^{David
David suffered from ME for 10 years before coming to the Lightning Process.}

^{In the mid-nineties I worked long hours in a stressful job.  Time off at weekends became a time to recover.  I was just too exhausted to enjoy the days off and it had an effect on my family, as I didn't want to do anything.  Just after Christmas I caught flu from my colleagues.  I tried to keep going but in the end I had to take time off.  At the time I was a stand-alone manager and I worried about what was going on in my absence.  My concerns were justified and I returned to mayhem.  The continuing stress resulted in deterioration to my health and eventually I had to take sick leave.  I was off work for some months and was retired on health grounds at 55 years of age.  I was very low at this stage.  It was around this time that I was diagnosed as suffering from ME.  Until then I didn't know what was wrong with me, only that I felt really ill.}

^{The next two or three weeks I did nothing but sleep and eat and did start to feel a bit optimistic.  My wife and I had just moved into a new house and while the front garden had been laid out by the developers, the rear garden was just as the builders had left it.  I decided I would dig it over.  I got the spade and fork out of the shed and carried them to where I was to start.   That was it for the day, I didn't realise just how exhausted I still felt and had to go for a rest.  Little by little, a couple of spade-fulls a day, I got the garden dug over and eventually laid out.  Silly as this may seem, I got great satisfaction from doing this.   It took me months rather than a few days, but I got there and mentally it was good for me.}

^{Each day I tried to do something and tried to do some of the housework as my wife was still working.  I did feel very guilty that I was at home not earning, while my wife was doing a full time job, not exactly a morale booster.  Anyway, as time went by I was doing a bit better.}

^{We moved back home to Norfolk and took on a house that required renovating.  I did a fair bit of work myself, albeit at a very slow pace.  I thought I was doing really well but the job was too much for me at this time.  I started to go downhill again and that, combined with the death of close family members, left me at a very low ebb.  I felt I was back at square one.  From 2003 until May of 2008 I just pottered along, resigned to not being able to do much but trying to do something.  That was all to change!!}

^{Throughout my time with ME I had nothing positive from the health service other than a diagnosis.  It's not that they wouldn't help, it was that they don't know how to treat ME.  Over the years I learned what I could about the condition and hoped for a cure.  My attention was drawn to an article about the Lightning Process and what they described as the adrenaline loop.  The more I read the more I felt they were discussing me and my symptoms.  I got quite excited about this and wanted to find out more.  I learned of a young lady who had been bed-ridden with ME and after seing a Lightning Process Practitioner, is now living her life to the full.  What is more is that the effect is almost instantaneous.  Well, lead me to a Lightning Process Practitioner!!}

^{This is when I found Jacinta on the web.  I spoke to her on the phone and was particularly drawn to her as she had suffered with ME and had got over it with the help of the Lightning Process.  Jacinta sent me the application form, which I quickly filled in and sent back.}

^{The first of the three sessions was for three hours.  I met Jacinta at 10am feeling optimistic but still feeling the effects of ME.   At 1pm I came out of the session feeling different.  This feeling, something I had not experienced for over ten years, was one of feeling well, of having energy.  I could not get over how well I felt.  On arriving home I had to do something so took my dogs for an hour long walk.  Then I did some gardening till tea time.  After tea I cycled into town on an errand.  I just felt fantastic.   There is no doubt that the Lightning Process has changed my life.  All my friends see a big difference in me.  Well, a few weeks have passed and every one of my days has been full.  When I wake up in the morning I cannot wait to get on with my day.  I am enjoying every moment.  Life is great!!}

^{If you are suffering from ME I seriously suggest that you consider the Lightning Process.  If you really and truly want to have a life you love, then get in touch and good luck.}

^{A month on, David wrote:   Dear Jacinta, I am having an absolute ball, it is nearly a month since you introduced me to the Lightning Process and I haven't stopped since.  My life has totally changed; I have never felt better and I have you to thank for that.}

^{You asked me to tell you how my gig went.  I did have a few concerns but I did the Process about four times before I went on and I sailed through.  All went well!!}

^{I am on holiday this Saturday, towing my caravan up to Keswick in the Lake District.  I am really looking forward to it, as I want to climb some of the hills I did 10 years ago.   Fantastic.}

^{Well Jacinta, here I am, living proof there is life after ME.}

^{I can't thank you enough for giving me my life back.}

^{Barbara
Barbara suffered from ME for 4 1/2 years when she heard about the Lightning Process and decided to take a 'leap of faith' to take back control of her life.}                                          

Like most ME sufferers I spent the first 6 months of it having tests to eliminate other illnesses which had similar symptoms - all these tests came back clear, but the symptoms just got worse.   My youngest daughter had been diagnosed with ME the previous year, and I was frightened that I had picked up some of her symptoms and transferred them to myself.   Reassurance from my GP told me that this was definitely not the case.

