Love the fear; 5 lessons learned from training with Wim Hof
It was a privilege to be able to spend a week training with Wim Hof, aka the Iceman. A week which literally blew my mind and let me love the fear. A week in which I met incredible people and learned a lot. Not just from Wim Hof himself, but also from the people who I met on this special journey. So I would love to share these “lessons” with you. All of them applicable on writing or publishing a book as well!
Something you should know before you start to reading is that just two weeks ago I was that girl who did not dare to jump into cold water and even in the warmest water would take an hour to get into the swimming pool or sea. Last week I sat in an ice bath, thrice! The longest was 15 minutes and the crazy thing was; it was easy and I could have stayed longer. My conviction is: you can do that too!
By being ego-less you become fear-less
You’re probably aware of the feeling when you are in a situation where you need to do something that is important to you or difficult or scary and you awaken this extra power inside of you. You put on this shield so you can perform or it protects you from what might come. You might even start to work harder instead of smarter.
My initial reaction to the ice bath and some of the other activities we did was to tense my muscles and then go for it. Except with the third and also last ice bath I just couldn’t do that because of the breathing exercises I just did. I felt completely vulnerable. No ego was left, it was just me. I could not work harder or do more. Then a miracle happened. All I did was step into the ice bath and sit down. Nothing more, nothing less. It was the easiest ice bath. I just let go and relaxed. No panic, no tension, I was just being in the moment. And I rocked it. When I started getting cold I took control of my mind and directed the warmth where it was needed and let go again.
From that moment on, I applied the same principle to all the activities and exercises we did. No tensing up, no putting on an energy shield when it got difficult, scary, needed a lot of strength or got tough. I relaxed and let go. This way I jumped of cliffs, swam in icy water, faced my inner fears and climbed a mountain. By becoming completely vulnerable and letting go of your ego you become fear-less and can climb the highest mountain and face the toughest challenge all with a smile 
