So as I was going back in the second day, I started saying aloud, 'My friend, my friend, I'm going back to my friend' to offer myself a little positive reinforcement. The following day I was not excited about getting back in the water, but Wim says to be patient, to commit, and know that cold water is your friend. I recognized I have some deep fears around cold water. As long as I can remember, I never liked cold water, and I got cold very quickly in freezing environments. A couple of times I almost drowned in an ice-covered lake, but my brother saved me. When I was a young boy, I had a few scary experiences with cold water in the winter, sledding in the snow and playing ice hockey. My mind and body were screaming, 'Get out, and get out quick!' When I first went into the water at a temperature of about 48 degrees Fahrenheit, I lasted for one minute before my body started shaking and my teeth chattering. Then a friend sent me a text about Wim, and I decided to give it another try, but this time I committed to the advanced breathwork and the icy-cold immersion (commitment is one of the three pillars of the WHM, along with breathing and cold therapy). I started with the breathing and cold showers but wasn't having the experience that he and others were sharing, so I got discouraged, distracted, and stopped altogether.

How to do wim hof breathing technique