Contact the Oakley Centre:
Ben Oakley
The Oakley Centre
18 West Street
Newport
South Wales NP20 4DD
Telephone:
07824 479 379 (mobile)
Testimonials
Janet, Glastonbury (January 2010)
'I had had ME for two years when I attended Ben's course in Glastonbury. Although by that time I had improved from the early days, I was still far from well and still spent a lot of the time lying on the sofa feeling rotten. I could get out for short periods but any activity had to be followed by a long rest. I would seem to improve for a while but then relapse again for weeks at a time. I was beginning to feel defeated.
The course was great fun, though I was quite nervous to start with. After the first day I was filled with confidence that I could get back to normal. Ben is truly inspirational! I made an immediate big improvement after the course and have continued to gain in fitness since. It is now 5 months later and I feel wonderful! I have been on holiday to Venice and have re-joined the walking groups which I used to belong to. I have also re-started Pilates, joined the gym and am spending more time with my small grandchildren. Over Christmas I did lunch for 10 of us! All these things I had been beginning to think I would never do again.
It has not always been plain sailing and I have come off track and relapsed briefly a couple of times in the last 5 months. I was feeling so positive that at times I just pushed my unfit body too much too soon! Twice I felt the need to ring Ben, but after a short chat he was able to show me how to get back on track again and how to deal with the anxiety about being ill again. You do need to keep going with the Process but the rewards are enormous.
Thank you again, Ben, for being an inspirational tutor. Your enthusiastic support has been invaluable.'
Katie MacLarnon, Oxfordshire (November 2008)
I am still astounded at how my life has been transformed, after having M.E. severely for 23 years. Something changed in me on day one of the course. A week later I was walking further than I had for years, I was up ALL day – a new phenomenon for me, just amazing!
Ten months on I work 2-3 times a week for an hour or more, I can cycle 6 miles, and my greatest joy is being able to play tennis again for an hour or so weekly. I’ve had a 2 day holiday on the South Coast – a dream for many years.
My focus is still building fitness and stamina. My closest family and friends continue to be astonished at my achievements, as I do!
Thank you so much Ben.
Marjorie Ball, Retired, Westbury-on-Trym (November 2009)
I had been affected by M.E for 10 years and although I had improved quite a bit, I had reached a plateau and was not regaining full strength. The improvement began almost immediately, and over a period of four months progressed to the point where, for the first time in ten years I found myself climbing stairs, hills, and walking as I had been unable to up until then. If I felt myself slipping back I would use the Process until now, about 18 months later, I hardly think about it and am living my life. I have got my life back!
Jess, Cardiff (November 2009)
I am 16 years’ old and before I took my training with Ben, I had lost all enjoyment in my life and worried about school and exams. Everything was a chore instead of me actually enjoying doing it! I was fearful of my future and felt I could not get any lower. After my training I went straight on holiday and had the best time of my life. Everything I had learned in the training helped me to conquer my fears and be free of the irrational behaviour I once had. I feel like a new person and I cannot believe how much my life has changed for the better. It still amazes me that a few months’ ago, I was stuck in the pit! I cannot begin to explain how great it is and it seems strange that something so simple is so effective. I am now thoroughly enjoying life to the full and having fun and I am greatly looking forward to my life ahead. Even if I go through a rough patch, I always know what I can do to change it. It has taught me that I am in control of my own life.
Chloe (October 2009)
Thank you for all your support, commitment and encouragement during the course earlier in the week. With your fantastic professionalism and guidance you have helped me to change my life. I feel the door has been unlocked to allow me to do anything I want to do with confidence. I now see everything in a positive point of view and all of my family have commented about how different I am. They are all delighted with the changes I have made and are as excited as I am about what I can achieve in the future.
I have already accomplished so much in the past few days and will let you know all about them when I call on Tuesday.
Thank you again, I am so grateful for everything. You have assisted me back to living the life I love!
