Cedar Brown’s Story
“Recovery has given me so much more than my health back - I feel stronger, more confident, and more at peace than ever before.”
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Beginning - Sudden Collapse
Illness arrived suddenly, with overwhelming fatigue “like being sat on by an elephant”
Doctors couldn’t find a cause; one suggested it could be CFS
Tried to push through at work as a surveyor despite extreme exhaustion
Felt illness came out of nowhere, but later realised prior chronic pain, IBS, anxiety, depression, and over-achiever tendencies had primed the collapse
Hit an emotional low point, scared of living or dying like this
Feeling Better, but Not Recovering
Found a naturopath and tested positive for bacterial infection → antibiotics helped
Managed symptoms with strict supplement regime
Covid lockdown reduced workload → allowed natural pacing, symptoms improved slightly
Felt better but nowhere near true recovery
Something Had to Give
Symptoms worsened as life/work picked back up
Tests revealed mould in body and house → costly, exhausting remediation process
Continued decline despite treatment, diagnosed with POTS
Forced to leave physical job, fought for disability reassignment → traumatic insurance battle
Became mostly housebound, with limited cognitive and physical capacity
Turning Point - The 5 Keys of Healing
From deep physical low, created personal framework: Surrender, Rest, Care, Adapt, Hope
Stopped fighting body, accepted rest, found new ways to adapt and care for self
Began new desk job with accommodations, started LDN for brain fog
Peace of mind and mindset shift sparked steady improvement
The Last Pieces of the Puzzle
Joined The Edison Effect programme → learned about fatigue biology, pacing, nervous system regulation
Somatics became a breakthrough tool for calming the nervous system
Gradually expanded activity levels and travel without severe PEM
Discovered ongoing mould problem, this time handled remediation themself → major improvement
Continued education in somatics and trauma healing, gained certification
Realised a gift for helping others and became active in recovery communities
Recovered and Ready for Adventure
Returned to beloved backpacking: from short hikes to 42-mile Mt Hood trek
Fully recovered — completed 155-mile backpacking trip in summer 2025
Even after Covid, bounced back quickly, proving resilience
Now stronger, more confident, at peace, and dedicated to helping others recover
Turned 5 Keys of Healing into an online course and coaching practice
Dreams of a world where ME/CFS diagnosis comes with hope: “You can recover.”
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Long-term nervous system dysregulation
Internal beliefs and values driving dysregulation (perfectionist, over-achiever, ect)
Mold exposure in my home for several years prior
Chronic pain from car accident 2 years prior
Bacterial infection (trigger)
Intense experience of climate grief (trigger)
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ME/CFS
POTs
Mold Illness
IBS and food sensitivity which also disappeared when I recovered from ME/CFS
Anxiety, greatly improved when I recovered from ME/CFS
Chronic pain contributed to getting CFS
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5 Keys of Healing - Surrender, Rest, Care, Adapt, Hope
The Edison Effect Program
Nervous system work and understanding polyvagal theory
Somatics
IFS and Parts Work
Pacing
Slow, steady expansion
Mold remediation and naturopathic intervention for mold
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5 years
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Website: www.cedarsacredwell.com
YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@cedarcbrown
5 Keys of Healing Program: https://www.cedarsacredwell.com/5keys
Beginning: “Like a ton of bricks out of the clear blue sky”
I got sick very suddenly. Over the course of a couple weeks I went from “wow I’m just really tired all of a sudden” to “I feel like I haven’t slept in a month even though I spent the last 16 hours in bed,” with fatigue so intense it was like being sat on by an elephant.
I knew that something was seriously wrong, but the doctors could’t figure out what it was. All the tests came back normal. One of them said “it could be CFS, but it’s too soon to know.” I dismissed the idea, not yet willing to consider that I had developed a long-term chronic illness.
The fatigue would abate slightly in the morning, so I forced myself to go to work as a surveyor, doing manual labor outside all day. Around midday I would hit a wall and have to sit in the truck or lay down on the ground and rest until I could drag myself back to work and eventually get home. My coworkers knew me as one of the hardest workers, willing to tackle any challenge. They could see that something had suddenly changed, but the insurance companies wouldn’t accept symptoms without a cause so I wasn’t able to take time off, other than occasional sick days.
I felt like the illness came out of nowhere, but now I realize that my chronic pain, IBS and food sensitivities, history of anxiety and depression, and my driven, over-achiever attitude were all creating the conditions for a nervous system on the edge of collapse, and finally in the summer of 2019 it did.
I remember one day going to my partner in tears saying “I’m scared. I don’t want to live like this. And I don’t want to die. I don’t know what to do!”
“It was a blessing in disguise, allowing me to pace before I knew what pacing was.”
Feeling better, but not recovering
Finally I found a naturopath who specializes in “complex chronic illness.” More vials of blood, more tests, more diagnostics and finally we found something — a positive test for a bacterial infection. After a round of antibiotics, my symptoms improved. I still had a strict limit on my energy and would get fatigued if I did “too much,” but I could do a lot more than before.
I also found some supplements that helped me by feeding my exhausted mitochondria. Pretty soon I was taking some sort of pill, tincture, powder, or packet every few hours. Some with food, some away from food, some together, others had to be separate. It was a lot of work managing all the medications, but I was feeling a bit better so I was afraid to stop any of them.
