Introduction

We have developed the BodyMind programme to help people who have long term chronic illnesses.

We show you how to address the underlying cause of many problems. Our programme is not therapy, CBT or rocket science(!) We teach practical techniques and strategies that help you to change the way your body functions. Through applying the BodyMind techniques it is possible to improve your health and wellbeing, enabling you to engage in a more fulfilling life again.

The techniques are easy to learn, but it does take on-going commitment to get good results and make them sustainable. They can also be effective when used by people with severe symptoms

The NHS does not currently fund places at the Rowan Centre. However, there are now NHS consultants, GPs and occupational therapists recommending our programmes to patients. Clinicians in the NHS have observed the work we do. To find out more, you can speak to Gael Postle, occupational therapist at the James Paget University Hospital pain clinic on 01493 453307 or the occupational therapists at the Norfolk and Suffolk ME/CFS service on 01502 527579.

We advise you to consult your GP and obtain a diagnosis before applying for the programme.

You can make the first small step by starting to understand how the mind and body work together, to powerfully influence each other physiologically.

The BodyMind Programme

programme for health The programme consists of preparation and coaching, assessment, a three day training course at the Rowan Centre, follow-up coaching sessions and many other forms of on-going support. You learn how to have a positive effect on your immune system, digestive system, endocrine system (hormones), neurological and musculo skeletal body systems.

You will discover how stress has a devastating effect on the mind and many body systems, but even more importantly, you will discover what “stress” really is, and how much of it is an unconscious response.

"Any treatment which reduces the stress response
will improve chronic fatigue syndrome and many other conditions"

Professor Leslie J Findley, MD, MRCS, DRCOG, DCH, FRCP speaking on Radio 4 Consultant Neurologist with Barking, Havering and Redbridge NHS Trust

Training room The excessive production of stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) has been found to cause dysfunction to most body systems, which can lead to a confusing array of symptoms. Our techniques work so well because when you apply them effectively, you address the underlying cause of many problems, by stopping the unconscious stress response that can perpetuate chronic illness.

You will learn in detail how stress hormones effect your body. You also learn how your own personal triggers create physiological responses.

We then teach you how to use techniques to stop the unconscious stress response and replace it with positive responses that allows the body and mind to function normally. The reduction in stress hormones allows the body to return to homeostatis (a state of equilibrium) and the proper regulation of serotonin and melatonin leads to improved sleep, appetite, emotions and mood.

Sunset We teach you how to use NLP language, visualisations, brain rehearsal techniques, coaching and movement to stimulate new neural pathways in your brain. By day 2 you’ll be starting to notice positive improvements and then build on this during the third day of the programme as you learn how to apply techniques to many different areas of your life and health. We then support you to make the improvements sustainable. You will have to continue to integrate the techniques into your life and be ready to make an on-going commitment to your health. In doing so you will find the techniques become easy and natural.

Here is a small sample of quotes from people who have been to the Rowan Centre.

"The improvements snowballed and continue to do so to this day" - Jenny "
The MS doesn't control me anymore, I have taken control of the MS" - Stian
“CFS is a thing of the past" - Chloe

Read their full stories here

The Science

neural networks firing in response to stimuli

The amygdala are the two parts of your brain responsible for triggering the fight or flight response. This is a normal, healthy response designed for survival and when the danger is over we revert to ‘homeostasis’, i.e. normal body function. But when we experience a lot of worry, anxiety, or fear, and especially during a chronic illness, the amygdala become highly sensitised which leads to the brain and body becoming stuck in “stress response”.

The stress response is perpetuated by our thoughts, feelings and emotions, that fire up particular neural pathways in the brain. Repeated firing of the neural pathways leads to them becoming so established that the response happens automatically without us even realising.

“We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence therefore is not an action, but a habit.” Aristotle.

So in order to improve our health, we have to become aware of how we are perpetuating the stress response. We cannot rationalise ourselves out of it, we have to repeatedly reprogamme the brain and body with new life enhancing thoughts and feelings. In doing so we destabilise the stress response pattern as new positive responses become established between the brain and body.

To look at research click here.

Through repeatedly practicing life enhancing thoughts and feelings, we can literally retrain our body and brain into new patterns of health and wellbeing. The picture shows neurotransmitters (electrochemical messages) passing between one neuron and another. If this particular pathway is fired often enough, it will become an automatic response. By using the BodyMind techniques you will create new, automatic responses in the brain and body that lead to better health…the results speak for themselves.

Visualisation alters the brain & body

Dr David Hamilton Dr. David Hamilton gained a first class honours degree in chemistry (specialising in biological and medicinal chemistry) from the University of Strathclyde, and later a PhD. He has worked as a scientist at one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies and has lectured students in chemistry and ecology at the University of Glasgow. Dr. Hamilton currently gives talks and runs workshops in the UK and around the world, talking about how the brain effects the body.

Your brain cannot tell the difference between something that's real and whether you are just imagining it. Look at the brain imaging scans below.

Harvard scientists taught a simple 5-fingered combination of piano notes to a group of people which they played over and over again for 2 hours a day. They did this for 5 consecutive days. Another group of volunteers didn't actually play the notes, but just imagined playing them.

As you can see from the brain scans, the changes to the brain are almost identical. The scans for the volunteers doing actual physical practice and those doing mental practice are the same. The brain responds in the same way to real and imaginary actions.