Emma (October 2009)
Dear Ben,
From the bottom of my heart, I want to write and thank you for your excellent and most professional training and instruction. Without doubt, it was your unfailing encouragement, support and belief in my ability to get good results that were key to my success story. I am now so aware of how strong and powerful the brain is and I’m convinced that there will be no future barriers to living the life I love. To see the reaction on my husband's and Mum’s face when, late last night, I made my ‘surprise entrance’ was priceless. In my husband’s own words, “You’ve come back like a breath of fresh air – full of vitality!” wow!
So Ben, thank you once again and keep up the good work. I really do hope that you realise how much of a difference you make.
With very best wishes,
Emma
Carolyn, Swindon (March 2009)
I'd had ME since 1994 and Fybromyalgia (FM) since 2001. Through years of varying severity to periods of feeling better I was still at the stage of needing more to recover. I've had excellent medical help from Bristol Homoepathic Hospital and used various methods to help myself over the years. As a committed Christian I've also been given great strength and peace to cope with the illness.
Ben put us all at ease straight away, it also helped that my husband came along as an observer. Apart from the fatigue my biggest problem was the FM pain which at times was crippling, I knew sitting in an upright chair would give me problems and the first day I was in a lot of pain by the end of it, yet I was also filled with a knowledge that this was a training programme I could do.
By the third day I noticed I wasn't aware of the FM pain so much as I used the process. Early mornings were the worst times in the past, after a few weeks that was a thing of the past!
It has been an amazing few months, hard mentally at times but I know it works and I feel good. I was taking homoeopathic and prescribed conventional medicine for the FM. I have now come off both (sensibly reducing) and rarely get bothered by the FM pain. I used to have to sit with a cushion across my lap to rest my arm as it was so painful, again that is a thing of the past.
The most amazing thing for me is being able to have good walks again, before this I managed a 10 minute walk once or twice a week. On holiday recently in Dorset I did a mile and half every day!!
With other commitments on my time I can do a 45 minute walk a couple of times a week which is great. We've joined the National Trust and have started having days out again, something that didn't happen before.
I can certainly recommend Ben as a coach, he has great empathy and explained everything in an easy to understand way. It is also great to know I can ring any time I 'do' stuck, which has happened a couple of times and he has put me back on track.
Katherine Owen, Swindon
What did I get from the course?
Ben was willing to accept me at the level of physical ability I had at the time. It was a huge challenge for me to even be there, and he asked if I was able to get out of the wheelchair, but did not pressure me to do so.
He believed I could do great things and taught me to coach myself with the same belief.
He focused on what I was doing well and taught me to do the same.
He had total belief that it was possible for me to recover from M.E. and recover quickly, and transferred this belief to me.
I felt he really cared about those of us on the course and was intensely passionate about the Lightning process and what it could do for us.
Following the course it meant a lot to me to know I was going to receive the two follow up calls, and the coaching they included.
I was hugely impressed with Ben as a coach. His confidence, his knowledge and his passion. I recommend him highly.
What were the consequences for me?
Between 1995 and 2008 I had severe M.E. to the point where I could not feed myself, had little speech, a commode by the bed and could not watch TV. I had severe chemical and electrical sensitivities. On the second day I collapsed and thought I would have to stop. On the third day I was walking. Since then my muscles have no longer collapsed and I have been able to build up my activity to the point where a year on, I let go of all personal care. Whilst I still have some symptoms, I am able to go to people’s houses and public places i.e. electrical and chemical environments. I have gained a diploma in NLP and am doing various evening classes. After fifteen years of being bed-bound, I continue to apply what I learnt to improve my health and return to normal life.
It is important to me to give the context for my recovery. I had spent three years building up my faith for healing using Christian scriptures. I had many moments of knowing that health is our entitlement and would become manifest. In these moments I relaxed in not having to know how it would come about – would it be a miracle in church or at home, would it be through the course? For me there is no question that the course was the trigger for my recovery.
Liz, (May 2008)
I had suffered from M.E. for about 27 years and although I had made a significant recovery using a variety of different approaches, life was still quite limited. I was still getting frequent bouts of being pretty unwell (especially if I got overtired) and even on good days could not cope without an afternoon rest. Disturbed sleep at nights was the norm and my social life was almost non-existent.
