Wim Hof says playfulness is the secret to a fulfilling life, and cold exposure since age 17 keeps him in that light, child-like state. He argues the ice forces his energy to flow and strengthens his life force. Growing older doesn't require losing playfulness if you stay disciplined about it.
Chapters
Wim Hof.
What is the secret of being so playful? That is the secret. Just be playful. Then life will reveal all its secrets. Because you are light. Light like a child. Who owns the whole world. Who owns the whole universe. That is playfulness. Playfulness you get when you are light. Not heavy. Not dark. So I'm into that. And how do I get that? I go into the ice. My energy needs to flow. Once that flows, it's stronger than my thinking. My thinking doesn't make me happy. It is just simply there. But my energy, my life force, is so much stronger. That makes me playful. And then all the secrets of life are revealed to you every day. I've never stopped being playful. And the secret therein is because of the cold. The cold came in when I was 17. And that made me not become adult ever. You know what we call adulthood? We have to be more reserved and it's more heavier and all that. Never. Ever. Never happened. Spiritual adulthood is the power to be not affected by problems and by happiness of the world. To be yourself, light of being. As simple as it is.
Yeah, okay, stop it. 27, 28, 29. 34, 30, 50, 100, 1000, million, one! I'm coming! Where are you? I am hungry! Where is it? No, no, they are not here. Where are they? Are they here? I can smell them. I can smell something. I smell children somewhere. They must be somewhere. Maybe here. Ah! What?
What? Ah!
Oh, I'm gonna make it again. That's gonna be okay. I destroyed the house. You broke the house.
Why do you have to break the house?
What is the purpose of breaking the house?
Yeah, I'm 67.
Hey, man, that is— hey, 6-7, it's gonna be a great year. It's gonna be bloody magic. It's fine, man, it's fine.
Part of growing older is that you become more playful. If you look at it well. Because if you weigh it out, you know, 6-7, then you see that playfulness actually is a lot better than heavy adulthood. And if you go into the ice, then you are really strong within. That life force becomes strong.
Doggo!
I every day mirror myself in the cold because I think it is a very noble force which shows me exactly how to be the way nature meant it to be and how to make my life force strong. And being there So I don't need a persona that is into adulthood, that is serious and all. I did the serious exercising, mirroring in the depth of myself. I do it every morning. Discipline. Discipline is D-I-C-I-P-L-I-N-E.
Ice.
I will never grow serious and all. I make jokes all the time.
"Bjørn!" "Jørn!" Okay, over.
Whatever jokes there are, it is to laugh, to be light of being. And that seriously I am into.
