In a world addicted to comfort, it isn鈥檛 easy to convince a vast audience that what they really need is to take teeth-chattering swims and ice baths鈥攂ut Hof has managed to do this. These days he鈥檚 a widely admired counterculture hero. His message that most of our self-limiting beliefs are wrong, and that we鈥檙e capable of far more than we think, has resonated. He has more than a million Instagram followers, hosts sold-out seminars around the globe, and evangelizes nonstop, at top volume, about a new world of vigorous health and happiness in which we free ourselves from the clutches of a system that profits by keeping us sick or diminished. Earlier, at breakfast, he pounded his fist on the table: 鈥淚t鈥檚 time for change! People are waiting! There鈥檚 work to do for the life force!鈥�

This enthusiasm for鈥攁nd firsthand demonstration of鈥攅xpanded human potential is pure oxygen for the high-performance set. Recently, Hof trained a group of Navy SEALs how to endure cold water. His fans include Laird Hamilton, Joe Rogan, Tim Ferris, Dave Asprey, Russell Brand, and even Gwyneth Paltrow, who recently with Hof. 鈥淚 think we all have the capacity to do superhuman things,鈥� explains Hamilton, a daily practitioner of Hof-颅inspired exercises. 鈥淲im is one of those guys who鈥檚 able to show you what鈥檚 possible.鈥�

But it鈥檚 not just celebrities and pro athletes who are drawn to Hof. He has reached a much bigger audience. On any given day, Instagram is filled with photos of Hof followers up to their necks in ice baths, dashing into the ocean for polar plunges, standing under frosty waterfalls. A about Hof has been watched more than six million times on YouTube; another video, on the Yes Theory channel, titled has nearly 11 million views. Each year, Hof hosts a handful of one- or two-day workshops, on his home turf in Amsterdam and elsewhere around the globe, and a handful of weeklong expeditions into the mountains near Przesieka, Poland, where he owns a house that serves as a base camp, and in Morillo de Tou, Spain. Now when he charges up snowy mountains, he takes bands of followers with him. For anyone with a Speedo and a strong desire to test themselves, another Kilimanjaro expedition is slated for early 2021, pending developments in the COVID-19 pandemic. (The proceeds from the fee to attend will go to a local charity.) There are also about 600 certified Wim Hof instructors offering their own workshops, graduates of an eight-to-ten-month training program called the , in addition to a free minicourse on Hof鈥檚 website and longer online courses, the prices of which have been reduced since COVID hit to allow more people to participate. All of which is to say that the Iceman is having a major moment.

As Hof tells it, his feats are powered by a simple routine of breathing exercises, cold exposure, and mental focus, known as the Wim Hof Method. The breathing is controlled hyperventilation, done in three to six sets of 30 to 40 deep breaths (strong inhale, relaxed exhale). On the last breath of each set, you exhale and hold for one to three minutes before taking a recovery breath and holding for 15 seconds. As with other rhythmic-breathing disciplines like pranayama, kundalini yoga鈥檚 breath of fire, or the Tibetan Buddhist meditation practice of tummo, it鈥檚 common to feel tingly, woozy, and, frankly, high: people have reported seeing spots and stars, kaleidoscopic lights, and other visions. It鈥檚 a bit dizzying as well, which is why you should do it seated or lying down.

The next step is cold exposure鈥擧of likes to immerse himself in freezing water, but even a minute under a cold shower will do鈥攄uring which the mind panics, activating the fight-or-flight response. The point, Hof says, is to override this, calm your shrieking inner voice, relax, and focus on generating warmth in your body. (鈥淰isualize a ball of fire in your chest,鈥� he advises.) Meanwhile, you鈥檝e flooded your brain and cells with oxygen, perked up your vascular system, squirted out endorphins, taken your mind by the reins, and brought yourself fully into the present moment. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a full-body reset,鈥� Hof says. If this regimen enabled only the ability to withstand bitter cold, that would still be worthwhile. But it appears to do far more than that.

