Brain Training 101 - CFS & Long Covid Recovery

In this video I'm covering all the basics about how to use brain training with CFS and long covid recovery.

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LET’S BE FRIENDS:

TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Brain training 101
01:10 What’s causing neurological symptoms
04:00 How to kickstart your autonomic nervous system
06:06 Why is your body making you feel sick?
08:49 How you build new neuro pathways
09:40 How PTSD relates to all of this
11:40 Step 1: Psycho-education
12:39 Step 2: Brain training - step by step
15:20 What an average day of brain training looks like
18:12 What might be needed in addition to brain training
20:14 How to be successful with brain training
22:11 Where to find more free brain training exercises
…

NOTE: This description may contain affiliate links to products I enjoy using myself. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Should you choose to use these links, this channel may earn affiliate commissions at no additional cost to you. I appreciate your support!

REMINDER: This is for information purposes only and nothing I share should be considered medical advice. Please make your own assessment, do your own further research, and consult your trusted healthcare professionals before deciding if anything I talk about here might be right for you.

#longcovidrecovery #cfs #mecfs

[charcoal]

Brain retaining has helped me too, though some are dubious at best. Being aware of how getting stressed about symptom flares keeps the nervous system activated is helpful and has turned my crashes into dips.

Also, taking the pressure off myself to get better quickly has improved my capabilities quite a lot.

[iamtaraalexandria]

I'm using ANS Rewire + The Vagus Nerve Program by Jessica Maguire/Nervous System School. I'm definitely someone that needed a lot of physical support and strategies, and brain training has been a much smaller part of the process for me in terms of "positive thoughts" because that wasn't necessarily my problem. I never did body scans or even worried about my daily symptoms- I just pushed til I crashed, and tried to live like I was totally normal. I was in denial or just ignorance, my mentor says! (But doctors didn't listen to me for years, it took about 13 to get diagnosed!) Even though I didn't have these negative thought cycles, generally being triggered was a big, big deal for me. I had nightmares all the time, was super hyper vigilant, and had social anxiety without realizing that's what it was. I also feel like rebuilding our brain physically is key, so mindfulness meditation has been big for me (reducing the amygdala and building the PFC, etc) as well as things that help remap the body and build the sensory and motor cortex, like foam rolling. I'm not healing quickly like in so many interviews, and I'm in a pretty huge backslide right now, but still ten times better than I was before I found all these resources and committed my time and effort to them. When I first started I watched a recovery interview every day. ❤ Thanks for being dedicated to this channel and sharing the possibility of recovery.

[Mandance]

There is some misconceptions about ptsd and cptsd. The main misconception being it’s not about the trauma or pain itself, but that we were alone with that pain with no help to regulate or process it at the time.

[susanshank]

I am so excited to have found your channel. What is so sad is I introduced you and your videos to one of my many ME support groups and was attacked, my post and comments were removed. Unbelievable.
I carry pretty much all 5 of the personality traits that now require brain retraining. My trauma and prolonged stress has been massive. One major problem I have is I have an adult son who has a mental illness. He is homeless, missing or in jail. I also come from a highly Narcissist family. I am the black sheep, Empath. My step dad has weaponized my son. He will help, Mark, my son, and then drop him in some horrific way. Putting his very life in danger and mine. I have gone no contact with my family of origin and it is helping. My son won't speak to me as I was bedridden and broke when he needed my help. No one has even tried to explain my situation to him. I have had ME 18 years and am very alone in the world. I have ordered your book and Dan's on brain retraining. I finally feel some hope. Thank you so much for what you are doing❤

[Dragonfly]

Through DNRS and Primal Trust I was able to completely rewire(without any medical intervention) severe and cardiologist diagnosed POTS and SO many other long covid symptoms.

[earthrooster]

Thank you..
After about 2 years of Long Covid, I am doing what you have recommended. Mornings are very unhurried for me, my day is peppered with house chores and painting. Evenings are for my long unhurried walks. Looking back, I can see how my walks have become less frightening, looking back I can see how much further I can go than what I could a few months back. I accept my imperfect situation, and that is helping me heal...i literally take one day at a time, and only now, my brain is allowing me to consider getting back to more involvement with life, people, friends, work...

[MEhealthcoach]

You nailed it Raelan! What a fantastic video. You have described how i fully recovered from ME/CFS - so now if people ask me how i did it, i will just refer them to this video 😁 xx

[BethGreenTV]

I loved this video. You were not dogmatic, doctrinaire or shaming. I am going to be 79 this month, and I have been sick all my life. At the age of 72, I was diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, which I had from childhood, but no one knew or understood. Always sick, weak and in pain, at 15 I also contracted rheumatic fever and was stuck in bed or a chair for 1 1/2 years, after which I had no support. Just thrown back into full-time activity. I never seemed to recover. I have tons of conditions, including chronic fatigue. But I don't ever want to give up. I keep doing things, working with my mind and trying to exercise, but everything has backfired. I am allergic to medication and reactive even to acupressure and things like that. Some years ago, I had a chi master who worked with me for two years and brought me to some semblance of well-being and energy. Then he left the country and I crashed back to what seems like perpetual zero. I had a dream last night about brain training, and now I find your channel. I am myself an intuitively-guided counselor and help a lot of people -- plus I have to work for income. But I need guidance and help myself. I will continue watching your videos and others, and I thank you. Thanks for being there.

