Sean Barrs 's Reviews > The Wim Hof Method: Activate Your Full Human Potential

Wim Hoff is quite the enigma. I have no doubt that he is quite insane and also quite brilliant. It is clear to me that the two walk hand in hand.

There’s something to his words, something true and quite profound. There’s no doubt his method works for him. He has figured out some mental knack to allow him to transcend the perceivable limits of the human body, which sounds a bit crazy, but he can do things most of us can’t and he seems to be genuinely interested in teaching these methods to other people. However, this book doesn’t really scratch the surface of capturing what he does.

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.

“In nature, it is not only the physically weak but the mentally weak that get eaten. Now we have created this modern society in which we have every comfort, yet we are losing our ability to regulate our mood, our emotions.”

But how do we implement it? Hoff suggests we start with cold showers and that our bodies will eventually adapt to the cold. Afterwards our general fitness will improve. We should meditate and allow love into our life. We should open our hearts and our minds and embrace human experience, true human experience in which our survival instincts become activated. And that’s the key: going back to nature and allowing our adaptive responses to be brought into everyday existence. Life is too comfortable, and our bodies have forgotten that we are animals with drives that are not used.

This book certainly made me think. Unfortunately, Hoff is not the most talented of writers. Don’t get me wrong, I believe he is a very accomplished individual. However, I don’t think this book captures the essence of his ideas particularly well. He is a much better speaker, and it’s a shame he didn’t do the recording for the audiobook version of this. It may have helped clear things up a bit and to carry forward more of his personality. His social media videos are much more powerful and convincing. They make me want to try his method more.

Overall, this book is a curiosity with some wisdom to share. One thing I was shocked to discover is that he is a vegetarian – or perhaps even a vegan – because he never really talks about it much. It helped him form a spiritual connection with the earth and nature. It helped him on his way to discovering who is he is. Clearly, it’s a big part of who he is and I wish he would push it a bit more publicly.

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