For Power, Mysterious Sicknesses, This Might Be a Lifesaver

Editor’s Notice: This text is a reprint. It was initially printed March 17, 2019.

Annie Hopper is a limbic retraining specialist. Whilst you might by no means have heard this time period, limbic hyperactivity or dysfunction seems to be a foundational core of the dysfunction and challenges related to a number of chemical sensitivity (MCS), electromagnetic hypersensitivity (EHS), continual fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia and a lot of different situations, and by retraining your limbic system to reply appropriately, signs might subside or vanish.

Hopper was herself homeless for a time as a consequence of her EHS, which made her unable to tolerate fashionable environments. I met Hopper in Peter Sullivan’s electromagnetic subject (EMF) tent at an autism convention run by Jenny McCarthy known as Technology Rescue. Sullivan is an environmental well being funder who focuses on toxins and wi-fi security.

Sullivan had additionally benefited from Hopper’s work. Intrigued, I learn Hopper’s guide, “Wired for Therapeutic: Remapping the Mind to Recuperate From Power and Mysterious Sicknesses,” which is a superb useful resource.

Creating EHS — A Private Account

Hopper describes the challenges that led to writing her guide:

«It began in 2004. I used to be working as a core perception counsellor in Kelowna, British Columbia. I used to be working at an workplace that [had] mould … [and] my workplace was situated proper subsequent door to the janitor’s provide room, the place they held all of the cleansing chemical compounds for the workplace, all these actually heavy-duty industrial cleaners.

What I additionally did not know was that the precise workplace that I used to be renting was part of the janitor’s provide room. They only put up a wall to make a bit workplace house. It did not have correct air flow both.

I labored in that workplace for about 5 months. Over that interval, I began to get progressively sick. Earlier than that, [and] that is what we name like the right storm for a limbic system impairment … I used to be in a automotive accident the place I had a minor whiplash harm. That was in all probability concerning the fifth automotive accident previous to this mould and chemical publicity.

Anyway, for the 5 months that I used to be on this constructing, I began to progressively get signs, like anxiousness, continual muscle and joint ache, and this rising sensitivity to simply on a regular basis issues in my atmosphere, like perfumes and colognes. That is the way it began … Actually, it felt like I used to be being actually poisoned by any type of chemical publicity.

I moved out of the constructing ultimately as a result of I acknowledged that it was the constructing that was making me sick, however by that point, it was too late. The harm was already finished … [Then] I had what I name a tipping level. I used to be strolling by way of a bookstore and by a scented candle show. Another person may be OK with that, however … at that time, one thing occurred to my mind.

I went over the sting when it comes to this fight-or-flight response that simply didn’t cease. At that time, it felt like I used to be having a mind hemorrhage or one thing. Mild harm. Sound harm. Odor harm. Every thing harm … After I awakened the subsequent morning … I couldn’t put on the identical garments that I’d worn, as a result of my mind was now selecting up on the smallest quantity of chemical residue from laundry detergent as doubtlessly life-threatening.

That began a really weird type of science fiction world the place I actually needed to navigate how I did life. If I used to be strolling down the road and somebody occurred to be doing their laundry they usually had dryer exhaust going off, if I walked by that, I’d go into convulsions.

It was very critical, vastly debilitating. I needed to stop my job. I needed to cease socializing. I used to be very a lot homebound and getting depressed. Simply once I thought issues could not get any worse, they did. What appeared like in a single day, I developed EHS.

By this time, I’ve already acquired extreme chemical sensitivities. I even have fibromyalgia. I used to be affected by anxiousness, insomnia and a number of different issues, after which I developed this EMF sensitivity. What that meant was that my physique may detect EMF.»

Chemical Sensitivities and EHS Usually Go Hand in Hand

It is a recognized proven fact that many who battle with chemical sensitivities are at greater danger of EHS, and that was definitely Hopper’s expertise. Along with a burning pores and skin sensation, which is a quite common symptom of EHS, she additionally misplaced her capability to talk, which she says is a extreme symptom related to each chemical sensitivities and EHS.

