Healing on All Levels

We are more than our physical bodies.  In fact, our being extends beyond our skin into different levels of being.  Many of us refer to this extension of our being as an aura.  The aura, or biofield, consists of different layers, emotional, mental and spiritual.

To have complete and permanent healing, we must address our issue on every level, physical, emotional, mental and spiritual.  The reason 12-step programs have been so successful at helping people with addiction issues, is that they include a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual components.

Unless a person is willing to address an issue on every level, true healing cannot happen.  Healing from weight issues is no different than any other kind of healing.  The reason the diet and weight-loss industry takes in billions of dollars in revenue every single year, is that diets and weight-loss programs don't work, they only address the physical level....food and exercise.  Anything having to do with food, exercise, supplements, body wraps, or surgeries is a physical approach.

I have been on many different kinds of diets over the years and all of them have been helpful to lose weight.  I did Protein Power, Atkins, The Food Timing Diet, The White Diet, Vegetarian Diet, and hCG diet.  I felt successful with all of them, but with all of them I gained weight back.  My most recent diet has been the hCG diet, and while I really like it for the ability to lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time, and for other benefits, I continue to yoyo the last 15 or so pounds I lost with it. 

Needless to say, I am tired of the yoyo dieting.  I want to weigh my ideal weight, and not have to think about food or diets anymore.  I realize I have not addressed my weight issues on every level.

I have pretty well addressed the diet and weight issue on the mental level. This is the easiest place for me to operate from.  I have many health food cookbooks.  I know what foods are healthy to eat, and which ones to avoid.  I am a label reader, and I know that if you cannot pronounce an ingredient, then it is probably a chemical. I know the way food manufacturers hide flavor enhancers (MSG) by calling them by different names, and I know flavor enhancers are put in to make you want to eat more of the processed foods.  There is a reason that you can't eat just one chip!   I know that the best foods to consume are as close to nature as you can find them.  For instance, a fresh apple is better than apple sauce is better than apple pie, but for some reason, I always would rather have the pie. Why is that?

It has occurred to me that if I am ever going to be free from diets again, I have to address my weight issue from the emotional and spiritual levels.  A Course and Weight Loss is one way to uncover the emotional reasons we eat too much or eat foods that aren't good for our bodies using a spiritual approach to connect us with our highest selves.

I've recently figured out by observing my patterns with weight loss and weight gain that I eat when I am bored and when I don't have enough contact with other people.  When I stopped working my secular job in 2006, I started gaining weight.  I found myself opening my pantry doors and eating something every single time I walked past it.  Then recently when I closed my healing practice and stayed home, I noticed the same pattern of behavior  I have identified boredom as just one reason that I eat compulsively.

I am sharing this with the group because in the week or so before we actually start the lessons in A Course in Weight Loss, I'd like for those of you who plan to participate to take some time to think about how you feel when you over eat, and begin to notice what is going on when you reach for food.  Not all over-weight people are food addicts. Some of us over-eat compulsively (I fall into this group).  So, just think about how you feel when you reach for a bag of chips, or box of cookies.

I think it may be good to buy a small spiral notebook or journal to do the exercises in.  And....I will be honest, I have never written in a journal because I do not want people to read my private and inner thoughts and feelings.  But...for this...I will keep one and when I am well from my weight issues, I will burn it...maybe.  

Love Is Who You Are

"At the deepest level, it is the memory of your Divine light that you most need to admit to yourself...the light of God that lives within you as the gift that it is: the solution to every problem, even this one."

"Dear God,
Please free me
from false appetites
and take away my pain.
Take from me my compulsive self,
and show me who I am.
Dear God,
Please give me a new beginning
Unchain my heart
so I might live
a freer life at last.
Amen"

from A Course in Weight Loss 
by Marianne Williamson

Announcement

I have created a Facebook group that focuses on weight loss.  Since weight issues are very personal to many people, the group is private/secret.  Only members will see posts, and only members will see who is in the group.  We will be following the lessons from Marianne Williamson's book,  A Course in Weight Loss.  The  following is from the back cover of that book:

"A Course in Weight Loss addresses the true causal root of your weight-loss issues:  a place within you where you have forgotten your Divine perfection.  This forgetfulness has confused not only your mind but also your body, making you reach for that which cannot sustain you...and reject that which does.  As your mind reclaims its spiritual intelligence, your body will reclaim its natural intelligence as well.
The 21 lessons will take you on a deep, sacred journey.  One step at a time, you will learn to shift your relationship with yourself--and your body--from one of fear to one of love.  And you will begin to integrate the various parts of yourself--mind, body, and spirit--to become once again, and in all ways, the beautiful and peaceful person you were created to be." 

Weight is a personal issue for me.  I have spent most of my adult life over-weight to some degree.  I am taking the journey right along with everyone who joins the group.  I intend the group to be a place of support and growth for all who wish to participate.
Lessons will begin soon.  If you would like to be added to the group, send me a private message.