My husband, John, attended the course with me as an observer and this was a great help. Not only was he able to make a valuable contribution to the course (he is disabled himself following a serious accident from which he made a remarkable recovery) but he has been a great support to me too as he is fully conversant with what it is all about and can help keep me on track!
It is exactly what it says it is – a programme to enable us to retrain our brains to respond in more positive and life-enhancing ways. By the end of the course I knew for certain that my M.E. was a thing of the past and that I could look forward to a bright and fulfilling future.
It is now a month since I did the course and almost 30 years since I was last really well. I am now 65 and a lot of things have changed over the years so obviously I have to make allowance for this when re-shaping my life. Nevertheless I am making excellent progress. I am now sleeping much better at nights without medication. I stay awake most days which means I can go out in the afternoons. I am starting to develop a social life once again and even enjoyed a recent trip to the theatre when I actually managed to see the whole show instead of having to leave, exhausted, at the interval! Perhaps the thing I appreciate most is that I can now plan ahead and make arrangements knowing that I will be well on the day.
Sally, Bristol (April 2008)
This has made a huge difference to my energy levels, straight away. It's an incredibly valuable experience and has enabled me to move on and re-create my life. Ben is a very supportive and empathetic trainer.
Vikki, Bristol (April 2008)
Although I visited the Oakley Clinic just two and a half months ago, it feels like a lifetime since I wasn't well. I have been so busy enjoying life, I have also passed my driving test, written essays, and am now revising for my finals for a well overdue degree. Having in the past been able to only leave the house in my electric wheelchair I now regularly do Pilates and take brisk walks in the Cotswolds. Look out summer, here I come...!
Lesley Chapman, Devon (April 2008)
The course enabled me to release myself from chronic fatigue and get my life back. Now I'm wonderfully busy and enjoying every precious moment of the life I love. I am well and I will never be sick like that again.
Jane Bentham, Bristol (April 2008)
I have had 4 episodes of ME/CFS over 10 years with a full recovery after each which I am told is unusual. I have tried some private medical cures, gluten free diets, hypnosis and every alternative therapy going in desperation.
It was a struggle to even get to the course. By the end of the first day I felt very cynical and wondered what I'd wasted my money on this time: I had the choice of going home and forgetting it or staying and seeing it through. I very nearly went home. But I didn't and decided to give it a go as I'd already paid. So I wasn't in a good frame of mind for the second day.
The course connected with many of my "life philosophies/approaches" and explains to me why I have managed to recover eventually in the past. I had my first lager in 3 years that night as a treat before staggering home with a smile on my face.
Then we had to feel ridiculous as we applied it to ourselves the next morning (the limit was reached when I retired to the Ladies loo in the Museum for privacy to discover it hasd opaque glass walls on 3 sides!!). Please note that I visited the museum as an activity before the third session (and the Georgian House) which involved "miles" of walking! I was already doing much more than I had for 6 months.
My journey home was an ordeal but I knew I would survive without relapse and I did. I went from strength to strength and am now back at work as a maths teacher. I go white water kayaking at weekends, have joined a gym (and even go occasionally!), went camping this weekend for the first time in years, run, cycle, hike, joined a choir, and am going to Milan this weekend. I'm planning to go on a week's sea kayaking holiday in Scotland this summer (being able to plan ahead is a new experience). I now have a level of quiet confidence I haven't known for 10 years which is hard to explainbut even my GP can see it. I constantly have to work at it (in the background) and feel a refresher course is essential. The important thing is knowing that there is something that works and is achievable.
Liz Brownscombe, Barnstaple (September 2007)
Before I met with Ben I couldn’t watch birds on TV or walk down the street normally if birds were in the way. Now I can walk down the high street without diving into shops to avoid pigeons and sit and watch wildlife programmes without having to leave the room. I even went to the zoo and watched some parrots! Thanks Ben!