 Two different things, which I think is what you're talking about.

00:10:52.880 Now, when you do access that reptilian brain and shut off the thinking brain, what is the benefit of that in a practical life setting?

00:11:03.580 You know, as you go through your day with your duties and your work and your family and your responsibilities, how does tapping into that help in those areas?

00:11:11.700 Yes.

00:11:12.080 When you are too much in your thinking brain, the rest of the brain is not, it doesn't get sufficient blood flow.

00:11:22.320 It gets deprivated.

00:11:24.580 That causes stress.

00:11:26.520 That causes cortisol.

00:11:29.240 And cortisol, long time, a stress hormone, long time, is very negative for our mental and physical health.

00:11:38.880 It causes inflammation.

00:11:40.500 So, we have our whole brain, which is composed by the reptilian part, the mammalian brain, and then the human brain.

00:11:53.560 And it all needs to be activated, all needs to be lived within.

00:11:58.280 Otherwise, you get deprivation of certain parts, departments of the brain, which is causing then a lack of blood flow, a lack of neural activity.

00:12:13.100 And that, in the long term, causes inflammation.

00:12:18.480 It causes danger.

00:12:20.000 Because if you don't fully live, then something is dying off, is becoming insensitive, is becoming weak.

00:12:30.560 Now, when we get into the danger zone of our brain, which is the reptilian brain, it's the survival brain.

00:12:41.140 It's where there is no thinking.

00:12:43.100 It's how to deal with danger.

00:12:45.080 So, when then, in our lives, something happens, a divorce, a death of a family member, or an accident, or you get the sack, or anything that causes deep stress with it, we don't know how to deal with that danger.

00:13:06.800 We don't know how to deal with that stress.

00:13:11.520 And therefore, going into the cold learns you to actively and consciously connect with that deep danger part of our brain, the survival mechanisms,

00:13:25.360 to deal, when it is necessary in life, to deal with it adequately, like effectively.

00:13:33.580 Because you know this.

00:13:36.120 You know how to deal with that danger.

00:13:38.660 And that is besides of when you go into the cold, your energy goes way up.

00:13:47.820 Your dopamine goes way up.

00:13:51.280 Your testosterone goes way up.

00:13:55.300 And if we talk about the order of man, all the order is there.

00:14:01.260 We are man in our deep brain.

00:14:05.640 It all is without words.

00:14:09.280 And it is connected to our hormones, to function well, to feel well, and to take care of our families.

00:14:18.280 One of the things I have been curious about is, you see things that pop up occasionally, and you have been doing this work for such a long time.

00:14:27.320 And when you talk about cold, you are talking about exposure, as in full body exposure, immersion.

00:14:32.240 But you see these things where people will, you know, put their face in a bowl of ice water.

00:14:38.080 Or I have seen one where people are holding ice cubes in their hands.

00:14:41.800 And the claim is that it is making the same benefit.

00:14:46.260 And I am curious what you think about that.

00:14:47.880 Or is that just a hack and a shortcut for people who do not want to do it the immersive way like you often teach?

00:14:53.780 Yes, a cold shower works well.

00:14:58.860 A full body immersion as well.

00:15:01.920 Just having ice cubes in the hand and or have the face in.

00:15:08.360 That is known.

00:15:09.620 Paul Newman did that every time he went on for filming.

00:15:14.160 Because then what happens, you get past your mammalian reflex, you bring down the heart rate, more energy is being activated.

00:15:26.100 And it's a biohack.

00:15:28.860 But it really does not work as well as a full body immersion.

00:15:34.460 Full body immersion.

00:15:36.720 If we are 100, like, no, 70,000 miles of veins, arteries, and capillaries.

00:15:45.620 And all the capillaries live in our, the biggest organ of our, which is our skin.

00:15:51.960 Our skin is the biggest organ.

00:15:54.020 There it all lives.

00:15:55.280 When you go into the cold, you exercise all these capillaries, all the veins and all the arteries.

00:16:02.100 Not with just your face or a ice cube in your hand.

00:16:08.180 And what is killer number one in our society?

00:16:11.120 It's cardiovascular related diseases.

00:16:14.560 Why?

00:16:15.360 Because we deprivate our full functionality of our vascular channels to be activated.

00:16:23.180 We always wear clothes.

00:16:24.820 And we, thus, we desensitize millions of receptors in our body.

00:16:33.000 Now, when you go fully immersed into water, it all activates.

00:16:38.980 That's why when you get into the cold, you come out, you look red.

00:16:43.680 The blood flow.

00:16:45.620 Your color is pink, red.

00:16:47.640 It's amazing.

00:16:48.780 Why?

00:16:49.040 Because the blood flow goes to the skin.

00:16:52.740 And then it is alive.

00:16:54.800 And that is good.

00:16:56.600 And so, that also makes the contraction and dilatation of all the veins and arteries go at work.

00:17:06.840 That is like gymnastics for the vascular system.

00:17:10.160 That helps the heart with the blood flow go through all the body.

