Several years ago I became severely ill with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/ME. I was previously a very active individual with a successful career Lecturing in Performing Arts. I was also an holistic therapist practicing shiatsu, Personal Coaching and reiki. In addition I taught yoga and pilates.

The descent into CFS/ME was rapid, leaving me completely disabled. I was unable to put on my own socks, had to be lifted out of the bath, and spent at least 20 hours each day in bed. I had to literally walk out of my career in Performing Arts and I needed around the clock care and attention.

But my story does not really start there. My story starts at my turning point when I realised the power of my mind to help me heal. It is important to understand at this stage that I am not saying that CFS/ME is in the mind; it is a physiological condition affecting the neurological and immune system, and impacting every major system in the body. What I am saying is that I learned the amazing power of visualisation and intention to aid my recovery, along with the extraordinary benefits of EFT and PSYCH-K^TM.

Turning Point

My turning point was on one particular day when I was laying in my bed feeling particularly miserable. It was what was then an average day: most of it spent in bed, rising only to wash, eat and use the bathroom. And on this average day I was doing what I always did, although I was not aware of it consciously. My subconscious pattern was to play a series of messages to myself over and over again. They consisted of things like 'this is dreadful', 'I'll never recover', 'my life will never be the same.' But in the midst of all this I heard myself ask 'who's making it dreadful?' Everything stopped, there was silence, and in a small, shaky voice I answered 'I am!' In a sudden flash of inspiration I realised that although the pain that I was experiencing was inevitable given my physiological state, the suffering was a choice. There was a huge sense of relief. I was no longer a victim of CFS/ME, and I realised the power I held to aid my own recovery.

Visualising Health

What followed was a journey to health and self-realisation that was so profound that I am actually grateful to CFS/ME for the lessons that it has taught me, and the way it has changed the course of my life. I stopped labeling myself as someone who is 'suffering' from CFS/ME, and started to refer to myself as being 'in recovery' from CFS/ME. I realised the power of my intention and focused clearly on my goal of health. I also began to visualise myself in great health. I visualised my nervous system healing and all my cells and organs healing. Each day I lay in meditation gently commanding various body parts to heal and sending them positive energy.

New Belief System

I saturated myself with information which supported my new belief system. And as I began to do so all the tools that I needed to heal seemed to fall in my path. Books by Bruce Lipton, Candace Pert, David Hamilton, and Donna Eden helped me to understand that the mind and body are one. Inspiring material such as The Secret, The Peaceful Warrior and What the Bleep Do We Know? helped me to focus on my healing.

Perrin Technique

As I became more positive about my healing, so I drew more positive people into my life who reflected my new mindset. I stumbled upon Healthy ME (see www.healthyme.co.uk), run by two sisters, Fiona Harker and Jo Ventham. Healthy ME ran a series of positive and solution focused conferences which were an inspiration for me, and I soon made friends with Jo and Fiona, who helped me continue to look on the brighter side of recovery.

Through their conferences I discovered Perrin Technique. This helped to clear the congestion in my lymphatic system. I was fortunate enough to be Raymond Perrin's 'guinea pig' for one of his training courses, and I learned so much about how the lymphatics are affected in ME patients, and how to clear the congestion effectively. I was also lucky to find an excellent practitioner (see www.shirleykay.co.uk), and my physical symptoms began to shift.

Diet & Supplements

Following the advice of my Naturopath and Perrin Practitioner, Shirley Kay, I also had a massive change in diet. For over twenty years, since my early teens, I had been a strict vegetarian, and for a significant number of years I had also been a vegan. Shirley encouraged me to take a metabolic typing test to determine my metabolic type. I turned out to be a protein type, the group that fares very poorly on a vegetarian diet. After some careful thought (as it seemed to go against everything I believed), I started to eat meat again. I was actually shocked at how much stronger it made me feel. My energy was so much more consistent, my blood sugar more balances, and I wasn't hungry all the time.

I started taking VegEPA capsules as recommended by Professor Puri. The capsules meant that I had better cognitive function, and that my energy levels were more balanced.