«After I began to speak, I might say one thing that basically did not make any sense. It wasn’t truly what I used to be pondering,» she says. «There was one thing very cognitively off as nicely. I had loads of mind fog and simply not with the ability to focus, incapacity to articulate, to assume, to place ideas collectively, to string a sentence collectively, all of that.»

To outlive, she needed to get away from all these chemical and EMF triggers. On the time, she was residing along with her husband, James, in a rental in Kelowna, British Columbia. It was not possible to get away from wi-fi radiation. In the long run, she needed to resort to tenting.

«Even earlier than this time, I knew that my mind was being affected. It actually made sense to me that my mind was not processing sensory data precisely anymore,» she says.

«Someway, the fight-or-flight facilities in my mind have been being triggered a lot in order that it was distorting among the data that was coming into my mind and making this overreactive, overresponsive, hypervigilant response that was additionally affecting my immune system, my endocrine system, my neurology — all of it …

It made sense for me that it was some type of mind harm, some type of mind trauma — one thing was flawed. I began to take a look at what space of the mind was accountable for sense of odor as a result of, to me, that appeared like the correct place to start out.»

The Function of Your Limbic System in EHS

In consequence, Hopper started researching the limbic system, which is the emotional and reactive a part of your mind, accountable for filtering sensory and emotional data, and sorting that data into two distinct classes: protected or unsafe.

«You possibly can think about that if any of these neurons alongside that neural community are broken or not working functionally in any approach, then that may begin to categorize data that will not usually be thought of harmful as life-threatening,» Hopper says.

That is a wholly unconscious response, after all. Primarily, your mind will get caught within the fight-flight-or-freeze mechanism. She additionally researched neuroplasticity, which is your mind’s capability to vary.

She found there was loads of analysis exhibiting limbic system overactivation is widespread denominator for a lot of completely different diseases, together with CFS, fibromyalgia, chemical sensitivities, melancholy and anxiousness. Whereas studying Dr. Norman Doidge’s guide, «The Mind That Adjustments Itself,» she had a sudden revelation.

«He was speaking about Dr. Jeffrey Schwartz, who’s the guru for obsessive-compulsive dysfunction (OCD). Schwartz acknowledged that with OCD, there is part of the mind that simply wasn’t functioning correctly. That is what retains individuals on this feeling of contamination or obsessive worrying. I assumed, ‘I haven’t got OCD, however definitely I really feel like my thoughts or my mind is caught.»

Schwartz would scan his sufferers’ brains to see how the mind was working after they have been having an OCD assault. He then gave them a sequence of self-directed neuroplasticity workouts to do at house, and rescanned their mind after a time period. What he found was that their brains have been truly being rewired.

The extra they practiced these workouts, the extra their mind modified, to the purpose the place they really reversed the modifications that have been taking place throughout OCD. In consequence, they have been in a position to perform usually once more.

«It appeared to me like that was the correct place to look,” Hopper says. “I began to change into my very own private guinea pig, how may I alter the limbic system, understanding that it was the sensation and reacting mind and understanding that it might be categorizing data or distorting data … This isn’t in contrast to post-traumatic stress dysfunction, I believe. Or traumatic mind harm …

, I used to be simply as shocked as anybody else, to be trustworthy with you. After I began to note modifications in signs, my first thought was, ‘Hallelujah’ … By influencing this a part of my mind and rewiring the mind, it truly dampened and diminished signs, and miraculously normalized my sensory notion.

When your sensory notion goes again to being regular, your physique is now not reacting to all the pieces. That made it attainable for me to reside on the earth once more and be of the world once more, and be an energetic participant in my life.»

What Causes Limbic System Impairment?

So, what truly causes this limbic system impairment within the first place? As famous by Hopper, it might be a lot of various things, together with viral, bacterial, emotional or psychological stress. It might be chemical harm, mould or extreme EMF publicity. “Normally it’s a mixture of all of that that results in what we name the right storm. These sorts of stresses are cumulative,” she says.

Finally, her expertise and analysis led her to develop the Dynamic Neural Retraining System (DNRS) course, which is now supplied as a five-day interactive coaching program round North America and Europe. This system can be obtainable on-line and as a 14-hour DVD sequence.