00:17:14.720 So, full immersion will give you so much more energy, so much more dopamine, so much more vascular fitness workout that is so underestimated, but it needs to be set.

00:17:30.720 And having a biohack with your head or your face into icy water, I know that one, it goes past the mammalian reflex and you bring your heart rate down.

00:17:43.660 That is nice and cool, okay.

00:17:47.160 And in your hands to have ice cube, because in the end, the cardiovascular system is a closed system.

00:17:55.440 It all works together.

00:17:58.020 But I cannot say that you activate it all by just putting your face in or your hands, the extremities.

00:18:08.160 Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

00:18:11.620 What would you say for cold exposure?

00:18:14.400 You know, you're talking about cold shower, cold baths.

00:18:16.920 You were talking about being in the lake earlier this morning.

00:18:19.760 Or even being outside in the cold, I imagine, with minimal clothing on is probably good as well, based on what I've heard you say.

00:18:28.180 But what would you say is the minimum effective dose?

00:18:31.160 Is this something that a person should do every single day?

00:18:34.220 Is once a week enough?

00:18:35.380 What is the minimum effective dose for activating these entire systems?

00:18:40.620 If you feel a lack of energy, take a cold shower.

00:18:44.520 Then your blood flow will contract.

00:18:48.920 Your vascular system will contract.

00:18:51.480 And your blood flow will go better through your body, creating energy.

00:18:56.240 So whenever you feel you have a lack inside your body, you are not active, a little bit sluggish.

00:19:05.220 That is your vascular system.

00:19:08.800 So your vascular system is effectively exercised in the moment when you take a cold shower.

00:19:16.300 I would say do it every day.

00:19:18.460 If you have to take a shower, take a hot one.

00:19:21.940 Very nice.

00:19:23.160 But end with cold.

00:19:25.340 And if you've got a lake or cold body of water outside, hey man, just go in.

00:19:32.600 Go into the wild.

00:19:34.380 Because it is wild to experience the primordial power of our cardiovascular system, our blood flow, our heart to be and feel alive.

00:19:45.880 I always say it's going back to the factory settings of Mother Nature.

00:19:51.020 That is what the goal is doing.

00:19:52.880 So if you feel not so well within, go back to the factory settings of Mother Nature.

00:20:00.620 Go into the cold via a shower, cold shower, or in a natural body of water outside.

00:20:08.540 Or what I did last week in Sweden with 250 people.

00:20:13.640 And they went into the freezing cold in their bikinis and in their shorts for four hours in the freezing cold.

00:20:26.540 And they were all capable of doing this.

00:20:29.760 This is not just a little bit.

00:20:31.860 It exerts mindset.

00:20:34.860 But then suddenly we are able to endure so much more stress upon our bodies, which is the cold.

00:20:42.900 And with that, the takeaway is that you suddenly awaken to an understanding that your body is capable, if you motivate yourself, to take on stress much better than we thought.

00:20:58.840 I actually had an experience years ago with a friend of mine, his name is Steve Weatherford, and I went to a retreat that he did.

00:21:06.820 I know, Steve.

00:21:07.800 Yeah.

00:21:08.560 So he brought some of your...

00:21:10.000 I call him building.

00:21:12.200 He's an incredible human.

00:21:13.760 He brought some of your team and we did cold exposure for three or four days.

00:21:18.420 And then the last thing that we did is we hiked a mountain in northern Utah.

00:21:22.560 And I was just in boots and a pair of swim trunks.

00:21:26.800 And there was probably 20 of us or so.

00:21:29.480 And just like you said, we were up there for two or three hours, the wind blowing, snow flurries.

00:21:34.360 And the whole time through the breathing techniques and everything else, it wasn't just manageable.

00:21:39.360 It was actually pretty pleasant.

00:21:41.080 And people were coming down the mountain and they were surprised and they were like, aren't you guys cold?

00:21:45.940 And nobody was.

00:21:46.720 It was amazing.

00:21:47.280 Yeah, and that it is.

00:21:50.420 We want to make people part of that amazingness of their own body.

00:21:54.980 How it is capable if you motivate yourself and handle through your deeper breathing your own biochemistry to endure stress so much better.

00:22:08.820 That is consciously taking in a deeper control over the physiology.

00:22:15.100 And that's what we need.

00:22:16.440 We are deprived of that in office works, seated, with telephones, with computers, always comfort zone behavior.

00:22:30.060 We don't know anymore.

00:22:31.580 We don't feel anymore what the body is capable of.

00:22:35.800 And this is what I see every time in these retreats.

00:22:42.500 And I'm talking people from 20 to 80 years old and still capable through this motivation and some breathing to go three, four hours out in the cold, in freezing cold, in there, in somewhere.

00:23:00.420 It's amazing.

00:23:01.240 It really is.

00:23:02.240 It really is.

00:23:03.420 I was surprised by that experience.

00:23:04.800 The other thing, and I really wanted to ask you this, is one of the benefits that I receive whenever I do a cold plunge or a cold shower, and you can explain the physiology behind this, I'm sure.

