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FIGHT OR FLIGHT RESPONSE

Most of the patients I see appear weak and drained. The truth is, they are weak and drained, partly because the typical Western diet encourages a pH range that is way out of balance on the acidic side, but also because of stressful lifestyles.

As explained in Chapter Three, the body produces the hormone adrenaline in fight or flight situations. It is called a burst hormone because a small amount produces a huge response in the body. In nature, adrenaline is released infrequently, to give animals the tremendous burst of speed needed to avoid a predator or to attack their prey.

I believe that many problems arise in our society because many people are physically and emotionally stuck in defence mode all the time. This means that their adrenal glands are releasing a constant flow of adrenaline (hyper adrenal) causing the body to produce excess heat, sweating, and energy. Under normal circumstances the body produces heat and metabolism via the thyroid gland, and energy via the insulin/blood sugar mechanism regulated by the pancreas. The body never wants to waste energy, so when extra heat and energy are produced by an over-active adrenal gland, the body turns down the thyroid (hypothyroid) and insulin (hypoglycemia) gauges. Why should it make the thyroid or pancreas work if the adrenals are taking over and doing all the work?

Remember that injuries causing an individual to stay locked in defense mode occur in the first five years of life. This will result in heightened adrenal activity. A child in a state of hyper-adrenalism will develop symptoms of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) in their early years and this will lead to cravings for carbohydrates and sugars such as bread, pasta, candy, soda drinks - anything that will give them a temporary high to compensate for their decreased pancreas/insulin output. As they grow older, they switch to adult stimulants such as caffeine, pastries and chocolate. (Don't get me wrong. I love chocolate, but in moderate doses.)

Many parents of children who have been labeled "hyperactive" or as having Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) may already say that I am describing their son or daughter. The solution for these children is not Ritalin (kiddie Prozac) and other mind numbing drugs, but the non-invasive approaches of N.O.T. that can intelligently and systematically help reorganize and clear the nervous systems of these hyper- or hypoactive conditions. N.O.T. can turn down the adrenals (by disarming the defense mode) and allow the body to restore energy and function back to the thyroid and insulin mechanisms. The sad reality is that most of us are in this state, since most of us have had falls or accidents which triggered the process of neural disorganization, and hence the move into defence mode.

If such disorganization is not corrected and the adrenal glands are forced to do more work than originally intended, they will eventually become fatigued or break down. I recently treated a patient who had for eight years been told she had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Fibromyalgia. She had been diagnosed with low thyroid and low blood sugar for which she had taken medications, and had also been on various diets that resulted in very little change, if not even adding more toxicity to her body. She could do nothing except sit. Standing up exhausted her. She stated that she had always been tired since her childhood years and was often sick with one cold or another.

When I saw her I did a neurological and emotional clearing as discussed in previous chapters and found that she had had a cranial injury and been stuck in defence since the age of about five. She had managed to get through life somehow but it was always a struggle. At 37 years of age her health began to nosedive and when I treated her at 49 years she was chronically tired, with continuous muscle aches, hypoglycemia and cravings for sweets and starchy foods. Her adrenals had been doing all the work, so instead of lasting 80 years they had collapsed with fatigue by the time she was half that age. After three sessions of N.O.T. over a period of two weeks she was back working in her garden and reported that she was functioning at a level she had not felt in more than 40 years.

When using N.O.T techniques this kind of testimonial is not uncommon, yet I never promote N.O.T. as a silver bullet. I see it as a very powerful technique, however, that should be given more attention globally and certainly employed as a first step in any healing modality.

It is a shame to pigeonhole patients into syndromes, diseases or conditions before first looking at neural disorganization. Far too often scientists spend precious time seeking viruses or bacteria as the causes of disease, instead of looking at the possibility of deeper individual causes and how they are affecting the whole. Many of the patients I have seen - especially those with birth or early childhood injuries - have spent the first 10 to 25 years of their lives stuck in hyperadrenalism (defence). When the adrenal gland eventually burns out and goes into a state of adrenal fatigue nothing seems to help these people maintain their daily energy levels, not even caffeine or sugar. They are chronically fatigued, achy all over, generally burnt out and depressed.

When working on a new patient, my approach is always to first employ the N.O.T. treatment protocols to eliminate any neuro-physical variables. I then check as many neuro-emotional variables as possible - and reset them. It is even possible to use muscle testing to find out if a person is reactive to a particular chemical substance, or benefiting from a particular food product. For example, one can place a grain of coffee on the tongue and then test a muscle. If the muscle weakens this indicates that caffeine is a stressor for that person, at that time.

This form of testing can be used not only for foods but also vitamins, drugs, herbs and homeopathic remedies that are being taken to rehabilitate the body. Sometimes there are surprises, as when a patient finds out that a particular vitamin or supplement they are taking is actually not doing them any good. It may be that the dosage is too high for them, or that the combination of products is not in balance. This is another area where muscle response testing has great value and can be used as a tool to seek feedback from the body.

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