The Phil Parker Lighting Process® 
The Lightning Process® is a unique, non-medical training programme which is built on foundations of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Life Coaching and the principles underlying Osteopathy. It is not a treatment or therapy, it is a training programme, and therefore requires the participants to apply the techniques to achieve the results.
The Process itself is a combination of concepts and information, and a particular set of steps and simple movements taught to be used whenever necessary. The steps are easy and not physically demanding, and they can be tailored to the abilities of everyone who takes the course. In the case of people who are severely restricted with movement, it is still possible to use a mental version of the process.
For some thoughts on the following conditions click here
- ME/CFS
- Chronic Pain / Fibromyalgia
- Sleep disorders
- OCD
- Low self-esteem
- Addiction
- Digestive disorders/IBS
- Stress
- Anxiety
- Eating Disorders
- Fatigue
- Depression
- Food/chemical intolerances
There is much reported use of the Lighting Process in the areas of:
- Happiness
- Relationships
- Life Direction
- Confidence
- Sleep
How does it work?
Many people ask how is it possible for the Lightning Process training programme to help you influence your body’s health? The body’s Physical Emergency Response holds the key. Click here for a detailed explanation of the PER and its effects on the body.
What is covered on the Seminar?
The Lightning Process is an interactive journey of discovery that takes approximately 12 hours to unfold over 3 days and is designed to teach you:
1. About the PER and what happens if it is constantly switched on.
2. How to Spot when the PER is occurring.
3. How to Calm the PER through specific steps using of movement, posture, coaching. These steps are not vigorous or physically demanding and can be tailored to meet the capabilities of even the most debilitated clients.
4. How to make this change to your physiology permanent by practising the steps so that they become automatic, leading to health and wellbeing.
Before the Seminar
Taking part in a Seminar involves completing an application form and then having a telephone assessment call, to ensure that it is the right time for you. Reading the book by Phil Parker 'An Introduction to the Lightning Process' is good preparation and a recommended read before the course. To buy a copy click here
If it is agreed on the phone assessment that it is the right time for you to take the course, then you can be booked into a seminar.
The Seminar
Lightning Process seminars are run on three consecutive days and take about four to five hours each day. On day one you will learn the Process, and start to use it immediately. The final two days are for fine-tuning and learning the more advanced elements of the Process to make sure you are getting the long-term results you want.
Most of the seminars are held in small groups, 2-5 people. We find it is generally the best way to learn, although there is the option for a one-to-one training if it is appropriate.
The Process has been taught to many severely ill people as it can be tailored for anyone. Heather has trained many bed-bound people successfully in the Lightning Process, click here for Kirsti's story.
After the Seminar
Heather is there to support you in applying the Process after the course. Further sessions or telephone coaching are always available to assist you in applying what you have learnt in an ongoing way in your life.
'Building Your Future' seminars (click here) are run by Heather almost every month, and are a post-Lightning Process course to help you effectively implement the Lightning Process in every aspect of your life. The seminars are designed to re-cover the core points of the training programme and assist you in moving forwards with any old or new issues and challenges that might arise.
Many people ask how is it possible for the Lightning Process training programme to help you influence your body’s health? The body’s Physical Emergency Response holds the key.
This is something that many people are initially confused about which isn’t surprising as the answer only becomes clear when you have a fairly in-depth understanding of how the human body works. As most people don’t have that, they are sometimes initially concerned that taking a training programme to improve their health might suggest that their illness was considered to be all in the mind. Don’t worry; the Lightning Process doesn’t consider any illness to be all in the mind, in fact much of the first day’s training is spent teaching you about an important response called the Physical Emergency Response.
Physical Emergency Response (PER)
This is when the body experiences an emergency or threat to its safety and wellbeing, which could include;
- Physical injury or extreme environmental conditions such as burning or freezing
- Poisoning, due to viruses, bad food, drug reactions etc.
- Emotional shock and trauma
The body then naturally produces the PER to deal with the threat and to find a way to recover or stay safe.
