EP122: Change your brain, change your practice with Ashok Gupta

Perfect Practice

Today, Sachin discusses the Gupta Program with Ashok Gupta. Ashok suffered from ME/CFS after catching a virus after two years of University study. He studied brain neurology, physiology, and alternative techniques and came up with a hypothesis as to what he thought caused ME/CFS. He trained his brain in a way that calmed his nervous and immune systems and allowed him to return to his activities. Listen in to hear how Ashok developed the Gupta Program, the success of his work with clients, how the brain uses neuroplasticity to rewire itself for health, and how you can experience this program in a free trial.

Key Takeaways:

[1:03] Sachin welcomes listeners to Perfect Practice. Today, Sachin is speaking with Ashok Gupta. Sachin introduces Ashok and his work and thanks him for joining the podcast.

[3:03] Ashok picked up a stomach virus on a trip to India during his undergraduate years at Cambridge. He went back to his third year at the university and suddenly was feeling much worse as a result of the virus. His health deteriorated until he could no longer continue with his studies.

[3:40] He was diagnosed with ME/CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome). He couldn’t read the words on the page of a book. In his worst moments, he had to crawl to the bathroom. With his life ahead of him, he felt like he had hit a brick wall. He went from doctor to practitioner. No one could tell him what caused it but they said he may have it for the rest of his life.

[4:11] At Ashok’s worst moment, he was almost suicidal. He felt he couldn’t continue. He describes ME/CFS as your worst day of flu times 10. That started Ashok on a lifelong quest to try to understand what causes these unusual conditions. What’s the underlying basis for them?

[4:42] Ashok met so many others who were suffering. He made a promise to the universe that if he managed to get himself better, he would dedicate the rest of his life to helping others with this condition. Ashok studied brain neurology, physiology, and alternative techniques. He came up with a hypothesis as to what he thought caused ME/CFS.

[5:11] Ashok retrained his brain in an ad hoc way. He got himself 100% better and published some medical research on his hypothesis on this condition. Then he opened up a clinic to help others with these conditions. They started with ME/CFS and then discovered many conditions can be treated using neuroplasticity and brain retraining.

[6:25] The clinic has taken off over the last few years. When they started, the idea that you could train your brain to overcome an illness was an alien concept; now everybody’s talking about it. Ashok calls it the new branch of medicine.

[6:52] It’s not psychology. It’s not physiology. It’s looking at the underlying reasons for illness in the brain and retraining the brain. Neuroplasticity is going to revolutionize the way we treat many different conditions.

[7:34] Twenty-three years ago, it was assumed the brain was pretty fixed by the time we are adults. In the last 20 years, we’ve discovered that the brain is constantly rewiring itself. It’s constantly changing. We can shift even the way our immune system operates if we find the right keys for the right lock. Neuroplasticity is the idea that the brain is rewirable.

[8:28] Any change we make through psychological or physiological intervention, often then involves a shift in the brain. Neuroplasticity starts with that shift in the brain. The principle is to understand the science behind neuroplasticity, target it, and create accelerated change. Ashok explains how neuroplasticity fits in with epigenetics.

[10:23] Ashok tells about his process of treating a client through neuroplasticity. First, he helps the client understand the hypothesis. If you can fix the central system that is causing the abnormalities, a lot of the abnormalities will take care of themselves. With brain training, in many cases, the body can self-heal and look after itself.

[12:12] When people understand the hypothesis of the cause and root level of their condition, they look at the three Rs of the program. The first R is Relaxing the nervous system. This “softens the sand.” The second R is Retraining the brain. What patterns have been indented in the sand to cause this chronic illness? Rewire those neural pathways. That is the core.

[13:01] The third R is Re-engaging with joy. Laughter, singing, music; all of those things can once again support neuroplasticity and support health.

[13:28] Ashok shares his hypothesis of what causes many chronic illnesses. This body, this nervous system, and this immune system have been developed over millions of years. It is estimated that we share 40 to 50 percent of our DNA with a banana. We are survival machines, passing our DNA to the next generation.

[14:39] Our body cares more about survival than it does about our well-being. In our modern lifestyle, we are exposed to pollutants, stress, bad diets, etc. Our system feels under threat a lot of the time. That triggers our immune system’s defense mechanism. Ashok talks about COVID-19 attacking a person. The immune system gets triggered.

[15:21] In the majority of people the immune system fights the virus, they recover and go back to normal life. But if the system is weak, the immune system over-responds to defend the body. Even once the virus is gone, the system is in hyper-defense mode.

[16:16] Ashok compares the body to a kingdom, defending against an invading enemy. The Army is the nervous system and the Navy is the immune system. After defeating the invasion, all the kingdom’s resources are pumped to the weakened Army and Navy because if they fail, the kingdom fails. The Army and Navy stay in a hypervigilant state.

[17:56] Rewiring the brain tells the generals they’ve done a fantastic job of defending the kingdom, but the war is over. There is no further threat. You can stand down. Rewiring the brain retrains the nervous system and the immune system to stand down and brings the system back to homeostasis.

[18:59] Ashok works at the physiological level, including diet, sleep, and physical aspects; the emotional level, including meditation and breathing, and the mental and spiritual levels, training the brain that it is safe from threat. Brain retraining is a seven-step process drawn from psychology, visualization, past work, and therapy. The process has been refined over 20 years.

