Phil recounts his experience of contracting COVID-19 in early 2020, describing severe acute symptoms such as breathlessness, shakes, tremors, and a feeling of having a seizure. Following the acute phase, he developed a wide range of Long COVID and chronic fatigue symptoms—including extreme tiredness, lightheadedness upon standing, breathlessness, blurred vision, and an inability to leave the house on bad days. After nearly a year on the Gupta Programme, Phil reports multiple benefits: a lighter mental burden, increased present‑moment contentment, improved sleep, and the ability to work three days a week. He highlights the programme’s “parts work” that helped him recognize and reframe his inner critic and achiever parts, leading to a more positive self‑relationship. While he still cannot walk long distances or climb mountains, he emphasizes that his quality of life now centers on being fully present and happy with his family, a shift he attributes to the Gupta Programme.
Chapters
So I'm Phil, and prior to becoming unwell at the start of the COVID pandemic in 2020, I was a father to my little daughter, a husband, and I'd say probably fairly high functioning in terms of my work. Immediately when I had COVID, you know, I was in bed and struggling to breathe. I had shakes and tremors. It almost felt I was fitting at one point. Since then, I've experienced the whole range of sort of Long COVID or chronic fatigue symptoms. The bad days, I've been unable to get out of the house, unable to, you know, walk down to the bottom of the road. Just felt extreme tiredness. As soon as I stand up, I would be lightheaded and feel like I needed to lie down. I would be out of breath. I had blurred vision where I can't, I can't see or read things. I've been on the program for almost a year now. Oh my God. In terms of the benefits, there are so many. Feeling a bit lighter about the condition and it weighing me down less. So it feels quite liberating in many ways. And, you know, a big focus of the Gupta Programme is being in the moment and developing that contentment, which has been really, really, really helpful. I don't think it's a coincidence that I've been sleeping better more recently since I've been on the Gupta Programme. And that is even though I have been working more as well. So during this period, I've increased at my workplace. I do, you know, 3 days a week now. Particularly some of the deeper aspects of the program, doing the parts work, that's been super helpful for me to be able to identify when I've been sort of hard on myself, the inner critic, the achiever aspect, and just reframing some of those parts into a more positive place to help me to live life in a better way. Those things are going to stay with me for the rest of my life. Although I still can't do the walking that I would like to do or climbing mountains, but, you know, maybe some of those things will come back, maybe they won't, but in a way it doesn't matter because what matters is how I feel in the day-to-day moments, like when I'm with my family and can I be fully present and happy in those situations? That they're the things that matter now. And, um, I appreciate that and the Gupta Programme has helped me to do that.