I was suffering very badly with fatigue, my head felt as if I had an unravelled ball of knitting wool inside it instead of a brain, my memory was virtually non-existent, my joints and muscles were aching from the time I woke up until I fell asleep, and I had a constant sore throat and pain below my left rib cage.   All very frightening when they just won’t go away.

I cut back my hours at work from 20 to 4 a week, which I completed in one morning – then went straight home to bed!   On average I slept from 16-20 hours a day, usually split between the afternoon and night.   I was too tired to do any housework at all, and we lived on pre-cooked meals most of the time.   My husband had to take over all the housework, apart from sorting the clothes for washing and filling the washing machine.   The fact that he had to do this made me very frustrated with myself, and my self-confidence and self-worth plummeted.

My GP made the diagnosis I had been dreading, and referred me to a specialist, who confirmed that I definitely had got ME.   I felt numb; surely this was happening to someone else, it couldn’t strike twice in the same family – but it had.   I left the specialist feeling much as if I was trapped; whichever way I looked there seemed to be no escape; this was how it was going to be for me now, a long road stretched ahead of me, which seemed to have no turning, and I had no option but to start down it now.   I felt wretched!

In time, with much help from my husband and our super GP I accepted that I had to pace myself every day, on good days doing a little, sometimes managing to go with my husband to the supermarket, and on bad days, of which there were many, I just had to rest in bed or on the settee, and do nothing.   It was a chore on these days to try to do even small things like washing my hair, or peeling some potatoes, I just had no strength.   We had virtually no social life at this time.   Friends stopped inviting me to join them when they went out, as they knew I wouldn’t be able to go, and life became even lonelier. I did have a few remission periods, where I felt a bit better – but each time, after a short while it was devastating to wake up one morning and find that all the aches and pains, sore throat, fatigue etc had come back overnight and that I was again back at square one!

I tried several alternative therapies, but although they helped some of the symptoms for a short while they didn’t last.   Then one day my husband read a letter in the newspaper about The Lightning Process.   I read the letter and it seemed too good to be true, so I did nothing – I couldn’t face another let-down and all the baggage that came with it.   My daughter also read it, and asked me to have a look on the internet at Phil Parker’s website.   I found the site, read the notes and printed off a copy for my daughter, as well as a letter on the ME website from Esther Rantzen, whose daughter, like Jacinta, had been very ill for some years with ME, and had recovered using the LP.   I followed the links to find a practitioner in Norfolk and decided to ring and find out more about what was entailed. I rang Jacinta and from the moment I spoke to her I felt so much at ease with what she said, that by the time the call ended it was me who wanted to try out the LP first!

There were 3 of us on the course and, on day 1, Jacinta patiently guided us through stage one of the LP.   The procedure was simple to understand and we had fun trying it out, which turned to amazement when we found that we had actually used it properly!     On day 2 we were taught the more advanced LP and already I had noticed changes in my other new friends, they were much brighter and were now able to control the pain they had; I hoped they had noticed a change in me – I was certainly already feeling better! Day 3 was a one-to-one with Jacinta, to iron out any problems we might have had, and by the time I reached this milestone I had already used – with success, the LP several times!  

It seemed at times as if, while I was using it, a magic wand had been waved over me.   I felt as if I had been given some power over my own life again and, best of all, it was there every time I needed it!

I came away from that final session on 24 April 2008 feeling ‘on top of the world’, and each day I am becoming more and more like my old self.   My husband noticed a difference when he came to pick me up from the session.   I can now cope calmly with so much more than I used to. My self-esteem, confidence and stamina are building up again, and I have joined a team of voluntary stewards at a Stately Home, which means a round trip drive of nearly 40 miles, but this doesn’t bother me at all now; my memory is much better (it is kept well-oiled answering the visitors questions!); my joints and muscles are functioning well, with only a few aches and pains, which disappear in minutes when I use the LP, and I am able to do my share of the housework and shopping again. I have also remembered how to knit and crochet, so I can enjoy my hobbies again.  

I think that the icing on the cake for me is that as I am no longer fatigued. I can enjoy outings with my husband and family again.   At 59 we all thought that this was how it was going to be for the rest of my life, but NO….at 63 here I am, back in the swing of things again – I’ve even made sponges for the Church fete and taken my turn on the church flower rota!  

I know that this is one bubble that definitely won’t burst, because I have the magic wand to keep afloat!

Without the constant patience, help and support of my husband, family and my GP I couldn’t have taken that ‘Leap of Faith’.   My daughter took her ‘Leap of Faith’ with Jacinta a month after me, and it is wonderful to see the LP working for her too.   We both still use the Process when we feel we need to, and Jacinta is always there if we feel we need to talk to her.  Also, the support CD is an excellent back-up.

Jacinta is a very special, caring person; she has the gift of being able to make each person feel that they are special too.   The fact that she has had ME and all the problems that it brings with it, and has overcome them, has given her the empathy to work with others who have ME and other problems.   I count myself very lucky to have been trained by her, and am now looking forward to enjoying the rest of my life, and making up for lost time!

