From CFS to Mexico, USA, Thailand & Cambodia (and back)..in 6 months

Below is a story from Brendan who did the Lightning Process 6 months ago. Well done Brendan. 

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I had CFS for 2 years.  Prior to CFS I was a 24yr old young man training as semi professional rugby player whilst working a full time job, One Wednesday morning I basically collapsed and turned into a shell of a man who could hardly get out of bed due to excruciating headaches and fatigue, not to mention crippling brain fog and memory loss.

Due to my personality I would still get out of the house and attempt to do things which always led to much worse headaches and fatigue.  Over the 2 years I saw countless numbers of physicians and therapist trying the most conventional to far out treatments and spending thousands of dollars as I felt like the best years of my life was passing before my eyes and I would do anything to get better.  I basically spent these two years in a state of rage, deep depression and dis belief that a fit young healthy man could be reduced to what I was without any apparent reason.

I had tried a mind training programme before (gupta amygdala retraining) with little success so when the lightning process was suggested to me I was very sceptical.  After my first free phone consultation with Ian he told me I wasn’t ready to do the course because of my attitude.  A couple of months later after suffering another set back I rang Ian in Desperation and signed up for the next course.  I entered the course with the attitude that I was willing to do anything to get my life back and that this would work but it was up to me.

At the end of the first day Ian asked me if I could do anything tonight what would it be?  I answered I would go for a run.  So this is what I did that night.  The day before the thought of going for a run was unfathomable for me. After each day of the course I began to feel better, and with Ian’s help we began to find more and more pieces of the puzzle to get me back to full health.

Ian has been absolutely amazing both at the course where he makes things very simple and easy to understand and with the constant support since the course. He has also helped develop other strategies for me to overcome some of the more difficult parts of my CFS.

In the last 6 months since the course I have travelled to Mexico, America, Thailand and Cambodia.  I now work for a construction company working 12 hours a day, I go for 3-4 runs a week pushing myself to the limit and also go to the gym 2-3 times a week.  I have a full social life and and am about to start pre season training for next rugby season.

The lightning Proccess gave me my life back and I can’t thank Ian enough for this.  I would recommend it to anyone with CFS no matter what your current beliefs are about your condition.

Brendan

Australian study findings on Stress Response supports Lightning Process theory

IN THE NEWS: Ground breaking Australian research suggests CFS is caused by dysfunctional Stress response.

"Stress-response systems in people with chronic fatigue syndrome are signalling to the body that it is not safe to relax, creating a state of high alert that can be likened to post-traumatic stress disorder, new research suggests." READ MORE 

This has been the understanding behind the Lightning Process approach for 12 years -  looking at how we retrain the brain and the body out of a dysfunctional stress response. Using the skills taught during the training people learn how to spot this, the things they do that set it off and importantly how to train the body to respond more appropriately to the environment. 

Often people question how can something that works with a condition like Post Traumatic Stress or anxiety possibly work with a physical condition like CFS. Does this mean I believe that CFS is psychological or 'all in the head'. 

We see CFS as a genuine condition where there is a imbalance in how the brain is setting off the stress response. The similarities between CFS and Post Traumatic Stress are interesting. I would say that both are physical conditions where the stress response is being triggered unneccessarily.  With CFS the brain has learnt that exercise is dangerous (or food, or light or chemicals, or noise, or even sleep or standing up). Of course everyone is different in what their brain is responding to as 'dangerous'. The Lightning Process therefore has to treat each person differently, looking at how they use the skills of the Lightning Process to assist them.

ME/CFS 'Full' Awareness Day

Today is ME/CFS Awareness Day. An important day to educate the general public about this much misunderstood condition.

The majority of people I see took way too long to get a diagnosis and during that time most encountered one of these:

• It's a form of depression
• You just need to take it easy
• You just need to get on with things
• There is nothing wrong with you
• It's all in your head
• There is no such thing as ME/CFS

.....even though the World Health Organisation classifies it as a neurological condition.

So awareness IS very important.

However, in the desire to prove ME/CFS is "real" and "bad" there is a missing piece of information, and that is that 'people do recover'.

For sufferers of ME/CFS this piece of information is critical. It means people don't have to just 'learn to manage their energy levels and learn to live with it'. And it allows the search for answers to continue without pessimism or hopelessness.

Pessimism and hopeless can actually play a role in the path of an illness but that is for another post.

My Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Facebook page

You can now find me on Facebook - Here's my page link

Watch for updates on about my work with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in Australia and New Zealand including public talks and lectures and interesting articles and resources.

See you there.

Author of "Explain Pain" - Lorimer Moseley - on Why things hurt

What influence do we have over our health?

