The Energy of Longing

You don't get what you want, you get what your vibrate. - Michael Losier

One of the big principals I am working on (and have been for a long time) is the Law of Attraction (LOA).  Lately I have had some insights that seem to be hitting me over the head.  There are a couple of teachers I have become attracted to lately - Danielle LaPort and Lynn Grabhorn. The theme of the over-the-head-hitting and the teachings of Danielle and Lynn is connecting the reality that what is in my life at this moment is a result of the "feeling" vibrations I have been sending out into the Universe.  This is a distinction of the LOA that I have learned but didn't truly understand until recently.

Over the years I have learned this truth about the LOA:  Your thoughts create images, those images evoke feeling, your feeling create energy, that energy is a vibration that goes into the world to find "like" vibrations.  So you get what you think about.  Right?  Right!  But there is something deeper that I have been missing and that is the word feeling.  Feelings are what really stimulate the energy that creates the vibration that goes out into the world.  The thought begins the process, but the feeling is the power.  It is how your thoughts make you feel that determines the eventual outcome.  This is huge when it comes to the Body Belief issues. Huge!

The other day this crystalized in my brain during a moment of feelings clarity!  I was day dreaming about clothes.  In a magazine I saw this really cute outfit and I started thinking about how I would love to wear that style.  At first it felt good - I was getting motivated about losing weight and getting healthy and wearing that outfit and feeling fantastic.  But, within seconds, the feeling shifted.  It turned into a feeling of longing, longing for something I saw as impossible or so far away that it made me sad and I began to feel less than.  My thought shifted to how fat I am now and how I remembered after losing weight how fun it was to wear clothes in a small size.  The sense of longing took on a life of its own and I realized that what I was feeling was not going to create the life I really wanted.  The way I was feeling was going to continue  to create the life I already had.  One of being fat and feeling "less than", on the outside looking in.  A very low vibration.

It was during this experience that I clearly saw how longing is a very negative emotion for me. (For anyone, actually.) And more importantly, I saw the connection between thoughts - images - feelings - energy - vibration.  And, if I want to change my life, I have to change my feelings.  I don't need to go another diet - I need to get in touch with what feelings my thoughts create.  Very powerful.  It has been helping me pay better attention to where my mind wanders and I can recognize when I need to do a vibration alignment much more quickly!  This understanding of longing was a important insight for me, and I will have to mull it over for a while!  More to follow.

Are You Part of the 95%?

Insanity: Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.    - John Dryden

Last Friday on ABC's 20/20 they aired a special on weight loss, particularly people who have lost lots of weight (half their body weight).  During one of the segments they discussed the statistics about weight loss success.  I have heard and read this many times before, but it always gets to me when I hear it again.  Here it is - 95% of all people who lose weight on diets gain it back within two years!   Think of that!  Ninety-five percent of all people who lose weight dieting gain it back.  I know you can do math - but that means only 5% of people lose weight with a diet and keep it off!

Diet Cruise Line

That is a flabbergasting statistic!  It's ridiculous. Who in their right mind would go on a diet if the verified results are a 95% failure rate?  Think about that - if you were going on vacation and decided to take a cruise and the cruise line told you that 95% of their ships sink would you buy tickets?  Or would you book a flight with an airline that had a record of 95% of their planes crashing?  That is insanity!  But every day, people everywhere are starting a diet or eating plan to lose weight knowing that the failure rate is 95%.  We all hope we will be one of that 5%.  How has that percentage worked out in your life?

For me, I was one of the 5%.  I lost over 160 pounds and kept it off for over 4+ years.  I was elated, I thought I had it licked.  When my first granddaughter was born I was so happy she would never know me as a fat person.  It was a whole new life - a whole new me.  Surprise! Today she is 9 years old and I am now a fat grandma.  I have gained back over 100 pounds.  Here I am out of the 5% and again a member of the dreaded 95%! 