Over the past decade, researchers from major universities have studied Hof and found solid evidence that when practicing his method, he can control his own body temperature, nervous system, and immune response鈥攆indings that are head-scratchers for medical science, because humans aren鈥檛 supposed to be able to do any of that. It鈥檚 now documented in peer-reviewed papers that, among other things, Hof may be able to turn on at will his body鈥檚 tap of opiates and cannabinoids鈥攅uphoria-inducing chemicals that provide natural pain relief and an overall sense of well-being. What鈥檚 more, Hof insists, if he can do this, so can the rest of us. 鈥淓verybody has control by their psychology over their physiology,鈥� he says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an innate capacity. It鈥檚 like you鈥檝e got a shortcut to your own house, but you don鈥檛 know it.鈥�

Hof鈥檚 cold tolerance and physiologic control would be remarkable enough if he were a Navy SEAL himself or packing an extra hundred pounds of insulating body fat. But he鈥檚 lean鈥攕ix foot, 200 pounds, and just a hint of a belly鈥攚ith no special athletic credentials beyond being a former free climber and having a startling degree of flexibility from years of yoga practice. The ability to put your foot behind your head, however, is no guarantee that you鈥檒l be able to run a half marathon above the Arctic Circle in a bathing suit. So is Hof some kind of genetic mutant? How does he avoid crippling frostbite or hypothermia or worse? What the hell is going on here?

To date, scientific studies on the specific health benefits of cold exposure have been inconclusive. But there鈥檚 growing evidence that it contributes to overall wellness by revving metabolism, reducing inflammation, relieving depression, and strengthening the cardiovascular system, among other benefits. And Hof鈥檚 recipe, which adds breathing exercises, may yield further advantages.

鈥淭he combination of breath work and cold plunges is very effective,鈥� says Kevin Davison, a Maui naturopathic physician who specializes in regenerative medicine. 鈥淔irst you鈥檙e increasing lymphatic flow through the breathing. That recruits lymphocytes and natural killer cells into the bloodstream鈥攖hey鈥檙e the cells that are out there looking for invading bacteria, viruses, and pathogens. Then the cold plunge kicks that in even more. So you鈥檙e getting your whole system jumped up to the next level of immune protection.鈥� Undeniably, at a time when coronavirus is dervishing through the population, we could all use an extra edge.

Suddenly, cold has become very hot.

I went to Iceland last fall to spend some time with Hof and watch him in action because, like so many others, I鈥檓 intrigued by his story. Here鈥檚 a guy who鈥檚 rewriting the rules of health and wellness in highly appealing ways. While other 61-year-olds are popping Lipitor and bitching about hip pain, Hof is training himself to hang by a finger between two hot-air balloons. In Wim鈥檚 world, work and play are the same thing: you do what you love, with people you love, and you love everybody, even society鈥檚 worst assholes. Nature is everything, inspiration and fuel. 鈥淚f you trust the messages of nature, nature will trust you as a messenger,鈥� he says simply. At the end of each day, you celebrate with great food, plenty of friends and family, and generous portions of music and laughter. What鈥檚 crazy to Hof is choosing to function on low throttle, being sort of miserable, feeling kind of crummy, and thinking that鈥檚 the sum of what鈥檚 on offer. 鈥淚鈥檓 not afraid to die,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 afraid not to live.鈥�

As it happens, Hof鈥檚 life almost ended before it began. His mother hadn鈥檛 been expecting twins, and yet there he was, still wedged in the womb after his brother Andr茅 was born. 鈥淚 almost didn鈥檛 get out in time,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 believe this left an imprint on me. I was always different.鈥� Growing up in the Netherlands, Hof was a seeker. At 12, he was reading books on esoteric philosophy and Zen Buddhism, dabbling in yoga, and teaching himself meditation. At 17, he quit school and lit out for India, searching for鈥� something. Back home, he jumped into a frigid Amsterdam canal and realized he loved the feeling of it: the rush of adrenaline, the jolt of presence, the weird elasticity of time. He began to take icy plunges every day, and to experiment with breathing; he noticed that his body鈥檚 natural response was to gasp when he hit the water. During yoga, he鈥檇 experienced the power of breath work, so he repeated the reflexive gasp to test its effects. This wasn鈥檛 a new strategy鈥攁sk any freediver鈥攂ut Hof eventually discerned the best intervals for cold tolerance. 鈥淚t was instinctive,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淚f you breathe deeply, you harness yourself suddenly. You become stronger in this very hostile environment. And you learn, hey, I can stay longer and longer.鈥�

He鈥檇 found his teacher鈥攖he 鈥渕erciless but righteous鈥� cold. But Hof still needed to make a living. He鈥檇 met a lovely Basque woman named Olaya, married, and started a family in Amsterdam. 鈥淚 did all kinds of things,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 was a postman, a tour operator, a writer. I was working in the harbor. Gardening. Mountain guide. Teaching yoga. Whatever, you know.鈥� It wasn鈥檛 a life you鈥檇 exactly call settled, and his wife was prone to dark bouts of depression, but Hof was holding it together. Until one day in 1995, when Olaya leaped to her death from the top of an eight-story building.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 where it all began,鈥� Hof says now, looking sober. Crumpling with grief wasn鈥檛 an option; now he was a single parent to the couple鈥檚 four children, two girls and two boys, all under the age of 12. Hof kept breathing, kept freezing. 鈥淚 fell into the valley and got myself back,鈥� he says. People began to take notice of the guy who was always sitting around in the ice. Soon, Hof was performing his icy stunts on TV, claiming to be able to regulate not just his body temperature but other autonomic functions as well. 鈥淎nd then science came in,鈥� he recalls. 鈥淭hey invited me to be tested.鈥�

Over the years, Hof has repeatedly offered himself up as a guinea pig, aiming to gain hard evidence of his method鈥檚 effectiveness. The results have been impressive. In one study, he was injected with an E. coli bacterial toxin that induces fever, nausea, headache, chills鈥攖he works. When Hof sailed through that test with virtually no flu-like symptoms, doctors were stunned. It appeared he鈥檇 been able to flood his body with adrenaline to stave off the toxic effects. 鈥淲e thought, This is just not possible,鈥� Matthijs Kox, assistant professor of intensive-care medicine at Radboud university medical center in the Netherlands, told an interviewer after the study was published. The researchers assumed that Hof was a physical anomaly; Hof proved them wrong by training a group of 12 volunteers to do the same thing. 鈥淭hese results could have important implications for the treatment of conditions associated with excessive or persistent inflammation, such as autoimmune disease,鈥� wrote Kox and his coauthors in a paper published in 2014 about the experiment in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 鈥淲e have to change our beliefs about what鈥檚 possible for the human body,鈥� Hof explains. 鈥淵ou are your own doctor. You鈥檝e got your own power. And because people think that鈥檚 hippie bullshit, that鈥檚 why I go through science.鈥�

In the afternoon, we hit as many icy locations as possible while the crew films Hof doing Hof-like things. There鈥檚 no shortage of dramatic options: icebergs, ice fields, ice boulders, ice caves, icy lakes, icy streams, more ice-filled lagoons. 鈥淲e can pick anything here?鈥� Hof asks gleefully. 鈥淪hit! It鈥檚 like the candy store!鈥� He meditates in the lotus position on a slab of ice, generating so much body heat that when he gets up there鈥檚 a melted depression where he was sitting.