There are a number of key ways the PER affects the body. It stimulates the sudden:
- Activation of the Sympathetic Nervous System
- Production of powerful hormones: adrenaline, nor adrenaline, dopamine, cortisol and DHEA.
This is exactly what needs to happen to help us deal with the threat. The PER does this by primarily giving our muscles an extra burst of speed and strength and affecting the nervous system’s synapses and their neurotransmitters. Temporarily this is an excellent solution for dealing with most threats, but unfortunately long term arousal of this system has been long known to have a detrimental effect on many other body systems, and this causes disruption to normal immune, muscle and digestive system function (see below) and changes the way our nerve cells transmit nerve signals.
The Immune System
The immune system is a key system of the body that has an important role in supporting the way all other body systems work. It has many important functions, including recognising, dealing with and removing:
· Infections
· Foreign materials
· Toxins
· Old, worn out or bad functioning cells
There are two possible extremes of immune dysfunction:
- Low functioning immune system, resulting in:
a) An inability to clear infections
b) Poor detoxification (leading to poisoning) of all body tissues with resulting poor function of all body systems
c) Inability to distinguish foreign matter from own components and ‘bad’ cells from good
- Over active, out of control immune system, resulting in:
a) Inability to distinguish foreign matter from own components and ‘bad’ cells from good – concluding with attacks directed at own, well functioning tissue (auto immune issues)
b) Wastage of body resources
As you can see from this list, any problems in this important system will have an effect throughout all the other body systems.
The Muscular System
The muscular system is the main user of energy in the body and as a result much of the body’s support systems (blood, waste disposal, communications) are dedicated to keeping the muscles working well.
When the muscles don’t work well, not only can we no longer move ourselves about as we would want to, it also puts an added strain onto the core support systems. As movement itself is vital for pumping blood in the veins and fluid in the tissues back towards the heart, poor movement puts more strain effect on the heart and circulatory systems.
Again as you can see from this any problems with the muscular system have an impact throughout all other body systems.
The Digestive System
This system has a number of important functions. The most obvious is, of course, to bring nutrition into the body; any problems in this system will have a major effect everywhere else.
Its other functions include a role:
a) In the immune system, protecting the body from invading organisms that gain entry through our food/gut
b) In removing wastes and toxins
The Nervous System
This includes the brain, spinal cord and all the nerves of the body. Their primary job is to ensure there is good communication between the brain and all areas of the body in both directions. In something as complex as our bodies any small disruptions in the way this very sensitive system works can have massive consequences.
Physiological Catch 22/Destructive spiral
Having understood the PER and the importance of these systems, this allows us to make sense of the 'Physiological Catch 22', or as it is also called, the destructive spiral. This is one important element of the Lightning Process, and is derived from Phil Parker’s theory of the following downward spiral in people with ME/CFS, MS, Fibromyalgia, and many other conditions.
1. Exactly how the problem started can be quite variable from one individual to another – but can include responses to viruses, operations, vaccines, or even emotional stress. This onset 'event', whatever it’s cause, is as a threat by the body.
2. This threat, as discussed above, causes a PER, which stimulates the Sympathetic Nervous System and the adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine, cortisol and DHEA, as described above.
3. This means the body is now having to deal with a combination of physical changes and threats:
· The effects of the original 'event' are now combined with
· Direct effects of the symptoms
· And the effects of the PER
4. In some cases for various reasons which are not always clear, this combination of threats and changes produces an increased and prolonged PER. The long-term stimulation of this system, has a detrimental effect on the way the immune, muscular, digestive and nerve signal transmission system and many other body systems function.
5. Any disruption to the immune system in particular makes any healing more difficult. This takes the body back to step 2 again setting up a downward health spiral. This spiral can be further worsened by the added effect of the emotional distress of being unwell and all the questions and uncertainties which that can raise about ones future.
When viewed with this understanding of some of the physical processes that go on as a response to ill health, it suggests that a training programme, such as the LP, which teaches you how to influence these physical processes, can open up a whole new set of options and choices for your health and life.
Additional information can be found at http://www.lightningprocess.com/ |