Back in Feb 2018, comfortably lying on my sofa, switching TV programs, my attention got caught on a documentary on the power of our body featuring Wim Hof and his method. Since then, time flew. My first researches on the topic, the first experiments, participation in on-site workshops and winter adventures, incorporation of the method in my morning routine, cold swim and dip in nature, jogging shirtless in freezing temperature, writing a book on this experience and now the Wim Hof instructor certification!
Discomfort is around and ahead of us, so, we should better prepare ourselves to handle it. We must seek opportunities to feel clumsy, awkward, embarrassed, insecure, and self-conscious. We need to get out of balance, out of our set routine, and out of our comfort zone. We must train ourselves to cope with the insecurity of not knowing and the sensations that come with awkwardness. That leads to resilience, our ability to spring back from troubled times. We must learn to deal with variability in our environment, unpredictability in our lives, and changes in the nature of our circumstances. We must, first and foremost, learn to step on the cracks rather than stepping around, over, or between them.
Each day, we can find small ways to practice being with discomfort, working on being okay with things being not okay. It’s a practice that gradually makes everything more okay.
I personally found, in the Wim Hof method through the intense breathing techniques, the cold exposure, the yoga movements, the way it pushes our organism between various extremes and the entailed deep impact on our body and mind, the ideal training ground for learning to deal with discomfort, increase my resilience while keeping me healthy, strong and happy.