What is the answer?  Well, I can tell you one thing, it is not a diet!  The greatest insight I had in the process of losing 160 pounds and then gaining 100 back, is that it is not about the food, diet plan or exercise routine.  It is much deeper than that.  Sure, I ate healthy and exercised to lose all that weight.  But, the entire time I never changed the most important thing I needed to change and that was my thinking.  Never did I ever feel "thin", there was always some part of my body that I felt was still fat, or looked bad.  I was totally focused on a number - if the number on the scale read "the" number than I had reached my goal and made it to "thin".  I never reached that number, so I never felt like I was a real success.  Crazy, right?  Sure, that's because in my mind I was still a fat person in a thin body. I never gave up my fat mentality!  I never changed my belief system.  And that is the key! 

Forget about the 95%, ditch the diets and the mentality that created it!  Body Belief is about creating a new paradigm - a new belief system.  That's what I am doing.  I know it's hard to give up that familiar old pattern.  Buying into the craziness of the hope of the 5%.  But let it go and make a bigger, deeper change.  Start by stopping.  Stop doing everything you've always done and try something new! Go in a drastic new direction! Shake it all up! 

Instead of thinking about starting a diet, join a dance class instead or go to a Meet-up group about foreign films.  Instead of weighing yourself, throw the scale away and write "You are BEAUTIFUL exactly as you are!" on your bathroom mirror with lipstick!  The next time you look at some type of food and immediately think "oh I can't eat that - it's fattening" leave the store (or restaurant) and go to the florist or garden center and buy yourself some flowers or better yet, say to yourself "Yes, I can eat that!" and have a big old helping THEN go buy yourself some flowers! Do anything to get yourself out of the old rut of the diet mentality.  There is a saying from Henry Ford that fits perfectly here, so listen up.  

"If you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got." Henry Ford (1863-1947), American founder of the Ford Motor Company

And that folks, is being part of the 95%!  Are you ready for a change?

The beginning . . . . Letting Go!

You can't solve a problem with the same mind that created it.  - Albert Einstein

The first part, lesson, step, principal of Body Belief is LETTING GO!  Yes, that's it, letting go.  Letting go of all the ways you've tried in the past to lose weight and change your body.

That includes: diets (all diets even ones we call "food plan"), exercise programs, naming food "good" or "bad",  weighing yourself (yes, that's right), any behavior that looks and feels like "starting" a diet or some health program. No fasting or New Year's detox.  Really!

The key to a new paradigm is change.  Albert Einstein said, "You can't solve a problem with the same mind that created it."  And no wiser advice has ever been given.   Each year we all want to start the year off in a new way. Losing weight, exercising and getting healthy, but we also know that we've tried that for the past 20 or so years and we are still fat.  OR, we started off the year great, lost some weight, starting getting fit and then one day woke up and forgot we ever heard the word "gym" or "low fat".  That is trying to solve the problem with the same mind that created it!

This year I've decided to try something new.  I'm starting off the year doing the exact opposite of what I normally do.  If I start thinking of going on a diet, I immediately tell my self "NO!" and  think of something I haven't tried to change before - like my thinking!  

I've been reading a book by Lynn Grabhorn called Excuse Me, Your Life is Waiting and she talks about the 16 second rule. If you start thinking an old, negative and defeating thought, you have 16 seconds to recognize it and switch it to a new thought - especially a thought that makes you feel good.   I realized that when I start thinking about how I need to go on a diet the next thought is usually about how unhappy I am with my body and my life and I start to feel bad.  So all my thinking about dieting and changing my eating just leads back into that downward spiral of the diet mentality.  And that is not going to led to the change I want!

So, I have been paying attention to the 16 second rule.  As soon as I start to think one of those old patterned thoughts, I can see it immediately and I switch it in the opposite direction.  Yesterday my thoughts started going to how much weight I have gained and how I long its going to take to get in shape and BAM I heard it and recognized I needed to shift to thoughts that make me feel good.  So, I went to my computer, clicked on my iTunes and started playing a great song by Bill Withers called Lovely Day and it instantly changed my energy,  I danced around my office and I started feeling good.  It works!  This year I am doing things differently!

New Year . . . New Journey

Happy New Year! Welcome to the New Era! And a new journey for me . . . . 

We all survived the Mayan end of world predictions! Yipee! Solstice 2012 marked the end of the Mayan time and the beginning of a new era. Birth 2012 was celebrated the world over with people rejoicing the birth of a world focused on coming together as people and a planet working cooperatively to let love and peace become our focus. They are also recognizing that spreading this philosophy with modern technology is the key to connecting us world wide. It is an amazing time to be alive.

