Post Cancer fatigue
I recently wrote an article on the nature of fatigue and the idea that fatigue / tiredness is not a lack of biological energy, but rather a form of protective response to a perceived threat.
With the brain being plastic and changeable with experience, a past threat can seemingly alter brain function to maintain the protective response of fatigue well after the threat has past.
Hence we get Post Viral Fatigue long after the viral threat has gone. Real fatigue, just no longer appropriate.
A common issue for those who have survived cancer treatment is Post Chemo fatigue. Does the same principle apply for Post Cancer Fatigue?
A paper came out in the journal Cancer today asking the question:
Does the Lightning Process Training Programme Reduce Chronic
Fatigue in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors?
Fauske, L.; Bruland, Ø.S.; Dahl, A.A.; Myklebostad, A.; Reme, S.E. Does the Lightning Process Training Programme Reduce Chronic Fatigue in Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Survivors? A Mixed-Methods Pilot Study. Cancers 2021, 13, 4076. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers13164076
Is Fatigue a lack of Energy?
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Fire & Your Brain
FIRE & your BRAIN
As fire season starts I’m reminded of my work on fire crews when I was younger. Little did I know that my work testing moisture in leaf litter or plugging in wind speeds would give profound insight into the brain and pain & fatigue.
Question?
Who is better protected from catastrophe – a town with a super-fast fire crew that can respond as soon as the first whisp of smoke is detected OR a town that can predict in advance of a catastrophic fire season and set off the warming bells early and take necessary action?
The answer is that it is safer to predict well than respond quickly.
That is also the brain’s key strategy – it protects and serves us by predicting. BUT HOW?
Well those fire signs we see are not just a person sticking their head out the window and getting a ‘feel’ for the day. They methodically measure temperature, wind, moisture levels AND have a programme that looks at how that relates to PAST fires. It’s the PAST that helps us predict our safety on any given day. OUR PAST is how we predict the FUTURE. The measurements are meaningly unless we compare them to the PAST.
And so it is with the brain. If you haven’t figured it out by all those red highlighted words : OUR PAST IS HUGELY INFLUENTIAL IN HOW OUR BRAIN RESPONDS
Those who have been following my Lightning Process emails know that the approach looks at the role our brain plays in our physical and mental well-being.
Our brains are always changing and adapting to experience (Neuroplasticity). A key fact about the brain is this simple but profound concept … rather than responding to the PRESENT moment, our brains are actually predicting what will happen NEXT and protecting us from that predicted FUTURE. It does this by looking at patterns of the PAST. Like a town preparing for a future fire season. So technically the brain is not responding to the moment to keep you safe – it is predicting what you need to stay safe based on your PAST. That’s worth pondering – Your brain is trying to keep you safe by looking at your past.
So – your past matters in your brain function. Your responses are unique to you because your past is unique to you.
Long periods of historic stress, adverse childhood experiences (abuse, neglect, household dysfunction) or intense traumatic experiences in our past are highly influential in brain function.
Long periods of stress in our past are associated with an over-protective brain. We might actually be safe now but the brain isn’t focused on the present. It’s focused on the PAST and predicting the future.
Think how this might be relevant to anxiety or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
But we don’t have to be at the mercy of our past. With focused attention and effort we can retrain our brains. That’s what I call ‘Self-directed Neuroplastic Change’.
How might YOUR brain be responding historically rather than appropriately? As a reminder, a ‘response’ could be your stress response, your behavioural responses, your emotional response or even a neurological response like pain and fatigue. (YES – those last 2 are neurological protective responses. This pain TED talk might be a good refresher.)
As we enter a new year our brains will be looking to our past to figure out how best to approach 2021. Sometimes that is useful and sometimes it creates an over-protective response. We don’t have be at the mercy of our past.
Past traumas, threats, stresses and challenges can change how the brain responds. Past stress is associated with over-protective responses. Past stress can create a fear-based brain and introduce biases in how the brain determines what is a threat. Ongoing stress can change the brain so that it can start to respond to safe things as if they are dangerous – very real and physical responses triggered by an over-protective brain.
