This Blog Can Seriously Affect Your Health

One of the unexpected side-effects of writing this blog has been people asking me for advice on how to use blogging to spread their ideas and build their business. One of these is my friend and long-time colleague John Eaton, the founder of Reverse Therapy.

John is one of the most creative people I’ve ever met, and he has had a profound influence on my coaching and creativity. So I’m introducing his work here partly as a way of ‘quoting my sources’ on some of my writings about creativity and the body, partly to introduce you to an innovative new blog, and partly because he’s doing important work that should be of interest to anyone who wants to live a healthy and balanced life.

Reverse Therapy is a radical new medical treatment based on the concept of ‘Bodymind’ – the natural intelligence in our body, which we frequently ignore in our eagerness to become the purely rational, reasonable, logical beings that are so admired in Western society. In many conditions, the physical symptoms of illness can be seen as Bodymind’s way of signalling to us that there is something wrong with the way we are living our lives, and prompting us to make changes to stay true to our ourselves. Reverse Therapy works by educating individuals in how to tune into these Bodymind messages and act on them by making specific changes in their behaviour – whereupon the physical symptoms reduce or in many cases vanish altogether.

Reverse Therapy has attracted national press attention in the UK because of its success in treating the conditions known variously as M.E., Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) and Fibromyalgia. According to the medical establishment, these conditions are currently incurable.

Probably the best known case of recovery from CFS using Reverse Therapy is that of Anna Hemmings, the World and European Champion marathon canoeist. Here is Anna’s account from her website:

Anna thought she would have to retire from the sport when diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome in April 2003. Following a series of failed treatments Anna began to think that her hopes of competing again were ebbing further and further away. The illness left her exhausted and aching on a daily basis as well as physically fatigued after basic light exercise. However, Anna refused to give up and in September 2004, Anna learned about ‘reverse therapy’, an innovative and highly successful new treatment. By February 2005 Anna was finally able to resume training again. She went on to win a clean sweep of National, European and World titles.

If you have a look at the testimonials on the Reverse Therapy website you can read about other people whose lives have been transformed by Reverse Therapy.

Although it has been very successful in treating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, the applications of Reverse Therapy are not confined to this condition. I mentioned on Friday that I had an interesting weekend in prospect – I spent Saturday and Sunday on a seminar with John, learning about the application of Reverse Therapy to a range of other physical and emotional conditions.

Reverse Therapy is not a miracle cure, and often involves hard work and tough decisions on the part of the client. Having said that, the results can be spectacular. Having trained as a Reverse Therapist myself, and seen sufferers recover from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, often after being ill for several years, I can testify to the profound impact it can have on people’s health and their lives as a whole.

If the term ‘Bodymind’ sounds a bit New Age to you, it’s worth bearing in mind that as well as practical clinical experience, Reverse Therapy is based on John’s extensive study of the scientific research into connections between the brain, emotions and physical health. Plans are currently in place for a controlled medical trial later this year, of Reverse Therapy for the treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

Inevitably, in proposing such a radical new mindset about our bodies, illness and health, John has encountered a lot of scepticism and misunderstanding. So he has been working very hard to educate people about Reverse Therapy – via his book, M.E., Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia – the Reverse Therapy Approach, and numerous interviews, articles and speaking engagements. Recently I’ve been happy to work with John on strategies for using web technologies to get his message across.

One of these is the Reverse Therapy blog. He’s just posted Part 1 of a Video Interview in which he introduces the basic concepts of Reverse Therapy. The blog also contains explanations of Reverse Therapy, useful advice on maintaining health by living in tune with Bodymind, a transcript of an e-mail consultation with a client, and John’s inimitable take on subjects as diverse as Christmas, Rasputin and Zen Buddhism. If you associate health advice with being lectured by a well-meaning goody-two-shoes in a white coat, John’s blog should be a welcome antidote.

As the blog develops, we hope it will help people learn more about their body, emotions and health, and to make better decisions about how to live healthy and fulfilling lives. I’m also hoping it will show John as I and numerous clients and therapists know him – a funny, wise, and compassionate man who is working extremely hard to relieve the suffering of large numbers of people.

Another project we’ve been working on is the publication of John’s latest book as a free e-book – Reverse Therapy for Health. Available under a Creative Commons licence, it’s free for you to download and share with anyone who could benefit from a more balanced, holistic approach to health and lifestyle – which is probably most of us.

Disclosure: I’m trained in Reverse Therapy and sometimes receive referrals from Reverse Therapy UK Ltd. I’ve worked with John over a period of about 12 years, so I don’t recommend his work lightly.

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