The Birth 2012 organizers asked us to consider what we want to "birth" into the new era. What ways we can work to spread love, peace and connection. They asked each of us to connect with our inner knowing and bring our gifts to the world. Now is the time.

After some careful consideration and thoughtfulness, I decided what I am ready to birth. For years, decades, well. . . . mostly my entire life, I have struggled with body image, self worth and lived an externally focused life. I can recall the events of my life by how much I weighed at the time or what dress size I wore. The obsession has run my life - it is the factor I consider before agreeing to go places, attend events, or even what jobs I held. To say that my self-worth and perceived body image controlled my life is an understatement. And I know I am not alone.

What would my life look like today if I lived from an inner knowing of my internal beauty and value? A lot different. What if all women were connected to that knowing and were spending their lives living with passion and following their hearts calling? What a different world this would be.  Even if a few woman let go of their preoccupation with their body image and instead focused on their own authentic power,  it would be amazing!

That is why I have decided to birth a movement - the Body Belief movement. It is something I have been working on and talking about for years. But, I have been holding back, filled with shame and regret from losing and gaining weight, feeling ill equipped to bring this forth. Even more, I've been afraid to go public and take this stand for what I know can create a new paradigm. My fear of being open and vulnerable have held me back. Until now!

Now, I'm ready. And it begins with me. I will be spending the next year following the principles I am developing and chronicling my journey in my blog. At the same time I will be working on a book and workshop.

Right now the small, scared me is thinking "Who do I think I am? Who am I to think I have an answer to this huge issue?" But, deep inside there is a bigger, wiser, loving voice that is telling me, "Who are you to NOT bring forth your truths? Who are you to NOT express your gifts? Go for it girl!"

So with blind faith I am listening to that voice - let the journey begin!

Respectfully, Cindy

A New Paradigm - BODY BELIEF

Yes, Yes, YES!

“Every choice moves us closer to or farther away from something. Where are your choices taking your life? What do your behaviors demonstrate that you are saying yes or no to in life?” -- Eric Allenbaugh

Yesterday, my daughter signed us up for a 5k walk on New Years' Day in Seattle.  I was happy to say "yes"!  It is the Commitment Day 01.01.13 5K.  This is an organized effort happening in 30 cities across the US encouraging people to make a commitment to their health.  Check it out.

When I said YES to this idea it got me thinking.  Saying yes to health is a great idea.  

The first lesson I have been writing about in my new Body Belief book is "Surrender the Diet Mentality".  We have been taught, through years of dieting, to say "no" to things.  No to bread, no to chocolate, no to eating after 6pm, no to fat, no to carbs, no to sugar, . . . .   The diet mentality is all about keeping yourself from eating certain foods and sticking with a diet that is filled with foods you are not necessarily thrilled to eat.  The whole diet mentality is based on the philosophy - you are doing something wrong, and you must make it right. It is based on restriction, not expansion.

This morning I was listening to a talk by David Wolfe, a health activist.  He talked about how important it is to connect with what makes us feel good.  Because if we feel good then we attract more things to feel good about.  If we eat with joy, then we will have more joy.  Like attracts like.  If we fuel out bodies with food that is healthy and stuff we love, than we will attract feeling more healthy and happy.  Great concept. I am sure he didn't mean eating bags full of Oreo's, but who knows.  Deprivation only creates more feelings of lack and suffering, and we know where that leads!

So this started me thinking about chocolate.  I love chocolate, but I usually forbid myself from having it (I say I'm allergic), but then I'll have some and I get hooked and just can't seem to stop eating it.  Which then makes me feel bad physically and mentally and then I go back on the wagon and quit eating it, and the cycle continues.  But, what if I said yes to chocolate and gave up the battle?  What if I could eat it and not feel guilty or remorseful?  Could I say "yes" to chocolate and not go insane? 

David Wolfe is a huge proponent of cacao beans - the base of all chocolate products.  In it's natural state it is loaded with good nutrition and all kinds of health benefits. He has even written a book about it called Naked Chocolate. They key here is NAKED - chocolate in it's most natural form.  He insists that eating cacao is good for you and you can eat all you want!  Just eliminate all the harmful sugars and chemicals. Interesting. 

