Peak-Performance Coach & Licensed Professional Counselor

When I first heard about the Wim Hof Method it struck me like a match.  Wim had scientific evidence supporting what I had been experiencing for over a decade... voluntarily influencing the autonomic nervous system.  

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In 2011, I trained with International Wilderness Leadership School.  We paddled sea kayaks around two islands in the Sea of Cortez (Isla San Jose and Isla Espiritu Santo), just off the coast of La Paz, Mexico.  The training lasted 30 days.  We had no cell phones, laptops, iPads, smart watches, or technology in general.  The only piece of technology was a satellite radio incase of an emergency.  During this training, I noticed frequent rushes of endorphins throughout my brain and body while engaging in everyday life.  Whether it was kayaking up the coastline, setting up camp, having an engaging conversation or cooking dinner... endorphins would come and have my hair stand up like when listening to great music.  These rushes of endorphins kept happening throughout the weeks.  When they would come, I focused on them and would breathe into it.  I found when I did this the feelings / endorphins would intensify.  As you can imagine, these endorphins provided me with a deep sense of purpose, motivation, energy and mental clarity.   

 

Over the course of a week, I developed a sort of "muscle memory", or rather strengthened the connection of a network of neurons that stretched from my frontal cortex into the brainstem.  This allowed me to voluntarily influence my endocrine system.  Meaning... I could self-induce rushes of endorphins (happy and healthy hormones) simply through focused breathing.  No longer did I need an interesting conversation or to see a cool landscape / wildlife / some sort of external event to trigger the rush.  I had learned that I could bring about these endorphins through a focused mindset while breathing.  I began to use this focused breathing throughout the days, whether I needed to ramp myself up to take on a challenge, to combat stress, or to simply feel the invigorating sensations throughout my brain and body. 

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​I returned home to find little on the topic.  What I found in the scientific literature were a couple small case studies conducted regarding a phenomena known as Voluntarily Generated Piloerection (VGP).  I realized at this point I was working with a rare and unique skill set.  VGP can be defined as self-induced goosebumps.  Essentially, VGP is voluntarily influencing the autonomic nervous system.  To say I was obsessed with VGP would be an understatement.  I constantly practiced it, talked about it, and researched it. 

 

As time passed, I planned of developing a program to teach others VGP in the midst of attending graduate school, studying Counseling at the University of Detroit Mercy.  For a few years, I worked as a graduate assistant for the basketball program while taking night classes.  I graduated in the summer of 2017 and shortly after began working in Detroit Public Schools at the Detroit Institute of Technology (Cody High School) as a Mental Health Professional.  I worked with youth focusing on addiction, personal / social development, vocational development, and academics.

 

One night on my way home from Detroit, I got a flat tire while driving on I-96 West.  As I was sitting in my jeep getting ready to change the tire, I was hit by an impaired driver.  The police report says he crashed into me at eighty miles per hour and ultimately fled the scene of the accident, leaving both vehicles totaled, with me lying in a pool of my own blood fading in and out of consciousness.  I fractured five vertebrae, broke my right ankle, snapped my left arm in half, lacerated my liver, tore my medial meniscus, dislocated my jaw and had multiple seizures.  One seizure came as they were rushing me into the intensive care unit.  I had intracranial hypertension as my head swelled up like a balloon due to my skull being fractured in three places.  Brain surgeons drilled a hole in my head to relieve the pressure.  I woke up from a coma eight days later tied down to the hospital bed, unable to move, not knowing where I was. 

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After weeks in the intensive care unit and another month in the hospital, I began to walk short distances, urinate without a catheter, drink fluids and chew food.  The recovery process was by far the hardest experience I've ever had.  There were many sleepless nights, massive amounts of pain (physically, mentally, and emotionally), and a constant battle with myself as I was caught in the tight grip of the unknown.  Not a day had passed by for over a month that I had not had some form of narcotics passing through my veins.  Fentanyl, dilaudid, oxycodone, hydrocodone, tramadol, morphine, codeine, you name it, I had it.   I went home with a large number and wide variety of prescriptions.  Repercussions of the traumatic brain injury had me living with an emergent mood disorder, having high peaks and bottomless lows, accompanied with frequent emotional outbursts.  I was in a neck brace, boot, cast and sling, addicted to pain killers, and trying to manage the mood disorder as well as post-traumatic stress disorder.