Physical Practice
“To the brain”, says Dr. Hamilton, “we really are moving our fingers as we play notes on the piano. From the research that I've collected, I am convinced that the same type of thing occurs when we imagine ourselves healing. The brain thinks that we really are healing. It then changes as if healing is happening, and this stimulates the actual area of the body that we are imaging at the cellular level. I am convinced that this causes cellular and genetic changes at that site, which eventually leads to what we are imagining happening (a healed body) actually happening.”

This is how the placebo effect works at the cellular level. Recent scientific research into the placebo effect clearly shows that what happens in the body is what we expect to happen. Our own thoughts and expectations drive what actually occurs, causing cellular and genetic changes.

What is stress and how does it affect us ?

Stress is the body's reaction to a change that requires a physical, mental or emotional adjustment.

Stressed woman External stressors may include work, sleepless nights or money problems. Illness itself is stressful, as it may limit your ability to do ‘normal’ things and it may also effect your relationships. Increased stress hormones affect the mind and body and can become a chronic problem. There is much research now that shows long term or chronic stress has a devastating effect on
our immune function.

In our opinion, many powerful stressors also come from within. Low self-esteem, lack of confidence and fear of the future are all fairly common. But because they are experienced so often and feel so ‘normal’, they too create stress hormones.

stressed man Part of the training programme is learning to spot the internal stressors, as they are often unconscious responses.

Whilst a diagnoses is useful in many ways, it can also add an additional stress factor to the life of the patient, as concerns for the future increase. This can create a vicious cycle that contributes to maintaining the condition or even making it worse.

In relation to pain
Pain is transmitted from the periphery to the brain via the spinal cord. Many scientists believe that pain messages are controlled by “gates” located in the spinal cord. It appears that when we experience stress, anxiety, fear, depression, memory of pain and crises, pain gate function is affected. The gates do not work properly and allow pain signals through which would otherwise be regulated.

Long-term illness can also make you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression. The more your body’s stress system is activated, the more sensitive it becomes, and the harder it is to switch it off.

Researcher, D. Bulijevac, PhD, a neurologist with the Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, reports that researchers found that periods of stress doubled the risk of MS patients developing new symptoms, or a more severe form of their existing symptoms. He speculated that this is probably because chronic stress weakens the immune system. British Medical Journal, 2003.

To find out more on this subject you may wish to go online and research ‘stress response’ and how long term stress affects various body systems.

You may also be interested in our Stress Management Masterclass

Preparation

Being adequately prepared is an important requisite for success with this programme. It is essential to decide that this particular training programme is appropriate for you and your illness.

When you are ill it can be hard to imagine how you could go on a training course, and we believe it is entirely reasonable for you to be unsure whether you will get good results. Please use the contact form
or call us if you want to discuss your suitability.

The Next Steps

Firstly, find out as much as you can from our website and look at the recovery stories.
Prepare some questions and phone us for an informal chat. We think it is a really good idea to explain as much as possible and address all your queries before you go any further. We may book another coaching call with you (no charge) and we can put you in touch with others who have been to the Rowan Centre
Have a look online at talks by Dr. Joe Dispenza, Dr. David Hamilton and Dr. Bruce Lipton. They have also written books and produced CDs/DVDs
When you feel ready to go ahead fill in the Assessment Form and send it to us

Evolve your brain Biology of Belief How your mind can heal your body

Practical details

The course fee is £850 which includes

Preparation coaching sessions if required
Assessment
3 training days (10am-3pm and time off to practice)
Written course materials
3 x 30 minute follow-up coaching sessions
Membership of the Rowan Centre online forum

Many people need on-going follow-up, so additional coaching sessions can be arranged if required.
You can also attend group ‘Top Up’ days when you need to be re-inspired. See optional extras below.

When you have decided you want to go ahead send us your completed assessment form

Concessionary place - fee £450

We offer one place each month for people on a very low income. This includes everything listed above. These are normally booked up well in advance so please ask about availability. We do this because we were in the same position ourselves when we were ill. We do not means-test, so please only ask for one of these places if you can’t raise or borrow the fee.

Additional coaching sessions can be arranged separately if required, see optional extras below.

Credit
You can spread the cost on your credit card using PayPal.

Optional extras

Follow-up coaching

Diary keeping and 15 minute check in £20
30 minutes phone session £30
1 hour phone session £60

Top up refresher day £75. These provide an opportunity to revisit core elements of the training, discuss progress and do follow-up coaching and practice in a group situation. This is a full day and includes lunch.

Payment methods

Payment is required once your place on the training programme is confirmed

Direct payment Make a payment direct into our bank account – this is our preferred option

Cheque Send a cheque for the full fee.

PayPal You can use this to pay online, enabling you to spread the total cost on your credit card. Paypal charge 3.4% for this option which will be added to your fee. If you choose this option we will email you a payment request when your place is confirmed

Venue

Preparation coaching and follow-up can be done on the phone or face to face. The 3 training days are held at The Rowan Centre in Suffolk. We are located in Leiston, midway between Ipswich and Lowestoft, just a few minutes from the A12 and two hours from the M25. Please visit the accommodation page which lists comfortable B&B and self-catering accommodation close by.

We can supply you with a list of comfortable B&B and self-catering accommodation close by.