Pain, fatigue, fear, immune responses, stress, avoidance, emotional responses and ways of thinking can all protect us AND over-protect us. A key finding in neuroscience is that in time the brain changes (NEUROPLASTCITY) and we are stuck responding historically rather than appropriately.
Are you ready to retrain your brain?
WHERE TO START
It does take focused effort to retrain an over-protective brain but the brain IS the most trainable organ we have. If you feel ready for a brain-based approach I would recommend downloading the LP Audiobook. It guides people through the concepts behind the training and will help you decide if you feel ready to do the work required. Download HERE. You can also simply email to arrange a time to talk through the programme and your own situation.
ONLINE LIGHTNING PROCESS
My Lightning Process online 3 day trainings run twice a month in live video sessions available anywhere across Australia & New Zealand.
Break the cycle of the past – Simply contact me for more information.
Lightning Process Research
Lightning Process Research
Below is a recently published paper which reviews current research into the Lightning Process.
Systematic review of the Lightning Process finds an ’emerging body of evidence supporting the efficacy of the LP for many participants with fatigue, physical function, pain, anxiety and depression.’
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1550830720302330
Abstract
Background: The Lightning Process (LP), a mind-body training programme, has been applied to a range of health problems and disorders. Studies and surveys report a range of outcomes creating a lack of clarity about the efficacy of the intervention.
Objective: This systematic review evaluates the methodological quality of existing studies on the LP and collates and reviews its reported efficacy.
Data sources: Five databases, PsycINFO, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase, ERIC (to September 2018), and Google and Google Scholar were searched for relevant studies.
Study Selection: Studies of the LP in clinical populations published in peer-reviewed journals or in grey literature were selected. Reviews, editorial articles and studies/surveys with un-reported methodology were excluded.
Data extraction: Searches returned 568 records, 21 were retrieved in full text of which 14 fulfilled the inclusion criteria (ten quantitative studies/surveys and four qualitative studies).
Data synthesis and Conclusions: The review identified variance in the quality of studies across time; earlier studies demonstrated a lack of control groups, a lack of clarity of aspects of the methodology and potential sampling bias. Although it found a variance in reported patient outcomes, the review also identified an emerging body of evidence supporting the efficacy of the LP for many participants with fatigue, physical function, pain, anxiety and depression. It concludes that there is a need for more randomised controlled trials to evaluate if these positive outcomes can be replicated and generalised to larger populations.
Lightning Process success stories
“If they can do so can you”
Before taking anyone through a Lightning Process training, each client must first get really clear about their goals. It’s not enough to desperately want to get rid of pain, fatigue, anxiety, trauma etc. There needs to be a reason bigger than what they are leaving behind. Something in their future that will keep them focused to keep going.
Then from Day 1 they go out and start making progress. From DAY ONE. They put into practice their new knowledge & skills – neither pushing through or avoiding – but progressing.
It’s so inspiring to watch. These people have been through HELL, and having so many past failures, they still boldly take a stand and retrain their brain and body to respond differently – to exercise, light, sleep, movement, people, food etc.
It takes work but that vision of what’s on the other side keeps them going.
Twice a month I witness extraordinary individuals update their understanding of the BRAIN and its role in pain, fatigue, fear – and then knuckle down and do the work.
The work they take on may not seem extraordinary to some – go for a walk, leave the house, eat a slice of pizza, stay out late, ride a bus, socialise at night time with friends after a full days training! For many these things seem insurmountable and on Day 1 full health seems a long way off. But out they go each afternoon. Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and they keep going.
“IF THEY CAN DO IT SO CAN YOU”
Inspired by my clients, each year I set myself a task. A goal that terrifies ME and requires work. I use all the inspiration from past clients to work towards it.
They tend to be endurance events that give extra meaning to my ‘pain and fatigue specialist’ title. As I run through the day (and sometimes night) the hours kick by. At times the hills seem insurmountable, the finish line seems a long long way off.
BUT…… it is the names and stories of past graduates that run through my head. I replay their conversations, their weekly success, their challenges to stay on track, the photos and postcards they send.
I hear myself say “If they can do it then so can you”.
So thank you to all past LP Graduates for your inspiration.
So 2020 task completed. A 100km race through the mountains on a stinker of a day!
To anyone who is going through HELL it’s useful to know that others have been there and have found their way out. Chronic does not mean permanent.
