Evidential Exemplarity and the Science-Driven Self-Spirituality of the Wim Hof Method

This article investigates the contemporary wellness milieu through the lens of the Wim Hof Method, a therapeutic technique that combines cold exposure with breathwork and meditation practices. It positions Wim Hof and his Method within the context of media-driven wellness celebrities, navigating its interfaces with scientific legitimacy by highlighting the intertwined role of evidence and exemplary demonstrations in validating the effectiveness and credibility of the Method on media platforms. Through a combination of media anthropological examination and participant observation, the Wim Hof Method is posited as embodying a science-driven, neurocentric variation of contemporary self-spirituality, understood through the emphasis on the voluntary regulation of physiological responses in the pursuit of self-improvement and spiritual growth. More broadly, the analysis addresses a gap in the research on therapeutic wellness by shedding light through the Wim Hof Method on the dynamic relationship between exemplification and evidence at the intersection of alternative medicine, science, and popular media.