And another story ....

Before attending the Lightning Process course, I had been feeling unwell for about 2 years. I would experience extreme fatigue for no obvious reason, digestion problems leading to nausea and surges of adrenaline when I really didn't need them. I'd learnt to live with the symptoms but only by strictly limiting what I did. It was only when I heard someone else tell me that I wasn't fit enough to do something that I decided to go on the Lightning Process course. A family friend who had suffered from ME for 10 years had attended the course with Hilary, had immediately started to feel better and recommended the course to me.

Hilary was brilliant with me, clearly explaining the principles of the course whilst gently exploring issues that I needed to address. There was nothing about the course that was inconsistent with my Christian faith and I was able to relax and enjoy the prospect of feeling better. Putting into practice what I'd learnt, I immediately started to notice a difference in how I felt and now I have none of the symptoms that were a blight on my life beforehand.

Trevor Ranger

A client's Lightning Process story

A client who did the Lighting Process 6 months ago has just sent me this description of the experience. She includes a section on her experience of doing the Lightning Process as a Christian at the end, in case it can help other Christians considering the Lightning Process.

"I recently did the Lightning Process course with Hilary after having had ME/CFS for 11 ½ years. I had heard about it over the years but was very sceptical and chose to make the best of my limited energy by pacing myself very carefully. Life was still very frustrating even though I paced myself and rested a lot. I had to reduce my working hours from 37 to 16 and was still frequently off sick for weeks at a time. I had to limit my activities extremely carefully and often spent hours in bed recovering.

I then heard about two people who were much more badly affected than me who had done the LP with extremely positive results, so I started to investigate a bit more. I contacted both people and heard their individual stories. It made a real difference to be able to talk to two genuine people whom I could trust and hear their experiences of doing the course and the effect on their lives.

I contacted Hilary who was very easy to talk to and who also understood my concerns having had ME herself before becoming a trainer. I then read the book which really helped me to understand the LP, and I began to think that perhaps it could be the right thing for me. I actually started to notice some positive changes in my energy levels after reading the book! Hilary took a lot of time to answer my questions and to make sure that I was ready to do the course.

It really has given me a new lease of life and I never have to think about my energy levels now. I can enjoy everyday things like going for a walk, having coffee with friends, going out in the evening (the list is endless), without feeling ill afterwards.

I was very apprehensive about spending three days away on the course. However, I am so pleased that I did and have since recommended Hilary to a number of friends with very positive results

I have very much appreciated Hilary’s professional, committed and caring approach before, during and after the course. I have been in contact a number of times since, and have benefitted from her advice on how to apply the LP in a number of different situations.

The LP and Christianity:

As a Christian I was keen to make sure that the LP was compatible with my faith, and I had prayer support before, during and after the course. I spoke to other Christians who had done it and also asked my church leaders to look into it, all with positive results. Having done the course I can see that in many ways it reflects biblical teaching, although there is actually no spiritual element to it, and I am thankful to God guiding me to do the course and for my renewed health and strength.

E Williams"

Changing pain using your brain

I have been up to London recently for the annual Lightning Process conference, where as practitioners we were comparing some of the exciting work that we have done to change people's experience of chronic pain.

This 5 minute video is used by pain consultants working with clients in the NHS and shows how much of an overlap there now is between the medical profession's understanding of chronic pain and what the Lightning Process does.

Understanding pain, What to do about it in less than 5 minutes.

The video says that all pain is experienced in the brain, and that beyond 3 - 6 months it is no longer about tissue damage but more about the sensitivity of the nervous system. "To change it, you need to retrain the brain and the nervous system."

And retraining the brain and nervous system is exactly what the Lightning Process is so good at helping you to do, as this 2 minute video by Phil Parker about neuroplasticity shows very simply (neuroplasticity is the way in which the brain changes in response to what it experiences):

Neuroplasticity

The pain consultant who gave us the video about understanding pain, Dr Rajesh Munglani, watched a Lightning Process course. For his comments about it go to this page;

www.lightningprocess.com/FM-Chronic-Pain

If you want to read more detail about some of the research being done by the medical profession in this area, I would recomment this article from the Times:

"How you think about pain can have a major impact on how it feels. That's the intriguing conclusion neuroscientists are reaching as scanning technologies let them see how the brain processes pain."
Rewiring the Brain to Ease Pain

 

The placebo effect

I am fascinated by the placebo effect. It could be seen as the most tested thing in the world, since every drug in medicine is tested against a placebo (a pill etc with none of the drug in it). This is done because the medical profession want to know if the drug has an effect over and above the positive effect of people believing that a pill will work. On average 20 - 40% of all medical effects can be achieved with a placebo.