If you are still in doubt as to whether the Lightning Process is for you, just give her a ring.  I did, and it has certainly changed both my daughter’s life and my life.   Thank you Jacinta!

<sup>Donna
My life no longer looks the same. Now I have a future - I've begun a course on something I really love doing, knowing that I can complete it.   I also know now that I can take complete control of the house!  At times I astonish myself at my energy levels - and at my positive outlook.   My mood   with the children is different...so their lives are more joyful!!!

To anyone thinking about doing the Lightning Process I would say - do it...you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.  Jacinta is a very gentle person and extremely positive -   a wonderful, patient teacher.     I would absolutely recommend her!</sup>

^{Sheila
The Lightning Process is not like taking a drug to make you better.   You have to do the work yourself.  I no longer experience extreme fatigue as I used to.   I can now make future plans without thinking that I might not be able to fulfill them.  Jacinta is fully committed to the individual.  I would recommend her as a Lightning Process trainer.}

^{Tessa
The   Lightning Process training made a lot of sense.     It is the most enlightening thing I have experienced.     The teaching was great, but it's all down to you in the end.     You need to be committed to the process and have will power.     I now know I can cope with pretty much anything.}

^{I would definitely recommend Jacinta.   She works very thoroughly and sensitively.}

^{The Lightning Process - Fibromyalgia}

^{Gillian's story}
I had Fibromyalgia for 6 years and was diagnosed 3 years ago. It crept up on me at a low point in my life, then “a virus” left me with no energy and frequent migraines. The muscle pain and tiredness increased and I went from an active outdoors type that enjoyed weight training and mountain biking to not even being able to climb stairs.   My muscles became very weak and I gained a lot of weight because of inactivity. I’m self-employed, so having to reduce my working hours considerably meant that my business and my income were slowly diminishing. I hated using crutches and not being able to do simple things, and the pain was often intolerable.

The worst thing was frustration: Not knowing why I had this illness or how to help myself. Doctors were sympathetic but could offer no solutions. Exercise usually made things worse and left me in so much pain that I couldn’t sleep at night. I developed routines that would allow me to work, but working for a few hours would mean crawling into bed exhausted for the rest of the day and often having a migraine the following day. Some days when I worked I was so full of painkillers that I could hardly concentrate.

I used to get angry with myself as I didn’t have a fatal disease or something to really complain about, but my life and my work were being eaten away.

I’m good at Internet research, so decided to collect as much information as possible on Fibromyalgia; causes and cures, both on the Internet and amongst people I know with ME/FMS. To cut a long story short, the most prevalent of the things that made sense were that the cause seemed to relate in some way to reactions to everyday living. There was a predominance of perfectionists; people who had experienced trauma and/or illness or long-term stress who continued to process after it was over. Not that it was “all in your head”, but the body’s chemistry came into a “stress loop” that it couldn’t get out of and that was destructive in many physical ways. Rather like a circuit that can’t switch itself off and burns out. So, I wondered, how can the stress loop be stopped?

At that time, a friend who was wheelchair-bound with ME travelled to London to learn the LP and came back a few days later minus her wheelchair and able to start training again. I looked into the Process and realised that here was an alternative to medicating. Things started to fall into place. The “stress loop” was treated by use of the patient’s control over his brain activity. If the stress reactions could be stopped, then the pain and other symptoms could be stopped.

Another friend’s son, an athlete with ME came back from the LP in London vastly improved. I read Phil Parker’s book and it made sense, so I decided to try the LP myself.  I'm originally English but live in Norway, and didn't want to stay in busy London.  Of all the towns within easy travel distance to Stanstead airport, Norwich is my favourite, and I know a good, cheap hotel there.  I just picked out the name of a LP practitioner from the LP webpage and that was Jacinta Goode.  I feel really lucky about that choice as I liked Jacinta right away, and she is an excellent and gifted practitioner.  I can't imagine being in better hands.

The LP training was much as expected after reading the book, but I hadn’t expected it to have such a profound effect on me.   Even after the first day I was very much improved. After only the second day I was able to go for a long walk and by the third I was pain free and had slept soundly all night for the first time in years. The day after I finished the LP course, I took a bus to Great Yarmouth and walked for 3 hours along the sands then an hour in the shopping centre! I remember feeling a great excitement because I could now look forward to my future. Before the LP I felt that at 50 I was an old lady hardly able to move or lift anything, but now I feel and look my age and have a future with no limitations.

Now, two months after the LP, I walk and cycle every day and no longer have the fibro-pain. I’ve also lost a lot of weight. I still have to work with the LP often, but I have a CD to help keep me on track and it’s certainly worth the effort. I picked up my grandson one day and was sure he’d lost weight – but then realised that it’s my muscles that are stronger.

The thing I notice most is my attitude. Being in constant pain was affecting who I was, and now I am much more positive and easier to get along with.

I’ve simply got my life back.

To anyone considering doing the Lightning Process I'd   just say: It works.   Just do it!