Bring your best self to light - April 2008
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Obesity of body, anorexia of soul
One of the premier writers on creativity - Julia Cameron- author of "The Artist's Way" - a terrific manual on re-connecting with your creativity described a phenomena in one of her books: The Writing Diet: write -yourself Right-Size whereby people who had a weight problem lost weight when they had re-connected with their creativity...it happened as a side-effect, not an intention. I found the phrase that is the title lingering in my mind...what if the increase in obesity we are seeing is actually a result of us being disconnected from our true selves and creativity? I've had a weight problem since my early teens and while I have lost it at various periods of transition...it has come back...although this year I plan to fundamentally change my relationship with food (it's happening already and I'll talk about it a bit more later on). I
I find myself getting really bored by the usual diet gurus who explain earnestly and in great depth about how we need to eat less, eat more fruit and vegetables and move more. Now, I don't know about you but I'd NEVER heard any of that (NOT!!!!). It's usually delivered in the following fashion: a woman the size of a broomstick squeezes fat out of chips to induce fear and self-disgust in the person and then gives a demonstration on cooking vegetables and explain how when you have cravings to eat 2 squares of chocolate! HELLO!!! these people know nothing about the emotional aspect of food, about how for many overweight people, food is their one self-care routine, about how ineffective the role of fear and self-disgust is in making long-term changes. They never seem to have any understanding of the emotional dynamics of food..
The only book I have come across that deals with all these aspects is a book called "Change the Way You Think About Food and Your Body in Just 4 Days by Martha Beck...a woman who has struggled with food for a long time and now is at peace about it. Now, she is someone whose advice I will listen to! She talks about developing the process of the Watcher and setting "ridiculously easy" goals...
For myself, I've been working on losing weight very gradually and slowly..and I've lost about a stone in the last year...mainly by focussing on noticing my eating habits and also by doing a week long program. I've also been having consciousness shifting sessions to help transform my relationship with food and develop awareness that when I want to eat and I'm not physically hungry that it's an indication that I need to pay attention to something else...boredom, anxiety etc. I've also accepted that it's a long term process...and part of my learning is being patient with myself!
Take Action!
- If you tend to make food your reward...consider coming up with a list of 20 other things you could do to nurture yourself?
- What activity, experience have you often thought that you would love to enjoy...could you take a first small step and price it..?
- Begin the habit of asking yourself what you really want..you could begin with food..listening to what your body really wants..and being guided by that..
- Instead of agonising over your life purpose this week...just let yourself be guided by your deepest wanting. Work on listening to the small shy voice as opposed to the noisy bombastic ones.
Now What coaching?
If you have recently been made redundant (or if it looks as though it could happen!)and are thinking about a career change..this process could be ideal for you...You can read about it here. You can also read more about the originator of the process at: www.laurabermanfortgang.com and www.nowwhatcoaching.com
Consciousness shifting
I'm still offering
complimentary sessions to all readers of this newsletter
and you can read some more of the testimonials
here.
Note that there are three other coaches now available at this link: Eileen, Ewa
and Jan
so if you can't get an appointment with me at the time you want, book in with
one of these two ladies. We've been trained around the same time..Ewa is
from Poland so if you know any Polish speakers that you think might be
interested in the work...please forward this to them.
"Once the session I have certainly noticed a shift - I feel more positive about my new venture and trust has replaced anxiety. Anne is excellent to work with and confirmed to me how effective coaching over the phone can be, which before our session I would not have believed could work so brilliantly. Louise, Dublin
I'm a certified life coach myself and have been coached by many different excellent coaches, but this was stellar! I loved everything about it. More importantly, I enjoyed it, I had fun discovering this new approach and we got results. I'm still left with a feeling of being more clean and clear about my 'issues' and intentions than I have been in a while. I brought a load to the table and the initial work Anne did in the first part of the session helped us identify which issue it would benefit me most to focus on today. Janice Hunter, IAC certified coach and writer. You can download a wonderful e-book about Coaching Moments free of charge here..
http://www.lovingthedetails.com
If you have availed of your complimentary session and wish to book another one..you can do so here..remember there is a discount for readers of this newsletter!
Bits & Pieces -
Positivity Blog
I love this blog...full of good stuff about getting less stressed, getting more done and getting simplified!
Steve Pavlina
This blog is jam-packed with personal development resources..
Judith Morgan
I'm a big fan of Judith Morgan's work and here is a link to her blog
Recommended - what I'm reading/watching
Juno: I went to see this movie recently and found myself delighted by it...especially since the writer won an Oscar for this...it's a wonderful life-affirming quirky movie with wonderful performances and great music...well worth watching!