Dynamic Neural Retraining System: Something That Has the Potential to Totally Change Your Life for the Better
The health of our brain is absolutely
paramount to consider when it comes to assessing the health of the rest of the body. This is because the brain acts as a control center for the rest of the body – regulating many vital systems and processes throughout.
The brain can be adversely impacted by any form of physical, mental, and/or emotional trauma and stress. It can also experience exposure to environmental toxins, injury, and illness as a form of trauma.
This can then result in the brain getting “stuck” in a chronic stress response, which will lead to illness and symptoms.
The Dynamic Neural Retraining System was designed to address this, and is something I have personally been using with success in my own healing journey.
Here we will explore what DNRS is and what it entails, the science behind it, how it can help with healing from many chronic conditions and symptoms, a bit of what to expect with the program, some of my personal experiences, and more.
Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. This means that if you click the link and subsequently make a purchase on the merchant’s website, we may earn a small commission at absolutely no additional cost to you. All opinions are entirely my own. I have used all products mentioned personally.
What Is DNRS?
I’ve spent hundreds and hundred of hours researching how mold impacts the human body and ways that I can help my body heal from exposure to toxic black mold.
My exposure had been completely unbeknownst to me until I suspected environmental toxins as a possible contributor to my illness and subsequently had my home inspected by a reputable mold inspection company who ultimately confirmed my suspicion.
The Dynamic Neural Retraining System is something that I had seen here and there, as it was being recommended by a few doctors who specialize in healing from Biotoxin Illness/Mold Toxicity.
Throughout my research over the years, I had become familiar with neuroplasticity, the truly changeable nature of the brain, and the importance of building and strengthening new, healthy neural pathways. I had also already been practicing techniques such as the Emotional Freedom Technique/Tapping, which is a wonderful tool for reducing the stress response to help alleviate physical, emotional, and mental symptoms.
So I decided to give DNRS a try…and boy am I glad that I did.
The Dynamic Neural Retraining System/DNRS is a program that was developed by counselor, speaker, and author, Annie Hopper.
She was searching for ways to heal from a severe mystery illness that she became afflicted with which rendered her extremely sensitive to chemicals and “every day” types of products, among other chronic symptoms.
In studying the incredibly powerful impact that the brain has on the rest of the body, she deduced that her illness must be caused in some way by an “injury” or maladapted protective response that her brain was sending to the rest of her body.
She was then able to design a methodology that utilizes the changeable nature of the brain, ie “neuroplasticity.” This methodology was able to repair this maladapted response and create new and healthy neural pathways which subsequently resulted in Annie’s complete recovery and healing.
She discovered that mold exposure had been the main catalyst to her illness, which was essentially, a trauma stress response within the limbic system of the brain.
The brain and body had become stuck in this stress response.
Since then, she formally designed what is now known as the Dynamic Neural Retraining System and began teaching this system to people around the world at in-person workshops.
The people she taught began experiencing incredibly transformative improvements in their own symptoms and health conditions.
Hopper then made the DNRS program accessible in an online instructional format for those of us who would be too ill to travel to a workshop or who couldn’t attend in person for other reasons.
The Science Behind DNRS
As is already pretty well known, stress has an adverse impact on our health.
While this is indeed fairly common knowledge, a lot of the reasons why this is the case, and how to fix it, are often left out of the discussion.
What is also often left out of the discussion is that the brain and body can experience physical catalysts such as illness, injury, environmental toxins, pathogens, etc as a form of trauma, or an extreme form of stress.
The brain and body are also impacted in this way by mental and emotional forms of stress and trauma.
This stress response is activated within the limbic system
of the brain, which is the part of the brain that is responsible for sending out the stress signal to the rest of the body via the autonomic nervous system.
This is the body’s way of ensuring its survival in response to a threat, and it was designed to be a temporary survival and defense mechanism.
However, the brain can become essentially stuck in this response, also often referred to as the “fight or flight” response.
Neurons within the brain can become damaged as a result, and the neural pathways in the brain can become “cross wired,” which sends imbalanced and faulty signals to the reset of the body, as it is chronically in a state of heightened stimulation and stress.
