Are you in fight or flight or relax and repair mode?

Heal Documentary

Netflix are starting to show some interesting stuff now  – moving away from the mainstream.

Recently, I watched a documentary called Heal.  It is about the power of the mind and our ability to heal.

It focused on 2 individuals who were using complementary therepies (i.e. in addition to their medical treatment) to heal physical problems.

Watching it very much reminded me of myself when I got sick with chronic fatigue many years ago.

Conventional medicine could not offer me anything apart from anti-depressants (which I did try but they didn’t help me), so out of sheer frustration, I had to start looking at alternatives.

At the time, I definitely wasn’t the type of person who would have done this and I tried lots of different therapies.

With something as vague as chronic fatigue – there are many different symptoms and you just have to keep on trying until you find something that works for you.

The Heal documentary is very realistic in that one person had a great result from doing various complementary and woo woo therapies.

The other person, initially improved but didn’t find the resolution they were looking for.  She did say that if complementary therapies were available through her medical insurance, she would have continued with this (note: in the US, Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest health insurers has approved EFT Tapping for the treatment of PTSD).

One of the experts on the documentary, Kelly Turner, has done a study on 1,500 people who had had had medical remissions from many different cancer types.  She found that there were 75 different things, in addition to their medical treatment, that all the people had done and 9 things which were common to everyone.

Here are the 9 common items :

• Radically changing their diet
• Taking control of their health
• Following their intuition
• Using herbs and supplements
• Releasing suppressed emotions
• Increasing positive emotions
• Embracing social support
• Deepening their spiritual connection
• Having a strong reason for living.

What is interesting about this list is that only 2 things focused on the physical – i.e. changing their diet and using herbs and supplements.  The rest focused on the mental, emotional and spiritual.

Turner said that your immune system is either in fight or flight or rest and repair.

That phrase really hit me because it makes it so simple – at every moment in time, you are doing one or the other.  And she said that what you are thinking and what you believe is either telling your immune system to fight or flight or rest and repair.

It makes sense that if you are experiencing a lot of stress, or you have a lot of negative beliefs, you are probably going to view the world as a hostile place.  And if that’s the case, you will therefore be producing a lot of cortisol and adrenaline, which has to have an effect, doesn’t it?

It would be interesting to chart your day to see how much time you allow your body to rest and repair.

Turner’s point was that there is still so much that we don’t know about the mind body connection, but that it deserves to be studied.  Not everyone is going to heal or go into remission but it surely deserves more research.

I’ve seen people who have the unhealthiest lifestyles and have never been sick in their lives.  And I’ve seen people who have very healthy practices in terms of mind, body and spirit get sick – there is still so much we don’t know.

There is now a lot of evidence that ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) have an effect on our health in later life.

Nadine Burke Harris is an American paediatrician who is known for her work linking adverse childhood experiences and toxic stress with harmful effects to health later on in life.  Her very popular TED Talk discussed this.

And there are many smaller ‘traumas’ that we have all experienced that we haven’t fully released which I’m sure are still having an effect.

The reality is that there is still so much for us to learn about the mind body connection.

But if we can give ourselves the best chance in maintaining overall good health, why not do that?

Here is what they recommend that you do to make sure that we are in rest or repair:

1. Get rid of that emotional baggage that you have been carrying around for so long. Using something like EFT tapping, counselling, energy healing or anything else that will help you to release it.  One size doesn’t fit all.  You have to find what works for you.
2. Meditation – and you can meditate in many different ways – practising mindfulness, going for a walk, the gym – anything that gets you out of your head and back into the body will bring you to a more relaxed state.
3. Practising gratitude: It is known to activate the parasympathetic, rest-and-digest, relaxing part of the nervous system, resulting in many positive effects, such as decreases in cortisol levels, lowering of blood pressure, strengthening of the immune system, and it’s free!!
4. Anita Moorjani recommends focusing on life, what brings you joy and do the things that make you feel good.

So, why don’t you make sure that you are having more rest and repair in your life and give yourself the best possible chance?

Upcoming Events:
EFT Level 1 Training 18 & 19 May

Well, I must be doing something right!  A couple of weeks ago, I had a beautiful big bunch of flowers delivered to me.  A lovely surprise!

And I was even more delighted to discover that one of the participants from my last EFT Level 1 course had sent them to me.

My last course before the summer is taking place on 18 & 19 May.

At the end of the weekend, you will have the skills to use tapping EFT for yourself, friends and family.

Once you know how to tap, you will be able to release any stress and bring yourself back to a relaxed and repair state.

If you would like to join or if you want to find out more information, please click on the link here. May EFT Level 1 Training

There is an early bird discount for payment made by 25th April.

Please note: If you are experiencing any physical issue, you must seek out medical advice.  Using EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques/Tapping) is not a substitute for medical treatment.

Here is what some of the past course attendees have said about my course:

It was all useful, especially the hands-on exercise.  Grainne is a great teacher.  She has so much experience and is very supportive.  JB

I really enjoyed this weekend of tapping.  It was like a mental detox and I feel energised and lighter as a result! It gave me such a solid understanding of EFT.  I found myself improving over the weekend.  Bess McBride