If you've been following along, you know that there are four fundamental Goal-den Bricks, each brick having it's own new StoryBook. Starting "new" is a wonderful opportunity, but often times it is scary & even confusing. Those of us who have been entertaining addiction and/or any form of disorderly eating tend to be disorganized in other areas of life & that includes our thought processes. Our thoughts are often like scrambled eggs, ideas popping up, then hiding or disappearing completely. Although I've been in recovery for decades, I still can have this phenomenon. It's as if my own mind wants to play old, distorted games with me.
These games are very stress-producing & in the past, they were enough to send me straight to the peanut butter jar or ice cream container. It always amazed me how those two particular foods acted like drugs, relaxing me while chasing away the mind monsters of recovery & healing. It was almost like I didn't want to recover, but just stay inside my addiction where I believed I was safe. But, I wasn't safe & will never, ever be safe inside my eating addictions & that's why I've named this book, "How Many Cookies Will It Take to Make Me Happy?" The answer is the same as it is for peanut butter, ice cream, chips or whatever is the presenting addiction of the day...there will never be enough to make me happy, safe, balanced or anything else. There is nothing for me inside my addiction. It's just an empty room with bars on the window, with a sound system laughing at me.
Throughout this book I share stories from my client files, as well as some of my own truths. I never backed away from telling my own stories, because I believe that is the purpose of them...to encapsulate learning experiences to help others. It took me decades to get my head on straight in relation to my eating issues & so, I have plenty to share. And, while sharing is a healthy thing to do, the most important part is "how to" change the multitude of things that need to be changed in any addiction. Addictions are multi-faceted & each facet is actually a Mind Story unto itself. While you can learn & change from listening to my stories & those of my students, the most powerful stories are already present in your own subconscious mind, waiting to be opened. When a story is opened & you visit inside the pages, you will be rewarded with "hidden treasure." Those treasures are the things you need for your own healing. Some of them will be directly related to your weight or eating issues, but others will be indirectly connected, perhaps even presenting themselves as not being connected, but indeed they will be, for everything is connected.
Sometimes we are afraid to go inside & to look. Have you ever seen a shy child, looking at you from behind her hands. This is the very same part of you that is fearful of what you will see inside the book. While you might want to work with a therapist, for most of us, we can move past this by disassociating from the child-state & moving into the powerful states of teacher, parent or healer. There are many different images to utilize for this type of subconscious mind work. For me, I like to take my child-Self by the hand as I sense mySelf inside Higher or Creative/Therapeutic Self, reminding me that the reason I am here on the face of the Earth is to heal & then to bring healing to others. This is a powerful, sensory image & I'll lend to you if you like. Notice that I'm taking my childSelf along for the learning journey. My goal is to help her to mature by releasing those negative, blocking emotions of fear, guilt & shame. I want that inner part of me to transmute the maturity & self-confidence of my Higher Self to the smaller & needy childSelf.
We'll work more with these images, but first I'd like to welcome new readers..
A NOTE TO NEW READERS:
This experiential blog/workshop is based on my new book, "How Many Cookies Will It Take to Make Me Happy?" This book is not published as yet, but you have the opportunity to read it in it's unpublished state. If you are new to my writing, you might want to read the earlier mini-chapters. They are available on FaceBook, The PublishersMarketPlace & at the following link. Remember to scan down to find the earliest chapters & work your way up. http://beyonddisorderlyeating.blogspot.com/
A bit of background.... we are working with creative Interactive Self-Hypnosis imagery, planting suggestions directly into the creative subconscious mind as you read along. What appears like a story is a series of self-hypnotic sessions, designed to bring about desired lifestyle changes. The inner mind is creative & rather child-like, loving to play with images, especially when they are emotionalized. Just like the saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words", well-planted mind images, can be worth hours of therapy. We can actually change or motivate in 1/200th of a second. So come along & look forward to some lifestyle-changing events.
STORY BOOK IMAGES
We need positive StoryBook images inside each Fundamental Goal-den Brick. If we can't find them in our own life, then we have to get them from somewhere else. But, I've already told you that you have all that you need inside your own subconscious mind. The problem with most of us is that we only think consciously, never thinking that the answers we are looking for reside inside what we perceive as our problem issues. We cannot get inside our issues UNTIL we open them & they cannot be opened from the INSIDE. Perhaps this is one of the biggest mistakes we make in our attempts at recovery. In the beginning of my own Therapeutic Journey, I thought I didn't have enough self-image or esteem to stand outside my issues. It was like I didn't have the right to do so. But, I was wrong. My Higher or Creative Self took me by the hand, as I'm taking you.
Relax in the moment....deeply. Go to your fourth Brick & meet up with your Creative Self & when you are engaged, travel over to the StoryBook you are writing. Enter & go to the Table of Contents. There you will find the entry for your eating issues or addiction. You may enter this area & find yourSelf on the Path of these issues. You are walking with your Creative Self & sense your state of relax & power. You are welcome here & the different aspects of your issues are happy to see you, as if they were waiting for you. Each aspect is separate & has it's own garden. Notice that you have tools on your belt & you enter one of the aspects. Weeds dominate. Go ahead & begin to clear. You must always clear before receiving the gifts. Once you have cleared, sit down on the rock or bench...your aspect is sitting with you, facing you...how easy it is to be with this part of you, not like in the past when you were blocked from each other...now, go ahead & ask any questions you may have...or..ask for your questions to come down the path..or present an image of what you truly want from this aspect. Make it very clear...very definite...kind, but firm.
In the next blog I'll invite you to observe as one of my students works with one of her "aspects."
Copyright 2009 Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht
May not be copied or reproduced without permission of the author.
Elizabeth Bohorquez, RN, C.Ht is author of Sugar...the Hidden Eating Disorder & How to Lick It. She is also the writer/producer of over 350 mp3/CD programs in the areas of medicine, health, prevention, addictions, self-development & sports for adults & children.
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