If the obstacles seem insurmountable and vibrant health seems impossible it might be time to look at things from a fresh perspective. What role does our brain, our most trainable and adaptable organ, play in physical health.
Below is a link to some people’s success stories. If they can do it – can you? People like you, who were told there is no cure, who had tried everything, who were sceptical and unsure, but threw themselves into the training, are now getting on with their lives.
You can read some of their stories HERE.
If your brain can change – so can YOU!
#This is my fifth email in a Lightning Process info series. If you would like to receive all emails in the series, subscribe to newsletter in the side box.
Your last email in this Lightning Process Info Series focused on NEUROPLASTICITY – the brain’s ability to alter its structure and function through repeated experience. If you missed it you can catch-up HERE.
It can be summed up with a quote from Aristotle – ‘We are what we repeatedly do’. Repeated experience, even imagined experience or thought, creates changes in our brain structure and function. Those changes then create a default mode.
This is profound and opens up new options for understanding and treating very common conditions. There is a shift for example to now see changes in brain biochemistry and brain structures associated with depression and anxiety as a consequence rather than a cause.
The implications of Neuroplasticity is that your brain changes with what EVER you DO, THINK or FEEL. Your experience, both mental and physical, changes your brain. It also means the ECHOS of your past are found in the structure of your brain AND body. Importantly for health it means a single trauma or ongoing stressors can create hugely influencial changes in our brain and nervous system. Thoughts, feelings, behaviours, even biological responses become automatic and unconscious. Our default mode is set – but not necessarily for ever.
LUCKILY the capacity for the brain to change stays with us until the day we die. We are not at the mercy of our brain or our past.
It might take some focused & deliberate effort and a basic understanding of neuroscience but this is part of the breakthrough of neuroplasticity.
The brain is so integral to our health – influencing immune function, digestion, sleep, endocrine and hormone activity, behaviour, feelings, stress, thoughts and perception. Our entire conscious experience and personality is being generated through our brain.
AND if your brain can change – so can YOU.
However understanding is key. As the last email highlighted, good ‘management techniques’ also changes the brain but not towards recovery – merely towards the default of ‘good management’.
Of course, influencing the structure and function of the brain towards recovery requires more than positive thinking or crossed fingers.
There are more practical and targeted things that you can do to influence your brain, your body, your health and your life.
FANTASTIC NEUROPLASTIC
With a NEUROPLASTIC framework and understanding of how the brain and body influence each other, we can shift the focus from management to recovery.
With a neuroplastic perspective, we can move away from the outdated question “Is it physical or psychological?”
With a neuroplastic perspective, we can see the possible consequences of the management models of pacing, pushing through or avoidance.
With a neuroplastic perspective, we can move away from the old maps of understanding that sees chronic as permanent.
With a neuroplastic perspective we can see through some illogical and dis-empowering concepts around damage, chemical imbalance, disease or ‘all in your head’ – and instead focus on empowering people to make real changes in their lives.
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- Are you ready to think differently about your situation?
- Are you ready to see stuckness NOT brokenness.
- Are you ready to see the work ahead as training rather than healing?
- Are you ready to change AND be the driver of that change?
That’s a lot of questions….. and you might have some more for me.
A great place for answers is to download the Lightning Process Audiobook. It will guide you through the concepts behind the training, help you decide if the approach makes sense to your situation and if you feel ready to apply.
It is available HERE for download.
If you have other questions for me, simply email to arrange a time to chat. Email meHERE
Fantastic Neuroplastic
#This is my forth email in a Lightning Process info series. If you would like to receive all emails in the series, subscribe to newsletter in the side box.
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It’s not me. It’s you.
#This is my third email in a Lightning Process info series. If you would like to receive all emails in the series, subscribe to newsletter in the side box.
I hope my previous email got you curious.
It might have challenged you, stretched you and maybe even got you excited. Regardless, well done for sticking around. (Not everyone did 😀).
Given that you’ve decided to stick around I guess I should tell you who I am.
If you want all the juicy and romantic back-story you can read my wife’s story.HERE. As you will see my connection with chronic illness is very personal.
