THE SPACE

My name is Casey and I am the Co-Creator of H.E.L.P (Human Evolution Lifestyle Project).

I am sharing my experience with the cold and how much I fucking hate(d) it.

So, here goes. I am Casey and this is my evolution with…THE CHILL.

From Cold Freezer Isle In Grocery Store –

To Minus Degree Ice Baths At WIM HOF Instructor Training!

Image taken by Emily O'Brien Photography

I am standing exposed in my swimmers with only a towel wrapped around me at the edge of an ice bath surrounded by a crowd of strangers. My heart is pounding, goose bumps upon my skin and the sound hitting my ear is hollow. Anticipation is high, energy is soaring, thoughts are roaring and my resistance is strong whilst my worry is rising.

But still nothing has happened. I am still standing in the same spot. This is all just my imagination, I haven’t even touched the water!

With great hesitation I slowly begin to step into the water. One foot at a time, it is cold – ice cold. I begin to immerse myself deeper, first my legs, then pelvis, my belly, my upper body, chest and shoulders until I land hard on my butt – I am now fully submerged. My heart begins to race faster, my breath becomes no longer my own and uncontrollable – I am in a state of contention, shock and complete fucking dismay. A huge gasp of air leaves my mouth uncontrollably and my fingers squeeze into a tight fist as I clench my jaw back shut and wrinkle my forehead tight. Fuck this is cold – ice cold.

Slowly, I close my eyes and begin to pull myself together. After my initial reaction of resistance and a few seconds of shock I begin to relax and stabilise my breath. Refocusing and internalising my surroundings and what my body is experiencing I focus on my breathing – the slow rise and fall of the breath entering and leaving my body. Almost instantly my mind begins to calm and my body begins to adapt. I somehow begin to feel comfortable – in the uncomfortable, subsequently bringing forth an ease to my effort. Feeling this change is utterly powerful!

As I allowed my mind to settle and my body to adapt naturally, I began to create my very own heat and inner fire. My body had naturally embarked in the process of thermogenesis – the process of heat production in warm-blooded organisms – within me. My body instinctively began to equalise the force of the cold landing upon my skins surface. Meeting my yin, with my yang.

Leading to the question….Could tapping into our human biology and potentially taking real control of our very own autonomic nervous system be the key to our own conscious awareness?

Awareness is where the body meets the mind. I am in the practice of trying to raise my awareness all the time. Becoming aware of my breathing and what is going on around me, aware of my behaviour patterns. Understanding what I am doing with my physical being and how it may be affecting me emotionally, physically and behaviourally? Will power, focus or concentration – call it what you will – but the state in which you arrive is a state of “space”.

The Chill, in my option creates this sense of awareness – a sense of “space” where the body meets the mind. The space between the reaction and response in a behavioural situation or even between the autonomic and somatic nervous system at the point where our outside environmental stimulus meets our innate response. This “space” is the same “space” we experience when we calm our nerves in the ice cold, hold our breath just that little bit longer, hold a sneeze, the urge to pee or even delay an orgasm.

Is this will power or human power? Could this be the key to unlocking our body’s hidden biology and leading us towards a revolution of awareness?

Could we train ourselves to continually tap into this “space” by simply setting up an environmental stimulus and resisting the urge or sensation that triggers this innate response. Almost like a mental acrobatics – over time it becomes easier to maintain the tension between reflex and mental control – or total awareness!

You see, the modern man is too comfortable. We never test our limitations, never going hungry, never too hot or too cold – we have become lazy as a species. I am sure we are all aware of the terms “movement is truly medicine” and “use it or lose it”. This is true, if we don’t use our muscles we begin to deteriorate and the same goes for all the little muscles around your veins. Weak circulatory muscles are side effects of living in a very narrow band of temperature variations and our body is merely a reflection of this  environment – mine certainly was.

Before I started The Chill practice, I believed I was mentally weak and I also felt physically weak! Lets face it – the freezer isle in the grocery store would send me into an uncontrollable shiver – so maybe there was some raw truths behind my beliefs. But was I completely helpless, a lost cause? NO WAY! A sook maybe, but weak – I would soon discover was not the case!So, in order to get stronger again I needed to train myself, preferably every day. Because let’s face it, circulatory disease contributes to almost 30 percent of the worlds mortality and fuck being in that percentage group! So I trained to give my system a little shock, get out of my comfort zone and rediscover myself!

“The Cold Is Just A Mirror – A Mirror For Your Health & Inner Power” WIM HOF

 

Part two…following very soon….