Cold Shower VS Ice Bath: Which one is better? #AskWim

Hi guys, the ice is broken. This is a Q&A on the cold exposure series. If you have a question, I got the answer. Here it comes. How does the cold relate to the mindset and to the breathing? I don't know. Yeah, I do know. I tell you, man, that's a big story. I could write a book just on the breathing, because what are what you're doing when you go into the cold? That's what you do. That is because deep breathing changes the chemistry and the cold triggers the chemistry to be changed. How? Deep breathing. And the cold is our teacher because it is a stressful environment where you get into consciously. Your mindset is going to work. It knows, "Oh, I'm going into the cold and it's cold." And you learn how to tap in, therefore consciously at that moment, into the deepest of your brain. And this is the way to get into your mind setting, into your brainstem, which is the deepest of our brain. And when you learn that fact, using the cold as a beautiful teacher, as a beautiful mirror showing you, merciless but righteous, the way to go into the depth of your brain. Then where else can you not go voluntarily inside your own brain? You are the master of your mind. The cold will teach you mindset and breathing. You are the alchemist. What is the best? An ice bath compared to a natural body of water or a cold shower or a cryochamber? Don't compare. Just go where you feel the best. Because in the end, the cold exposure is your friend. It's your friend for life. Better get the right relationship. Try out a natural body of cold water, a cryochamber if you want. Ice water in a chest freezer and a cold shower and see what you feel, where you really get into your deepest of your physiology. It's up to you. And so it's worth the investment to find out where you are able to get the best result. Always depends on your— on the difference of physiology. You know, you got a different body than mine, but in the end, you want to get into the deepest part of your physiology, both of the mind and body, through the cold. There we meet. How? Through the cold shower, through the cryochamber, through the ice water of the chest freezer, and a natural body of water. Doesn't matter. Get to the place where you influence directly into your mind and your body for the deepest. When is it when you feel adapted to the cold? And when is it enough? What is adaptation all about? Adaptation is the optimized stimulation of your vascular system. And with that, you train your heart. It becomes much less stressed because the whole vascular system, the 120,000 kilometers, 70,000 miles, is activated, optimized. It's done when your muscular tone is relaxed while being in the cold. Takes about 2 minutes. When you have done the 2 minutes, it's there. You have optimized your vascular tone. Your condition is perfect. The way nature meant it to be. If you want to go longer, then that is more the mind. You want to stay there in because you want to train the mind. Hey, that's okay, but don't force. Know what you do. Don't force. Forcing doesn't bring good. Forcing doesn't bring development. Forcing brings destruction. Don't do it. No forcing. You will feel what you are capable of. And your mind and body connection— it's amazing how you can train your mind by going in and ordering your body by your mind consciously. I want to stay 3 minutes more. And what it does without force. Feel powerful, have a great time. Should you alternate between cold and heat, or do the cold alone, or the heat alone? Alternating is opening and closing or constricting the veins and the capillaries, but passively. Now, if you want to learn to have a better control over the vascular system, which is done by going into to do the cold, then do the cold alone. And later, when you got it all done, you take the hot shower and enjoy massively more, because then you decide. You've been deciding to go into the cold, and suddenly the vascular system is listening to you. You are exercising the vascular system at that moment. You are the boss. You are the observer, not passively undergoing. And now heat, and now cold, and now— then the heat gets in, the charge of the heat gets in, and that is being washed away by the cold. It's still a good training, but the best training is the training of the mind. That you go with your mindset set to go in and then take the cold and then consciously create this connection with the depth of your brain Be there and be okay there. Instead of being cold, you experience water as it is. It's water. Why? Because you consciously changed your body and you are on top of it. When you go out directly into the cold without having the heat, then you are exercising your brain, your mind into the depths of your brain. It's amazing. So good luck with any of those. Alternating, fine. But if you really want an exercise of the mind, you go directly into the cold and learn to take it on until it becomes water, because then you are in the power over your hormonal system, your vascular system, your lymphatic system, any system. Cold trains us. Amazing. Hey guys, thank you very much for your questions. It enlightens a lot of mysteries and confusion about how to deal with the cold. I would say chill out, chill out the right way going into the cold. Keep on questioning, report back. I want to know your questions because we gotta find out so much more. The mystery of going into the cold Wim Hof is really very, very, very, very deep, and together we will find out. Amazing. Thank you.