Category: Rita Ora

As a couple, I find Rita Ora and Taika Waititi low-level annoying. But I also can’t deny that they’re cute together. They’ve apparently been married for a year but it feels like it hasn’t been that long at all. Recently Rita and Taika met the Dutch wellness guy and ice bath evangelizer Wim Hof. He kind of popularized the idea of taking cold swims along with breath work. Wim Hof, the self-proclaimed Ice Man, led Rita and Taika through ice baths and Rita put photos of their day together on Instagram. Whoever’s bathroom they did it in has absolutely beautiful tiling. Everyone looks like they enjoyed themselves. But I have thoughts about Wim Hof, which we’ll get to in a second.

Rita Ora and Taika Waititi are taking the plunge!

The “Let You Love Me” singer, 32, revealed on Instagram Saturday that she and her director-husband had an opportunity to do an ice bath in Ibiza with Dutch wellness guru Wim Hof, who touts the many health benefits of cold therapy.

“I got to meet the Ice Man himself @iceman_hof out here and he’s honestly the SWEETEST!!” Ora wrote in the post’s caption. “He even performed some songs for us too ???????? Anyone else taken an ice bath before? It’s CRAZY!!”

She shared a series of photos documenting the experience, including a snapshot of her and Waititi, 48, posing with Hof in their swimsuits. A second image captured Ora perched on the edge of the bath as her husband and Hof smiled for the camera while enjoying their icy soak.

Another picture showed Ora and a friend taking their turn in the tub. The two appeared to be holding hands and had their eyes closed as they braved the freezing water.

The songstress also included a video clip of Hof serenading his guests with a guitar performance.

The motivational speaker and extreme athlete, 64, has published a series of popular wellness books promoting the myriad benefits of practicing cold therapy, along with breath work. According to Hof, taking ice baths helps reduce inflammation in the body, aids muscle soreness, strengthens the immune system, balances hormone levels, improves sleep quality and more.

[From People>]

This is the most random combo of famous people I could have imagined (also, dang, Rita Ora has a beautiful figure. I’ve always been too distracted by her wacky red carpet looks to realize). For whatever subconscious reason, Wim Hof reminds me of a line from the movie Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: “the faith of the fanatic is always concealing a secret doubt.” He’s so certain that cold swims are the solution, he has the vibe of an evangelist or a door-to-door vacuum salesman. Whenever someone tells me that one simple practice is a miracle cure for a bunch of different problems, I am instantly suspicious. I also don’t vibe with his breathing exercises at all–the ones I’ve tried were very much about activating and stirring up your nervous system and I hated how that felt. I am by nature an extremely anxious, neurotic person. I am trying to get my nervous system to simmer down, not rile it up.

That being said, I like cold swims and there is scientific evidence that supports it as a treatment for muscle soreness so he’s right about some things. Last week I hiked to a lake that was all glacier runoff and let me tell you, I got some funny looks when I walked out to the shore in my pink bikini. Nobody else was swimming! When I lunged forward into the water I definitely felt like I got the breath knocked out of me, but I only stayed in for about 30 seconds and then got out. It does give you a brief euphoric feeling afterwards and it was a super hot day so it was intensely refreshing after four miles of hiking. But you have to be careful, and people with certain health conditions shouldn’t do it at all. There’s a thin line between “therapeutic” and “dangerous” with ice swims, at least in my non-expert view (and I can’t reiterate enough that I am not an expert).