We鈥檙e traveling in a large van driven by Thor Gudnason, Iceland鈥檚 first certified Wim Hof instructor鈥攁 local who knows his way around the backcountry. Hof rides shotgun. As we bump down a bone-rattling washboard road, Hof swivels around in his seat to dispense stream-of-consciousness riffs. 鈥淚n this society we think too much. We need to get back to our senses! Spirituality is right here, right now!鈥� he exclaims, gesturing at the jaw-dropping scenery.

One major Hof theme is that we鈥檝e allowed ourselves to become disconnected from nature and too dependent on technology, and as a result we鈥檝e lost touch with our primal abilities. We鈥檝e weakened ourselves, confused comfort with happiness, and now we鈥檙e beset with mood disorders, addictions, depression, illness, and all kinds of other maladies. Hof emphasizes that none of this happens outside of us, inflicted by forces beyond our control; it stems from an imbalance in ourselves that we can correct at will. It鈥檚 just a matter of deciding to do it. 鈥淏ecoming powerful at the core鈥攏ot being rattled, confused, this or that鈥攖here is no excuse anymore,鈥� Hof says with a snort. 鈥淕et up!鈥�

He鈥檚 still clad in shorts and sandals, with a fresh pink T-shirt. His wet hair is pulled back into a man bun, and for some reason he鈥檚 wearing a navy blue cloth bag on his head like a hat. We climb out of the van. Coming off the trail, a team of mountaineers in polar jackets, snow pants, hard hats, crampons, and harnesses, toting ropes and ice axes, give Hof鈥檚 outfit a double take. 鈥淟ooking good, guys!鈥� Hof shouts, waving, as he heads into a sharp cleft between two rocks. Snowy peaks tower in the distance.

Now we鈥檙e hiking back into the glacier, following a ridgeline that tracks along a tongue of ice. A half-mile below us, blue shards of glacier jut out of a silty river, lined up for miles like marchers in the Night King鈥檚 army. Hof stops to do a few one-armed yoga inversion poses, teetering atop a giant boulder perched at the edge of a ravine. He鈥檚 dangling in such a precarious position that I have to look away.

It鈥檚 not the first time I鈥檝e seen Hof do something that makes me flinch: there鈥檚 a don鈥檛-try-this-at-home quality to many of his favorite pastimes. To date, no one at a Hof-sponsored retreat has locked up from cardiac arrest when jumping 20 feet off a bridge into a 32-degree stream, or lost fingers in a blizzard, or passed out from hypothermia鈥攂ut there鈥檚 always a sense of an edge. In the Yes Theory video, one of the hosts has what looks like a mild seizure while doing the breathing exercises but comes out of it laughing. Hof monitors people closely and emphasizes his safety rules: never do the method when you鈥檙e in the water (shallow-water blackout is a hazard) or if you鈥檙e epileptic or pregnant or under the age of 16. Consult a doctor first if you have medical issues. Increase cold exposure slowly, and ideally, train with a buddy.

Before we leave, Hof can鈥檛 resist a final dip among icebergs floating in a runoff lake. One huge berg resembles the Sydney Opera House; a smaller one brings to mind a giant shark鈥檚 tooth. He ventures in and swims behind the tooth, disappearing from sight. In short order, however, he鈥檚 back on shore, and there鈥檚 something in his eyes that suggests this wasn鈥檛 an easy one, even for him. His skin looks like it鈥檚 been scalded. He dresses hastily, in uncharacteristic silence, as Gudnason, Schagen, and Burhan prepare to go in next.

Hof and I stand on the shore and watch them. Burhan has waded in up to his knees and appears stricken. Gudnason and Schagen take a short swim out and back, but nothing that can be called lingering. 鈥淭he water is cold here,鈥� Hof notes.