My wife’s journey through ill health, felt like battling the medical field with many, many years of testing to finally getting an expert diagnosis. What at first was relief at a label was soon followed by despair …….. “There’s nothing you can do but learn to live with it”. Argh! The dreaded path of pacing, management and acceptance.
She took a different path – to learn to retrain her brain & nervous system.
Her full recovery inspired me to move the family to London to study, then bring the Lightning Process to Australia & NZ.
At the time I was a trained Hypnotherapist so I knew how powerful the brain was in influencing our lives. I had seen success with pain, fatigue, anxiety and depression. But it wasn’t consistent and I didn’t fully understand why. I was also getting a little uncomfortable with the hypnotherapy model.
It’s very enticing to sit there and do nothing, just relax and breath, while someone ELSE fixes your problems.
They would hopefully make enough change in a single session that would have a snowball effect. Some times it did and sometimes it didn’t.
A definition of hypnosis is “focused attention that allows enhanced control over the mind and body.”
However who is better armed with that enhanced control? The practitioner or the client?
It made more sense to teach people skills to use the power of the brain themselves.
And what if these skills were given with a grounding in neuroscience including an understanding of what pain and fatigue actually are. What if people understood not just the impact of stress physiology but how to influence it.
What if the client, armed with up-to-date knowledge and skills, became the practitioner?
While the LP isn’t just using the tools of hypnotherapy it does shift the control from practitioner to client.
One of the things associated with people staying STUCK in health conditions, is a reliance on something outside themselves for change – a powerful person, a powerful drug or device.
So after my wife’s experience with the Lightning Process, I felt it a far more powerful and sustainable way to help people. Have them understand the issue from a brain perspective, to see the connection between their multiple issues and teach them the tools to make the changes themselves. My job was to become redundant.
My firm belief is the ‘powerful person’ you need is YOU.
It’s not me, them or it. It’s YOU.
So that’s a little about my journey.
I’ve seen hundreds of people, many who were told they just had to learn to live with ‘it’, get better.
I have been specializing in Chronic Pain and Fatigue now for 12 years. I have stayed up-to-date with the emerging field of mind/body medicine, have attended (and spoken) at regular conferences, and I can confidently say that the LP has stood the test of time and the concepts are actually no longer that controversial.
You can watch me discuss pain at the UCOL public lecture series in NZ. HERE
Are you ready to be one of those people who turns their life around, armed with up-to-date knowledge and a willingness to take active control of your health.
You do need to be ready to think differently AND you need to be ready to do the work.
But when you have an up-to-date “map”, finding your way through life is much easier.
A new world of change is open to those who are ready. Not in some hippy woo-woo power of attraction sense, but by following some core concepts.
With a mind/body and brain perspective you can see that we are highly adaptable and not at the mercy of our past.
My next email will introduce you to the term neuroplasticity – a revolution in how we view the human brain.
If you can’t wait, you can watch Norman Doidge, the Father of Neuroplasticity discuss the concept HERE.
Or if you are ready for a deep dive into the training itself here is the LP audiobook that explains the core concepts and helps people decide if they are ready to think differently and do the work required.
LIGHTNING PROCESS AUDIOBOOK
(Or just email me and we can chat).
NEXT:
Why NEUROPLASTICITY is the game changer you were waiting for.
The Most Important First Step to Recovery Is..
THE MOST IMPORTANT FIRST STEP TO RECOVERY This is my second in a series of emails aimed to help people have an up-to-date neuroscience understanding of the conditions I work with using the LP training programme. (If you missed the first one it’s HERE). If you don’t want to miss out on future emails in this series or more, simply subscribe with my newsletter form.
In a world of short tweets & image driven social media, long emails are an anomaly. However the health concepts I’m covering don’t lend themselves to inspirational quotes. So these are deep dives into concepts. Isn’t your health worth the time? So set aside time for a change.
For over 12 year now I have been helping people with a wide range of conditions that at first glance seem to be unrelated.
Chronic Pain (migraines, backs, CRPS, Fibromyalgia), Chronic Fatigue Conditions (ME/CFS, PVFS, Adrenal Fatigue), Anxiety, Intolerances, Digestive Issues, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression … amongst others.
Putting these conditions together in the same sentence will have the alarm bells ringing for some people and risk a string of unpleasant emails accusing me of treating your thing as psychological or ‘all in the head’.
