As children, we dream of having spectacular superpowers, whether it’s walking through walls, having x-ray vision or flying through space.
But over the years, we’re taught that there’s no such thing as superheroes (except in lucid dreams) and our dreams of saving mankind from some plague are taken over by the everyday reality of being an adult. So we accept a reality where we live vicariously through superhero figures in movies and series.
But have you ever wondered why we have such an obsession with superheroes? It could be because the superhuman capabilities we see in superheroes are actually an expression of the latent potential within all human beings. And some of us are lucky enough develop and experience these abilities.
Here are some examples of just 10 real-life superheroes. People like you and me, but with some extraordinary capabilities.
1: Wim Hof aka “The Iceman”
The first on our list is a man named Wim Hof who has the remarkable ability to withstand extremely low temperatures. He has demonstrated this ability by climbing up some of the world’s highest peaks (Mount Kilimanjaro and Everest) in nothing but shorts- all without suffering any sickness.
Hof earned his nickname after surviving being buried in ice, running a half marathon in the desert without consuming any liquids and taking the world’s longest ice bath where he was submerged in ice for an hour and 52 minutes.
Needless to say, he holds quite a few Guinness World Records for his abilities and he attributes his talent for withstanding the cold to a form of breathing meditation which allows him to control his autonomic nervous system and immune responses. According to Hof, this type of meditation allows him to increase his inner thermostat and that ‘it’s all in the mind’.
There is actually even a Wim Hof lucid dreaming breathing method that can help you have deeper lucid dreams.
2: Natasha Demkina aka “Girl with X-ray Eyes”
Ever dreamt of seeing through someone’s clothes and even into their inner organs? Well, that’s exactly what Natasha has the ability to do. From the age of 10 Natasha developed the uncanny ability to see into people’s inner organs, and over time was able to diagnose them of various diseases through her x-ray vision.
The best part is that she’s now managed to ‘hone’ her ability to the point where she’s able to switch from regular vision to x-ray vision at will. She’s grown quite a following in her native Russia where she’s commonly referred to as “The Girl with X-ray Eyes”.
3: Al Herpin aka “The Man Who Couldn’t Sleep”
Who needs sleep? Certainly not Al Herpin. The man suffered from an extremely rare form of insomnia which allowed him to stay awake for over 10 years. 10 years!
His story was so intriguing that scientist in America took to studying him only to find that Herpin didn’t even keep a bed in his house. After work he would simply read from his lounge chair until it was time to go to work again. Upon examination, the scientists’ found that he was in perfect health and he went on to live to the ripe old age of 94.
4: Master Zhou aka “The Jewel of China”
Master Zhou is famous for his ability to generate different degrees of heat and transfer it to others through his hands. A Kung Fu and Tai Chi master by profession, Master Zhou attributes his healing power to a form of Tai Chi meditation which allows him to harness his inner chi, and he in turn channels it to others through his hands.
He’s been able to heal his patients of numerous ailments from tumours, to inflammation and even joint pain, and he counts the Dalai Lama and the LA Lakers among his patients. Master Zhou is well-known all over his native land as the “Jewel of China”.
5: Dr Harold Whitmore
Dr Whitmore is the only known person in the world who’s been able to master and speak 58 languages! He attributes his ability to an event which happened in his childhood when he experienced an explosion in his brain and from that time he developed an insatiable need to learn as many languages as possible.
He’s spent a large chunk of his life just travelling the world, learning and mastering the different languages which were spoken in all the regions he visited.
6: Daniel Temmet aka “Super Hippocampus”
Daniel has the incredible ability to memorise unbelievably large amounts of data, especially when it comes to numbers. He’s demonstrated some of his ability by reciting Pi up to 22, 514 times in just five hours and nine minutes.
Daniel explains that he’s able to achieve these amazing feats of memory due to his propensity to visualise information. He views all whole numbers up to 10 000 as having unique characteristics such as colour, shape, texture and feeling.
For example, his experience of the number 289 is that of a very ugly entity whereas the number 333 is beautiful and eye-catching. We’re so amazed by his abilities that we’ve taken to calling him “Super Hippocampus”, a name which is an ode to his remarkable memory.
The hippocampus is the part of the brain that is responsible for the transference of short-term to long-term memory, and it’s actually one of the few parts of the brain that is capable of forming new neurons.
7: Liew Thow Lin aka “Metal Man”
Lin is a Malaysian man who has the ability to attract and stick metal objects to his body. He was examined by doctors some years back and they found no remarkable difference between the magnetics of his body and that of the average human, and yet his skin is able to hold a number of metal objects at once, from pots and pans to spatulas and tin cans.
8: Tim Cridland aka “The Torture King”
As his nickname suggests, Tim has a propensity for inflicting torture on himself. Very few human beings have survived the types of self-inflicted pain that he’s put himself through and lived to tell the tale.
From swallowing a flaming sword to impaling himself with skewers and lying on a bed of nails while people walk on him. Tim has demonstrated time and again, what’s possible when you harness the power of the mind over matter (or the body), and he’s been featured in Ripley’s Believe it Or Not and the Guinness Book of World Records to prove it.
Cridland uses his talent to entertain and inspire people to believe in themselves and in the incredible human spirit, which has the ability overcome any kind of adversity. In an interview with Faze Magazine, he expresses that “Everything I’ve done, I’ve trained myself to do.
I’d say what I’m doing is demonstrating some kind of extreme examples of what you can do with your mind and combining that with your body. You could take the same techniques I use to overcome pain and use them in your own life to inspire you to persevere against the pains in life we all have to deal with.” Well said!
9: Dean Karnazes aka “Running Man”
Dean has an astounding ability to run crazy long distances, for days, without resting. For example, he once ran 560km in only 80 hours-all without getting any sleep. Talk about pushing the limits. Dean is a passionate ultra-marathon runner and author of the book Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All Night Runner.
10: Isao Machii aka “Super Samurai”
Machii is known for having super quick reflexes that allow him to perform amazing exploits like being able to cut through a pellet that was coming at him at 200 miles an hour.
Scientists who researched Machii, discovered that he has superhuman anticipatory processing, meaning that he’s able to anticipate movement before it’s even initiated. By profession, Machii is a Japanese Iaido master and he currently holds many records for his super quick reflex skills and sword play.
The presence of these amazingly talented human beings is testament to the fact that we’re capable of way more than we can imagine and that we’re more powerful than we take ourselves to be. Through techniques such as meditation, belief and sheer will power, there is no limit as to what one can achieve.
How to learn real superpowers
The only way to develop real life superpowers is to go through our superpowers guide. It’s a comprehensive manual that shows you how to learn and practice real superpowers, but in lucid dreams.