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Once I reclaimed a certain amount of self-sufficiency, I was discharged from the hospital.  It was at this time I came across Wim Hof while listening to the Joe Rogan podcast.  I still remember hearing Wim for the first time, stating that he had scientific evidence we can voluntarily influence our own autonomic nervous systems.  I was excited, better yet ecstatic!  I listened and then researched.  I came to find that Wim had already developed a systematic and scientifically backed breathing practice that teaches individuals how to voluntarily influence their autonomic nervous systems at will.   In fact, when one practices the breathing technique, they release more adrenaline than someone who is actually bungee jumping!  A study done at Radbound University in 2013 found for the first time in scientific history that human beings have the ability to voluntarily influence their autonomic nervous system, thus influencing their innate immune response through a training program Wim developed.  This is exactly what I had dreamed of doing, but now the groundwork had already been laid through a tried-and-true method.  The WHM consists of a growth mind-set, breath work and gradual cold exposure.  Both the breathwork and gradual cold-exposure have the effect of releasing endorphins throughout the brain and body (aka hair standing up on the skin).   I found this incredibly interesting and still do.  Now, I couldn’t take ice baths at this time due to the neck brace, boot and cast, but I could breathe...  I began performing rounds upon rounds of the breathing exercise every day at the house.

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It’s been scientifically proven (and I can personally account for) the WHM Breathing exercise triggering the release of endogenous opioids and endocannabinoids (the bodies natural pain killers) that help with pain management (I've also recently conducted / co-authored scientific research with Wayne State University's Neurology and Behavioral Psychology Departments and found when someone practices Wim Hof Method breathwork it serves as a "workout" for their autonomic nervous system, giving them more control over the stress response). Within two weeks of practicing WHM breathwork and VGP breathing exercises I was off the oxycodone, muscle relaxers and ibuprofen.  My mood became stable and I had transformed from being bitter, resentful and depressed into radically accepting the experience while maintaining a strong commitment to life.  

 

Eventually the neck brace, boot, cast and sling came off.  Understandably, I was still experiencing some residual pain from all of the fractures, broken bones and brain injury.  I began to take cold showers and ice baths.  It wasn't until this point that I realized that not only the breathing exercise, but also a cold shower / ice bath makes our hair stand on end (as mentioned previously).  Wim had connected the dots and found hacks into deep parts of our own psychology and physiology.   I kept training, taking ice baths and practicing the breath work resulting in a full recovery from my auto accident.  I attribute a ton of my success to the Wim Hof Method and soon enough found myself in Poland, swimming in waterfalls in the middle of winter and getting certified as a Wim Hof Method instructor.  Since then, I have trained thousands of individuals in the Wim Hof Method and feel honored to keep going!  I offer peak-performance trainings to the general public, sports teams, businesses and corporations, rehabilitation centers, and mental health clinics (trainings consist of Wim Hof Method Workshops, Oxygen Advantage Workshops, Mental Health Training and Peak-Performance Coaching - trainings vary depending on the needs of participants).  

 

Furthermore, I share my story of overcoming adversity in a wide variety of settings (sports teams, corporate events, conferences, school assembly's and community gatherings).  After surviving a life-altering auto accident that left me physically and emotionally shattered, I have defied the odds and emerged stronger and more determined than ever before.  Through my powerful story of resilience, courage and hope, I share my journey of recovery and renewal to inspire audiences worldwide.  

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Wim Hof Method

https://www.wimhofmethod.com/

Voluntarily Generated Piloerection

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6071615/

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2020.00590/full

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