This week on On The Way With Chom, we will discuss ice baths that heal emotional wounds, create happiness for the body like addictive substances, and a theory that changes lives. We will practice breathing with the Wim Hof Method, creating a new life that is strong in both physical and mental immunity. We will share our knowledge with “Gam Warisara,” the only Thai person who is certified as an expert in teaching the Wim Hof Method.
What is the Wim Hof Method?
Gam Warisara: It’s the Wim Hof method. He invented it, so let’s call it the Wim Hof Method. So it’s the Wim Hof Method. Our method consists of 3 main pillars: Wim Hof breathing exercises, ice baths, or Cold Exposure. We use cold exposure, and Mindset training. When we put all three together, it’s the Wim Hof method.
Where should I start?
Gam Warisara: The most important thing, Wim Hof’s method is training the mind. We have to prepare our thoughts, prepare our mindset from the beginning. How do we prepare? What do we prepare? Some people are already healthy and do not have any underlying diseases related to blood vessels. We can train them. But most of the time, we have to think beyond our own thoughts first before we can do it. It’s like opening our minds.
For me, I feel that it is still an obstacle that I have not been able to try yet. I have not been able to adjust it to fit my lifestyle. So now I use the method of putting it in the freezer, which I feel like many people who have done both methods will say that in any case, it is better to just freeze it.
Gam Warisara: The feeling might be different because the oil is a better medium. When we apply it, we see the results. Our body receives it directly. In fact, the benefits from ice skating come from the cold shock proteins that we receive from the moment we apply it.
For those who have never done it before, can you start at home by ordering ice and then putting it in?
Gam Warisara: I must first say that the Wim Hof ice bath is a kind of training. We benefit from it. We must train in the correct way to be safe from it. Sometimes we go down right away, we may not know how to go down. Just when our body changes, when our breathing changes, it can be dangerous.
As far as I’ve heard, it requires breathing, maybe before the ice bath and while in it?
Kaem Warisara: We will use another type of breathing control.
Does that mean that what people are posting on social media means that they must have had some training, at least the basics, first?
Gam Warisara: Yes, or according to social media that we see, they might soak like we see athletes. Nowadays, football teams soak, or runners, they will soak in ice in certain areas like this. Soak to reduce inflammation or help restore muscles. But they might not soak in the correct way. But for us, when we train, we teach that when we soak in ice, what do we do with the body, what do we do with the mind, and then we will benefit from that.
That is, it will get more than reducing inflammation, more than repairing or restoring the body. As you said, the Wim Hof Method starts with changing your mindset. How do you prepare your mind?
Gam Warisara: The Wim Hof method has 3 main pillars. Gam will have everyone adjust their own thinking first. Many people come for different reasons. Some want to take ice baths, some want to practice breathing. They want to know what Wim Hof breathing is like, how training thoughts helps with their own thinking. We will adjust from the beginning. We will train their thinking, train them to know what they will face today and then gradually change.
And it will take Gam’s normal 6-hour workshop because we have to prepare ourselves, physically and mentally from the beginning. We will learn why we are soaking. Gam will say that, let’s say you want to soak because you want to try it, we will know how we feel when we try it, do we like it, what makes us feel good, things like that. Some people will come to recover, some are athletes, they want to know if they are soaking correctly, how long they have to soak. Let’s start learning first, when in the ice, how to breathe, what to do with our bodies.
What inspired Wim Hof, who we call Iceman, to find this method and to want to overcome the limits of his own body?
Gam Warisara: Actually, Wim Hof came up with this method himself. He’s Dutch, he lives in the Netherlands. He likes to go soak in ice in the river near his house. But when he goes in, he feels good. The cold makes him feel good. But he doesn’t know what it is. But he likes this feeling. So he keeps doing it as a daily routine. Until people start to see and are like, what are you doing? There will be newspapers interviewing him. There will be TV shows or something like that. Mr. Wim Hof can’t explain what it is. But he can do it. Something like that. So there will be, you do this. You go on ice. You walk barefoot in the snow.
It’s like there are always people challenging him to push his limits?
