HOS 2026 - My biggest takeaway
This was my second year at the London Health Optimisation Summit. A large event that stretches over 1-3 days (depending on what you sign up for) in the Business Design Centre (BDC) in Islington, North London.
According to online data the event hosts roughly 4200 people, features 60 world-leading speaker and about 140 cutting edge brands. Remove the fact that everything happens indoors in a large victorian grade II listed victorian building, providing very little fresh air and/or daylight, I was in heaven! All the newest ideas and knowledge gathered under one roof, the opportunity to test devices, machines and supplements, surrounded by people who share the same interests as you do. What’s not to love.
Last year I was slightly overwhelmed (I wrote a blog about it) by the enormosity of the event and the multitude of impressions I was bombarded with throughout the two days I had bought into. This year I came prepared. I knew I would receive recordings of all the talks following the event, so I focused more on getting up to speed with devices, supplements and machines while catching the talks on subjects and/or with speakers that really interest me.
I was introduced to fermented papaya tablets, methylene blue (didn’t try it though - still not quite comfortable with it), the rotate 360 machine, water massage bed, fu:di samlpes, collagen, chlorella spermidine, Power plate, red light therapy, hypobaric oxygen chambers, lactoferrin, hydrogen, nervous system devices, and the list goes on.
I learned a whole lot about blood filtering, stem cells, (peri)menopause & HRT, relationships, spirituality, bone health and mobility, energy, eyesight and more. Which brings us closer to what my biggest takeaway was.
Wim Hof, London Health Optimisation 2026
The last speaker I had the pleasure of seeing on stage was Wim Hof. To those of you who are unfamiliar with his work, he is widely known as ‘The Iceman’. A Dutch exreme athlete, motivational speaker, and author, best known for his extreme records within cold exposure (next level ice baths), running a barefoot half-marathon above the Arctic Circle, and climbing high-altitude mountains like Kilimanjaro and Everest wearing only shorts.
Wim Hof has developed a wellness system that is based on three pillars: Mindset, Controlled Breathing (breathwork) and Cold Exposure. He claims his techniques allow people to influence their autonomic nervous system and immune response, and his practices have been studied by researchers worldwide.
On stage, his talk became quite political several times and he especially honed in on the need for the the people of the world to regulate their nervous systems. There was no doubt that he believes the nervous system being out of whack is causing a lot of the distress and terror we are sadly whitnesses to today. And while I, of course, soaked up his viewpoints, what struck me about him wasn’t so much what he was saying - it was the way he said it. Wim Hof is quite a personality, and watching him on stage I was struck by his authenticity. He was unapologetically himself - whether the audience liked it ord not. He spoke up about what he believes in and made some claims that I reckon a large part of the world would find controversial.
I loved it.
There is something so inspiring about watching a person being in their element; standing strong and being who they are - without fear of the friction that might cause. I find these kinds of people absolutely magnetic. Not because I necessarily agree with the content or the delivery (although a lot of what he said in this particular case made a whole lot of sense), but because I thoroughly agree with being who we came here to be. Something I, myself, strive towards every single day. I don’t always manage (I too am a work in progress), but it definitely is what I strive for and what I encourage in my children and in my clients.
Being unapologetically perfectly imperfect. Owning it. Growing solid self love roots allowing this to happen. Because if the roots are thick, robust and long, there is no storm that can ever take down the tree.