[20:40] Ashok’s core program is contained in 10 video sessions. Five additional video sessions are all about how to stay well. Ashok wants people to get well and stay well.

[21:28] Ashok shares a client success story. There was an 82-year-old client in New Zealand with fibromyalgia who was bedridden a lot of the time. He used Ashok’s program and he healed to 80% or more within a couple of months. Within four months, he was up to 95% healing. He decided he was going to travel the world after having had a severe illness for three decades.

[22:42] Ashok tells of a client with Long COVID. A marathon runner and cyclist in his 50s got Long COVID and was on his couch for a year. His son also got Long COVID. They both used the Gupta Program and were 80 to 90 percent recovered within three months. They got back to full recovery. The marathoner gradually got back to cycling and marathon running again.

[23:43] Ashok believes that a quarter to a half of the illnesses seen in a doctor’s office are illnesses of an overstimulated immune system. He lists examples of this type of illness. All of these conditions can be treated using this type of brain retraining approach.

[25:21] Ashok says children use the program along with their parents. Ashok is developing a program for parents to support their children while brain retraining. The Gupta Program is an online video program. In the children’s video, Ashok uses puppets.

[26:11] Everyone would like to change something, such as habits and limiting beliefs. Ashok tells how this program can help healthy people who would like to improve. As contrasted with psychotherapy, people are not just talking about what the problem is but are given tools to rewire their brains for the quality of life they want. Everybody can benefit from brain retraining.

[30:14] The brain is the master of all physiological responses. A recent study in Israel involved triggering inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in mice. Researchers then measured the electrical signature in the insular cortex and were able to use it to get the mice back to baseline. They were then able to recreate the IBD by applying the same electrical signature to the insula.

[32:24] Ashok notes that brain retraining starts with consciousness. Whatever level people want to work at is incorporated into the Gupta Program.

[33:53] This is becoming a mainstream idea. Functional medicine practitioners, alternative practitioners, acupuncturists, and coaches are recommending the Gupta Program as part of their practice. Some practitioners are recommending starting with the Gupta Program before working on the physiological level.

[34:18] The number one challenge Ashok has from patients and support groups is, “Oh, you’re saying it’s in the mind!” The brain and body are one system, one human being, that requires this holistic, integrated response. There are ways of accessing the unconscious brain that are beyond medicines or surgery but are brain rehabilitation techniques and building new neurons.

[35:44] Ashok has published medical papers and studies, including a clinical audit of patient recovery levels within one year. Ninety-two percent of patients improved. They published the first randomized control trial on a neuroplasticity program for fibromyalgia. In eight weeks there was a 40% drop in fibromyalgia scores in the study group but a 0% drop in the control group.

[37:01] The biggest challenge with any self-directed program is commitment and continuing to do it. Retraining your brain is not as easy as popping a pill. It requires daily exercise and daily commitment.

[38:21] Ashok comments about a possible negative effect of wearables, which are not a part of the Gupta Program. The Gupta Program focuses on constantly telling the brain and body that you are safe and moving in that direction. For most people, that works just fine.

[39:41] Ashok recommends limiting your exposure to household chemicals. Buy more natural organic products and fewer products with added chemicals. He focuses on an anti-inflammatory diet. The most important thing is getting more into nature and out of your house. Surround yourself with plants in your home. Commune with nature. Ashok talks of life force.

[42:33] Listeners can sign up on Ashok’s website for a free 28-day trial. If they want the full program, it’s a set of 15 video sessions shot in the mountains of Switzerland. There are over 30 audio exercises and weekly webinars with Ashok. There are 20 to 30 coaches around the world available for one-on-one sessions. There is an app coming out, as well.

[45:09] Sachin thanks Ashok Gupta for being on the program and asks Ashok for a final message for listeners.

[45:18] Ashok shares a message of hope. No matter what your support group, your practitioner, or your doctor has said, many people heal from conditions like Long COVID, pain syndromes, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Your brain is simply doing what it thinks is best for you by being overprotective of you. If you can train your brain, you can get your health and life back.

Mentioned in this episode

Perfect Practice Live

ME/CFS

Dharma

Neuroplasticity

Epigenetics

Steve Jobs

Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Insula

Journal of Clinical Medicine

Ashok Gupta

Ashok is an internationally renowned Speaker, Filmmaker, and Health Practitioner who has dedicated his life to supporting people through chronic illness and achieving their potential.

Ashok suffered from ME, or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, around 25 years ago when he was studying at Cambridge University. Through neurological research that he conducted, he managed to get himself 100% better. He then set up a clinic to treat others and then published the well-known neuroplasticity “limbic retraining” recovery program known as the Gupta Program in 2007.

Ashok has published several medical papers and is continually researching these conditions, you can find out more information at Guptaprogram.com.

Connect with Ashok Gupta:

Website: Guptaprogram.com

Facebook: Facebook.com/guptaprogram

Instagram: Instagram.com/guptaprogram

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Books by Sachin Patel:

Perfect Practice: How to Build a Successful Functional Medical Business, Attract Your Ideal Patients, Serve Your Community, and Get Paid What You’re Worth

The Motivation Molecule: The Biological Secrets To Eliminate Procrastination, Skyrocket Productivity, and Get Sh!t Done