I would like to briefly share our healing approach with you. We view chronic illnesses like CFS, Long COVID,  fibromyalgia, Chronic Pain, Lyme, MCAS, etc., as a stalled healing phase following a stressful period spanning years or decades. Instead of labeling your symptoms with a specific label, let’s take a step back and describe them first. We are, in almost all cases, dealing with a collection of symptoms. Some of these symptoms are MindBody symptoms (fatigue, pain, vertigo, depersonalization, etc.).

We can turn these symptoms on and off because they are brain-generated protection mechanisms. We also experience stress symptoms such as tinitus, wiredness, excessive thoughts, and poor sleep, which may stem from a chronic state of resistance, depending on the specific symptoms and situations involved. There are also organ symptoms (e.g., frequent urination, shortness of breath, and POTS), as well as healing and release symptoms.

In every kind of symptom, there is something that you need to release. Stressors exhaust you, while resistance keeps you stuck. I think healing is a natural process that works best if you step out of the way. However, I experienced a prolonged period of stagnation myself, I know it’s not easy when you are confronted with severe symptoms. Underneath, I write my short healing perspective to destress you completely; your body can do the rest.

Calming down the nervous system

Almost every healing approach recognizes the unhelpful state of chronic stress, and calming down will usually cause the so-called 70% recovery. We, therefore, start our healing approach with healthy habits that will calm down the nervous system.  Creating safety, reconecting with the body, allowing and presence are the first steps in the program.

Being bed-ridden and exhausted from sleep deprivation makes it difficult to know what practical steps to take. I therefore recommend the following steps:

First, start with presence. Ignore your smart phone and be here now. Perhaps you find yourself trapped in a room, gazing at the ceiling as you grapple with severe symptoms. After a few hours or days, you will notice a shift. You can become really tired, but in a good way. Connect more with the body, but ignore the symptoms in your head, shoulders, limbs, and spine. Accept them; don’t fight them. Accept your current situation. The egoic problem solver has lost; that part of your being needs to surrender. Focus on your body’s front, between the throat and the bladder. MindBody symptoms are typically not present in this part of the body (there are a few exceptions). Implement safety work, and a helpful rhythm that will create more safety. This will calms down the extreme freeze reponse from the autonomic nervous system.

This will enable you to have a better sleep rhythm. Although it often requires some effort and commitment, Connect more deeply with the stress in your body, specifically the tension between your vocal cords and your lower gut, as emotional stress often attaches itself to these organs. Breathe deeply and consciously while you connect with your body.

Pace yourself via becoming aware of your stress levels during activities, and build up your activities slowly in a calmer way. Don’t expose yourself to an overwhelm of triggers. Every new or additional activity you engage in has the potential to trigger stressful emotions. Journal about them. Maybe pressure, fear, self-pressure, etc. By being brutally honest, you can actively learn about yourself and explore unconscious realms. What is your motivation for wanting things? Whatever you want to achieve, deal with the opposite that is within you now.

Express yourself not only through journaling but also with movement, such as embodied movement. Become aware of stressful coping mechanisms and try to stop them. At these moments, feel the stress in your body and breathe through it.

Through self-hypnosis, you can learn about your beliefs and reprogram your mind with new habits and beliefs. We all have thousands, if not millions, of beliefs. Some of these beliefs are negative and stressful to have, plus you need to keep thinking about them in order to believe in them. Reprogram negative (unconscious) beliefs or empty your mind completely. There are a few different ways to do this included in the Release program.

Implement new habits and boundaries. Learn to say “no!” especially to your own egoic mind. You are so much more powerful than you know. Don’t give yourself away. Take your space and place.

Give up the desperate fight between hope and despair. Let it go and accept that you have lost this mind game. Silence the mind and enter the realm of knowing. Remember that you will heal when you step out of the way. Work every day on all these aspects, and don’t be afraid of symptoms, as they can be a good sign. Learn more about MindBody symptoms and the limbic brain, as well as how symptoms help protect you from your own psyche. Whenever there is fear, where is it in your body? Connect with it. Don’t think about it.

Emotional healing

Emotional release is very important in our healing approach. Because after a full release, the stress leaves your body and the freeze or stress response immedialy improves or vanishes. Learn how to release old emotions using a variety of methods. Connect with hurt inner-child aspects and love yourself a little more every day. Give up your resistance towards yourself and life. The more you understand your needs and boundaries, the more you will love yourself.

Via reconnecting with the body, you will be able to gently feel into emotions and experience safety. Over time, this will tell your nervous system that you are okay with these feelings. Over time, you will be able to use more advanced tools.