I decided to say YES to chocolate and downloaded one of his recipes for a Cinnamon Chocolate Bar. This is a raw food recipe, with all heathy ingredients.  I'm going for it.  Since I have decided that I must be my own student of Body Belief, this is in alignment with my first lesson.  Release the diet mentality and open my mind to a new way of thinking about everything.  The old way sure didn't work.  If I can redesign my relationship with chocolate, than anything is possible!  I am off to the store to buy the ingredients and I am going to say YES to chocolate.  I am going to say YES to the great feeling I have when I eat chocolate.  It makes me happy.  (Love those endorphins!) And if I can make something that is good for me and makes me happy - then hurray for me!  It just takes looking at things in a different light and being open to the YES!

Let the experiment begin!

Make the Connection!

mono·cul·ture : the cultivation or growth of a single crop or organism especially on agricultural or forest land

Yesterday I watched a movie called Fresh.  It was another food awareness movie, about monoculture farming versus natural farming practices and how bad monoculture is for our future.  I enjoy these movies, although it is quite depressing and continually shocking.  There is a part of me that wants this information and recognizes that if I want to see change, that I have to be part of the change.  As one person, I can act by how I spend my money, food choices, and my sharing information with others.  Do I want to eat food that has been grown in that mono-culture environment, where disease is  the result and plants and animals become maladaptive?   No, I don't.

After watching the film I had that excited feeling -- motivated, eager to make changes, ready to make a plan and take on the crusade in my life.  Then, I walked into the kitchen, opened the freezer and unconsciously reached for a left over gingerbread shake I had brought home from Red Robin.  What?!  I knew it was made with milk that came from cows that were fed growth hormones and antibiotics to off set the results of the mono-culture farming. Cows that are given hormone cocktails in order to keep them in the milking cycle.  They had been feed corn and corn byproducts that were grown in fields of genetically modified corn seed, and sprayed with insecticides.  Not to mention, cows digestive system were never made to digest corn or corn products.  Eating corn makes their stomaches start to rot and more drugs are needed to keep them alive to keep pumping their milk. But, the end product - this yummy holiday treat - a gingerbread shake, with whipped cream and a ginger snap cookie top top looked and tasted so good.  How could I resist. 

My good sense prevailed and I went off to bed without eating the shake (but it's still in the freezer).  All night I was having dreams of animals and struggle, farmers and baby piglets, plants and worms.  Sometime early in the morning I heard a voice, at first it was faint, then it got louder and louder, until it woke me.  It was telling me "Make the CONNECTION!"  I bolted up and looked at the clock, 5:38am.

Make the connection.  Interesting.  Part of my life long struggle has to do with making the connection.  It is really about the Law of Cause and Effect. If A happens than B results.  Changing the result has always been something I have been chasing, but I never want to start at "A", the cause.  Some where deep inside I know that the voice from my dream is speaking a truth I really need to hear.  My actions keep getting the same results.  If I want different results, I have to change my actions!

To be a food activist, I have to change my relationship with food.  To change my relationship with food, I have to think about it before I eat it, not after.  I need to understand it at a deeper level.  Making such a drastic change, takes some thought and understanding.  Am I ready to give up mono-culture produced food, go organic, spend the time required to investigate and research where my food comes from?  Not to mention, the time it takes to shop and prepare. Is this about making a social statement?  Is it about treating my body with respect and honoring my own humanity and humanity in general?  Is it about becoming conscious - a conscious consumer, conscious to my body's needs, conscious of a higher divine order?  Kris Carr, author of Crazy Sexy Diet, says "If our body is a temple, than our mouth is the alter."  Ummmm.

Where does this all led me?  I am thinking today about my commitment to the environment, sustainable agriculture, animals as a food source and how big this issue is on so many levels.  In the movie, Michael Pollan spoke about how over the past 50 years the number of companies controlling the food production in the US has shrunk from thousands to less than five.  Five (and soon to be three) major corporations have total and absolute control over the food production in our county.  That was shocking information!   That information alone makes me want to start a revolution! (Or join one already started!)  There is just so much wrong with our current system that it is overwhelming.  Sorting it all out, and making a decision about how I can approach it as one person, is making my head hurt.         