00:23:15.980 I always sleep that night so much better, much more rested, I wake up with more energy, and I don't know what the physiology behind cold exposure and me sleeping well is.

00:23:28.700 Can you explain that to me?

00:23:29.620 Yes, you activate the, you go into the danger part of the brain, that was the survival brain.

00:23:38.300 Cold is dangerous, but if we know how to activate the survival part of our brain, that is the brainstem, then suddenly the adrenal axis comes within our control.

00:23:50.940 And what is adrenaline doing?

00:23:53.500 It expels anything that should not be in your body.

00:23:59.620 When we go to sleep, we still are dealing with cortisol.

00:24:04.740 Cortisol, a stress hormone, it's still in the body.

00:24:08.380 And that's why we are not able to go to sleep, like we don't fall asleep.

00:24:15.180 And then when you are asleep, you can't get into the deep sleep because you are still with that stress hormone, keeping you sort of alert, present, half present, half not.

00:24:28.500 And resulting in not having slept or not having rested or regenerated in energy in the other morning.

00:24:37.820 So when you go into the cold, you activate the adrenal axis, that is hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands.

00:24:49.400 They are being activated through going into the cold, which expels anything that should not be in the body.

00:24:57.540 And then when you go to sleep, you are clean and you switch off and boom, melatonin comes in and you are gone into the deep sleep.

00:25:09.600 And there, at that moment, the vagus nerve is the parasympathetic nervous system, suddenly is at work to regenerate, rehabilitate, to take care of inflammation.

00:25:23.420 Anything that needs to happen is done through the vagus nerve, which is being activated at the moment when the body is clean.

00:25:31.960 And that is what the cold is doing every time you go.

00:25:36.860 Therefore, you will sleep all the time very well when you have been in the cold.

00:25:43.160 Yeah, that is that was one of the unintended benefits that I just did not realize.

00:25:46.780 When you say that the body then cleanses itself through the adrenal glands or activation of it, how does your body expel the chemicals or the toxins or whatever it might be in your body?

00:25:57.940 Is it through breathing? Is it through sweat? Is it through urinating?

00:26:01.780 Like, how is your body actually eliminating that from it from itself?

00:26:04.820 So, I did lately a study with 51 people. And we had them drink alcohol. Lots, lots. Scientifically, they were measured in their pain and their breathing and exercises, all protocol.

00:26:24.000 Then the other day, they all had a hangover. That is poison. That's like poison in the body.

00:26:30.320 They were measured again. And then they did the breathing. The breathing and the cold.

00:26:38.200 And within one and a half hour, everybody's hangover was cured.

00:26:44.960 So, how does that work?

00:26:48.020 One, if you go into the cold, the adrenal axis is at work and expels anything that is in between you and your utmost body.

00:27:00.320 The adrenaline and the best of functionality because adrenaline is there to help you in a dangerous moment for which you need effective control and the best of abilities of your body.

00:27:13.980 and therefore this natural mechanism is being is expelling anything that is blocking that

00:27:22.420 which is blocking the functionality of your body to get out of that dangerous situation that is one

00:27:30.380 and then two we do the breathing the breathing is making the body's eh levels go up alkaline

00:27:39.020 what happens is that the nervous system suddenly becomes it works better the neurotransmitters

00:27:46.460 work better and with that it expels anything that blocks the functionality of the electricity system

00:27:55.000 in the body which is the nervous system is based on electricity in the body so if we do these

00:28:02.540 breathing techniques we go make the body very alkaline like an alkaline battery and then

00:28:10.260 at a certain moment the breathing reflex is not necessary because the carbon dioxide is blown off

00:28:18.700 it's blown off and you are able to stay one minute or two minutes without breathing after

00:28:26.980 exhalation now what happens after uh what happens when you do that is a whole lot but one thing is

00:28:37.200 it is once again connected to the deep brain of the danger not breathing is dangerous so and the brain

00:28:47.500 is saying hey the man is not breathing well now but what happens is that this biohack is just a conscious

00:28:57.260 biohack by which we bypassed the normal physiology in the brain and body there's nothing going on the body is very alkaline it's all okay

00:29:09.980 but the deep brain doesn't understand that because the conscious brain is deciding this right so this is the biohack

00:29:20.220 by which suddenly the adrenal axis boom there is not breathing all the alarm bells go off and and the best of your

00:29:29.860 functionality is being uh placed right over there activated right over there that's why uh people who feel

00:29:38.660 bad or emotionally or inflammation they get it all down at that moment just by breathing we also showed it is

00:29:50.020 in a hospital by injecting ourselves with the endotoxy with the e-coli bacteria okay just by breathing

00:29:59.040 to bring the inflammation caused by the injection of an e-coli bacteria that is bloody dangerous

00:30:06.380 oh yes e-coli bacteria it causes the inflammation it causes disease in the body and we just brought it down

00:30:14.340 all of us just through breathing so breathing and cold is able to take care of what should not be in the body

00:30:25.340 in the case of alcohol which is a poison case of people who doing chemo you feel so much better

00:30:33.660 because your immune cells go up the white crown the white cells of the immune system they go way up

