Change comes from within. Always.
Although we always want other people to change, to change their attitudes, their mindset, their way of doing. Let’s just cut the crap and talk truth: it starts with ourselves. In this case, you my reader. Yes it starts with you.
Let’s go back to me. I use myself als a catalyst for change. As an example. I can’t talk about something, I can’t do something if I didn’t went through it myself. If I’m not practicing what I preach.
I find it true bullshit if people are change managers but can’t handle change themselves. Or when people coach people, but are in massive shit themselves. Ok, ok, we don’t have to be enlighted, but to have a solid base of awareness, consciousness about how you manage your own state, how you deal with happenings, how to be centered, how to manifest, how to come back to a coherent state again is really necessary if you are helping others in one way or another.
If you talk about manifestation I really need to see and believe that you are have manifested things yourself. That you’ve build businesses, profit, non-profit or everything in between. If you talk about inclusion, you should be the inclusion yourself. If you talk and teach about conflicts, you should be able to resolve your own conflicts. Otherwise I just don’t fucking believe you.
So this intro says something about me. What my work ethic is. As an entrepreneur I use myself to go through stuff. To understand change from different point of views and then to be able to use this gained knowledge and experience in my work with my clients and coachees.
I believe the best tool that we have is ourselves. And there is great stuff out there that we can use to take steps in whatever direction to really work with our own system. We are able to use ourselves as an inspirational toolbox and if we want, to be guides for other people. We could liberate others to become the person they want to be. To unlock true potential. But first we need to do that within ourselves so that we understand fully what it takes to go through shit, difficulties and most of all: our own mind.
A few months ago I started an online program called The Fundamentals of The Wim Hof Method. Almost all his programs are half the prices because he believes everyone should work on their immune system during this crazy corona-time.
So I registered myself for a program.
Do believe me: I hated the cold. I had a cold trauma, especially in my toes, because of a mudrun in Sweden some years ago in which I believe i did got into a hypothermia state. So I started with The Wim Hof Method (WHM) and crazy enough, after a few weeks I started to like the cold.
And I thought: this adjustment to the cold can’t be so easy, so fast. Also somewhere after week 6 I felt that the water wasn’t that cold, but hey…lucky me.
Due to managing two companies during the corona-time (especially March-April-May and onwards) I was quite tired and the cold helped me to stay sane 🙂 Now I’m up to 5 minutes in a cold shower. Sometimes just only taking a cold shower.
“A cold shower a day keeps the doctor away” – Wim Hof
Almost at the end of this 10 week program I received a Wim Hof newsletter with the first weekend retreat at the Wim Hof center, guided by the master himself. So I signed up because I don’t have a bath at home or anything that looks like it, so I couldn’t go full pull during the fundamentals course! This was a beautiful step forward and a deep dive into the real cold.
The first day I did a 3 minute icebath without preparation on purpose as Wim mentioned. To test our capabilities without the breathing excersize. To showcase that we can all do it.
So hell yeah. I just fucking did it. It felt amazing. Actually I wanted to sit longer in the icebath, because I believe due to the adrenaline rush the 3 minutes felt like a minute.
The second day I got what I wanted: a 5 minute icebath. Whoaah! This day more ice, and someone who measured the water temperature said it was 4 degrees colder. But this day we first went through an intense guided breathing session and I gained many insights about my path forward. I reconnected with a vision of my future, a image that I have saw before but quite forgot it. During this session I really went ‘High On My Own Supply’ because of the intense breathing exercise.
‘Wim Hof shows that we can use our breath to activate DMT in our own system, that’s why one of his quotes is: “go high on your own supply”. That was also the purpose of the session. To enter a different state and reconnect to whatever appears and to reset your system. That is the inner work. And with Wim you don’t need the Ayahuasca for it to happen.
This was truly an amazing feeling: the breathing and the icebaths. I reconnected intense with my Inner Fire. And for me that is so Heartcore. Heartcore stands for Fire. That’s why the logo is a triangle. The element of fire, my zodiac sign Leo and with that the ruler Sun. It is where the Heartcore brand all originated from.
Change from within
With this experience I again got confirmed that change always comes from within. If you have an injury, mental health problem, anxiety or sincere sickness: you can use the cold to work with it. The Wim Hof Method does its magic and there are many profound cases and have been scientifically proven that shows that it works.
I did this to work with my fear of cold and just because I’m a curious being. Although on many levels I’m quite Fearless…this one, the cold, really freaks me out. Every autumn my toes get white at a 10 degrees already.
Imagine going half naked with Wim to climb the Kilimanjaro…
Well, maybe later 🙂
But I changed my system in the last couple of months. The cold showers did reset my system. My vascular system is already familiar with minutes of cold showers. The Wim Hof breathing exercises are a great addition tot the coherent Balanced Breathing exercise I do and use within the mBraining methodology. Because of meeting Wim in person, listening and hearing his story why he started this, why he wants to change our belief system, add awareness, that his mission is to make every human being happy, strong and healthy and to make sure everyone is able to use themselves to change from within, I felt connected to it very strongly to add up to this mission. I believe his work and also in the work of mBraining, Heartmath, Joe Dispenza, Bruce Cryer, just to name a few, it is all so interrelated. But hey to really change from within, you have to do the work yourself.
“Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.” – Buddha
And because we are such a mind-aware society it comes in handy that everything that Wim Hof got out of Nature (himself ánd the nature outside) is being proven by science. Not that he needs it. No. The world needs it to believe it.
But the best way to believe it, is to just do it. Experience it yourself.
So back to the beginning of the storyline. I Am On Fire, because I truly, really and deeply B E L I E V E that if you want change, in your life, in your organisation, in your work, Y O U need to be the change yourself. Give the good example. Work on yourself. Don’t take shit or life for granted.
If you have a leadership team and you want others aka your organisation to change: change first and showcase it. Talk about it and let others join you. Guide them. Show heart, be courageously compassionate about change. See the workplace as a space to gain awareness and greater conciousness. Feel the joy to step into the unknown. To never stop exploring and for sure to never stop learning. Because if you think you’re done, you’re done. Your mind stops making new pathways and connections. Your brain will litterly die. Don’t go there. You want to tap into neuroplasticity and keep on working on yourself, finding joy in doing that, discovering where there are limits and work with it.
“It refers to the physiological changes in the brain that happen as the result of our interactions with our environment. From the time the brain begins to develop in utero until the day we die, the connections among the cells in our brains reorganize in response to our changing needs. This dynamic process allows us to learn from and adapt to different experiences” – Celeste Campbell (n.d.).
“One could speculate that this process opens up the possibility to reinvent yourself and move away from the status quo or to overcome past traumatic events that evoke anxiety and stress. Hardwired fear-based memories often lead to avoidance behaviors that can hold you back from living your life to the fullest.” – Christopher Bergland (2017)
https://positivepsychology.com/neuroplasticity/
So I Am On Fire to make this wisdom part of the heartcore programs, because our mission is to bring the Heart back in Business and that is all about the people. I truly believe everyone is able to thrive in life, in their work an live a happy, healthy and strong life.
I am not ready yet with my Wim Hof experience so I will continue attending his programs. And you? Are you ready for change? Do you feel the fear for change? Good.
Feel the fear and do it anyway.
Find your inner fire for change. And then light fires and imagination within your company, your tribe, your team, your environment.
Watch this very good video interview between Brian Rose and Wim Hof: part 1/2 or watch the full version for free at London Real, oh and actually: this badass video of a group of friends made me register for the retreat ánd I will apply for one of his Poland retreats. So heartcore <3