In also began to use Juice Plus capsules to improve my anti-axidant levels, and Zeolite, to help me detox heavy metals and to balance my immune system.

Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

My biggest turning point came at the end of 2006 when I stumbled across Emotional Freedom Technique. I had read about it's positive effects for those overcoming ME/CFS and for me it helped to both alleviate my symptoms and clear the issues from my past, which were impacting on my health in the present.

I had the most amazing first experience with EFT. Up until I discovered it I had crippling pains in my calves. They were not psychological pains, but very definite physiological pains. My veins had become misshapen in my legs and whenever I tried to walk I got bruises up the back of my legs. But the pain was very definitely in the nervous system. It felt like tooth ache in my legs! I downloaded the EFT manual and learned the technique. I then tried it on the pain in my legs. The experience that followed was miraculous. First I had a sensation in my legs like my veins had turned to ice. Then I felt a sensation like cracking ice moving up the back of my legs. It literally felt like the nerves in my legs were freezing and cracking. This sensation shot all the way up the back of my legs and up my back. It felt like it shot out of the top of my head! At the same time I burst into tears. They were not tears of sadness, they were tears of relief. I was laughing and crying at the same time and I felt incredible joy mixed with sadness. Then after a moment I froze in complete shock. The pain that I had been experiencing non-stop for eighteen months had completely gone. I understand now that this is because I had cleared the disruption in my body's energy system which was causing the pain. It only returned a couple of times in the next 12 months, and when it did, one round of EFT removed it.

I soon trained in EFT and found that I was a natural at the technique. I truly felt that I had come home, and I started to use it on the many friends and contacts that I have who are overcoming the condition, with amazing results.

My training course with EFT master, Karl Dawson, was astounding. After my first weekends training my health had improved significantly. I began to fully realise the extent that my emotional baggage was contributing to my physical ill health.

PSYCH-K^TM

I also discovered PSYCH-K^TM which helped to reprogramme my subconscious mind. On the surface its effects may seem more subtle than EFT as you are changing subconscious beliefs and it can take a while to go out into the world and see the positive results. I did one PSYCH-K^TM session lasting 5 minutes on my Basic PSYCH-K^TM training course. The positive belief I programmed was "I lovingly release all cause of dis-ease from my past and now live and move in joy." I didn't give this much thought until several weeks later I suddenly realised what had changed a couple of weeks later. The hypoglycemia that I had experienced quite severely for the past 20 years had gone. I no longer needed to get up to go to the toilet around eight to ten times in the night, and I could go for three or four hours without eating, when usually I would feel faint after two hours without food.

This encouraged me to take the Advanced PSYCH-K^TM course where I had further amazing results. I underwent the Core Belief Balance which is a session that has been compared to 10 years therapy in 45 minutes! The spasms in my shoulders and pain in my neck disappeared after this 45 minute session and never returned. My resting heart-rate went from 106 bpm to 72 bpm. I believe this is because the session, designed to balance negative beliefs that might be holding you back, had switched off my subcoscious perception that the world was a dangerous place. I was no longer subconsciously percieving a constant low level threat and I sincerly believe that this affected my HPA axis and my physiology.

Coaching & Yoga

Of course, I was at a great advantage with the other techniques and therapies that I had already trained in before CFS/ME. The Personal Coaching helped me to rebuild my life one step at a time and the yoga and mediation was great for creating structured rests, living in the present, and gently rebuilding my body.

A Balanced & Fulfilling Life!

I feel that overcoming CFS/ME has helped me find my true path in life, and I am grateful for the lessons it has taught me. I now live my life at a much gentler pace. I'm much more in touch with myself than I ever was before. I made incredible progress in such a relatively short space of time. But best of all I am completely dedicated to my work, and I feel joyful and privileged that I am able to help others on their journey to personal freedom, health and happiness.

But of course, I was fortunate enough not to have to go it alone, and it would not be right to mention my healing story without giving mountains of thanks to my partner, Rupert, for all his loving support on every level. He was my guiding light as I healed and I am blessed to have him in my life.

Sasha