00:30:42.620 doing this breathing exercise it's a and there is so much more to say about it it should be investigated so

00:30:52.620 much more the science should get in here so much more because it is and for free it's very effective it's

00:31:02.620 directly here you are able to change your biochemistry just by biohacking consciously

00:31:09.900 through deep breathing this is what we have learned so anything we are dealing with there's so much

00:31:17.340 kinds of poison neurotoxins pfas microplastics uh spike proteins uh alcohol uh wrong relationships

00:31:29.020 it all causes neurotoxic presence this breathing is able to make and to cleanse that

00:31:37.740 yeah that is that is really interesting you know one of the things that i remember reading

00:31:42.780 one one of your books years ago this was revelatory for me is that when and correct me if i'm wrong but

00:31:49.340 the way i understood how you were describing it is that when you are out of breath what we think is that

00:31:54.940 we're out of oxygen but if i remember correctly you said no that's not the case it's that our carbon

00:31:59.980 dioxide levels are too high not that we're out of oxygen is that correct yes yes absolutely yeah when

00:32:08.460 a carbon dioxide is very high we have the urge to breathe because the the blood becomes acidic

00:32:16.300 and the biochemistry becomes acidic and that's why we breathe to to level out the carbon dioxide going down

00:32:26.300 bringing oxygen and make it more alkaline there is a fine line over there 7.3 7.4 alkalinity needs to be

00:32:37.260 present for the functionality of our body through in the blood which is going through the body so it needs

00:32:46.540 to be in that fine line when it's too much or too little then we have to breathe that is the way we are

00:32:54.620 triggered to breathe so now if we know that then we are able now through these breathing techniques

00:33:02.620 techniques to uh to go biohacking to make the body so alkaline that it doesn't need to breathe and when

00:33:12.780 that happens when we are able without effort to prolong that state without breathing because the body is so

00:33:22.220 alkaline it needs to go back to that fine line then all a cascade of benefits a cascade of

00:33:32.540 uh uh uh neurotransmitting in the body sequencing is happening which is very better and beneficial

00:33:41.900 it's it's when stem cells are activated immune cells are activated wrong cells are being recycled

00:33:50.300 cancer cells go down and this is just the body's a response to a dangerous situation while it is not

00:33:58.780 dangerous that right makes this biohack so amazing and it should be implemented much more in the modern

00:34:08.300 science but it doesn't make money and this is the real disease uh and that's my opinion and health should

00:34:18.460 there be for free and any biohack that is simple effective and scientifically endorsed should be

00:34:27.660 as a widespread to uh everybody to enable them to balance out anytime when they feel something is

00:34:36.940 wrong inside mentally and physically so i i have a question about you know these these practices are

00:34:46.380 even if it was not consciously thought about our ancient practices because two thousand years ago

00:34:53.020 five thousand years ago we were just out in the cold we lived literally in the cold and then you

00:34:58.940 look you fast forward to today we are living much longer lives than our ancestors so how do you reconcile

00:35:07.580 these ancient practices of cold exposure and breathing coupled with modern medicine that has increased our

00:35:15.500 standard or not our maybe not our that's our standard of living and also our lifespan itself yes from the

00:35:23.900 outside we look the same but our brains our brain activity has completely changed we got like 10 times more brain

00:35:34.300 activity neural activity than 500 years ago than a monkey right now we got so much more brain activity

00:35:45.340 activity and so much functionality so much departments and and skills in our brain so you cannot

00:35:54.140 compare that brain with a million years ago or a hundred thousand years ago or even 500 years ago it has gone so

00:36:04.380 fast our problems of modern days is that we neglect our mammalian uh being that we neglect

00:36:14.780 uh what our deep brain uh what our deep brain and when we have problems in life like

00:36:21.660 where a divorce or death or disease then we don't know how to deal with that what i say here is you are able

00:36:31.980 to cope with the tiger with the wolf that nowadays it's a it's a mortgage it's a it's a relationship it's an

00:36:41.580 accident it is the death of family members it is your kids pressing you it's the tax office it's all

00:36:49.500 different and but it gets to us it's stress it's dangerous long-term stress becomes chronic stress and

00:36:58.700 chronic stress really eats away the quality of our lives so we are able to live longer because the brain

00:37:08.700 the central nervous system has changed from the outside we look the same but from the inside

00:37:15.740 we completely changed so let's look at what the problems are of nowadays because we can go to the

00:37:25.100 moon we can maybe go to the mars we can have bridges and buildings of a kilometer and elevators and

00:37:34.060 and regulate the temperature but can we be happy strong and healthy that is what i know where i come in

00:37:44.220 through controlling the breath through using the cold we are able to become much more in control of

00:37:53.260 our happiness which is the hormonal system about our health which is the immune system and uh and our

00:38:01.900 strength which is the energy flow within us all that can be much better controlled by humans using the

00:38:12.060 breath and using the cold these old things whom have been there since ever on the planet and now it's time

00:38:21.900 that we get back there consciously into that deep brain into that prehistoric being because we neglected