It is not a fast course of. It will probably take many months of diligent work, however the finish outcomes are clearly definitely worth the effort. Hopper recommends working towards this system every day for at the very least six months.

«It takes some time to vary these neural networks. Regardless that individuals may begin feeling modifications inside a number of days or a number of weeks or a number of months, you actually need to repeat these workouts regularly to make these actually everlasting modifications within the mind,» she says.

The IMAGINE Acronym

Hopper got here up with the acronym known as «IMAGINE» to encapsulate the technique of this system:

I stands for intention — The intention being to strengthen various neural circuitry and transferring the main target away from signs in an effort to change the fight-flight-or-freeze response and normalize limbic system perform.

M for motivation — It is not an in a single day repair, so it’s essential discover the motivation to do the workouts every day.

A for consciousness and affiliation — You want to change into conscious of how limbic system impairment impacts your ideas, feelings and behaviors. If you catch these ideas, feelings and behaviors, you may need to redirect your mind in that second into an alternate route in order that it would not proceed down the neural pathways related to the impairment. You additionally want to take a look at your associations. What sort of associations have you ever created with stimuli that may be activating the menace facilities in your mind on a steady foundation, and how will you change these associations?

G for achieve — It is essential to acknowledge the positive aspects you make all through your retraining course of. «That is attention-grabbing as a result of all of us have an innate negativity bias, that means we’ll discover what is going on flawed earlier than we discover what is going on proper,» Hopper says. «When you’ve got limbic system impairment, that negativity bias will be magnified due to the impairment itself.»

I for incremental coaching — It is a type of neural shaping that helps strengthen various neurocircuitry by exposing your self to small quantities of stimulus to assist retrain your mind to reply in a different way to it.

N for neurological and emotional rehearsals — «There’s part of this system the place we use our creativeness and visualization,» Hopper says. «The beauty of creativeness is the mind doesn’t know the distinction between what’s actual and what’s imagined. There isn’t any finish to how we will use our creativeness to assist in retraining the mind.» Utilizing guided visualization, you possibly can alter your neural chemistry. When in fight-flight-or-freeze response, you launch loads of cortisol, adrenaline and norepinephrine. Utilizing this guided visualization method, you possibly can cease the manufacturing of these stress hormones and improve manufacturing of really feel good hormones comparable to dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins.

E for environmental consciousness — Final however not least, it’s essential assess your day-to-day atmosphere and create probably the most pristine and exquisite therapeutic atmosphere for your self.

The Significance of Addressing Mobile Harm

In essence, the central precept of DNRS is that neurons that fireside collectively, wire collectively. The aim of many of those workouts is to rewire them within the course of therapeutic, as a result of they have been hyperfacilitated within the course of harm.

Whereas testimonials attest to the effectiveness of Hopper’s program, it is also essential to appreciate that this doesn’t handle the mobile harm that EMFs trigger. My view is that your limbic system alarms and alerts you so as so that you can take steps to cease this mobile harm that’s occurring.

So, I imagine it is vitally essential to handle each your limbic dysfunction and the mobile harm that has occurred in your physique. Hopper agrees that each angles are equally essential, however that limbic system retraining is the lacking hyperlink for a lot of:

«Let’s take chemical harm for instance. Is it affecting the tissues? Is it affecting the mobile stage? Completely. Detoxing may be a very good factor for most individuals, however for the one that has a limbic system harm, they will nonetheless be sick even after they’ve detoxified … or they may discover that cleansing remedies truly heighten signs quite than decrease signs, as a result of the mind is caught in that trauma state.

The cells of the physique have additionally affected the mind. We may do all these remedies to assist with the mobile, clearing the physique cellularly from what is going on, but for lots of people, that will probably be sufficient. In the event that they’re nonetheless sick, then we actually need to have a look at that mind element too.»

So, keep in mind, simply because your signs dissipate, which the DNRS technique will do for a lot of, that does not essentially imply you’ve got mitigated the mobile harm EMF publicity has inflicted. Ideally, you need to do each. It is a mixture of the 2 that is so essential for full therapeutic.

Superb Tales of Restoration

Hopper’s guide accommodates a lot of accounts of exceptional restoration tales utilizing her program. One not included within the guide is Riley, who was bedridden for 3 years with extreme continual Lyme illness.

