Dr. Dustin Ballard: The mind has incredible powers. It can create illusions out of thin air and hear voices that don’t exist. It can modify the body’s response to pain, disease and stress. It can eliminate symptoms simply through the power of belief.

The mind is powerful, but is it capable of regulating bodily temperature? Wim Hof of the Netherlands, known to some as “the Iceman,” would have us believe that it is.

When I first learned of Wim from my neighborhood YMCA Zennie, I was quite skeptical. I remained unconvinced after skimming through his recently released and quite disjointed book, “Becoming the …

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Sterling: The sun beams down on a warm Dutch spring morning, and the Iceman’s students look wary as they watch him dump bag after bag of ice into the tub of water where they will soon be taking a dip.

The plan is to try to overcome the normal human reaction to immersion in freezing slush: gasping for air, shivering uncontrollably, and getting back out again as soon as possible.

Instead, under the direction of “Iceman” Wim Hof, the group of athletes is going to stay in the water for minutes practicing his meditation techniques, seeking possible performance or health benefits.

Hof, 52, earned his nickname from feats such as remaining in a tank of ice in Hong Kong for almost 2 hours; …