This video clip gives more fascinating details about
The strange powers of the placebo effect 

What the placebo effect shows us is that we can access our body's natural healing ability through the power of our expectations (of what we believe will happen). It also shows us that the medical profession knows this, otherwise there would be no need to test drugs in this way.

One way of describing the Lightning Process would be that it teaches you to use this influence between the brain and the body in order to access and harness your own natural healing ability.

Phil Parker talks here about some of the science that lies behind what we do:

The body mind link, Psycho Neuro Immunology, and placebos

Success with the Lightning Process

This inspiring little video that Phil Parker made recently brings together comments and stories from a number of clients that have done the Lightning Process:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lL1iksCzVO8


And for more stories, or to add your own story if you have done the Lightning Process already, try the forum:
www.lightningprocesshelpedme.com

Elaine's story

One of my clients sent me this wonderful story recently, because she wanted to share her experience of the Lightning Process with others.

"So here I am, 4 weeks after completing the lightning process (sorry for the delay – been busy!), and I am to write ‘my story’...


This has me in a quandary. For 52 years ‘my story’ has been a heavy burden that I’ve carried on my back; like a snail that carries its home on its back, my story has been with me every step of the way and I have been fully focused on it, wearing it like a badge for all to see. And now, it’s suddenly not my story any more: it no longer fits; I no longer own it. It is irrelevant.


I have moved on. I have a life of energy, happiness and joy: I feel fantastic. I now look forward to a life of almost infinite possibility. There is so much to do, so much to see, and I can choose – where do I start?

So why would I want to revisit ‘my old story’?


I can, however, see that this is a useful thing to do – to help others understand that no matter how badly your life is affected by ill health, you do have the potential to change it.


So……My story is one of 15 years of M.E. 15 years of chronic ill health that resulted in loss of job and loss of home. I was totally exhausted and in extreme pain. Everything hurt – my muscles, bones, skin. And I was completely emotionally overwhelmed. I was a wreck on every level.


The doctors could not help me so, like many others, I travelled the alternative route. I tried everything out there and spent a fortune that I didn’t have. There was a slow improvement over the 15 years and I was able to return to part-time self-employment (who would employ me?). I would have brief periods of feeling well and totally believe that I had cracked it. This was it – I was well. And then for no reason that I could find, it was like someone flicked a switch and I would totally seize up and be back in the full depths of M.E. I spent months at a time in bed or sat on the sofa. I cancelled more engagements than I kept, and I couldn’t understand why.


I was absolutely determined to be well: and I have always known that I would be well again. This made every setback, every relapse hugely disappointing. I could not understand why I couldn’t hold onto good health. It just didn’t make sense.


Whilst I knew exactly what had precipitated my journey into M.E., I could not find my way out. Something was missing. Like my L.P. trainer said, it was like having lots of helpful information but a crucial piece of the jigsaw was missing.


Now I have the missing piece. It is like magic. Had I not experienced it for myself I would not have believed it. In fact when I first heard about the lightning process about 2 years ago, I totally dismissed it. Then in one week I had 4 different people tell me that I must do the lightning process. This time I listened.


I spent several weeks investigating – trawling websites, reading the book, contacting people who had been successful with LP, and then deciding on my practitioner.


The results have been staggering. I knew during the training that I was out of M.E. and never going back there again.


The thing that is so amazing is that I had the power within me to achieve this – I just needed someone to show me how.


So thank you Hilary, thank you Phil. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.


You have given me my life back, you have given my husband his wife back and my children their mother. I have re-found myself, and I like what I see.


I have just been to a wedding where I danced until midnight, drove people home and got into bed at 1.45am. Before the lightning process this would not have been possible. Now anything is possible.


Thank you.


Elaine Chatwin "