The Gupta Amygdala Retraining Program

0

“I have been given this product as part of a product review through the Chronic Illness Bloggers network. Although the product was a gift, all opinions in this review remain my own and I was in no way influenced by the company. ”

chronic_illness_bloggers_logo_200x200

You may have heard of the Gupta Amydala Retraining Program.

You may be wondering:  what is the amydala and what is this program all about?

This program is definitely worth checking out

In a nutshell, this program literally retrains your amydala which can get stuck in fight or flight.  Your amygdala is an unconscious part of your brain, and its job is to keep you safe.  However, according to Ashok Gupta’s theory and research, the amygdala can become stuck in fight or flight.

As this pertains to having symptoms from an acute or chronic condition, the theory is that the unconscious part of yourself begins to “fear”the symptoms, and the amydala can then get stuck in a loop of reinforcing the very symptoms from which we need relief.

It takes our conscious minds to “retrain” the amydala, and help it to return to a normal state of functioning.

The program has 4 major steps to healing, with an overarching theme of being CONSISTENT  with the steps, yet not stressing about them at the same time:

Retraining Your Amygdala (You keep coming back to this step until your symptoms disappear)

Relaxation (cultivating)

Reconnecting to Joy

Resilisence (building…)

You can check out the Gupta Programme here:

http://www.guptaprogramme.com/

I found this to be a phenomenal program.  According to Ashok Gupta, our unconscious brain is like software, meaning you can reprogram it.    He has recovered completely from CFS (which he developed in college), and he believes that by using this program, you can retrain your unconscious mind to relieve your physical symptoms.

I believe this program is onto something in believing that symptoms from conditions such as CFS, ME, MCS, and Fibromyalgia may stem from an amygdala that is stuck in the fight or flight response.   I can feel in my own body that this may be true.  While I have recovered much of my own energy through various tactics (I am 95%-100% healed now), I can feel lingering effects of being in a “hyper” state of arousal.

For me, my fatigue issues also stemmed from poor methylation, and symptoms like chronic fatigue (and chronic pain, etc.) can have many sources or origins.

However, the Gupta Amygdala Retraining program proposes that the root cause of many of the symptoms experienced by CFS, ME, MCS, and Fibromayalgia (and perhaps even more chronic conditions where chronic fatigue is a factor and beyond) are caused by an amygdala stuck in fight or flight.

So, while I believe there may be other potential causes of symptoms, the theory behind the Gupta Amygdala Retraining Program is very compelling (Ashok insists that if you can trace symptoms back far enough for conditions like CFS, ME, MCS, Fibromyalgia, etc., you will find they originate with the amydala “software” being stuck in fight or flight) , and I believe this program is worth doing for many reasons:

It helps you to move of the fight or flight response.

It helps you to retrain your nervous system.

It helps you to learn the importance of positive thinking and how to use and apply positive thinking to help improve the quality of your health and well-being.

It helps you to learn how to cultivate what is known as The Relaxation Response  (which is the opposite of the stress response, also known as the fight or flight response).   The Relaxation Response is where healing occurs in the body.

This program is excellent at helping you to practice techniques like meditation and positive thinking that help to retrain your nervous system and help your mind and body to relax, reboot, and regain a balanced equilibrium.

There is so much I could say about this program. 

It is:

Intelligent

Intuitive

Research-based

Community-based (you will receive amazing support and feedback from a very active FB group)

And so much more…

Beyond always returning to the retraining of your amygdala (you know you need to continue retraining it if you still have symptoms), the program really excels at teaching you and your body to relax, reboot, and cultivate true resilient behavior and beneficial positive thinking.

The most important piece of advice I can give you if you decide to do this program, is to be patient and take the time to learn the different techniques.

At the same time, don’t stress about learning or remembering to do all of the techniques.  Do the parts that work for you.  There are many, many fantastic techniques in this program, and Ashok gives you several ways to learn and implement them, including:

A DVD

Webinars

A Fantastic Book

There are so many fantastic reasons to check out this program.  I believe it helps to:

Retrain your brain

Retrain Your Nervous System

Helps You Learn How to Relax and Reboot

Helps You Focus on Cultivating Positive Energy

Here are some more fantastic takeaways from this one-of-a-kind program:

You will learn to float through dips with your fatigue

You will learn how to keep your “mind” centered (This is well-being :))

You will learn how to shine a light on your thoughts, and how to observe them, and freeze them like insects

You will learn how being a perfectionist may be contributing to your symptoms (Hint: you need to learn to not fear failure 🙂  failure is a normal part of the growing and healing process)

You will learn how to imagine a “healthy you” in the future

You will learn how to turn perfectionism into healthy self-achievement where the goal is to feel JOY and not seek the approval of others

You will learn how to pay deeper attention to your body and your body’s signals (this is one of the major ways I healed my fatigue)

You will learn some great insights about pacing:  Do your best, leave the rest

You will learn how to and the importance of constantly visualizing a positive future (and present too)

You will learn the value of awareness, and how there is the next level of awareness, and then another layer, and yet another level of awareness (awareness is key to how I healed from CFS)

You will learn how to choose to live a calmer, simpler life (this is better for your nervous system)

You will learn the Soften and Flow technique to help you when you are overwhelmed by negative thoughts

You will learn the importance of Breath and not rushing

You will learn how to value and savor breath, touch, taste, smell…and all Present Moment experiences

You will learn many invaluable tools:

Self-awareness

Rushing is not the rule

Any love outside of ourselves is a bonus – learn how to feel good on the inside

Self-love is letting go of worry & fear of rejection (Ashok calls it The Butterfly Wings of Self-Love :))

I had so many takeaways from this program, and I encourage you to join, learn, and TRUST the process.