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.