00:38:30.940 it we think we can dominate nature we can bend nature to our will but our nature in the end is to be

00:38:40.700 happy strong and healthy and we lack over there you can't buy it but it's inside here and now it's the most

00:38:51.900 closest you can be it's your own breath which is the spirit in the end and that one we are able to get into

00:39:01.500 and to profoundly take over what is ours our emotion

00:39:08.700 man let me step away from the conversation briefly i'm going to get right back into it because i'm

00:39:12.300 enjoying it as much as you are um i want to talk about mentoring real quick and wim wim does this

00:39:17.340 himself and he might call it something different but mentoring is so crucial and a man needs this because

00:39:23.820 no one sharpens himself in isolation or alone left on your own a man relies on trial and error

00:39:32.060 on emotional response on guesswork and potentially and i've done this waste years of learning lessons

00:39:40.380 that art others have already paid for and sweat and failure and sacrifice then mentoring provides a

00:39:47.580 perspective that cannot be gained alone it's someone who sees blind spots who might challenge your

00:39:54.140 excuses who might offer clarity when your judgment and it will be is clouded it replaces reaction with

00:40:01.100 intention and it turns your raw potential into disciplined action and that's what we do inside the iron council

00:40:09.980 it's not about hierarchy or ego or who's at the top or who's better it's about responsibility and brotherhood

00:40:15.580 because a man who and i i don't know any other way to say this but submits himself to counsel not the iron council but

00:40:24.460 counsel grows faster he leads more effectively and he carries the burdens that he's tasked with

00:40:31.980 carrying with greater resolve mentorship in your life creates accountability and man-to-man it reinforces

00:40:39.500 standards guys and you need to have your standards reinforced or built and it ensures no man that 0.84

00:40:46.380 that he drifts unnoticed or unchecked contrary to popular belief strong men are not self-made they're

00:40:53.180 shaped they're tested they're chipped away at they're refined by other men committed to their own growth and

00:41:01.180 to the other man's growth and that's the purpose of the iron council and i hope you'll join us we'll be open

00:41:05.740 through mid-january i hope you'll join us at the excuse me at order of man dot com slash iron council

00:41:12.380 that's order of man dot com slash iron council commit to mentoring this year in 2026 i promise it

00:41:19.580 will pay you dividends and if it doesn't let me know and we'll make things right but if you go to

00:41:24.220 order of man dot com slash iron council you can get all the details all right let's get back to it with whim

00:41:29.660 i am really glad that you talk about it in the context of the the parts of us that we can't see

00:41:38.860 you know it's like yes we can advance civilizations and we can build bridges and roads and buildings and

00:41:43.340 everything else but study after study after study shows that in spite of our tremendous advancements

00:41:49.660 and our quality of life we're still less happy we're less fulfilled we're we're less satisfied with

00:41:58.380 it's almost like we can we can no longer be satiated it's always what's bigger what's better what's

00:42:02.700 next what's this what's that instead of just being present and i fall prey to that but i'd like that

00:42:08.140 you're talking about if we could couple these ancient practices with our newish brains how much better

00:42:15.820 more fulfilled more happy like you're saying would we possibly be absolutely absolutely it's a biohack

00:42:23.740 which is so simple and some people say i don't have that time 25 minutes a day i say i tell them take

00:42:31.660 one a half hour instead of 25 minutes because the gravity the importance of your well-being is within

00:42:41.100 not out there it's in and this is the way to get in this is the way to shut up this thinking

00:42:48.300 brain and to feel purpose of life is to be alive just to feel life unconditionally that is what

00:42:56.940 the cold is doing it has no reason to be there but in the meantime it's the best way to tackle

00:43:05.820 the cardiovascular problems of the comfort zone behavior of people which in the end is killer number

00:43:14.060 one as if it is not there it is there and we can prevent uh uh from it to happen in in long time in

00:43:24.780 in the long term by going into the cold the cold brings a state of being unconditionally as you said

00:43:34.380 satiated you know you are just satiated by feeling alive without words words will not

00:43:42.700 fulfill your blood with this sense of purpose that is the deep brain needs to be activated to feel that

00:43:55.180 and it secretes all these necessary kind of neurotransmitters to get into the blood and then you feel alive

00:44:05.260 and that's what you want and it only takes 25 minutes in the morning

00:44:11.180 that's my ritual to feel bloody strong all day long i don't feel this these stress hormones of

00:44:21.820 people talking to me this and becoming sluggish i got energy all day long and that is because i'm clean

00:44:29.980 i clean i clean myself up through the brain stem the reptilian brain the purpose of life with

00:44:37.820 uh unconditionally activating that i got energy clean for all day long and a whole lot of

00:44:46.940 shit can come to me but it will not make me sluggish i will be able to fan it off easy because i got no

00:44:54.940 shit inside i can store it away and later i clean it again through breathing and the cold as simple 0.98

00:45:03.020 as it is and therefore i'm not talking about the past and of course we live longer but hey why not 0.98

00:45:12.140 live longer and stronger and happier and healthier that's what we are talking about to you and i'm also

