Wim HofInstructor and teacher, Wim Hof Method

Wim Hof Podcast | Jordan B. Peterson & Ice-Cold Water Therapy

27 Jun 2021 · 1 min

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1:17

In this segment of the Wim Hof podcast, Jordan B. Peterson explains the core idea of exposure‑based psychotherapy: identifying a fear and voluntarily confronting it in graduated doses, which he describes as radically curative for anxiety. He extends this principle to physical stress, arguing that the pain system predates the anxiety system and that anxiety often functions as a proxy for pain. Peterson suggests that immersing hands and feet in ice‑cold water is a direct way to apply exposure therapy to the body, and he answers practical questions about the method, including whether the water should contain ice, whether both hands and feet can be treated, and the optimal timing—such as doing the exposure before bedtime.

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that in psychotherapy, especially behavioral therapy, but not only, you find out what people are afraid of and then you expose them to that voluntarily. You know, in graduated doses according to their ability to tolerate it. And that's radically curative. It's extremely effective for dealing with fear. And so you're doing the same thing with physical stress rather than say psychological stress. So like the pain system is older than the anxiety system. Anxiety is sort of a replacement for pain, right? Because you get afraid of things that might cause you pain. But pain is really deep and really, really old. And so I could add that 2 minutes. That's interesting. So you think I could put my hands in ice water? Would it be water with ice? Yes. And do the same with my feet? Yes, exactly. They are part of each other. Okay. And would I do that? What if I did that before bed? When would be the best time to do that, do you think? Would be great.