鈥淐older than the ice lagoon this morning?鈥�

鈥淚 think so,鈥� he says. 鈥淗ere, it wants to eat you.鈥� He gives the icebergs a nod of respect. 鈥淭hese are strange beings when you get close,鈥� he says. 鈥淎ltogether mystical. They showed their colors like thousands of diamonds. When you get close, it鈥檚 all diamonds.鈥�

It鈥檚聽a gray and drippy Saturday morning in Reykjav铆k, with a raw wind whipping off the North Atlantic, but the people filing into the Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Center don鈥檛 notice the cold. Why would they? This is balmy compared with what鈥檚 coming. The day will be given over to the , a workshop that culminates in everyone here鈥攁ll 450 of us鈥攇oing into ice-cold water with the Iceman.

The crowd is about 70 percent male and 80 percent young and 100 percent folks you鈥檇 want on your team during the apocalypse. There鈥檚 a calm, strong warrior vibe befitting the descendants of Vikings, but more than that, these people look happy. I run into Gudnason, who鈥檚 awaiting the delivery of three tons of ice, to be dumped into portable tubs. He鈥檚 wearing a T-shirt that says 鈥淚ce Crew鈥澛爋n the back. 鈥淲e鈥檙e a small country, but Hoffing is in our blood,鈥� he tells me. From what I鈥檝e seen that is certainly true, but as he walks away I wonder if it鈥檚 in mine. I鈥檓 Canadian, so I should be genetically winterized, but two decades of early-morning swim practice鈥攄iving into frigid pools in the predawn darkness鈥攍eft me so averse to cold that I eventually moved to Hawaii. I鈥檝e never met a hot tub I didn鈥檛 like. An ice tub is a hard sell.

In the greenroom I meet Laura, one of Hof鈥檚 two daughters, a serene 33-year-old with shoulder-length blond hair. Hof鈥檚 business is a close-knit family affair. Laura is the event manager; his eldest son, Enahm, 37, serves as CEO. Their sister Isabelle, 35, runs the training academy; Michael, the youngest at 31, is listed on the website as the 鈥渞esident problem solver.鈥� Even Zina, Hof鈥檚 dog, has a place on the roster. Hof also has a two-year-old son with his partner, Erin, an Australian woman he met in Poland, and a 15-year-old son from a former relationship. 鈥淲e love each other,鈥� Hof says of his clan. 鈥淭he real love, not the sentimental bullshit.鈥�

In the auditorium鈥攁 glass cube with cavernous ceilings and walls lit up like the aurora borealis鈥攑eople take their seats. After a brief introduction and much cheering, Hof comes onstage. He鈥檚 barefoot, in the same shorts and T-shirt he was wearing on the glacier, with a woolen tuque on his head. 鈥淎fter today you will be able to go into the deepest part of your brain and regulate your mood and your emotion for the rest of your life, in any situation,鈥� he tells the audience. 鈥淵ou won鈥檛 be overwhelmed by any form of stress. And if you can do that, what else can you do?鈥�

Hof mentioned earlier that he never scripts his appearances, and sure enough his delivery is freewheeling, with dollops of swearing. Some of his scientific claims seem facile鈥斺€淵ou can bring more neural activity in through the breath鈥濃€攂ut the crowd is rapt. 鈥淲hat do you need if you are happy?聽If you are healthy?鈥� Hof asks rhetorically, pacing the stage. 鈥淢oney makes us crazy. More, more, more, more. Keep the people sick and you get more money. The systems are obsolete! The systems that are exploiting and polluting and making people insensitive鈥攊t鈥檚 over! It鈥檚 done! It鈥檚 now only a matter of waiting until they leave.鈥� Hof stops pacing and wags a finger in emphasis. 鈥淚 think the awakening is imminent. It鈥檚 coming. Humanity is beginning to realize that batshit is batshit.鈥�

Later, Hof invites people onstage to give testimonials. Gudnason goes first. 鈥淚鈥檓 named after the Thunder god, Thor,鈥� he begins. 鈥淎nd a few years ago I didn鈥檛 feel very powerful. I had three inhalers, ADHD medicine, and allergy pills. I don鈥檛 use any of them anymore. I don鈥檛 need them.鈥� Watching Gudnason, it鈥檚 hard to imagine him enfeebled. He鈥檚 ropy with muscle and has a shaved head, a peppery beard, and eyes that look like they could bore into metal. In Reykjav铆k, he owns a gym called Primal Iceland.

