Resiliently Rachel

In April 2018 my life changed in a big way. After over a decade of dealing with illness after illness (Lyme, mold, food allergies/sensitivities, chemical sensitivities, neurological problems) I began the Dynamic Neural Retraining Systems program (DNRS) to help alleviate specifically my Multiple Chemical Sensitivities (MCS) and Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS). Within a short amount of time, I was noticing huge changes with my tolerance to chemicals, and within a month and a half of consistent daily brain retraining, I was back to eating every single food I had lost over the years.

I have been posting about my journey on my blog, my Instagram page, and on my YouTube channel, but I wanted to make this post so that I could have everything I’ve made about DNRS in the same place.

If a year and a half ago you had told me that I would be THIS healthy, happy, and completely fine with chemicals and food…I would have said you were nuts! I didn’t realize that after years and years of chronic illness, my limbic system had been greatly affected. I didn’t know that my reaction to chemicals wasn’t me needing to detox more, or needing to practice avoidance. It was in fact a messed-up signal being sent to my brain. A signal I had the power to change.

I didn’t know that by doing this program, I would completely get off ALL supplements and medications for the first time in 14 years. That it would allow me to stop all medical treatments, except for the occasional chiropractic appointment. And most importantly, that it would end the vicious cycle that constantly kept me in some sort of health crisis. (Lyme → co-infections → mold → CRVO (going blind in one eye due to an extraordinarily rare eye condition for a young person to have) → hyperthyroidism → serious food allergies/sensitivities → diabetes insipidus → multiple chemical sensitivities → dysautonomia and losing the ability to control my left arm → body-wide seizure-like convulsions ….the list goes on and on)

The need to constantly fight bizarre new health issues consumed my whole life. I spent so much time chasing each individual symptom, that until DNRS, I didn’t see that so many of them were linked! Because my brain had been screwed up by everything I’d been through, it sent weird, faulty signals. By learning how to rewire my brain with DNRS, I could finally put an end to that awful cycle, and start LIVING.

After DNRS, I became someone who was actually healthy. Like, legit consistently feeling awesome. (Who knew that was even a thing??) I took up hiking, krav maga self-defense, aerial fitness, and paddleboard yoga. My family even traveled to India last November to attend a wedding. (That would have been out of the question before.) And I’m now planning another adventure out of the country with my husband!

I not only regained the ability to eat anything I wanted and be around chemicals again, but I also got something I didn’t know was possible. I finally put a stop to that endless loop of health challenges that I’ve faced for more than a decade. I’m 27, and for the first time since I was 12, I experienced a year without any mystery health issue popping up and calling the shots.

DNRS has given me so much more than what I originally asked of it. It’s given me my freedom and my future. I’ve never worked so hard for anything in my life—you need to be fully dedicated to retraining your brain or you won’t see results. As an instructor at my DNRS seminar told me, “you can’t stop watering a seedling after just a couple weeks and expect a tree to grow.” It takes time—at least 6 months of dedicated brain retraining, but oh wow…it’s so worth it! ♥

Below are all the blogs and videos I have made so far about my experience recovering with DNRS:

To read my first blog post about DNRS, click here!

To read my 6-month update post-DNRS, click here!

To watch my incredible transformation after just one year of DNRS, click the video link above!

After I returned from the in-person DNRS seminar in spring of 2018, I felt compelled to write a rap song about DNRS.

Recently, after celebrating my one-year anniversary of doing DNRS, I made this song where I changed the lyrics to the song “You’re So Classic” to “Your Brain Is So Plastic”. Neuroplasticity, or brain plasticity, refers to the brain’s ability to change throughout life.  This concept is a big part of why DNRS works!

So often people (myself included!) just talk about how amazing it is to get your life back after retraining your brain with DNRS… But what is also just as true is that it can be insanely overwhelming once you do. I wanted to make this video for those going through that specific stage of their healing journey.

I made four “DNRS With Rachel” videos, where I do the back-to-back memory parts of the round. I went in and added in sound effects after the fact, to show how I imagine it. It’s not the full round, but it gives an idea of how I like to go into detail during my rounds to make me feel like I’m really there.

This is my very first DNRS video, back when I had only been doing it for about a month! The video shows a big WOW-moment, when I was able to enter Goodwill, a place I was never able to go before, due to the harsh chemicals they use.

Follow me on Instagram and YouTube for more current updates on what I’m doing! ♥