THE ICEMAN CHALLENGE

*Accepting Donations for GWR Attempt

2010-11-25T03:07:00.002+01:00

As previously posted, Wim and I (collectively) will be attempting to break 3 world records this December. Being that I am a college student, I don't have the flexibility of a millionaire.

In no way do I expect anyone to donate, but if you would like to, feel free to either contact me, or send donations with a message to:

jjr284@gmail.com

Expenses:

Wim's Flight
The box to perform the full body immersion in
The ice
...and a few other things that aren't on the top of my head right now.

Once again, I'm not asking you to, but if you would like to donate... we would humbly accept it.

Thank you for your consideration,

Justin Rosales

Barefootrockrunner ;-)

2010-09-26T14:05:00.000+02:00

Talking about barefoot running...

I met this Indian guy that offered to guide me up to Mount Arunachala in Tiruvannamalai India to visit some meditation caves used by yogis. I was a bit impressed by him, he was walking barefoot all the way up without any trouble and the ground was very difficult even with trekking sandals. A lot of small sharp stones. But even more impressive was that he can easily run down over very steep rock walls. In the video they don't look that steep but believe me, they are :-)

Overcoming heat and cold, pleasure and pain

2010-08-08T13:35:00.002+02:00

I was just reading the Bhagavad Gita, my very favorite book, and one of the verses reminded me of Wim Hof, The Iceman. This was actually the real reason why I wanted to meet Wim. The verse says:

"O Son of Kunti (Arjuna), the ideas of heat and cold, pleasure and pain, are produced by the contacts of the senses with their objects. Such ideas are limited by a beginning and an end. They are transitory, O Descendant of Bharata (Arjuna); bear them with patience!

O Flower among Men (Arjuna)! he who cannot be ruffled by these (contacts of the senses with their objects), who is calm and even minded during pain and pleasure, he alone is fit to attain everlastingess!"

Paramahansa Yogananda's commentary on the first verse says:

"...The ice on a man's hand is reported to the brain, through the sensory nerves and life force, as a sensation. The mind reacts through perception and reconizes the sensation as "cold". The preconditioned feeling then interprets the sensation as pleasurable or disagreeable, and the body responds accordingly. The coldness of the flesh is material, the cold sensation or perception is purely mental. All experiences of cold and heat, in order to first be cognized as such, must first be converted into mental perceptions. A chloroformed man feels no sensations of cold when a piece of ice is placed on his hand. In short, the mind is the sole power of recognition of any bodily sensation....

...When a cold or hot sensation invades the body, when a pleasure visits or a pain attacks, it tries to overwhelm man's mind with the idea that the sensation has an inherent power of permanence. Aware of this "trick", man should try to adopt a transcendental indifferent attitude in his response to the inroads of all sensations.
When a man adopts a nonexcitable state toward sorrows, a non-attached state toward temporary happiness, a stoicism toward irritans that rouse fear and anger and pain, his minds attains an unruffled state of poise" (pages 201-203).

Difficult to achieve but Wim has showed to us that it is really possible to achieve such a state of mental control. Thanks Wim for the inspiration :-)

Pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela

2010-07-29T17:24:00.001+02:00

Hi guys. I gotta share a nice experience with you, actually Wim asked me to write about it so I said why not. It has nothing to do with the Iceman Challenge, or.... maybe it does? It is just a different kind of challenge although not as extreme as the iceman challenge :-).

Just a few weeks ago I completed an amazing trip. For 38 days I became a pilgrim walking 1000 Km from Sevilla to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. It was a beautiful and rewarding experience, I actually call it in my blog "1000 Km walking meditation to Compostela", you know... just being there aware of the present moment. The experience was just unforgettable. I saw so many things each day, beautiful landscapes, animals, cities, villages, people and a lot more. It seems a bit weird to see so much in each day since I was just walking. We are so used to travel always by car, bike, public transport trying to reach our destination as fast as possible and missing everything in between.

