The Wim Hof Method: Own Your Mind, Master Your Biology, and Activate Your Full Human Potential is, perhaps not suprisingly, repetitive and peppered with all kinds of mysticism and pseudo-science. Breathing sounds simple enough, but once you start practicing the method yourself, you’ll see how difficult it can be. And as for jumping in cold water? That’s no walk in the park either. That being said, this book is so full of pseudo-religious mumbo-jumbo and variations on "If you follow this method, you will live 500 years, never experience disease, your wife and kids will love you, you will never feel sad or depressed", naturally supported by Wim's own claims about his own life, that it's hard to get through to the end. I think I eventually gave up at about 87% through, because I couldn't get through the 20th repetition of the same ideas. The book could have been 75% shorter (and probably 75% more enjoyable as a result). There is some good information here (respectable studies that have looked at his method, for example) and I do expect more studies to confirm the benefits of cold exposure and breathing exercises (we should not need studies to confirm common sense, might I say).

Mindset ―Build your willpower, inner clarity, sensory awareness, and innate joyfulness in the miracle of living Practice is the key. As is learning. And this book doesn’t quite pin down precisely what is needed. It’s like he’s trying to convince us that his method is real, and that it works, but he doesn’t quite show us what his method is. He gives us data and a lot of biography. He tells us how he came to his method and why he felt it was necessary. And it’s very convincing. I believe in what he says. I think he has found something, and he understands a crucial fact of human existence: none of us ever really discover our true potential. Wim Hof is often presented as a freak of nature. If you’re flipping through the science channels, you might see a segment that shows him subjecting himself to extremely cold temperatures with no ill effects. This book is an attempt by Hof, and co-author Koen De Jong, to counter the proposition that he’s some sort of mutant (or—worse--that his demonstrations are cons) by offering a method by which anyone can achieve the same feats. It should be noted that long before Hof and YouTube came on the scene, there were people [notably Taoist and Tibetan Buddhist monks] performing similar acts. Of the doubters, Hof says: “They can doubt, but let them try this once before they end up in the dead end of their own prejudice.” Wim found answers in nature. This is an innate power we all possess. It’s been conditioned out of us and reinforced by an education system that isn’t focused on happiness, strength, health, or a deeper control of ourselves.Does he think it might have helped Olaya, I wonder? “Me knowing what I know now? I would get her out in no time.” Relax, big breath, who’s in control?” says Hof. “Let the body do what the body is able to do, you are so much stronger than you think, you are going to be happy, the cold is real, it’s a force, your inner power, also your neurological networks, hormones, it all works for you, let it awaken …”

But Olaya’s mental health was suffering. She was depressed, and spiralled downwards. “Imagine the love of your life, the mother of your children, slipping away over the years, and you can’t do anything,” he says. In the summer of 1995, Olaya kissed the children goodbye and jumped from the balcony to her death.Wim Hof is a man on a to transform the way we live by reminding us of our true power and purpose. “This is how we will change the world, one soul at a time,” Wim says. “We alter the collective consciousness by awakening to our own boundless potential. We are limited only by the depth of our imagination and the strength of our conviction.” Personally, I am still happy to have bought the kindle book; I want to encourage Wim Hof as he is the one that brought these practices to the popular light with such gusto. He also seems to be a nice guy. I haven't gotten his 10 class workshop but I'm guessing there is more depth into the method there than in this book. The best part about this breathwork is how immediate you start to feel the benefits. When you practice the standard Wim Hof Method, you’ll feel it throughout your body within several minutes. Personally, I feel awake and energized after a few rounds. It takes away all my morning grogginess. Health ―True stories and testimonials from people using the method to overcome disease and chronic illness