For today I have more questions than answers.  I know the voice that spoke to me this morning is speaking a truth I need to hear.  I am open to making the connection.  What ever that looks like for me.  

I'll keep you posted about what I discover.

Green Juice - Vitality in a Glass

Liquid Sunshine!

It's been a couple of weeks since I had my morning green juice and I have missed my routine. But I didn't fully realize how much I missed it until I had some this morning! Wow, I feel great today - full of energy and inspiration. So much better than I have been feeling. And it all came from a glass of juice. Life force energy!

Today's juice was a combination of what I could find in the frig - carrots, celery, spinach, cucumber, green apple and half of a lemon. I put it all through my wonderful Breville Juice Fountain and then poured it into a glass, added a straw and went to my office, sat in my comfy chair, listened to some great music and sipped my juice. I followed it up with a steaming cup of hot water with a squeeze of lemon. Then I started my day.

Later this afternoon, I suddenly realized I was buzzing around getting so much done and I felt so energetic. It dawned on me that I had started my day with juice. Such a simple thing that makes such a big difference.

I went to my favorite market today and stocked up on fresh veggies and I'm all ready for tomorrow! If you haven't tried it, I highly recommend it!

In the spirit of green power, Cindy


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Awakening to the Secret Code of Your Mind

Through the flow of synchronicity yesterday I came across a book by Darren R. Weissman called Awakening to the Secret Code of Your Mind.  This morning I started reading it and already know that it is going to be on the top 10 list of those books that I am going to recall, quote and recommend, and I am only on the first chapter.

It starts with a quote from another of my top 10 authors, Gregg Braden.

". . . . we live in an interactive reality where we change the world around us by changing what happens inside of us while we're watching--that is, our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs . .  . From the healing of disease, to the length of our lives, to the success of our careers and relationships, everything that we experience as 'life' is directly linked to what we believe." 

This book explores the concepts of beliefs and how they shape our current reality - and that has been a study area of mine for years.  In 2007 I began working on a book and workshop format called Body Belief - exploring our relationship between our thoughts (and beliefs) and our physical body and what stops us from connecting with our innate body wisdom.  Recently I have begun working on and updating this project, I just can't let it go.  And I know this book has come to me at this time to support me in this process. 

Weissman writes, "When you find yourself stuck in a pattern--repeatedly reacting to a life experience in a negative or painful way-- it's a sign that the energy moving you is motivated by survival and protection rather than your present circumstances.  The LifeLine Law of Transformation and Creation states: Emotions transform energy; energy creates movement; movement is change; and change is the essence of life.  More than the fear of death, it's the fear of change that keeps people stuck in a cycle of self-destruction and self-defeat.  When you're able to embrace change, follow your heart, and go with the flow, you're emotionally flowing through life, and life is emotionally flowing through you."

And, the biggest thing that keeps us stuck in the old pattern - our beliefs.  Can't wait to read more and uncover and discover more about getting unstuck!

In the spirit of change, Cindy

What Makes You Come Alive?

A friend of mine from Ohio posted this on Facebook this morning.

Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.            - Howard Thurman

I was lying in bed, not ready to get up and face the chilly morning, so I grabbed my phone and did my morning check- emails, eBay auctions and new Facebook posts.  When I read this quote it hit me like a ton of bricks.  This is what I have been feeling for months (years).  I have an aliveness that is springing forth that can't be stopped.  It brings me joy and comfort and sense of purpose.  But sometimes, well a lot of times, I stop it - put a cap on it. It is a method of self sabotage.  And this morning I saw that clearly.  

There should be nothing stopping me from doing what makes me come alive!  That is what life is about - that is what makes the difference between really living and just going through the motions.  

I am grateful for this mornings reminder!  There is no greater gift to give the world, the community,  friends and family than truly coming alive!  It is through your aliveness that you fulfill your mission and shine your light!  That is where the magic is!  That is what life is all about!

So today - ask yourself what makes you come alive and start doing more of that!  That's what I am going to do!

In the spirit of aliveness,  Cindy