In this episode of the Wim Hof Podcast, Zac Aynsley recounts how his partner Melody was diagnosed with lymphoma at age 27, faced a dangerously low white‑blood‑cell (WBC) count that threatened her ability to receive chemotherapy, and turned to the Wim Hof Method (WHM) as a supportive practice. After learning about the method from Wim Hof’s community, Zac introduced Melody to the breathing exercises and cold‑shower exposure. Within a weekend of daily WHM practice, Melody’s neutrophil count rose from about 0.3 ×10⁹/L to 0.6, allowing her to proceed with scheduled chemotherapy. The couple continued the routine—10‑minute breathing sessions and progressively longer cold showers—reporting further physiological benefits (stable WBC, reduced infection risk), psychological improvements (enhanced mood, endorphin rush from cold, better sleep, reduced insomnia), and a sense of empowerment. Host Speaker B provides a cautious framing, emphasizing that the WHM is not a cure for cancer but may aid immune function when combined with conventional treatment. The conversation blends personal testimony, practical details of the WHM practice, and a balanced perspective on its role alongside medical care.
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Essentially, my girlfriend, she was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer at the end of last year. And yeah, it was just a big panic for us, a big shock. You know, we just moved into our house and everything seemed great. It was like a real-life fairy tale. Everything was perfect. You know, I was so in love. We were so happy together. Everything was perfect. I moved to Holland, you know, and It was just like a start of a new life, a new chapter. And then one week after moving in together, we got struck by this. And it was just such a big scare, you know, for both of us, more so for her, obviously. But when she was at hospital getting the tests done to find out what type of cancer it was, is it cancer, even though the doctor said 95% certain, I was at home doing research immediately. I was like, right, I need to, I need to stop this before it gets worse. You know, I need to make your body alkaline, get CBD oil and all these different things. And then, yeah, I don't know what it was, but something just clicked in my head. Wim Hof Method.
Yeah, I'm always very careful in, in, uh, in bringing forward these, these, yeah, towards ailments, right, on autoimmune disease, etc., because even there is a lot of science of battling, uh, inflammation. My dad is a believer, you know, and he sees like miracles going on around him. But I'm, from out the company's perspective, very careful because, of course, I mean, I wasn't thinking I'm going to come to Wim and cure her cancer. No, but still you came. So, and then there's a wall, and then I'm there, and I'm like, okay, but wait a minute, uh, Sek, uh, this is not a pinnacle, uh, cure or whatever, but I have seen in our community that people with a low amount of white blood cells doing the method, and in combination with food or with whatever, they would be able like to raise it substantially. And that's what I brought forward to you, like, hey man, okay, you know, don't bring the number, don't give the number, and keep it like— of course, without like, oh, we're going to not do chemo. No, let's do it and see what happens.
But that's what I forgot to mention. We actually had the test done first before I contacted you. Sorry. And yeah, she was told that she wouldn't be able to get chemo at this stage because her white blood cell count was too low. Yeah, I think it was like 0.2, or needed to be 0.5, for example. And yeah, I can't remember what it was, but something clicked in my head thinking the breathing technique could help. And I think— I'm not sure if I heard it from somebody else or if I'd seen something online, but something just clicked in my head. So I tried to tell her, I was like, hey, try this breathing method, it's going to help you boost your white blood cells. But if you think about it, you know, if your partner comes up to you and says— who, by the way, have cancer— if their partner comes up to you and says, oh, breathe for 10 minutes, it's going to fix you, you're going to sound like a fucking lunatic.
Yeah.
So I thought that's why it would be amazing if we could get Wim on the phone himself, you know, because you're so respected, world known. And yeah, you're the master of this essentially. If we could get you to maybe just sit down and talk with Melody about how it works, your experience, etc. Yeah, she might be. You know, tempted to try this and really give it everything and see how it works with her. And so, yeah, like, thanks. Thanks to you, man. We came, we came, met you, sat in the kitchen, had a really great talk for an hour, went home. First thing she did, get in the cold shower, doing the breathing method. And she loved it, man. She loved the breathing method. She didn't really like the cold at first.
Me neither.
But no, the breathing, she was doing it every day. Like, every day was something to look forward to. And I really got into it and was going deeper and deeper into it, you know, the breath holds were getting longer. And yeah, she's actually here now as well, but yeah, she might—
please do come and sit.
She's gonna say she probably explains it better than me.
Hi, welcome, Melody.
Thank you.
Thanks a lot for everything you've done for us, first of all. And it's good for me to share a bit my experience. I think at our age, I'm only now 28, was 27 when I was diagnosed, we We're young, we feel invincible, and when it strikes you at this age, you're not prepared for it. No one prepares you to have cancer ever, but even less when you're young. It's been a big shock for me. I think the worst was for my dad, Zach, just to see that they could lose someone that they love too early. It's never good. So for me, the fight with this cancer was always— I had to be strong for myself, but more for the others. I'm a strong person by nature, and I've been always interested in looking at alternative therapies. I was actually considering before we met you to do other things than chemotherapy, but it was worrying a lot my family, so I decided to do the chemotherapy. And we actually came to see you on the day I had my first chemotherapy. And yeah, as Zach said, it was really to boost my white blood cells. Because on the second chemotherapy, I couldn't get it. My white blood cells on the Friday were 0.3, and you need a minimum of 0.5 of neutrophils, which are the white blood cells that protect the body from infections. And I did, I think, after that, breathing and the cold for 2 or 3 times a day over the weekend, and on Monday I could get my chemotherapy. It was 0.6. So my numbers doubled, which is usually— they would— thought— they told me on Friday, probably we need to wait until Wednesday before you can get your chemotherapy. And on Monday I already couldn't get it.
Didn't they? They said you need to come back, we need to give you injections to get you the white blood cell boost.
Yeah.
But yeah, by the time we came back for the second checkup, they doubled and she could— she got the green light. But it didn't stop from there. You continued doing it. The showers got longer, the breath holds got stronger, longer. And yeah, it just— I mean, the results were great for something so simple. It wasn't like she's just beat a cancer because she started breathing or anything. That's crazy. But the results we were seeing from something so simple, 10 minutes a day of breathing and at the time, 30 seconds to a minute in some cold water. That's it. It changed so much.
And, you know, for the mindset, I really saw the benefit of the cold shower. It was giving me the endorphin, the— yeah, when I was coming out of the shower, I was feeling alive.
Yeah, it was fun, eh?
It was great.
We turned it into a bit of a game, you know, because it wasn't fun. I mean, when I did my first cold shower, I was like fighting the water, you know, to try and get angry at it to stay in longer. And how much did you pay them to tell this?
Huh?
How much did you pay them? Yeah, it's true.
I almost believe, like, he's paying you, man. What's going on here?
I actually say that to all my friends, you know, it's great. And the breathing for me was just a way, especially at night, to, to calm me down. I'm a person that's always suffered with insomnia. I will usually take some natural medicine that I can buy in pharmacy to help me sleep. I used to do just 3 rounds or 4 rounds of breathing at night, and it would calm me down and fall asleep so easily. So it was great.
