Yes, Long Covid is absolutely a biological illness!!

And Polyvagal theory is actually a biological theory. The vagus nerve is at the heart of the autonomic nervous system, or ANS. It starts in the brain stem and goes all the way through all our major organs: the lungs, the heart, the liver, the spleen, the pancreas, and ends in the gut. When our ANS is working correctly and the vagus nerve is flexible and has what is called “tone,” it mediates wellness in the body in a powerful way. It regulates heart rate, blood pressure, gastrointestinal function, heating, cooling, thirst, hunger, and breathing. We know from studies in animals that when the vagus nerve is stimulated, a strong anti-inflammatory response is initiated, and more and more people have an awareness now since it was discussed in the New Scientist in January 2023 in an article authored by Grace Wade.

This course includes Polyvagal and Mind-body strategies. Supporting our vagal nerve to work more effectively is always going to enhance the biological healing process. We can also enhance that further using Mind-body techniques such as acknowledging the role of self-critical thoughts, perfectionism, and even grief.

Polyvagal theory is the science of safety, how our nervous systems want to be in the Parasympathetic state and want to connect with others and feel calm and grateful, and compassionate. I appreciate that you more than likely have experienced considerable medical trauma and gaslighting in your Long Covid journey. This course promises not to do that. It will be a safe space to learn from someone who gets it, with proven strategies and techniques that are relevant to us (not that we have to convert from some other similar but not quite the same illness).

The course is broken into 3 easy steps: Learning your Sensitivities; Polyvagal and Mind-body Strategies; and Supports, with 21 individual 5 minute lessons. The course includes videos with infographics of me explaining things, worksheets for you to work through yourself, assessments, videos of me explaining techniques for you to try, downloadable material for you to review, etc. It is designed to be accessible and highly interactive, within your energy envelope. At no point will I be asking you to jump up and do something physical!! And if you get tired from the materials they are in small chunks so you can take a break, and you can also come back and review sections as many times as you need.

The course is designed to go at your own pace and given that pacing and not doing too much and then crashing is crucial with Long Covid, we do encourage you to take your time. That being said if you are further along in your recovery and can do more each day without crashing then that is fine too. For the Polyvagal strategies section, the course is designed for you to practice one new strategy each day, and there are 13 strategies so that will take you two weeks.

In all, we estimate the average person with Long Covid will take 6-8 weeks to work through the material and begin to see positive changes in their nervous system. Any less and you risk crashing along the way. And of course, you can take more if you need. We all want to be recovered asap and also learning to pace that too is part of the process.

The first thing I want to say about all of these programs is that they heavily emphasize that Long COVID (and other similar chronic illnesses) are all of the mind. They are not. Long COVID, is more than likely a vascular disease caused by damage to the endothelium by the spike protein. This program helps you improve the functioning of your vagus nerve so that it can facilitate biological healing in your body.

Also I think all three of these programs have a heavy emphasis on fear, and how fear is what is causing your symptoms. "If you just reduce your fear you will be fully functional again". But fear is not causing our mitochondrial dysfunction. So regardless of how much fear we have if we do too much we will crash! And fear is also not causing our autonomic dysfunction. Its the other way around... if you are in fight or flight too much then you will have more anxiety than normal. This program focusses on helping you get out of fight or flight and then you will have less fear.

Also each of these programs talks a lot about the Limbic System with a focus on changing that. The thing to remember about trauma is that we can’t fix it by talking about it, and we also can’t really directly influence the limbic system. Really and truly, we must start with the autonomic nervous system, the ANS, because biologically that is what is triggering the limbic system. So, you can try to fix what the limbic system is doing, but if the ANS is still triggering it, fixing it won’t work. This program works on fixing the ANS.

Great question!! No this is not the SSP. The SSP is a 5 hour auditory intervention that produces permanent and positive changes to your nervous system. However, it is copyrighted and only available through certified practitioners who have purchased a subscription. You cannot listen to it through an e-course. And in particular, for people with Long Covid, it is highly recommended that you only listen in sessions with your provider for at least the first hour of listening, and go very slowly, maybe 3-5 minutes at a time.

This course is essentially all the material that I teach to my individual clients alongside their SSP listening. What Polyvagal theory is, how it's relevant, how to learn what your own nervous system is doing, and then how to support it accordingly. Personally, I have done both the SSP and I have learned my nervous system and learned to implement daily strategies, and I find both to be equally powerful. If you would like the opportunity to also do both, having taken the course there will be opportunities to join our Group SSP program for a discounted price.

Yes! I have been there and I was very sick and barely able to get out of bed for months. This course has been designed specifically for that situation because when we are in chronic shutdown, that’s when we need to learn our nervous system and lean into it the most! All the Polyvagal Strategies have been designed to assume that’s exactly where you are starting!

The course is designed to go at your own pace so if that’s super slow that’s totally fine! You will have a whole year to work through the material if you need it. And to reduce cognitive load and make it easier for you to digest with low energy and brain fog the videos will be in super short chunks, have subtitles, a downloadable transcript if that’s easier for you, and all the handouts and graphics you will also be able to download and review alongside the screen as I’m talking.