Gam Warisara: Mr. Wim Hof had been practicing regularly. Then, at one point, his wife committed suicide due to depression. He was very sad and thought that whatever methods he was doing now might help. So he took ice baths and practiced breathing exercises to be more resilient and cope with his sadness. So he continued to do them because he had to live for his child.
It’s similar to meditation, isn’t it?
Gam Warisara: It’s similar to the point of being the Iceman because he broke his own record, walking wearing only swimming trunks and flip flops, walking up Mount Everest, and then running a barefoot marathon in the Arctic Circle, freezing in a box filled with ice. Wim Hof’s record is about 1 hour and 50 minutes. Everyone thinks he’s weird, but actually, Mr. Wim Hof, he trained himself. He trained both his mind and his body. Mr. Wim Hof would say that anything he can do, everyone can do, it depends on our training.
For us ordinary people, if we want to enter an ice bath, how do we do it? What temperature should we use? I’ve heard some places say 13 degrees, some places say 0 degrees.
Gam Warisara: In the science of studying ice baths or exposure to cold, soaking in cold water below 15 degrees, we already get the benefits. We don’t have to let it be 0 degrees like that. If we want the best results, it’s below 9 degrees. This is when we will get all the benefits. But in our training, it’s training the body, right? We will use the extreme cold of 0 degrees.
And really, can we endure this?
Gam Warisara: Yes, our bodies are smart. They know what they need to do. When faced with stress, they can cope. But what we have to fight against is purely our thoughts.
Has there ever been a case where something dangerous happened?
Gam Warisara: None at all. We have been teaching this method in Thailand for 5 years, teaching almost 3,000 Thai people, 99% of them can do it, and they can do it well.
So what is the 1% that can’t be done?
Kaem Warisara: 1% can’t do it because he’s an athlete, a boxer, because he’ll be prepared for the fight. Whatever comes his way, he’ll fight back.
His response, was he trained differently?
Gam Warisara: Yes, when something comes, he’ll be like, I’m going to fight back. Now, when he encounters the ice bath, he’ll fight back. When he can’t stand it anymore, he’ll come up. When he comes up, he’ll kick the ice bucket and then go back down. Like this. And we’ll be like, take it easy. You have to change this first. That’s it. But the rest is fine.
Does this mean that we can’t buy it and freeze it at home?
Gam Warisara: I don’t recommend it if we don’t have any knowledge about what dangers might occur when we soak. Another thing is, the Wim Hof Method ice bath isn’t like, “How many minutes can I soak? Can I do this? How long can I stay?” But with the Wim Hof Method ice bath, we soak for only 2 minutes. The temperature is 0 degrees Celsius for only 2 minutes. In the study, in 2 minutes, we received all the benefits, both physically and mentally. We received all of it.
Beyond that is ?
Kaem Warisara: Risk of sudden cold spell, Hypothermia after 2 minutes or more, it starts to be risky.
Are there any contraindications for ice baths?
Gam Warisara: The main prohibitions when we soak in ice are that it directly affects our blood vessels. People who can’t practice at all are people with underlying diseases related to the blood vessel system, uncontrollable high blood pressure. This is all related to blood vessels, heart disease, blood clots, cerebral infarction, pregnant women, people with panic attacks, anxiety, because don’t forget that it’s stress. When we breathe and then soak in ice water, it stimulates it even more. Don’t breathe in the water.
Or definitely not near water. You should only breathe in safe places. You should breathe while lying down. Some people say that Wim Hof breathing helps us stay in the ice bath longer. But in reality, it doesn’t. You have to control your breathing because Wim Hof breathing may be similar to Hyperventilation, like we’re breathing faster than normal. Now, with Wim Hof breathing, we breathe quite heavily. It’s a type of exercise.
How is ice bathing good for your body, according to science?
Gam Warisara: Overall benefits: When we practice the Wim Hof Method, our whole body is training our blood vessels, both breathing and ice bathing. If our blood vessels are good, our body will be good, helping reduce inflammation. When we practice breathing, our body will order white blood cells to come out and kill germs, our immunity will improve, adjust our immunity to be appropriate, help our sleep better, and help increase exercise efficiency.