«He couldn’t communicate, couldn’t eat. He was partially paralyzed. He was delicate to gentle, to sound, to motion, to chemical compounds. He’d additionally had mould publicity. His mother stored him alive by feeding him little Dixie cups of soup.

He’d been to loads of actually nice practitioners and had come a good distance. They acquired him strolling once more and with the ability to speak, however he was nonetheless left with loads of completely different points, like meals sensitivities, chemical sensitivities, some OCD, some motion dysfunction.

Riley got here to this system. It took him a couple of 12 months to get well from the signs that have been left … that have been associated to limbic system impairment. He’s totally recovered. He traveled in Europe and went backpacking for a 12 months. It’s a reasonably superb story.»

Hopper additionally recounts two different success tales, together with certainly one of a lady with a stability dysfunction who made a exceptional restoration on this system. One other is of a younger girl who had extreme POTS (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome) who went from being in a wheelchair to rollerblading. At current, Hopper has two analysis initiatives within the works.

One is an observational research at McMaster College in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, involving 100 contributors with all kinds of medical diagnoses. This research goals to evaluate how the DNRS program impacts high quality of life and measure modifications in symptom severity over the course of a 12 months.

The second analysis initiative is happening on the College of Calgary. On this research, they may evaluate mind scans of people that have continual fatigue, fibromyalgia or chemical sensitivities to get a baseline mind scan after which have a look at how the mind modifications when somebody is definitely implementing this system for a interval of at the very least six months.

Based on Hopper, the estimated success price of enhancing high quality of life is about 90%. Hopefully, these research validate that estimate.

Extra Info

Whereas this system seems to be very efficient, you do must be motivated to do it. Being beneath a excessive diploma of stress can also dampen outcomes. Homelessness may be an instance right here. «However by all means, give it your greatest go. You may not get the outcomes that you just need to see as shortly, however that does not imply that you just will not see outcomes,» Hopper says.

That mentioned, she doesn’t suggest this system for sure psychological situations, comparable to schizophrenia, or in case you’re at present going by way of excessive situational stress, comparable to in case you’re going by way of a court docket case, or grieving a cherished one who simply handed away.

«That may not be a extremely good time to start out the course,» she says. «It does not imply that it is not possible, but it surely may sluggish the development down. I believe that if somebody’s simply handed away, you are coping with grief or loss, there is a pure development to grieving and a pure course of the place grieving takes place.

I do not assume that will be a extremely nice time to start out this system, as a result of we actually need individuals to focus particularly on elevating their emotional state as a lot as they’ll, not solely after they’re doing the workouts and in addition all through the day. In case you’re within the grieving course of, it is type of a bit bit troublesome to do.»

Barring extreme psychological sickness or excessive stress, in case you’ve been struggling for a very long time with a continual and mysterious sickness, be it CFS, fibromyalgia, chemical sensitivities, EHS, Lyme illness, meals sensitivities or any variety of different difficult-to-pin-down illnesses, take into account giving limbic system retraining a strive.

«Do not hand over hope. There’s a solution. There is a approach out of struggling,» Hopper says. «I made a promise to myself once I was sick that if and once I discover a solution, I might share that with the world. I am doing my easiest to try this. Our workforce is increasing increasingly.

The DVD has been translated into seven languages. We now have individuals from all around the world and over 65 international locations report back to us that they are recovering their well being by way of limbic system retraining. All I wish to say is, ‘Give it a strive. Embrace this system.’ I believe that individuals will probably be pleasantly shocked with the outcomes.»

To get your toes moist and be taught extra concerning the science behind the DNRS program, choose up a duplicate of “Wired for Therapeutic: Remapping the Mind to Recuperate From Power and Mysterious Sicknesses.” In case you determine you need to undergo the course, you possibly can choose up the 14-hour DVD course on Hopper’s web site, RetrainingTheBrain.com (you may as well choose to do the coaching on-line).

There you may as well register for the five-day interactive coaching seminar. Since individuals coming to this system have all kinds of sensitivities, nice care is taken to make sure a protected and wholesome atmosphere for many contributors.