This can be referred to as “limbic system impairment,” and this can lead to any number of chronic health conditions and symptoms.
Some of these symptoms may include:
- Chronic fatigue
- Digestive upset
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Insomnia/sleep disturbance
- Dizziness
- Headaches and/or migraines
- Hormone imbalances (such as thyroid, adrenal, and/or sex hormone imbalance)
- Chronic pain
- Fibromyalgia
- Food sensitivities
- Biotoxin Illness/Mold Toxicity/”Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome/CIRS”
- Lyme Disease
- “Multiple Chemical Sensitivity/MCS”
- “Electric Hypersensitivity Syndrome/EHS”/sensitivity to EMF exposure
- “Mast Cell Activation Syndrome”
- Histamine Intolerance
- “Postural Orthostatic Tachycarida Syndrome/POTS”
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder/PTSD
- Obsessive Compulsive Disorder/OCD
- Dysautonomia
- More
In order to bring the brain out of this chronic stress state, new neural pathways must be formed, and the brain must be rewired. This is done via applied neuroplasticity.
Neuroplasticity is a topic that doctors, researchers, and scientists have given a lot more attention to over the last several years.
“Neuro,” meaning brain, and “plastic,” meaning changeable, malleable, etc come together to form the word neuroplasticity. This is primarily referencing the brain’s ability to form new synaptic connections and to become, in essence, rewired.
Once these new connections are formed, the brain is brought out of the chronic stress, survival state and henceforth, so is the rest of the body. This new state is characterized by physiological growth and repair, which enables the body to balance and heal.
This is then experienced as an elimination of symptoms and a recovery from chronic illness.
The health of your brain is absolutely imperative to the health of the rest of your body, because the brain essentially acts as a control center for the rest of the body. If the brain is out of balance, this can very much impact the proper functioning of the rest of the body.
What Does the DNRS Program Entail?
The DNRS program first entails a self-paced online instructional period.
This involves learning all about the science and physiology behind neuroplasticity, the limbic system, the stress response, and how this program is going to address imbalances in these areas.
This instructional period also involves learning the contents of the program itself, which includes:
- Daily exercises which apply the principles of neuroplasticity
- Shifts in cognitive associations
- Tips and tools for successfully incorporating the program into your daily life
- Additional resources
The DNRS program is designed to be applied over a 6 month period of time, however this time frame varies person to person based on a variety of factors that are unique to the individual and their case.
It is recommended to give the program at least 6 months to gauge its efficacy in helping with your healing.
Some people experience basically immediate improvements in their symptoms, but most people experience a gradual improvement over a period of time.
A lot of people reach full recovery in the 6 month time frame and for some it takes a bit longer.
Healing is not linear, meaning symptoms can ebb and flow as the body is being gradually brought into balance.
For the instructional portion of the course, it is important to go at your own pace and not to rush. Your digestion and assimilation of the material is the most important, not the amount of time it takes you to get through the course.
I know when I had severe brain fog, migraines, etc, it made instructional learning a bit more difficult than it would have been without those symptoms. I just took it one section at a time and went slowly and was able to learn all of the information successfully at my own pace.
This is part of the beauty of the online format – this is all on your watch.
There are also designated break times within the course.
Additional Resources
Your purchase of the DNRS online program includes:
- The course itself, which includes 20+ hours of self-paced online learning
- The online Student Manual
- Lifetime access to the Global Community Forum
- A coupon toward optional additional support groups and savings on optional Individual Coaching
The Global Community Forum is a resource where you can connect with other people who are doing the program/acquire peer support, access a wide variety of helpful additional resources and tips, and more.
If you find that you want additional support or individual one-on-one guidance, Individual Coaching options are available.
If you need the course in a language other than English, there is a DVD package version which is available in German, Spanish, French, Italian, Danish, Finnish, and Dutch.
Furthermore, there is a Student Manual that you will receive with the online course. If you wish to use a printed copy of the Student Manual, there is an option to purchase this.
