Personal development has been my 'special interest' ever since high school when I first came across it and felt like a whole new world had just opened up before me. The possibilities were endless. At the time Steve Pavlina's blog, hunatrainer.com forum, "Illusions" by Richard Bach, and "The Secret" set me well off on my path.

But soon enough, scouring the depths of the 'then internet' I realized that it was littered with self-proclaimed Personal development gurus who only had their MLM scheme gains to show for their "success". And being as allergic to chain-mails as I was, that was an immediate and resounding 'NO' on my part. I was not going to take part in an MLM.

And so to this day, if I smell the faintest scent of MLM-ness in a Personal development 'program', I will not give it my time of the day. And unless your success story includes fixing your own spine, like Joe Dispenza, I'm also quite unlikely to listen. But it doesn't mean I have stopped believing in the epic powers of Personal development, my only question is - what actually works?

I also believe that Personal development knowledge that actually works should always be freely available and charging a premium for it only keeps it from those that would benefit the most from the knowledge. So if you claim to care for the betterment of all humanity, but at the same time gatekeep the knowledge behind a paywall I am also going to look at you funny.

So what does actually work?

This is going to be the account of my personal experience with the method, and surely one size may not always fit all, but the results for me were so profound, that I wouldn't have believed that something as simple can have such life-changing results, had I not experienced it for myself.

I do believe that in this day and age, you MUST have heard of Wim Hof method at least once. I mean, there must have been at least one annoying person that swears by the method, but, maybe they lost you at "cold shower"? Or maybe they were just too hyped up about it that you automatically dismissed it as some suspicious nonsense?

Well, I tried the Wim Hof method.

With my history of living with reactive arthritis since my early teens, I had taken pain as part of everyday life and human experience, and seeing other examples in my life I had figured the best way to deal with it was in silent dignity and the resolve to keep on going in spite of it all.

Little did I know that it did not have to be that way.

I am not going to bore you with the details of my chronic pains, suffice it to say, that Wim Hof method has actually improved my quality of life. To provide at least a bit of context for how much it had improved - if it was 'normal' for me to 'catch a cold' 2-4 times a year before, then after Wim Hof method, I haven't caught a cold for about 4 years. And that is just from the basics in the free mini-class, i.e. cold exposure and breathing technique.

But you don't have to take just my word for it. Check out what Huberman has to say about it:

If you're one of those people who tell themselves that they could never do the cold showers, I hear you, I love me some scorching hot showers myself, but I make sure I always finish with cold, then the air temperature difference from stepping outside the shower doesn't feel that chilly either.

Now I have to admit that I have been lazy when it comes to breathing technique as I have started to use it purely for medicinal purposes, i.e. only when I feel that my body is stressed out about something and don't like some outside circumstances and gives me the signals like - hey, wouldn't it be convenient to get sick now?

My response - No, thank you! - and the breathing technique.

Now to think of it, I should actually pick it back up and do it regularly in order to increase my overall energy levels. The first time trying the breathing exercise was really something else, I wouldn't even know how to describe it, as I don't have a reference point for that experience.

But what do you think? Have you tried the Wim Hof method yet? What results have you had with it? If you haven't yet, would you try it? I mean it only costs your patience, bravery, and resolve. And this is also something so practical and simple, it doesn't require you to strain your brain to get yourself to believe things you don't yet believe.

But if you do it, you actually have to do it! This one is not going to help you, just by 'oh, I already know about this'. Actually try it out for yourself and feel free to share your results here, I'm more than eager to hear about your journey.

Until next time, may we catch our bliss on the way to our ideal health!

Hugs&Coffee,
~Josie~

The one thing that actually works

So what does actually work?