We always begin to change from where we are, but we always seem to be in so many places at the same time that it feels overwhelming, often making it difficult to push through and to begin. We get caught up in our health, relationships, work and home to name just a few, not knowing what to do first. They all seem to flow into each other, but this is an illusion because they are all separate. In order to see their separateness, we have to slow the mind down, be in positive expectation and willing to look closely. The tools you are learning here allow you to slow down so you can look at specific areas, while working inside them. Here you are learning how to separate the areas of your life, set goals in each, manage the emotions both helpful and non-helpful in each area, while programming for success.
Disorderly eating behaviors, in fact disorderly patterns in general, are the result of unresolved or unreleased stressors. You already know that some of these patterns go back to infancy, perhaps even genetically inherited. In this area we are going to explore your history of unhealthy "dieting." You will come to understand that any manipulation of food or beverage intake will be considered "dieting." But first, we'll open the mind to the prodromal stressors, many of which you will find to be related to "dieting" behaviors, both big & small.
OPENING STRESSORS - MIND EXERCISE
This "awareness box" will help you to locate and label your stressors. The images that come to mind as you spend time with the box will be yours and yours alone. No one's stressors are the same as anyone else's and that's important to remember. No matter how well you know someone, even a family member, the stressors will be different. Even the idea of walking in their shoes will not give you this liberty. Think about that for a moment....hopefully it will bring you to a higher level of compassion, not only for others, but for yourSelf as well.
Let's get started. Take a few moments to relax deeply in your chair. Invite your belly breath to rise and fall in your lower abdomen. Go ahead and ride it. Now, image your thoughts slowing down as if you were approaching a cross road where your attention is needed, for indeed it is.
In order to get started it helps to know how you view your current stress levels. What areas of your life are most stressful for you? Do you have any insights as to why this is so? Even if you don't know, those stressor images may demonstrate to you now. Remember, when you ask a question from the position of "deep relax", the subconscious mind will answer. Let's turn the coin now and notice what areas are the least stressful and look to your insights as to why. As you work with these observations, be sure to take advantage of your personal journal. Your subconscious mind will assist you in opening those areas that are important for you to know and manage.
WEIGHT & DIET HISTORY
I suggest you relax deeply as you enter each area of exploration. Practice separating all areas with quiet moments. You may be over-weight or not. You may even be under-weight. Sugar addiction and disorderly eating problems run the gamut and your focus is to enter the honesty center and know where you are. Only when you are in full awareness, can you work to change. Change is all about seeing the small facets. Often times they hold the key to the bigger changes. Just like in the study of physics, one has to get the ball to roll. So the question up for review is this. Have you ever been on a diet or purposefully altered your food intake?
CLAIRE" "I’ve always dieted whether I was fat or skinny. It was all my friends and I ever talked about. In fact, I think I’m addicted to dieting and wonder how I’ll get along without it? When I think like this my self-esteem goes right out the window."
Claire brings up some very good points that need addressing. How many times have you done this and at what time in your life? Look back to your early childhood and see if you can see the beginnings of this, and then zoom up to the teen years. Who were your teachers in this subject matter? We are such a food-body focused society and very young children are falling under the media spell as well. These are indeed dangerous times. Notice if these behaviors are tied to having children, sex, marriage, jobs or something someone told you.
How did you do this? What types of diets did you experiment with? Be sure to regress back to early childhood here as well. Sometimes we followed our peers, or older siblings. In teen years it was often friends or the current craze. Remember your body had to adjust to these eating changes and what you may be experiencing now is the culmination of all those attempts at weight loss. It truly helps us to own this information. We can then let it go and move on to healthier ways of managing our body.
What were the results, both long term and short term? What did you actually experience from these experiments? Did you feel successful or did you see yourself as a failure? What did you learn here. These are all subconscious mind programs and it is very important to examine them and the beliefs that are held in those files.
How did you feel body-wise? Describe how you saw yourself in your mind's eye. Do you take yourself apart and judge in this way? Do you frequently think about how other's see you and do you make changes based on these thoughts? Are there parts that you like more than others? Mind words are very important, for they are subconscious mind programs and are linked to many other areas and show up as self-confidence, self-esteem, self-image and a host of others. They work to measure our abilities to take on new challenges and to build relationships. Spend time here uncovering and unlocking. If you feel uncomfortable about writing these things, notice that and make certain that your work is kept in a place that is held confidential.
How did you feel emotionally? Go back to visit these times. If your emotions were coats, hold them up so you can see them clearly. If you have difficulty seeming emotions clearly and putting a name to them, you might want to open to the area of the book called "emotional crayons". As you work through this book you will not only find spotting emotions to be much easier, but they will no longer overwhelm you. So for now, work to examine your emotional self. Sometimes we get teary when doing this work. This is just a form of releasing by the subconscious mind. Give yourself a moment to center and then return to the work at hand. Sometimes we fear our unknown emotional self and this keeps us literally locked up in our own private jail. This work is about uncovering the jailers and leaving the prison permanently.
Did you develop any new behaviors during these experiments? Sometimes we leave experiments, but still carry some behaviors with us. For example, an individual may stop bingeing, but become very rigid in food matters by sticking to such a strict discipline that doesn't allow for spontaneity. A good way to find these behaviors is to regress back and keep a current window open on the mind screen. Ask the subconscious mind to place any old behaviors that you carried forward into the current window. This will keep you from blocking memories as they rise to help you.
Why did you stop each experiment? What happened? Be as specific as possible. All memories hold resilience or power. You are learning how to open stored memories and retrieve important information that can heal the past and pace the future. Take time with this work. These questions will also show you areas of motivation, or tendencies to lead or follow. While you are working with sugar addiction, do know that behaviors carry over to other areas of life. Getting to know yourself at this level is invaluable.
It’s important for you to know that it is possible to free yourself from all of this mind clutter and to truly be healthy once and for all.
CLAIRE: "Is it enough to change eating behaviors or must I exercise as well. In the past exercise seemed to make me even hungrier and wanting more sugar. Is it possible to stop this crazy cycle?"
What Claire has experienced is not uncommon. Think about yourself as if you were a car engine. You need fuel and the amount is determined by how far you are going. The body works the same way, but if you have a tendency towards sugar addiction, you body needs very specific fuel to meet your exercise needs.
You may enjoy exercise or not. You may exercise even if you don't enjoy it or not. Finding patterns is helpful to making change. Some people start and stop quickly before achieving their goals. They tend to fizzle out. This is a mind program. Remember that you cannot change what you don't see. You have already been practicing regression or going back in time to visit memories. As you practice regression and open files about exercising from the time of childhood, you will locate problem areas as well as powerful resources. All of this information will be useful as you work through the program.
When regressing, take some time to interview your early selves. Just as if they were sitting in front of you, find out what they like about their exercise. What do they feel when they do it? Is there anything they would like to change about it? Simply listen.
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.
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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