[genegarneau]

I had CFS for about 8 months. I did allot of sleep. Right when I came home from work I went to bed. Now I am in the stage I cannot sleep, great anxiety. Really bad, that I cannot work. I been taking medication. But I been doing some brain retraining. It has been helping a little. But believing I am going to get better has been helping. I keep telling myself. Thank you for these videos. I believe I will get better. I pray that this will be stage.

[AnrupB]

Just read parts of The Mind Body Prescription last week in one sitting (easy to find what you are looking for). Healed 90% of my back pain issues that I’ve had for over 15 years and that became much worse since Long Covid and ME/CFS the past two years - by the next morning. I adapted my usual self guided meditation that morning a bit incorporating a brain training statement that felt good to me in the moment, which changes daily (not in the book, I just do this daily). Visualization added and it was mostly gone!! Sarno perfectly explains why osteopathic treatments for the spine and skull help me so much as well as the Perrin method. Now with that very specific knowledge, my brain knows exactly why I don’t need those appointments forever and I’ve already reduced the frequency of all holistic treatments!! 🎉❤ Still under an Ayurvedic protocol due to underlying health issues, which are helping a lot more now for ME/CFS and Fibro symptoms. Still doing EMDR for some CPTSD, but after reading the book and two major triggers (which are rare now) that same week, I bounces back very quickly with rewiring methods on the spot. That book (too soon to say this??) may have changed my life! Highly recommend! Fantastic video explaining all this, Raelan!

[annyspb]

Hi, Raelan! I just realised, watching this video, that several times, a medical scientist person has told me that my pain, or the messages of danger going through my brain, were "just nervous signals" and I didn't ask, and/or they didn't say - what I or we could do about them! And: I've effectively been starting to do something like brain training already - learning to recognise when I was getting stressed, and trying to counter whatever was going on. So, yes, our inner healers are there, and rarin' to go! Many thanks for your videos - and keep 'em coming! xxx

[gregschmelzle]

Thank you Raelan!
Teaching the subconscious brain with the conscious brain that whatever activity you are doing is safe to do is key to expanding capacity!

[lianpeet]

Excellent material. Seriously adressing the gut followed by a brain retraining program healed me. Also, remember that it's not just neck down. I helped a lady who had been suffering from chronic headaches for around 70 years through brain rewiring!

[moniquelemaire]

What has helped me in the field of brain retraining is Prayer, Meditation to clear my mind, Meditation on certain Bible verses that speak of God and the Lord Jesus healing and the realization that God is indeed the source of everything including my healing. There is a wonderful book out by Chaplain Bryan Spoon entitled: "Neuroscience and the Fruit of the Spirit." It has helped me to be more calm, loving, joyful and at peace with my situation. I still reread certain information from Dr. Myhill's book for the physical aspects of her program of healing. Even Dr. Myhill in her book realizes that there must be some type of faith needed in order to heal.

Thank you as always, Raelan, for being an excellent teacher, coach and one who encourages!!
Miss Monique🙂😊😇

[lkececi]

I still use old fashioned terms like nervous breakdown, so it was easy to make the jump to understanding the ANS view, it's still not a quick fix though, when you live, alone with no help and noisy neighbours, but I treat the whole thing like a wake up call and thankful, because when I fully recover I'm will have an awesome life

[healingjourney]

Thanks for this! I agree with other comments that I prefer not having the camera zooming effects. You are great as you are!

[cfsfibromom]

This all sounds very. interesting and makes me hopeful! I have been ill with ME/CFS for over 16 years. Some of what you said really resonated with me. I have always been a perfectionist with a type A personality. I am also an RN and was always caring for others and putting myself last. Thank you for sharing this info

[donnaschow]

It goes back to the Dr's telling me it is all in my it mostly is just in my head. Feels very real to me.

[ickytips]

i’ve watched thousands of videos on this subject and this is, by far, the most informative and helpful one i’ve come across. thank you for what you’re doing!

[hilarysidwell]

This is such a good summary of brain retraining. I will be forwarding it on to a friend who has lived with CFS for 11 years. I have been using the Gupta programme for 3 years now and have improved greatly. Still not fully recovered but it has helped me manage living with the illness. Highly recommended. I have also just bought the curable app and am also finding that a useful addition to my tool kit. Good luck to everybody wherever you are on your recovery journey.