That response stems from an outdated understanding of basic human biology and an historically-driven false division between the body and the brain.
The outdated view says things are either physical (and real) or psychological (and therefore not physical).
Holding that ‘physical or psychological’ outdated model of human biology is partly responsible for the stuck state people find themselves in. What you think the problem is (psychological or physical) will determine the solutions you look for (psychological or physical).
What if your mental MODEL of the problem was wrong? It would impact how you attempt to solve the problem.
Holding that old view of human health is like trying to explore New York City today with a map from 1810. You might be able to get around a little – but you’ll keep hitting brick walls, be pretty limited and wondering why others are doing it so easily. Unless you realize that that MAP is outdated, you will go around in circles and keep hitting those walls.
Don’t curse the wall, simply update the map. Then you can enjoy your trip of a life time.
Many people I work with are running on outdated maps. The people who think ‘their thing’ is just physical AS WELL as the people who think ‘their thing’ is just psychological.
NOTHING is all in the body, nor is anything all in the head. But notice how people act as if they are.
By gaining a more up-to-date understanding of the critical role the brain plays in our health AND the role our body plays on the brain, people are more likely to make the kind of changes that will sustain long term wellness.
WHO ME?
How do you know if you need to update YOUR map?Here’s a quick check:
If you think pain is caused by damage, if you think fatigue is about lacking energy, if you think anxiety is a thinking problem, if you think depression is caused by genetics or chemical imbalances, if you think PTSD is ‘all in the head’ AND if you think that the best you can hope for is to manage these conditions – then I would recommend it’s time for an updated map.For many conditions, it means a shift from the ‘there is no cure’ mindset where the focus is better management to actually being better.
Yes – I’m talking full recovery. We know enough about these conditions to now put recovery front and centre as our aim.
Over the next few weeks I will be discussing the benefits of beginning to see these conditions from a neuroscience and mind/body perspective. While all these conditions seem radically different at first glance there are some important commonalties that REALLY matter.
If you are someone who is firmly in the camp of ‘There is no cure’, then the emails I will be sending out will probably infuriate you. Which is kind of the point of this email.
I’ve titled this email:
The most important thing you can do for recovery …….So what is it?
Simple.
BE WILLING TO CHANGE YOUR THINKING
Ouch! I can hear the sound of unsubscribe buttons going wild, but maybe hold off for a while. When I say change your thinking, I’m not advocating positive thinking as the most important thing you can do.
Most people want to know HOW they can get well and have been on a long and frustrating road of failures, advice from friends and professionals, medications, manipulations, partial successes and frustrating crashes, flare-ups or downward spirals. (Hitting those brick walls hey!)
Often the approaches to date are a piecemeal attempt at trying anything that seems to have helped some so why not give it a go. Accupuncture, physio, magical devices, psychotherapy, operations, dietary changes, herbs, drugs, massage, pacing/take it easy, push through, exercise, don’t exercise, meditate, drink this, don’t drink this, eat more turmeric, cut out root vegetables except on Tuesdays, sunshine and Vitamin C/D/E or N, restorative yoga….but only on a full moon.
Some things help a little, work for a while or work for someone else but not for you. Basically you roll the recovery dice and cross your fingers.
But there is no unifying framework why any of these could work – and they all could and have. So before you can solve the problem, you need to really understand the problem.
Sounds simple but many people don’t understand the problem. They are working from an outdated map.
And that is where I think people would benefit most. Being willing to think differently about what they think the problem actually is.
But thinking differently is not the same as learning more on a subject.
If you just learn more, you will try and add that new information to the old map!
People need to be willing to unlearn things first. To throw out the map, challenge first principles, mental models or world views. THAT is where big change takes place.
It’s about unlearning what you have learnt FIRST in order to be able to fully understand the problem. THEN you can look at actually solving the problem for good.
UNLEARNING is more challenging than learning. It requires a willingness to see through our own biases, inaccuracies, faulty logic and beliefs. It takes effort and reflection. It’s often uncomfortable and takes going over information bit by bit until it starts to fall into place.
So I hope these emails challenge you. I want to stretch your thinking to put you in line with science. With that agility of thinking, and a new map, you will see you have more options.