Also, there is an option to order a printed Transcription Book of the whole course, word-for-word. I personally chose to order this, as I do well with having the material in a physical format that I can highlight and write hand written notes in.
Click here to check out the program.
A Bit About My Personal Experiences with DNRS
My personal health and healing journey has been long and complex and I have had multiple underlying causes to the illnesses that I have had.
One of these has been Biotoxin Illness/Mold Toxicity.
As mentioned above, one of the main reasons I decided to do DNRS was to continue to heal from the severe illness that I was experiencing as a result of prolonged exposure to toxic black mold.
Mold exposure can ignite a physical trauma response in the body, which causes limbic system imbalance and a cascade of physiological effects.
These effects can include “multiple chemical sensitivity,” brain fog, anxiety, depression, chronic fatigue, and a whole host of other effects and symptoms.
Rebalancing my limbic system was my main priority so I committed to the program wholeheartedly.
DNRS has been one of the most effective tools that I have used throughout my healing journey and one of my most valuable investments.
As mentioned above, I ordered the Transcription Book and also started a folder where I wrote out all of the information for my daily exercises and steps.
I found it helpful to have everything in one place that I could refer to.
After about 3 months of doing the program, I started to notice an improvement in several symptoms including anxiety, energy levels, and brain fog.
I also started to feel generally more alive.
In addition, I started to notice that my severe sensitivity to chemicals was improving.
Regarding chemicals, I was sensitive to basically anything that wasn’t completely natural, so all conventional cleaning products, laundry detergents, personal care products, etc. I was also very sensitive to fillers, preservatives, and additives in medications or packaged foods.
I was also hypersensitive to an endless list of supplements, foods, and all “common” allergens such as yeast, corn, dairy, and more.
Clearly, having these sensitives really impacts your life and makes living in today’s world very challenging.
You can choose to switch to natural products yourself, but this doesn’t mean the rest of the world does, and you are still a part of the rest of the world :).
For example, going into public places where any kind of conventional cleaning product had been used caused headaches, shortness of breath, throat irritation, chest tightness, increased fatigue, water retention/swelling, bloating, and more for me.
I would react to so many things that a lot of people don’t even give a second thought to.
For example, one day, I had checked out at the grocery store and when I was loading everything into my car I realized that there must have been some kind of notable residue of a cleaning product or personal care product with a synthetic floral scent on the conveyor belt at check out, because I started reacting to everything I was touching and could smell the residue on all of my items.
I could immediately sense my body starting to swell, my heart starting to pound, and a headache coming on. I now had a trunk full of groceries that if I touched, I would have symptoms.
That’s just one example of many.
After a few months of DNRS this started to improve and is continuing to improve.
I’ve also been able to add back a much wider variety of foods to my eating plan, and have been able to use a wider variety of supplements and healing agents, as I am no longer hypersensitive to so many ingredients.
This program has also been very helpful in healing from past traumas as well.
I plan on continuing with the program for quite some time.
Other Testimonials
Before I decided to do the DNRS program, it was very helpful to hear about how other people had benefited from it and what their previous symptoms and conditions entailed.
It turned out that I could certainly relate to a lot of the people explaining their health struggles, as a lot of the symptoms and conditions they mentioned I too was dealing with.
Click here for 10 pages of firsthand testimonials which help to demonstrate the powerful healing potential of the DNRS program.
Self Assessment Survey
There is a Self Assessment Survey that you can do, which can be helpful for you to determine if limbic system impairment is a big contributor to the health struggles you are currently facing.
If you answer yes to 5 or more of the questions, it is very likely that limbic system impairment is present and DNRS would be something to consider as part of your healing protocol.
The survey can be found here.
In Closing…
As we’ve explored here, the Dynamic Neural Retraining System is a powerful tool that can be used for a variety of healing goals.
It utilizes the science of neuroplasticity to rewire the brain, creating new, healthy neural pathways that encourage a balanced physiological state.
If you have any questions about my personal experiences with the program, please feel free to reach out! You may contact me directly at megan@healingjourneyessentials.com, submit the contact form on our contact page, or comment below :).
I wish you all of the very best in your healing journey, you’ve got this!
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