I had great days, but also very tough days, mentally and physically. Some times I would experience a lot of pain between my toes and around my heel because of blisters trying to appear or just muscle pain. At those moments I would focus on that area and I would mentally try to relax the muscle and send energy to it. It seemed to work. When I had pain in the sole of my feet I would think "How would I feel if I would be running barefoot on the ice for the Iceman Challenge? What would I being thinking about? What would be my feelings?". Sometimes I would think "cero blisters, I will reach Santiago with no blisters". This kind of thinking did helped to create a certain "feeling" in my mind and heart and clinging to that feeling would help to alleviate the pain and discomfort or.. maybe it just helped to forget about it, I don't know. Well surprisingly I finished the walk with almost no blisters, my feet where in very good conditions compared to my other pilgrims friends so perhaps this kind of thinking helped... However I did have problems with my muscles. On my sixth day I started to get some pain on my right foot. Again I try to be aware of that area, I tried to mentally relax the tendon and mentally sent some energy, however the pain continue to increase and after 3 hours walking instead of me controlling the pain it had controlled me. I ended with a tendonitis on my right foot so I had to take one day of rest. I also continue to have severe pain in the sole of my feet until the end of the pilgrimage, it made it very difficult to sleep in the nights. Now I've found the cause of the problem, it was just dehydration... Haaaa so much worries and frustrations and all I needed was just a bit more of water! Maybe I should have think about water instead :-)

Anyways, I would like to share some pictures with you. Actually I'm working on a video but it is still work in progress so at least I can share with you some pics. I hope you'll enjoy them.

If you are interested about doing this trip and have some questions then you can visit the "Via de la Plata FAQ,s" post that I wrote.
If you want to know more about my experience you can go to: 1000 Km walking meditation
If you are interested and have the opportunity to do a trip like this please do it, you won't regret it at all, it will be an amazing experience.

A NEW RECORD

2010-07-28T17:15:00.004+02:00

1 hr 44 min 22 seconds.

A new world record for standing in ice has been set.

Great things to come...

Wim, Justin and Konrad are going to climb Mount Blanc next week. The adventure in it is that we will only be climbing in shorts and sandals.

Strength!

Here are pictures from the most recent Ice Endurance record.

These photos were taken by and provided by Margareth van Slijpe.

Sincerely,
Barefooticerunners

ps. An application for the International Barefoot Ice Run will be out soon!

Iceman in the Sahara PROMO

2010-07-10T19:27:00.001+02:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzLTYyJ18OQ

The process will continue from Sept 1 to the end of October

BBC1 / National Geographic

2010-07-04T18:20:00.004+02:00

Iceland was an example of hard but beautiful nature, broadcast beginning next year when we are in the middle of the Run in Karpacz

Just as news, No love no hatred anything can come
Clarity, as a spark of daylight in a cave

Just beautiful pictures of Iceland !

Then Nat Geo

The professor, doctor, neurologists statements were remarkable and will be released oncethe show airs in the beginning of next year. As well as the photos we took.

The immune system control is because of controlling the Hypothalamus
(thermostat) is something new and researched once again

Just that, and even more astonishing is the way they expressed their amazement from a scientific standpoint.

International Barefoot Ice Run Date

2010-07-03T02:52:00.001+02:00

It's chosen!!!

Date of barefoot run:

Feb 5 and 6th in Karpacz, Poland

Iceman in Dutch News

2010-07-03T02:48:00.005+02:00

http://blog.spitsnet.nl/2010/05/27/wetenschap-in-shock-om-the-iceman/

(In Dutch)

http://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.spitsnet.nl%2F2010%2F05%2F27%2Fwetenschap-in-shock-om-the-iceman%2F&sl=auto&tl=en

(In English)

ETA (Lyrics)

2010-06-07T22:53:00.001+02:00

We are currently in the process (among training) of making a song. Here are the lyrics for the song to come.

*ETA

[CHORUS]

We don’t feel the cold

We just found a way to cope

We don’t think we’ll freeze

Barefoot running will be a breeze.

[VERSE 1]

Before I get old

Want to remember my body

Not the way it is told

But use it as a vehicle to get ready

[CHORUS]

I don’t feel the cold

I just found a way to cope

I don’t think I’ll freeze

Barefoot running will be a breeze.

[VERSE 2]

That’s why there is no cold

No colder than a spirit unknown

But heat up and going away

Of that spirit unknown every day

[CHORUS]

We don’t feel the cold

We just found a way to cope

We don’t think we’ll freeze

Barefoot running will be a breeze.