00:45:19.980 glad that and i hadn't considered this before you talk about when you're most fulfilled in life

00:45:25.820 you can't you can't express that with words and i think about it in my own life the times where i've

00:45:30.460 been you know the happiest or more most fulfilled or even proud you know watching my daughter at her

00:45:35.020 dance recital or watching my son hit a home run the times that i feel the best are the times that i have

00:45:41.020 a hard time explaining i cannot articulate it because it's to your point it's a feeling it isn't the

00:45:46.940 thinking side of the brain is what i'm hearing you say exactly and we live in a society which is a

00:45:53.820 creation of our extensions of our thoughts and which come comforted us but the real comfort is where you

00:46:04.220 feel happiness without words you feel driven like when you love you the first time you see a what and

00:46:12.300 in the beginning you are swept away with a feeling you cannot understand but you want to go over there

00:46:19.900 and i say that feeling unconditional feeling that is present every time in our deep brain but we don't

00:46:29.180 know how to get there and the cold will bring you there and the breathing the right breathing will bring

00:46:36.540 you there and with that you have a connection with the life force without words because words will never

00:46:43.900 be able to get that density of feeling you need to get into the feeling part of the brain and that is done

00:46:53.500 through the cold and that is done through uh the breathing and or otherwise when your daughter

00:46:59.820 it has a recital or your son's home run or your love for your wife and a power is then activated of

00:47:08.300 the deep brain hold on one second wim i think i may have hold on i'm having a little technical issue

00:47:15.820 here hold on oh okay oh we're good i'll splice up my earbud went out but i think i'm connected again

00:47:22.460 so we're good keep going yes so uh that feeling part of the brain that uh there are actually two

00:47:31.180 brains there's the mammalian brain and the reptilian brain those two they need blood flow but if we are

00:47:39.820 into the thinking brain it takes the blood where is the neural activity blood flow will go so you can

00:47:47.980 see that in brain scans that people have less blood flow in the deeper parts of their brain because of

00:47:56.220 the thinking brain right that long term makes you insensitive and then you need all kinds of

00:48:05.180 compensatory uh needs like drugs or beer or excitement entertainment and all that and i say get high on your

00:48:16.300 your own supply it's always there it's amazing a life is great i love my wife i love my kids but i also

00:48:28.060 love my ritual every morning that i go within and and shake the hands with my soul when when you talk

00:48:37.660 about soul what what's your take on the spiritual realm you know the the things that are hard to quantify

00:48:42.780 and and potentially tapping into a higher power what what's your belief system around that and how

00:48:47.740 it ties into what you do exactly it is my belief it is my belief interoception faith within me that

00:48:56.460 connects me with the principle of life itself we'll just take it miraculous it's there without that we

00:49:04.940 stink in one day so i just go over there i don't need scientific explanations it's there without that once

00:49:14.220 again i stink in one day we all stink in one day if we are not connected to our soul as if it is not

00:49:22.140 there have no doubt it is there i just exercise those deep moments in the morning in my ritual with myself

00:49:33.180 through faith it's just a little bit of faith that connects me with the deepest of myself and i feel

00:49:41.740 it and it's there and it gives me life it gives me purpose it gives me energy it gives me anything to

00:49:49.820 take care of my family and myself and be nice and kind when you talk about purpose obviously you have

00:49:59.340 been spreading this this work and these philosophies and ideas for decades at this point what how do you

00:50:05.660 determine your purpose and and how would you articulate that and how has it changed over the course of your life

00:50:12.300 yes my purpose is based in to my faith when i was 12 years old i told my friends hey uh if the world

00:50:22.860 thinks that it is normal to have depression wars pollution uh darkness abuse then i think the world is sick

00:50:33.420 i'm gonna do something about it what i don't know i just do it and that is where my faith consciously

00:50:43.980 started to exercise to work upon this and for a long time i i was into thinking and philosophizing how to

00:50:54.860 change this what is happening how do i have to understand is when i came across five years later the cold

00:51:04.700 and when i got into the cold first time i felt this is it without words that is connection connection

00:51:13.580 with feeling connection uh with that that uh what we call life and it made me feel so good and then the

00:51:23.420 other day i went back to see if that was uh there again because i began to doubt about it maybe it was just one

00:51:32.940 shot one experience no it was there again and since then 17 that is 49 years ago i have been

00:51:42.940 exercising going into the cold because the cold uh just goes through this uh circling thought patterns

00:51:52.940 of modern life and modern behavior straight into who you are and what you are the factory settings of

00:52:01.740 mother nature itself every day and once you get there you get all the energy you get all the purpose you get

00:52:10.620 you get connection with your deep brain and anything if you are able to go into your deep brain then

00:52:17.100 where else can you not go you learn to make use of your brain to control and regulate your emotion and to

00:52:26.860 feel the purpose why am i here i want to change the world that's my purpose my mother made me so she told me

00:52:37.020 oh god let this child live at my birth yeah because i was nearly to die to get one of the twins and then she said 0.87

00:52:47.180 oh god make this let this child live i will make him a missionary she told me later and i think everybody has a mission