Around this time the world shut down for Covid-19 and my work went to 3 days a week, which I could actually manage. There was less for me to say “no” to, and fewer expectations. It was a blessing in disguise, allowing me to pace before I knew what pacing was. I was feeling better, but I was not recovering.
“I hit a new physical low and became mostly housebound, unable to even walk around the block most days.”
Something had to give
As the world began to open up and work picked up again, my symptoms slowly increased. Eventually I had to admit that I was getting worse. We ran more tests and this time discovered mold — in my body and in my house. The next 6 months were given over to an expensive and labor-intensive remodel and remediation of my house, while I took even more supplements and tinctures. I put my faith in the mold expert I was referred to, hoping all this effort and money would be the final key to recovery.
The remediation was finally completed in September 2021, and by February I had to admit again that I was feeling worse. I changed doctors and was prescribed a new set of medications and supplements. I was diagnosed with POTS and took medication for that. I started to make a little progress again, but realized it wasn’t enough. I was dragging myself though work a few days a week, and spending the rest of my time in bed, sometimes too tired to even eat. Something had to give.
I made the difficult decision to leave the job I loved and ask for a disability reassignment accommodation to a desk job. I was granted this request, but I had brain fog most of the time and I wasn’t sure I would be able to learn the new software. I decided to take a couple months off, starting a lengthy and traumatizing battle with our disability insurance company, which I lost. It was at this time I hit a new physical low and became mostly housebound, unable to even walk around the block most days, and only able to spend an hour or two at a time reading or looking at screens.
“I stopped being angry at my body’s need for rest and just allowed it.”
A turning point - The 5 Keys of Healing
It was in this physical low, spending most of my time outside in a lounge chair just watching the birds and the trees, that I came to an understanding that would change the trajectory of my illness and my life. In my spiritual community we have several tools that are sets of 5 concepts around a core truth. I wanted to create one for myself around healing. I sat with this for weeks, turning over various ideas and words, opening up to prayer and meditation, until these 5 concepts crystallized: Surrender, Rest, Care, Adapt, and Hope.
As I worked with each of these ideas, things began to shift. I felt more at peace with my condition, and began to have faith that I could live a life of value whether I recovered or not. I stopped being angry at my body’s need for rest and just allowed it. I found new ways to care for myself and adapt to my current needs. I held onto hope for recovery, but importantly I found other things to hope for along the way.
I started my new job with these new attitudes and a list of accommodations from my doctor. I also started LDN which improved my brain fog enough to be able to be on the computer 6 hours a day with breaks. I was able to rest when I needed, and I started to improve again.
“The final stressor on my body was lifted and recovery was just a few months away.”
The last pieces of the puzzle
I improved so much after that difficult summer, I knew I was on the road to recovery. But I was still having crashes and setbacks when I went outside my comfort zone of activity. I knew I needed more support and more information. Around that time Anj Garneri was launching The Edison Effect program for the first time and I joined. Through her well-researched course I finally learned the cellular basis for my fatigue, as well as the importance of the nervous system and regulation. I had done the Gupta Program years earlier, but it never clicked at the time. Now I was ready, and this new program was exactly what I needed. Anj helped me understand pacing and how to gradually expand. She also introduced me to somatics, which made the biggest impact on my nervous system, much more so than meditation or brain training.
I began to slowly and steadily increase my walks every day while supporting my nervous system with somatics. I created healing routines for different parts of my day. I was even able to go on a week long trip to Glacier National Park without much PEM - a huge win! I could tell I was on the road to recovery, finally.
As I was seeing these amazing improvements, I got some bad news. My house still had mold, and so did my body, and even my hair. I was not willing to put my trust in another expensive “mold expert” like the one that had failed me two years prior, so I became a mold expert myself. I did most of the remediation on my own with help from family and friends. This time the difference was almost immediate — the final stressor on my body was lifted and recovery was just a few months away.
I continued my education and did another somatics-focused program with Trauma Healing Accelerated, then a Somatics Practitioner Certification program. I also read Jan Rothney’s book Reset to Thrive which helped my understanding of expansion and regulation. I immersed myself in ME/CFS and Long Covid communities, learning and teaching. Along the way I discovered I had a gift for helping others on their healing journey.
“That’s when I knew I was recovered and there would be no going back!”
Recovered and ready for adventure!
One thing I missed most when I was sick was backpacking. The summer of 2024 I slowly increased my trips from 3 miles to 7 to 10 to finally doing a 42 mile trip with my partner around Mt Hood on the Timberline Trail. That’s when I knew I was recovered and there would be no going back!
I now have all the knowledge, tools, and implementation that I need to stay healthy no matter what stressors life throws at me. I got Covid for the first time in the fall of ‘24 and recovered just in time to travel around Europe for 3 weeks. The summer of ‘25 I completed a 155 mile backpacking trek, which is a physical and mental challenge I would not have even attempted prior to getting sick.
Recovery has given me so much more than my health back — I feel stronger, more confident, and more at peace than ever before, and I am passionate about bringing these results to others with chronic illness. I turned my 5 Keys of Healing breakthrough into an online course, and I am continuing to develop my coaching practice helping others manage symptoms, expand their capacity, and reach full recovery. I love to imagine a world where doctors say “You have ME/CFS, but don’t worry, you can recover!” With nervous system work, it’s absolutely possible.
