The ice man. A healer. A science defying phenomenon. Ridiculed and exalted. The Mulligan Brothers speak to the one and only Wim Hof about the origins of his practice, his journey and the transformative power of the cold.
The Ice Man. A healer. A science-defying phenomenon. Ridiculed and exalted. The Mulligan Brothers speak to the one and only Wim Hof about the origins of his practice, his journey and the transformative power of the cold.
The creators of this documentary, the Mulligan brothers, have a mission, ‘To Inspire Change’. By telling stories of people who have overcome darkness to triumph. We share common ground with both the filmmakers and their subject. Our goal is to help more people Get Their Cold On, through the tech we build and the knowledge we share. It’s why we sponsored this film. To help bring Wim’s Story to the world, told by people like us, who want to make a difference.
Wim Hof has faced many pushbacks, but most people with a mission don’t have to face the trillion dollar behemoth of the pharmaceutical industry. As reported in this film, prescription drugs are the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer, monopolising treatments against life threatening illnesses that people will pay almost any price to get their hands on. To put that into perspective, 66.5% of all bankruptcy in the US is caused by medical bills.
Wim tells us we are more than the system. He asks us not to prejudice against him or his methods until you try them. The moment it all changed for him was the day he was injected with e-coli. A controlled, scientific experiment of over 16 thousand people, to test how the body reacts to dangerous bacteria. As test patient number 16,135, he was the only one not to become sick after the injection. After being written off as a freak of nature, he argued that this practice was the reason for his unique case, controlling his atomic nervous system and immune system in a voluntary way. Fast forward through years of ridicule, Wim is now teaching professors all over the world, exposing their lack of effective treatment for hundreds of physical and mental conditions.
Wim’s journey into the cold began in Amsterdam the day he met his wife in a crowded park. Their connection was instant and infallible. In their years together, they had four children, but after falling into severe depression, she took her own life, leaving her family behind.
In his emotional despair, Wim turned to nature for answers and he found his remedy in the cold. He tells us that society doesn’t teach how to recover when you are rock bottom, when you feel as if you’re ‘a little piece of nothing in a current which is much too strong for you. The cold neurologically enabled him to escape that current and break the cycle that trapped him.
When Wim enters the ice, he sheds all emotion and lets the cold come to him. It changes you from within, flooding the body with dopamine and neuroadrenaline, fighting depression and chemically altering your mental state using something we can find in nature.
His mission comes from a place of deep suffering. The agony he felt is now controlled through his practice. That same agony is the fuel that fires his pursuit to help others. Working with his children, he helps where psychiatrists and doctors cannot. His first step on his mission was to create a book documenting his methods. From there, he gained a radio and press presence. Then came the TV appearances, gaining exposure to wider audience. Scientists began to approach him, and his methods became the subject of study. Now, his mission is to bring them to the world.
In 2022, a woman approached Wim with a problem no parent should ever have to face. Both her children, ages 5 and 7, had brain cancer, and their immune systems were too weak to receive chemotherapy. Wim gave her hope. Within a week of breathing exercises and cold exposure, the children’s white blood cells has increased ten fold. One child is now completely cancer free. The other is following close behind.
Wim is breaking barriers. Transforming our understanding of what science has been telling us. He shows us how emotion can be channelled into physical power within the body by controlling parts of the brain previously thought outside conscious control. In his own words, Wim is ‘beyond science’, believing that ‘your divinity is within you’, ‘born with the potential to use your entire brain in the pursuit of bringing strength, health and happiness to you and your family‘.
These are bold claims, and as old habits die hard, a scientific experiment was conducted with 12 people who had been taught the Wim Hof method and 12 who hadn’t in an attempt to challenge his beliefs. All 24 participants were injected with an element of e-coli. There were multiple proof points showing that those trained in his methods had some control over their sympathetic nervous system,
disproving the scientific understanding that humans have no control over this aspect of our physiology. Wim’s practice has also proven to reduce hypertension, signs of heart failure, diabetes and anxiety. The theory is that we can use this control to fight other disease, too.
Wim is building his legacy through his four children who he trained in his methods and are now instructors in their own right. They have simplified his teachings to make it accessible for everyone.
Wim believes depression is an epidemic. He believes we lack purpose in our lives and are consumed by money-driven pursuits. What we believe is ‘normal’, Wim believe is a sickness. His focus is simple. ‘Are you happy? Are you strong? Are you healthy? Can you pass it on to your children? Are you there?’ He believes the world is sick and he wants to make it healthy. He leaves us with this, “When I die, I will have changed the world completely. Until then, I’m not dying, sorry.”
We’re support Wim with his mission by helping bring the power of the cold to as many people as possible. Download our free guide to Deliberate Cold Exposure, learn more about the health benefits, and no matter how you do it, Get Your Cold On.