00:52:56.940 but my mission is i bring goodness to the world through science and through effective techniques found in nature not in books

00:53:09.740 in nature where i learned to feel and making sense deep sense within me which was not into the books

00:53:19.100 now after doing all the science and exercising my faith i changed the books i changed what medically

00:53:29.260 is possible in humans i'm a drop out of school i'm teaching doctors and professors in the world what is this

00:53:38.780 because i learned from the real wisdom that is not in the books it's out there in nature and we have the right

00:53:47.020 to know anything that brings us in connection with our soul our purpose with goodness itself to bring

00:53:56.940 goodness to care for each other to take care of my family and your family and all the kids of the world

00:54:04.940 that is my aim that is my purpose that is my power and it's within me and the cold just cleanses me every

00:54:13.740 day the breathing cleanses me every day by which i can exercise not just hopefully i can exercise a faith

00:54:23.580 that will make the change happen for the good that is that is really powerful do you still have days where

00:54:34.860 you're not as motivated i mean it's it's such a i know for myself and for other people who have maybe

00:54:41.020 never did a cold plunge or a cold shower it to motivate yourself to do that you have to actually

00:54:46.140 fight your your instinct is that something that you still have to fight and contend with at times or is

00:54:52.860 this just easy for you and also how does somebody who does need to fight that do that more effectively

00:54:59.820 so they can tap into this anybody has the power we were talking about the 250 people last week

00:55:07.180 from 20 to 80 years they only needed motivation and then suddenly they were able to go three four hours

00:55:18.460 in freezing cold in their bikinis and shorts they are changed they suddenly realized they have so much more

00:55:26.620 power uh being able to endure stress call this stress but stress of life can make us inert

00:55:37.020 like inactive apathic a little bit but once you know that you are built with much greater powers

00:55:47.260 than you exercise or experience that is the beginning and then use the breath then use a cold shower

00:55:55.100 go for the full power why would you deprive yourself of having little power won't you

00:56:04.220 when you can get all the power to fulfill your purpose to feel alive to take care of your family of your

00:56:12.940 friends of everything and have energy as much as you loved your woman for the first time

00:56:21.820 it's stronger than our thoughts it's learning to get into our non-thinking brain the feeling

00:56:29.100 i think that uh instead what what a decar you know a renee decar he was a philosopher he said we are because we think

00:56:39.580 you see pas que je pense he said and i say we are because we feel we are i'm changing that thinking is good for

00:56:52.380 making buildings etc but if you want to build upon happiness strength and health go to your feeling

00:56:59.900 feeling is the understanding and so for anybody who is listening and they said oh the cold is too much

00:57:09.020 it i don't feel it yeah that is exactly what i'm talking about you break that circle because you

00:57:16.940 are the owner of so much more power within and so much better feelings within and we love to share

00:57:27.580 that with the people and we showed it how to do that and by after thousands and thousands of people

00:57:35.020 regardless of age and even conditions i saw a transformation happening just in a couple of days

00:57:44.860 it's amazing what you can do it it doesn't need you to go for a five years of fitness training to get

00:57:52.460 into so much weight and feel you accomplished no you are a perfect being as you are but wake up to the

00:58:02.380 perfect perfection of yourself which is light every day it starts in the morning get to it take the 0.92

00:58:11.260 damn cold shower get into uh some breathing and feel a breathing and believing and feel yourself 0.69

00:58:21.500 because it's dead and if it doesn't work blame me but if it works pass it on that's love that's fair 1.00

00:58:30.780 yeah that's fair do you feel like you make better decisions as you tap into this reptilian brain because

00:58:36.140 i know i feel that way whenever i whenever i base my decisions on my what i would just say intuition

00:58:44.460 that i can't quite articulate i always make good decisions and when i out logic my intuition i end up

00:58:53.500 making bad decisions it seems like yes intuition is intuition is latin for going in and intuition is

00:59:02.700 the sixth sense we are the sixth sense we send and receive messages and uh the clarity of our brain

00:59:11.980 is being uh guaranteed at the moment when you go into the cold because once again it cleanses not only the

00:59:19.260 blood it goes through the blood brain barrier into our brain and thus we have a higher cognitive

00:59:27.260 awareness and a better connection with our instincts and with our intuition it is called interoception

00:59:37.180 top-down regulated interoception i did the studies in detroit

00:59:41.500 uh uh in detroit a michigan detroit and there it showed that they said now we have the compelling

00:59:51.740 evidence of the key components of the autonomous processes in the brain related to mood regulation when you

01:00:02.540 feel good you think better when you feel good you are clearer more clarity is there in the brain

01:00:10.460 that's why you feel good that's why you feel good so that feeling good is being uh uh activated

01:00:19.020 through going into the cold and going into uh some breathing effectively done so there it is clarity of mind

01:00:30.460 interoception is a new term top-down regulation of interoception is a new term in neuroscience

01:00:39.820 and they never saw that this was possible until i showed it and that's why it needs to be studied

01:00:47.500 so much more but because it doesn't make money that's why the funds that with the nih and all 0.98

