Rachel whitfield

I started to understand that the symptoms couldn’t hurt me and were just my brains interpretation plus some inflammation from the stress which would go once i found safety more often

Rachel Whitfield healed herself of long covid symptoms that lasted more than 6 months. she was determined to heal and with her strong intuition and training her brain she finally is back to normal life after exhaustion, brain fog, insomina and other symptoms

It all started at:

I was very busy in the run up to 2020 and had a lot of stress with my business due to the pandemic. I was also training for a marathon so physically stretched and trying to home school at the same time so cognitively overloaded. I got Covid early December 2020 which was relatively mild but when I tried to get back to normal life, my nervous system had other plans and I crashed.

What were the symptoms?

A whole range of symptoms that ebbed and flowed throughout the time I was ill which is why I believe it was my nervous system and what eventually gave me confidence to heal. I had awful fatigue, was grey at points, my ribs hurt, my breasts were sore, my toes were inflamed, my extremities were icy cold, I had burning in my back and a throat that felt like it was strangled. pins and needles. and anxiety that I called the covid dread because it was a sense of doom. Exercise intolerance.

Dark night of the soul:

In mid february when I had just crashed for the fourth (or fifth?) time and I realised it wasn’t going away even though I had stopped any physical activity and was bed bound by this point. I had just seen a fatigue coach who had told me it was ME and it could take me years to recover and I just wanted my old life back. I used to wake up and remember and wish i hadnt woken up.

Change in the plot:

Several turning points

1. When I realised that stress was a major factor ( I cancelled work again and immediately felt my symptoms lift)

2. When I read Alex Howards autobiography and he talked about it being a “disease of the mind” and how he healed. He also talked about a turning point he had when he had an uncle that asked him” What can you do to take control?” and this stuck with me

3. Nicole sachs podcasts. I listened to three at the start of March and they were a game changer. She talked about fear of the relapse causing the relapse. I realised it wasn’t inevitable. There were things I could do!

4. Listening to Ashok Guptas audios on treating ME - He explains the condition being about the nervous system being stuck in fight or flight and how if you can start to tell yourself that you are safe and focus on re training the brains thinking (rather than fuelling the fear buy worrying) you can start to heal.

5. Taking a month off work and actually enjoying the downtime, starting to feel the symptoms life and realising I was on a positive trajectory

6. Doing the Lightning process and realising that I didnt need to pace. I wasn’t exercise intolerant as I believed. This was in fact a false narrative that appeared to be true but that actually it was the fear/expectaton (at the unconscious level) that I couldn’t exercise that was creating the symptoms and keeping me stuck.

7. Realising that I had still had wobbles as my brain was used to thinking in a certain way but that I had the power to influence these and create more positive brain connections through my thoughts.

To heal i used meditation, yoga, breathing, visualisation, music, laughter, mindfulness, rest, cold showers, the lightning process (Brain re training) engaging in nature.

How to cultivate a sense of safety?:

Once I understood what was happening with the condition and that I could heal, i took some of the fear out. I told myself every day that I was getting better and kept a diary showing the positives. I came off social media. I started to understand that the symptoms couldn’t hurt me and were just my brains interpretation plus some inflammation from the stress which would go once i found safety more often

My best advice to fellow sufferers of chronic conditions:

My advice to people with a chronic issue

Don't believe the accepted narrative. Dont waste energy being angry. Listen to those who have healed. Understand how the mind and body can work together . Realise its a journey not a destination. you may have to make some lifestyle changes rather than go back to how things were but you can learn to live a great life again and be well

I started to understand that the symptoms couldn’t hurt me and were just my brains interpretation plus some inflammation from the stress which would go once i found safety more often

recommended book:

Alan Gordon the way out

Katherine May the wintering

Phil Parker Live the life you love NOW

about acceptance:

Acceptance is not the same as resignation. But in order to move forward you do need to accept where you are right now and not be in a hurry to fix things or look back. The point where I stopped fighting what was happening was the point where things started to shift.

The power of lanuage:

I started to change how I responded to others. When people asked how I was initially I said “It will take me years to get better and very slowly” Then I realised I was priming my brain so I changed this narrative and just tied people, Im getting better

Rachel whitfield

Healed with body mind therapy

Healed with Dr sarno's method