On a cold winter’s day in Amsterdam many years ago, while other parents were wrapped up warm to collect their kids from school, Laura Hof recalls her dad turning up in a T-shirt, shorts and sandals – and then doing a bit of yoga in the school yard.
Most kids would die of embarrassment at this sort of thing. But when your dad is Wim Hof – the now internationally famous ‘Iceman’ and founder of the cold therapy-focused Wim Hof Method – this behaviour isn’t exactly unusual.
The 64-year-old, who has appeared on British TV explaining his cold therapy methods, has climbed most of Everest in just shorts and shoes, insists daily ice baths or cold showers are the secret to good health and happiness, and has held a slew of Guinness World Records for cold-related feats of endurance.
“I think I was raised by a very special man, which I only understood later,” says Laura, 36 – agreeing that the childhood she shared with her three siblings was “absolutely” different to that of their friends’.
“We always used to play outside – if it was cold, it didn’t really matter. The weatherman never dictated what we needed to wear.”
When Laura was eight, her mum died by suicide, so she and her two brothers and sister were then raised by Wim on his own.
“We were very free – I don’t think there were any rules,” she remembers. “Sometimes you would think, OK, kids need some rules, but it was also the best time of my life. My father used to play more than we did. So he always wanted to go outside with us, and that was great.”
She says the Hof “little clan” led a very simple life, and didn’t have much money. “But what we did have is the most important thing – we had a lot of love in our house. It just was full of love and play. And that’s actually all that kids need.”
But did daddy Hof make his young children get into ice baths?
“No, that actually came later,” Laura says with a laugh. “My father never forced us to do anything. When I was six, it was cold and he went into the water and sometimes I just also had a dip, not because he asked me to but because kids naturally just do it.”
She started taking cool showers when she was 11, initially to help improve her skin, she says, and was 23 when she started using her father’s now famous breathing techniques, after he suggested they might help with her hangover: “The hangover just washed away, like a dark cloud, it was gone. So that was the moment that I started doing the breathing, just because it felt so good.”
Laura – who is now a Wim Hof Method Instructor herself – says her father’s unconventional methods have become “ingrained” in her life. Every day she does three rounds of breathing exercises when she wakes up, then has a warm shower before turning it to cold for two minutes, letting the water flow over her from the neck down.
So, what does she get from this chilly routine?
She explains that as the theory goes, cold exposure is a form of stress that triggers dormant, innate capabilities that we’ve lost over time, from being very comfortable in warm homes (remember – any cold water activities should be approached with caution and it’s important to do your own research and check with your doctor if you have any pre-existing health conditions).
“Because of this comfort, we’re not stimulating these systems of ours, and that makes us sick – we’re not built to only be super-comfortable,” she says. “When you have a cold shower, there will be days when you tell yourself you don’t want to do it. And that’s the moment you’re facing your inner saboteur – the little devil on your shoulder. During your entire day, during your work and your relationships and when you need to do something hard in life, it’s the same thoughts that will come up.
“The moment you don’t want to do the cold shower and you still do it, you make a very conscious decision that you’re going to do the hard thing that’s cold and uncomfortable. But afterwards, you did it. And then you feel euphoria, your body feels great, your chemistry is right, you make a little bit of a noradrenaline and dopamine and serotonin – you get some happy hormones.”
For Laura, the happy hormones are by no means the only plus point, adding that “one of the most beautiful benefits” is the influence on mindset. “You’re training your willpower to do everything that’s perhaps difficult, but in the end will get you a better life,” she says.
She believes breathing techniques can be a “potent force” too, giving the nervous system a workout, speeding up blood flow and increasing blood cells.
She points out that a 2011 study by Radboud University in the Netherlands showed that by using his method, Wim was able to voluntarily influence his autonomic nervous system, and a further Radboud study in 2014 on 12 Wim Hof Method practitioners showed that, like Wim, they could activate their autonomic nervous system and immune response.
“This was really the ground-breaking scientific breakthrough that shows we as human beings are capable of so much more,” adds Laura, who says this can potentially help reduce inflammation – as well as creating a “rush of happiness” and improving mood.
“I absolutely love this method, I love what it does for me and how it sets my life right,” says Laura. “I feel that I am empowered.”
Laura Hof is appearing at the Wellnergy wellness festival on June 17 at Barn Elms Sports Centre in Barnes, London. Visit wellnergy.co.uk