01:00:57.660 it's it's not there they don't want natural ways because it doesn't make money so that is the real

01:01:04.300 disease thing is through podcasts we are able to pass on common sense natural techniques for free

01:01:14.060 and just try it once and that and then come back but if you don't try it don't stay in this thinking

01:01:21.500 brain and doubting just i'm talking about a little bit of breathing and a cold shower because feeling

01:01:29.820 is the understanding yeah i know i haven't immersed myself nearly to the degree that that i ought to

01:01:37.100 even after having this conversation i'm much more inspired to do that but i know with the limited

01:01:41.100 exposure that i've had from recovery to sleep to the way that i feel to overcoming something

01:01:48.300 that's challenging to the way that i address other hardship has been absolutely incredible for

01:01:53.980 me so i can't i can't uh overstate the benefits of it yes so and so it is for everybody and everybody

01:02:03.260 has it has a different uh a connection toward it a different activation different response but in general

01:02:11.900 we can say the cold is the greatest cardiovascular fitness workout you can imagine that is one your

01:02:20.220 energy will go way up your dopamines go way up depression will be no longer why dopamine lack is gone

01:02:29.340 250 more dopamine by going into an ice bath that is like cocaine only it's no cocaine it's go uh

01:02:39.420 being high on your own supply it's all there when we cleanse inside through the activation of the

01:02:47.340 adrenal axis we become clean and a clean body unconditionally is able to feel emotions well that is good

01:02:57.820 feeling and that i wish for every person that's the way we are built well when this has been fascinating

01:03:05.900 and like i said i was so grateful that we could have this conversation will you let men know where

01:03:09.820 to learn about you you've got the book exposure that is available and also you have your programs

01:03:15.740 and retreats and things let the guys know where to go so they can find out more information

01:03:20.620 right on that is the i got a website and it's being handled by my son and my family and all

01:03:28.380 i actually have never been on my own website but don't tell me about it i won't that that stays between

01:03:34.380 you and me and everybody else listening that's it i make fun out of it but hey you know i just do it

01:03:41.740 i walk my talk uh every day so when i i'm uh when people ask me things i just pop up and here it is

01:03:51.740 but go to my website go to the youtube and and type in wim hoff and wim hoff method and you will find

01:04:01.900 everything actually it's all for free it's all there already but if you want to see me we got

01:04:07.820 to organize stuff so then the payments are being done etc and there is a book coming out a autobiography

01:04:17.100 in photos of the last 45 years or 50 years it's all in there it's amazing uh it's quite amazing because

01:04:25.900 it tells you know a photo sometimes tells a lot more of what is going on than words and you can see

01:04:32.540 it and i do poetry as well so i i like it i love the book and it's out in there in the us i think in

01:04:41.900 england too and now it's being translated into dutch my own language where i am right now actually i'm

01:04:49.180 living in australia right now but i'm here visiting my family my oldest family i got a new family now

01:04:57.260 we all live in harmony together and it's a yeah it's all great life is great well you seem like

01:05:04.140 it and uh i'm inspired even more so after having this conversation win thanks for joining me today

01:05:08.780 i really appreciate your time thank you ryan all the love all the power yes sir gentlemen there you go my

01:05:17.020 conversation with the one and only wim hoff i hope you enjoyed it he's got a new book called exposure

01:05:22.140 make sure you check it out and if you would as you're leaving and wrapping up gosh 2025 at this point

01:05:29.420 take a screenshot of me and wim doing our thing tag us on instagram facebook twitter x youtube wherever

01:05:36.940 you're doing your social media stuff and let us know what you thought about the podcast and the

01:05:41.420 conversation i've been working on this one for years and it turned out better than i thought

01:05:46.940 it would so connect with me connect with wim share it let us know what you what you liked about the

01:05:53.340 conversation what you didn't like about the conversation and let's keep this thing rolling

01:05:57.580 in the meantime check out the iron council at order a man dot com slash iron council join before january

01:06:03.420 15th and we'll get you locked into the brotherhood and the mentorship all right guys we will be back

01:06:10.540 tomorrow christmas eve or ask me anything until then go out there take action and become the man you are

01:06:16.940 meant to be thank you for listening to the order of man podcast you're ready to take charge of your

01:06:22.700 life and be more of the man you were meant to be we invite you to join the order at order of man dot com

01:06:32.940 or from the are exception to have on board of man pois exatlJean

01:06:38.780 tesla

01:06:42.060 tar

01:06:44.120 nos

01:06:45.420 te

01:06:47.680 te

01:06:49.900 te

01:06:51.420 te

01:06:51.820 te

01:06:52.060 te

01:06:52.900 te

01:06:54.060 te

01:06:55.020 te

01:06:55.980 te

01:06:56.880 te

01:06:57.020 te

01:06:58.020 te

01:06:59.000 te

01:07:00.040 te

Order of Man - December 23, 2025

WIM HOF ｜ Factory Reset： How Cold, Breath, and Solitude Rewire Your Brain

Episode Stats

Summary

Transcript