In my work I find there are two ways people see their world. Either as an active player in their  circumstances OR with little real control.

When it comes to health issues in particular people either believe that they can influence it themselves or not.  Which one are you?

Our recent understanding of Genetics suggest that what we do in our lives (everything from the food we eat to the thoughts we think) influences the expression of our genes. This is the developing field of Epi-genetics.

The video below from NICABM (the National Institute for the Clinical Application of Behavioural Medicine) show how exercise can influence our risk of dementia. So even if it is 'in the family' you don't have to just cross your fingers and wait.

Other studies show the benefit of exercise on  the increase efficiency in mitrachondrial function (the energy centre of cells), increase blood flow to the brain (that sounds important ), increase immune function, improves mood, helps manage weight, boosts energy levels, promotes better sleep and promotes the neural growth hormone important in the Neural Plasticity I talk so much about.

BUT what if you body responds negatively to exercise like many of the people I see?????Well the first step is to see if this is something you think you can do something about. If you believe you can influence it and retrain the body to respond differently to exercise you are on the right blog. :-)

We need to get people up and moving again. But just pushing through exercise when you have ME/CFS is not the answer. I am not an advocate of either pacing or graded exercise. There is a another way!

Sick for decades? Read on...

I recently listened to an interview with Dr Edward Taub, who has become a world leader in stroke rehabilitation and Constraint Induced Movement Therapy (CI Therapy). He features in Norman Doidge's book - The Brain that Changes Itself.

He shows the real life applications of Neural Plasticity with his work training people out of their strokes - walking and talking after sometimes severe impairment.

But he highlights some interesting things that as a Lightning Process practitioner I see as well.

He agrees that there is no correlation between length of time since having the stroke and treatment effectiveness. He saw a man who had a stroke 50 years ago show excellent results in his 2-3 week programme proving rapid and large change is possible.

He also commented that success is not guaranteed. One's determination and consistency in daily exercises is what makes the difference. This is something that I always stress to people as well.  Although Lightning Process results might seem miraculous, it is not a magic cure and takes consistency and the right sort of work. But rapid and permanent change is possible.

As his work with strokes show, our nervous system's capacity to repair and re-organise is with us to our final days.

Lightning Process Christchurch

I am looking forward to my trip to Christchurch for another training this month and I am hoping to give a talk on my work with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome while I am there.

It will be on Sunday April 1st.

Email me for further information.

What role does age play in one's ability to change?

Age, Lightning Process & ME/CFS

Our brain's ability to change and adapt is with us until the day we die. This is the surprising finding in Neural Plasticity. While the brain undergoes incredible development and change in our early years its capacity to change never disappears.

So age is no obstacle to change....unless we believe it is and don't try. Neurally we are always in a state of potential change, however we get stuck in an auto-pilot. The great news is that at any age we can retrain our brain to serve us better and influence our health. 

Here is a link to an inspirational story about one woman's experience of the Lightning Process with ME/CFS.  At 70 years old and after years of being bed bound/house bound she is literally back in the drivers seat, and by her story she is enjoying the ride.

READ JANICE"S STORY HERE 

Janice was an inspiration through the training and through follow up as she refused to allow age to play a role in her success.

I recently ran a Lightning Process training and gave a public talk in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was my first time back there since the earthquake and it got me thinking about the impact of unpredictability on our physical and mental well-being.

Experiments done on rodents highlight the physiological impact of unpredictability. One group of rats will get an electric shock every day at the same time. Another group will also get one electric shock a day but at random times. When the animals have their stress hormones tested it is the later group whose stress hormones are through the roof.  Same amount of ‘trauma’ but one is unpredictable.

The idea is that a known stressor you can prepare for, experience and then get on with life. If the stressor is unpredictable, an organism goes on high alert. It's system becomes hyper-sensitivitive - it can’t relax.

I see unpredictability in many of the people I see. Some have been brought-up in an unpredictable environment (involving alcohol/gambling/extreme mood swings). They learn to be on high alert and physiologically they stay that way even after the ‘danger’ has gone.  

For others it is their physical condition, like CFS that is unpredictable.  When will the next crash be?  Just as you seem to be making some head-way, it all comes crashing down again. It gets to the point where people can feel unable to trust their bodies and never know what tomorrow will bring.

Getting back control is a key component of returning to full health.

So one of the things we address in the training if necessary is to address a dysfunctioning physical emergency response. To retrain the system to 'switch off' or 'step down' (moving into the Para-sympathetic Mode) when appropriate. The knock on impact of this is the regaining of control.

Both critical factors in returning to full health.