M.E & CFS

Myalgic Encephalopathy (ME) is the old term given to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)  The World Health Organisation recognised the illness in 2003 and standardised the terminology so that all nations now use the American term, CFS. The M.E Association and Action for M.E still use the old terminology but Myalgic Encephalopathy implies there is a virus on the brain and there is no evidence for this.

There is a great deal of dispute about the cause of M.E /CFS possibly because it has only been recently categorised as an illness and research is therefore in the early stages. Currently there are no definitive answers but there is a lot of evidence coming out that there is a Dysfunctional Stress Response ie the body is responding inappropriately. There is evidence ( Wyller et al 2009 ) that the Sympathetic Nervous System ( SNS) in the body, responsible for dealing with anything stressful or dangerous, is over sensitive and turning on dysfunctionally and regularly but as yet the researchers are not sure if this is a cause or an effect of the illness.

The stressor could be an actual threat to us or a perceived threat.

 When the brain perceives we are under threat it is designed to put us into survival mode and this will take presidence over any other functioning. The system which is switched on to enable our survival is called the Physical Emergency Response (PER)

Whilst some evidence suggests that a virus may be the original stressor attacking the body, it is possible that the body was already being triggered inappropriately and " living on adrenaline", inappropriately, to survive and keep going and therefore was unable to cope with the virus. Typically people will have had a period of "pushing themselves to keep going" , whether in sports ( called overtraining), in work, being responsible for others, through emotional turmoil or a combination of all these factors. According to General Adaptive Syndrome ( Seyle 1938 ) all mammals exposed to stress, i.e. overload to the body, go through a period of resistance before the final stage of exhaustion and collapse- and the body certainly collapses with CFS

The illness itself  BECOMES the stressor, as it is incredibly scary when the body packs in, unexpectedly and unpredictably, and no-one can tell us why or how to stop it happening. This in turn maintains the sustained arousal of the sympathetic nervous system.

Please read success stories for people's testimonials about using the training programme for this condition

 

Physical Emergency Response (PER)

When ever the body sense a threat, for example;

Breaking a leg
Eating ‘bad’ food
Emotional shock

It produces the PER to find a way to recover or stay safe. It does this by switching on:

Sympathetic Nervous System
Production of the powerful hormones adrenaline, nor adrenaline, dopamine, cortisol and DHEA.

This is exactly what needs to happen to help us deal with the threat, affecting our muscles and nervous system. The problem comes when we keep on switching this system on, because this leads to problems with the way our immune system works (which is the system for healing the body) and changes the way our nerve cells work.

If you want a more detailed explanation of the PER and how we can get stuck into a cycle of switching it on all the time, please download this information pack.

What’s covered on the course?

The Lightning Process three day seminar is an interactive journey of discovery that takes approximately 12 hours to unfold and is designed to teach you:

1. About the PER and what happens if it is constantly switched on.

2. How to Spot when the PER is occurring

3. How to Calm the PER through specific steps using of movement, posture, coaching. These steps are not vigorous or physically demanding and can be tailored to meet the capabilities of even the most debilitated clients.

4. How to make this change to your physiology permanent by practicing the steps so that they become automatic, leading to health and well being.


Complementary research also suggests that the Hypothalmus, the Master Control gland in the brain, has become dysfunctional and this directly controls the SNS as well as other autonomic responses (ones we don't consciously control) such as sleep patterns, digestion, thermostat, immune system and reproductive system. Hence people with M.E will experience amongst other things; hyper sensitivity to their surroundings such as acute pain to light, sound, smell, or touch, sleep disruption, muscle ache, digestive problems, thermostat imbalance and sensitivity to viruses or chemicals/ food.

The Lightning Process teaches people to switch off the Sympathetic Nervous System and return to a normal healthy state.

The Lightning Process gives people a powerful stratgey to deal with ME CFS