Freedom from M.E.
Supporting you in your journey to recovery...
Issue 13, May 2009
|
|
|
| Quote of the Month |
"Take the
first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just take the
first step".
Martin Luther King, Jnr
|
You're receiving this newsletter because you joined our mailing list or signed up to the Interactive section of www.FreedomFromME.co.uk
To change your subscription please follow the link at the end of this email.
|
|
|
Welcome to our May 2009 newsletter...
|
Dear reader,
Welcome to our May newsletter! It's been another exciting and busy month at
the clinic, with the initial launch of our new Patient Support Website www.TheOptimumHealthClinic.com/patientsupport
which will be growing rapidly over the coming months. It has a HUGE amount of resources and
materials for patients, dealing with a lot of the little questions that can
come up during treatment, to help you stay on track between appointments. The nutrition section has already grown very
rapidly, and psychology will be following in the coming weeks. There are over 31 handouts on a number of
M.E. related health conditions, information on over 90 possible symptoms, and
information and support on over 400 supplements we use (coming soon). If you are currently a patient of the clinic,
if you haven't already, you will receive a letter in the post with your login
details.
This month also sees the latest "Conscious
Transformation" seminar, which this time is exclusively for those that have
already done some work with the psychology side of the clinic, making it the
perfect follow up for those that have done "The 90 Day Programme" or our
"Telephone Treatment Programme." You can
read all about the seminar, and see some videos at www.ConsciousTransformation.co.uk
Finally, it's only a few weeks until a group
of us are climbing Snowdon, you can read all about it and find out how can you
join us in the Foundation section below.
 Have a great month!
Alex
|
|
|
|
| This month on Secrets to Recovery - Message from Lois
|
April featured two very different calls on Secrets to Recovery, starting with an information packed session with Niki Gratrix on the importance of eating the right sources of foods. This was followed by a practical session with Alex where he took members through a powerful process called Core Transformation. Here's the line up for May, do get in touch if you have any questions for the Q+A session on May 19th.
Coming up in May we have the following calls:
 May 5th - Forgiveness and Cutting the Ties
In this call Alex takes members through a powerful process from
Hawaiian Huna called "Ho'oponopono" which involves healing our relationships
with others and cutting the ties. For anyone looking to move forwards
in their life and unload some emotional baggage, this is a must call.
May 19th - Question and Answer Session with Alex Howard
This open question and answer session with Alex gives you the opportunity to ask any questions you may have and get them answered live on the call. Please email your questions to lois@theoptimumhealthclinic.com as soon as possible.
To find out more about joining Secrets to Recovery, just visit the website at www.SecretsToRecovery.com and if you have any questions please do e-mail me.
 Lois Thorpe,
Co-ordinator of Secrets to Recovery
lois@TheOptimumHealthClinic.com
|
The Optimum Health Clinic Foundation
|
It's only a few weeks until a group of us will
be climbing Mount Snowdon. Anna, Niki and myself,
along with several of the practitioner team, and a number of recovered patients
are already signed up, so if you or any of your family members would like to
join us, we'd love you to do so. It's a
great opportunity to raise money to further much needed research, whilst also
taking on a personal challenge. You can
read all about the event at http://www.freedomfromme.co.uk/foundation/
To receive more details, please e-mail lisa@TheOptimumHealthClinic.com
|
Optimum Health Community
|
 www.OptimumHealthCommunity.com is still going from strength to strength. With now in excess of 200 members, and multiple discussions and "threads" going on, it's a great way to connect and share with others on the healing journey. This month's "thread of the month" is about members reaching new milestones...click here to read and contribute.
|
The Power of Placebo By Alex Howard
|
What do you think is the single most
researched drug in the history of medicine?
Is it paracetomol, aspirin, anti-depressants? Well no, think about it... for every drug that
has ever been given a license, it has to have been tested against a completely
inert substance to demonstrate its effect over any potential beliefs about the
drug. This inert substance is known as
placebo. And, we therefore have literally
hundreds of thousands of studies showing the healing power of the mind. For any medical doctor that ever questions
this, you can perhaps remind them the entire basis of modern medicine is that
drugs have to be proven to be more powerful than the mind alone, showing how
powerful it is believed that the mind is.
A study was
published in the American Psychologist in 1999 reporting that of all the
studies ever conducted on anti-depressants, it was found that totally inert
placebos replicated seventy-five percent of the effects. Perhaps even more interesting was that if an
active placebo was used, which means although it has absolutely no effect on
depression it gives the feeling of something happening in the body, the placebo
effect was significantly higher. What
this essentially means is that the stronger our belief that the pill we are
taking is going to help us, the more benefit we receive.
So, given the power of the mind in healing,
a rather obvious question is, how do we utilise this more for our benefit, and
what role can this play in recovery from M.E.?
To help answer this, we might also consider
that the most powerful psychological trait to be shown to be beneficial in
recovery from cancer is denial, which if you think about it, is placebo in
reverse. It is being told a prognosis
that you are statistically unlikely to survive, and believing that despite this
you are going to.
The statistics for full recovery from M.E.
if you are not using more cutting edge treatments are not all that good for
those that have been ill for a long time.
The belief that you are going to defy those odds and find a way to
recover is therefore a pretty important step in recovery, especially in having
the attitude of seeking out the most cutting edge treatments.
To use the power of placebo, you need to
understand a few basics about how your mind works:
- The power of suggestion - what you say to yourself inside of
your mind has a major impact on your inner state. If you respond to your symptoms with
constant fear and worry about them, then you are directly feeding an inner
state of fear, which drives your nervous system into a state of
over-alert.
- The power of beliefs - what you believe about your situation
will determine much of your internal dialogue, and what you actually
do. Beliefs really are the heart of
the placebo. Believing you won't
recover, is a communication to your own body
- The power of positive action - what we believe generally
determines what we do. If we don't
believe we can recover, we are likely to hold back from investing in new
treatments or trying to find a way out.
Taking positive action to move us forwards, sends the message to our
system that we really do believe things can change.
|
Product of the Month
|
We will be running our Conscious Transformation seminar for the third time this coming weekend. We still have a handful of places left, so if you are interested in joining us for this life changing seminar, please visit www.conscioustransformation.co.uk for more information, video clips and booking details.
|
|
And finally...
|
Wishing you all a good month, thanks for reading and we'll speak again in June!
|
|
| Warm wishes,
The Optimum Health Clinic Team
|
|
|
|
|
