Mithridates the Great, King of Pontus, was one of the Romans' greatest enemies, but while he was considered a great leader, he was plagued by the fear of being poisoned. To find ways to protect himself, he began to dabble in toxicology, and supposedly self-administered non-lethal doses of poisonous substances to protect himself from them. If indeed this is true, Mithridates was inadvertently tapping into the concept of hormesis, or the body's ability to improve itself in the face of controlled stress environments. Nietzsche immortalized the same concept in his famous aphorism, 'What does not kill me makes me stronger. "
The science of immunization works on the same vaccine hack in the body's natural hormetic response, turning it into a powerful weapon against deadly diseases.
WIM HOF, better known as the Ice Man, takes hormesis to the next level by controlling his body's response to cold through a specific technique of breathing and cold exposure. HOF has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in shorts, run a marathon above the Arctic Circle in bare feet and broken numerous records for cold exposure. Studies have found that the method activates a part of the brain involved in pain suppression, while practitioners of the method have better control of their sympathetic nervous system. By taking advantage of hormesis, WIM HOF has developed abilities so far believed to be beyond human understanding.
Mimicking some of the survival circuits of our evolutionary ancestors, such as fasting or restricting calorie intake, may also bring us many benefits—another example of hormesis at work Example.
So, if you want to improve your mind and body, you need to expose yourself to controlled stress and then provide adequate nutrition and rest for the body to heal itself. That's how you get better. Nothing good happens when you're cocooned in a comfort zone, no matter how good you might feel in that moment.