Stuck yes. But not broken.
So here’s a word of advice as you read these emails – ban the term ‘YEAH BUT….’.
When we hear something that doesn’t fit in with our beliefs, the easiest thing to do is discard it and find the simplest explanation that keeps our beliefs intact. Yeah but that success story never had what I had, yeah but my pain is different, yeah but my scan / test shows …, yeah but my doctor said, yeah but I tried X and it didn’t work, yeah but I’m a positive person so it’s not in my brain …….
Rather than defending you own beliefs (map), read with curiosity and openness to challenge your thinking.
This was a habit of Charles Darwin.
If he found information that didn’t fit in with his world view he gave it EXTRA special attention and made a note of it. He was willing to be wrong and curious where he might be.
So I would recommend to stay curious and be willing to change the way you think about your problem.
Read with curiosity, read with openness. If there is something that I cover that doesn’t match your beliefs – avoid the dead end statement of “yeah but” – and approach it with a willingness to explore.
For it is those who generate flexibility in thinking that get unstuck and flourish.
It may take some time and effort so it helps to stay focused on the reason why you would want to change – flourishing health. Would you be willing to think differently for that?
So to begin to train that curious mind of yours read the following statements.
Notice if you respond with defence, curiosity or excitment. Progress goes to those most willing to change – starting with their thinking.
Read it again. Does that challenge you just a little?Yes I am talking about all YOUR pain. It’s always generated in the brain first.
That Neuroscience Nugget should challenge you but in time as you come to understand the concept, it will change everything when it comes to chronic pain.Curious? Defensive? Holding onto that old map? It’s challenging isn’t it.
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2. Why do we feel fatigued with a flu?
How does the little virus steal our energy? It doesn’t. The fatigue is you. It’s our response to the viral threat and part of our immune protection response to stop us from running around. The biological energy is always there but the fatigue ensures we put our resources into our immune system.
So you can have biological energy AND experience fatigue at the same time.
Once you understand this, then Post Viral Fatigue Sydndrome makes sense. Our nervous system is still protecting us from a threat that has passed.
If you believe fatigue means you don’t have biological energy it’s time for a new map. It might be worth reading that concept again. If your assumption is that fatigue means an absence of biological energy, it is definitely time to think differently.
Fatigue is not a depletion of energy. That Neuroscience Nugget is gold if you know what to do about it.
I’m not suggesting ignoring fatigue and pushing through. There’s a brick wall waiting there. I’m suggesting understanding it first.
Curious? Excited? Challenged?
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3. Depression – All in the genes?
If the historic disease model of depression is accurate (genetics or a chemical imbalance) then why has there been a radical increase in youth depression over the last decade and why is depression and ‘mental health issues’ rising with the Covid-19 crisis? Genetic / chemical causes don’t increase under those circumstances.
There are things you can do if you stop seeing depression as a ‘thinking issue’ or out of your control.
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4. CHEMO FATIGUE – a new map!
Following chemotherapy, fatigue and brain fog are common complaints. The advice used to be ‘take it easy and rest’. Now we have a better understanding that fatigue is about threat not an absence of energy. The current advice is to exercise because the previous advice to rest contributed to ongoing post-chemo fatigue. We had to put the old map down to see it though. CHEMO FATIGUE
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5. If anxiety is a ‘thinking issue’ why do people talk about using yoga, running or diet to ‘cure it’.Curious? What if Anxiety is not a thinking problem at all. What if anxious thoughts are a consequence of another issues.
Curious? That is my goal. Ready to think differently in the pursuit of progress? Stay curious. These ideas based on current neuroscience are fascinating and open up a new world of options for treating very common and serious conditions.
Stay open to the idea that the way you have been thinking about your situation is part of the problem.
Are you ready to think differently?
Stay tuned for more unlearning opportunities in future emails.
Or if you’re wanting to know more NOW download the Lightning Process Audiobook.
Lightning Process Trainings are now available every 2 weeks anywhere in Australia & NZ through live personal video conferences.
If you feel ready to approach your situation from a radically different perspective simply email me to arrange a chat.
Otherwise – stay curious!
Don’t curse the wall you hit.
Update your map!