Next up is Lea Galgana, a young Icelandic woman with a long, glossy ponytail. She鈥檚 also visibly athletic, radiating health. 鈥淓ighteen months ago, I was hospitalized with fibromyalgia,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 had crutches. I could barely walk. I couldn鈥檛 sit down. No pain medication worked. So I needed to find something new.鈥� After adopting Hof鈥檚 training and feeling her symptoms recede, Galgana sat in an ice bath for 42 minutes, a new national record. 鈥淚 was able to get off all the medications,鈥� she says, smiling. 鈥淎nd I hated the cold! If I can do it, you can do it.鈥�

鈥�Forty-two minutes in ice water!鈥� Hof bellows from the sidelines. 鈥�No medications!鈥� The room erupts in applause.

鈥淲e have, I don鈥檛 know, 50,000 testimonials from people who couldn鈥檛 be treated with regular health care鈥攃ompletely healed,鈥� Hof tells me later. 鈥淭hey say I shouldn鈥檛 say these things too much because of the pharmaceuticals and the food industry鈥攖he ones who will really fuck us up. But it鈥檚 over, guys! It鈥檚 over. We鈥檙e not taking it anymore. We鈥檝e got millions of people doing this now. But it needs to be at least a billion.鈥�

After a medical presentation and an explanation of how Hof鈥檚 method works by Bart Biermans, an M.D. and Hof instructor, it鈥檚 time to try it. We do the breathing exercises together in the auditorium, guided by a timer projected on a screen鈥攕ix sets of 40 breaths. Some people stay seated, but others, including me, lie on the floor. The experience is intense, and by the end of it I鈥檓 spinning, tingling, and soused with endorphins. I like the feeling very much.

En masse, we strip down to our bathing suits and file outside, where three kiddie pools await us. The pools are roughly three feet deep, each with room for about 15 people, and they鈥檙e brimming with so much ice that you can鈥檛 see any water. Hof laid down the protocol: no wavering, waffling, or whining. When it鈥檚 your turn to get in, you sit low enough that the ice hits your chin, and you stay there for two minutes, using your breath to wrangle your mind into submission. 鈥淭he cold is a mirror to awaken you to your own power!鈥� Hof shouts. 鈥淵ou are the boss within!鈥�

The ice bath isn鈥檛 fun in the usual sense of the word, but it is thrilling. I can feel the cold as a real force, but somehow I鈥檓 detached from it鈥攑robably because I鈥檓 pumped with adrenaline and I鈥檝e spent the past 30 minutes shouting and punching the air in unison with hundreds of fellow ice bathers. I stare into the middle distance, thinking calm thoughts and humming loudly. Whenever the urge arises to bolt from the water, I shunt that impulse aside and focus on my breathing. The burning sensation in my hands and feet is distracting but not intolerable; two minutes zip by fast. 鈥淚鈥檓 alive!鈥� a guy next to me roars. My group stands up and we鈥檙e all as pink as shrimp. Instantly, I want to do it again鈥攊n fact, I crave it. The ice bath is a high, alright, a full-spirit wake-up call served with a cocktail of the body鈥檚 finest chemicals. Now that I鈥檝e experienced it, I鈥檓 sold. (This feeling doesn鈥檛 disappear, either: in the months since I left Iceland, I鈥檝e continued to practice Hof鈥檚 method, setting up an ice bath in my backyard.)

We spend a few minutes embracing and high-fiving, milling around barefoot on the sleet-encrusted cement. Nobody fails to complete the challenge. Everybody looks like they鈥檙e having a blast. Hof watches us, smiling like the Cheshire cat, and then he calls the next group into the ice.