[VERSE 3]

Spreading out the wings

As a bird free up in the sky

Consciousness not bound by things

Back in that vast space

Where from I have been gone too many days

[CHORUS]

I don’t feel the cold

We just found a way to cope

We don’t think we’ll freeze

Barefoot running will be a breeze

[VERSE 4]

I call it ETA, no where but now

All of my being, let it bestow

From my toes to my skull

I don’t feel the cold

(if you want to)

[CHORUS]

I don’t feel the cold

I just found a way to cope

I don’t think I’ll freeze

Barefoot running will be a breeze.

News

2010-05-12T15:32:00.000+02:00

The news is of course that by learning the techniques you will not only learn to directly influence the immune system, nervous system, blood circulatory processes, heart rate, and mind but now, scientifically proven, is the autonomic nervous system.

Details will be presented later, but the results are already registered (see video for scientific research: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpmPL7P8plg)

Once everything is made into a scientiific case can we publish the results to the internet.

That's the news!

The noble force of the cold

2010-05-11T18:33:00.000+02:00

The new challenge in Karpacz, Poland this coming winter, the 10 km barefoot Ice Run is a totally new discipline which will open up a new dimension to both sport and spirit

Scientifically proven is that the immune system, nervous system, blood circulatory processes, heart and mind, are fully exercised and highly developed
It is just logic otherwise without these improved capabilities we cannot withstand such a cold exposure

Everybody can do it, and actually should if you had the possibility to get into it

It is a marvelous experience as well, a deep inner feeling and you could call it spirituality with both feet on the ground

In this challenge, you will go deep and as I always say have a Cold high instead of a runner's high, it is the release of many endorphins, dopamine , melatonin, adrenaline, so many natural drugs (hormones) which absolutely will make you a sort of high

But is is more, just get into it and find out about what the noble force of the cold can do for you

Cold is like heat, do not put your hand in the fireplace, but be comfortable sitting next to it

The Cold gradually adapted, will develop unknown power within you and of course the mind

Share the strength and deep silence, as meditation will come naturally

Greetings

Training with the Iceman

2010-05-11T13:20:00.000+02:00

I met Wim Hof, The Iceman, just a week ago for a one week workshop. It was a great experience. When I asked him about the content of the workshop all he said was "It will be a week of all kinds of thermo-fysiological activities, to awaken the nervous system, immune system, heart and blood circulation, last but not least the mind and spirit". And that was it, he didn't mention anything else, there was no schedule, no program, all I knew was only this so deciding to join the workshop and reaching the location in Poland was already an adventure but it was certainly worth it. Now I have a few new great friends and I even form part of this new project for which this blog has been created, "The Iceman Challenge". This is really exciting but there is still so much to be done. I need to be patience, step by step. Take a look at the video below that was edited by Justin so you can get a taste of what the week was like and about the project that we are working on. Subscribe to the YouTube account and to our blog so you can keep yourself informed about any updates.

The week with Wim was amazing, we did so much and everything so spontaneous, it was training but we had a lot of fun. The first day we went to a river nearby his country house to start getting adapted to the cold water. The water was about 9 degrees, I thought it wasn't that cold and since Wim and Justin dived in without hesitation I decided to do the same. Ohhh, it was so painful, I think I had never experience in my life such a cold temperature. Ok, maybe for some people is not so cold but I come from a tropical country, I leave like an hour from the sea and the temperature can easily reach 40 degrees Celsius, so it is always quite hot and even there I love to take very hot showers so doing these cold waters immersions are a really hard task for me. But that's why I went to meet The Iceman, like he says "sometimes you really need to challenge yourself".

In the same day we went two more times to the river, but then I just went into the water just above my knees and that was still quite difficult for me, but after a week I was able not only to immerse all my body but also to swim a bit, a big improvement! And although the improvement happened little by little, day by day it was all thanks to Wim, I would have never been able to do such a crazy thing by my own. It's a lot more easier if you have somebody next to you saying "breath.... breath.... focus!!! yes!! you can do it! go for it! easy easy." :-)

Now I don't have a river anymore where to train but I'm trying to take cold showers everyday (after a very hot shower of course :-)), ohh but it is still so difficult. I'm in Belgium now and the weather this week is between 10 and 3 degrees Celsius... so the cold water must be really cold :-) but like Wim says "It's all about regular practice... just do it!".

You can find more of "The Iceman Words of Wisdom" in my blog.