The Power of the Breath and Freezing the Fear!

I have been delivering keynote and mastermind sessions for over 15 years, and I vividly remember my first one and how nervous I was—worrying that I couldn’t speak unaided for 30 whole minutes. What transpired was very different, and when the adrenaline kicked in and I sat down afterward, I remember the speaker who was going up after me, asking how I thought it went. I replied with my heart still beating so loud that I was confident everyone in the room could hear it. “I think it went ok, but I’m disappointed that I couldn’t last the full 30 minutes, and it felt like I was dragging it out at the end” His reply was, “What are you talking about? You spoke for nearly 60 minutes…”.

I must have been in the zone, which I initially thought was great, but 60 minutes was not what I was booked to deliver, and it had negative knockon effects for the other speakers and the event organiser. My anxiety turned into fear, which at that moment turned into adrenaline, which turned into tunnel vision and losing track of time and the self-awareness of what I was doing. Have you ever felt or experienced anything like that?

It was a great learning experience for me and one I can share with others that are considering either embarking on an exciting speaking career or who are looking to improve their public speaking for personal growth or aspirational career purposes. What I have learned is to control the controllables, and believe it or not, the anxiety, adrenaline, and fear are all controllable.

Last year, many people were introduced to Wim Hof and his Wim Hof Method (WHM) on the celebrity reality TV show, Freezing the Fear. We saw celebrities break down emotionally and become stronger before our eyes through their experiences on the show.

Rewind two years and through our Bespoke Elite Speaker Training (BEST) we introduced breath work and the WHM to our high-achieving delegates, with the aim to help them control their heart rate and breathing in the most extreme conditions. If you can control your heart rate in freezing temperatures, you can control it anywhere.

A person’s heart rate can increase when they are taken out of their comfort zone, and public speaking is often regarded as one of life’s biggest fears. Therefore, how can we recreate that feeling so we can learn to manage and ultimately overcome it?

One thing we do know is that the ice does not care how successful, wealthy or experienced you are and treats us all the same. Failing to prepare mentally for this type of physical challenge is a big mistake, and I have experienced myself where my focus has been broken, the ice is merciless, and the countdown clock seems to slow down to a near standstill.

Through the meditative work we do, we learn that we can achieve far more than we think, and through the power of teamwork and shared vulnerability, we help each other through tough times.

Hearing feedback from high achievers and captains of industry who have scaled businesses to over $ 1 billion, won Premier Leagues and Paralympic Gold medals, and even flown super-fast jets at over 500 mph, say things like “it was lifechanging” ‘The best thing I’ve ever done” and “more than I could ever have wished for” provides the motivation to continue to promote the benefits of what we do, so I recently invited some close friends to experience it. This was largely to give the context behind me banging on about it all of the time when at social gatherings and them thinking I was crazy.

Eventually, a group of good friends and parents were up for exploring the session one sunny Saturday afternoon, and each had their motivation for attending. However, they all shared a fear of the dreaded ice bath at the end but were brave. What I was hoping was that by the time they were invited to fully submerge in a bath full to the top of ice, was that the breathing tips and tools they had been given would equip them to be brave and lean into the challenge. Everyone accepted the challenge, some more reluctant than others, if I am being honest, but nonetheless, the sense of achievement upon hearing the five-second countdown was exhilarating for them and very rewarding for me.

One high-flying female exec panicked when she first stepped in, and instantly, we could all see the colour drain from her face as her fight-or-flight response kicked in. She wanted to get out and didn’t say it verbally, but her body language and hyperventilating were clear to see. Then, after about 10-15 seconds of weathering the initial shock, something super impressive happened, and she zoned into the breathing she had just learned.

Suddenly, a very visible calmness was evident not just in her face but in her whole body. She could have stayed in for much longer by the time her countdown started, and she left with an inner confidence that I knew was always there.

So, why am I sharing this experience, well, many other friends and contacts responded to the invitation with the obvious (and probably how I would have sarcastically responded a few years ago) by saying that they already knew how to breathe and have been doing it successfully for the whole of their life. Now that is correct, and so it’s very difficult to argue against. However, this is more than just breathing; it’s more than just submerging into an ice bath.

The afternoon reminded me of when I reluctantly did my first WHM session on our very first 5-day speaking residential back in 2020. This was reinforced by observing my 15 superstar individual friends that now share a unique bond. We rarely ever take and prioritise time to actually clear our minds and do nothing except just breathe. Let alone find 3 hours out of our very busy lives on a Saturday afternoon with conflicting family and social commitments to completely switch off to their immediate surroundings. I am also guilty of this from time to time even though the results are clear to see.

So, my ask is simple, next time you are invited to try something different that might push you to new areas that may initially make you feel uncomfortable. Lean into the discomfort as magic is on the other side of our comfort zones.

As the great Wim Hof says;

“If we always choose comfort then we will never learn the deepest capabilities of our mind or body”.