Hanka Moravčíková is a daughter and a wife, and a lover of nature, movement, books and creative writing. She works as an editor at Sportmedia and is also an official Wim Hof Method instructor. She agreed to tell us more about the subject in an inspiring and very pleasant interview.
Read on to find out what the Wim Hof Method is, how it made its way to Slovakia and why this inspiring Slovak woman devotes herself to it.
Where are you based at the moment and what do you do?
I have lived in Prague for twelve years, but I often combine city life with life in a village, in the mountains, simply in nature, so I spend at most two thirds of the year in Prague. I devote about 50 % of my working time to writing and translating, in recent years for the Bratislava company Sportmedia; the other half belongs to the Wim Hof Method and to organising courses, primarily in the Czech Republic and occasionally elsewhere in Europe.
What led you to choose the work you do actively, not just as a hobby but as a job?
When I was 20, we had a serious illness in the family. We started taking an interest in how food and lifestyle can affect health. Personally I ended up with vegetarianism, which I have kept up for ten years. After school I came across a web portal that was looking for an editor. As the job combined my love of languages with writing about health, I jumped at it. Through my work as an editor I then came to the Wim Hof Method.
Where do you look for energy and inspiration, whether for writing creative articles or for your courses? What keeps you in a good mood?
Inspiration for new things often comes to me right after breathing exercises, or during them. My head empties completely and that makes room for something new. The reset comes from a generally calm life, and I top up my energy actively, in the forest, ideally in the mountains. Especially if I can combine the mountains with ice-cold water. I also like reading, mostly when I am physically tired, or I just sprawl out on the grass, close my eyes and enjoy doing nothing.
Besides good physical and mental rest, nutrition is very important too. Which Powerlogy products give you fuel in the form of food?
It must be years now since I set off on a mountain hike without 70% Powerlogy chocolate, which I always have to hand in my rucksack. Our family classic is the energy combination of Powerlogy coffee and almond cream. Among the newer products, my favourite is the savoury pistachio pesto. As I am a vegetarian I often eat salads, and I top them with exactly that pistachio dressing.
What matters to me is that whichever Powerlogy product I have at home, it is clean, with nothing unnecessary and a minimum of ingredients. Its nutritional value is important to me, and above all it is addictively tasty.
Let us get closer to the Wim Hof Method, then – what actually is it?
The Wim Hof Method consists of three equally important components: breath, cold and mindset. Controlled, slow exhalations make working with cold easier, and meditation and concentration exercises increase mental readiness and help with the whole process of cold exposure. This method teaches us not only how to behave in the cold, but also in other “extremes” in life. It gives us the chance to get to know our body better, to relax, to be stronger and more resilient, and to accept our emotions as they are. Overall it is about connection and completeness – head, breath, body – all of it needs to be respected and listened to. Whatever your attitude to cold is, one thing is certain: it can change you.
Take a look at Hanka’s courses and all the details of the Wim Hof Method here
How did you come to it and how long have you been doing it?
I was sent to my first course, a six-day one straight away, by my boss at the time, Andrej Maťko. It was 2016 and almost nobody in the Czech Republic or Slovakia knew about the Wim Hof Method back then. Andrej fell for the method and wanted to spread the word, so he sent me to the course as an observer. Originally so that I would write articles about the method, but in the end he decided a book would be a better choice.
Even though I went to my first course without any motivation of my own, without a specific goal and without any real appetite for ice-cold water, within a few days the method got under my skin and it has been an ordinary part of my life ever since. That is almost seven years now.
What should people watch out for with this method, and what are the most common mistakes people make?
There is no point comparing yourself with anyone else. By pushing the time spent in the water, people can often do themselves more harm than good. From a health point of view we never need to spend more than 2 minutes in ice-cold water. People often overdo it – with the breath and with the cold. Both exercises are based on hormesis. They stress the body briefly and thereby strengthen it. But if we give ourselves large doses of that stress load too often, strengthening stress turns into stress that starts to weaken and tire us.
And on the other side, how does the Wim Hof Method affect the body in a positive way?
If we talk about the physical side, people who practise it describe feeling more resilient; research on the method has been associated with changes in the immune and inflammatory response. Practitioners also describe it as a workout for the heart and the whole cardiovascular system, and they report support for the lymphatic system, better muscle recovery, more energy and better sleep. Mentally, people who practise it correctly describe better concentration, more emotional release, feeling calmer, and coping better with stressful situations and states of anxiety. Taken together they describe it as an instant “tablet” for a clear head.
When is the ideal time to start?
As for age, if a person is physically healthy, then any time. What matters is getting the dose right. The natural start is always in the autumn, when natural bodies of water slowly cool down. The body then has the chance to start at 20 degrees and gradually increase the level of cold as the water temperature drops.
Spring is good for a taster too – April, for example, when the water gradually reaches 10-15 degrees and people can see for themselves that it can be done. With the sun it is beautiful as well.
But you can also start in the middle of winter, in the toughest conditions and with no experience. The human body is adapted to cope with cold; it is more our head that talks us out of it.
What would you add at the end – what advice do you have for everyone who wants to start with this “cold exposure”?
Few methods are as undemanding in practice as the Wim Hof Method. You need no equipment for it and you do not have to travel anywhere. If you learn the technique properly, all you need is air and cold water, even at home in the shower. So the practice is entirely up to us.
The question is whether the right mindset and the willingness to face discomfort win, or laziness and the desire for comfort. Excuses like “I do not have time” do not work here, because we all take a shower. So it is only up to us which way we turn the tap.
Besides yourself and your family, you also recommend energy in the form of good food to your clients. Which Powerlogy products are they?
I like that many Powerlogy products are plant-based and low in carbohydrates, so I can recommend them to just about anyone. Top of the list, for me and for my clients, are the nut creams, an incredibly tasty sweet treat that is nourishing as well. None of our courses happens without them.
If someone likes turmeric, I would definitely recommend this spice blend. In the pack it is blended with black pepper, the pairing turmeric is traditionally combined with.
Hanka, thank you for an inspiring interview and we wish you plenty of success and health on your journey through life.
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