losing weight of body and mind...a testimonial

I place this here because it shows the courage this person used to effect her change.She has been willing to dig deep and look at herself and to change...and change she has! Not just the obvious physical changes but her energy has lightened up tremendously and i salute her. I feel honoured to be a part of her change. What a gift!
R.


I first met Raewyn on my birthday, a year and a half ago. A friend of hers was having a small book-reading, and I was magnetically drawn to sit next to her. In the course of introducing ourselves to each other, I learned that Raewyn had a specialty in holistic weight loss. At this, my ears pricked up and I intuited that a golden opportunity was being presented to me.

It’s funny how accustomed we can become to being unhealthy. I would have told you that I was in pretty good health at that time, although I weighed 250 lbs., was eating 1-2 pints of ice cream each day, and had just taken a month off from work because of pneumonia. I remember being self-conscious of my noisy cough during the book-reading and having to leave a couple of times so I wouldn’t disrupt the group. At the end of the gathering, I asked Raewyn if she had a business card and, with that, a wonderful relationship began.

It “just so happened” that Rae was going to be starting a class in a few weeks and I “knew” the time was right. The material she presented, and her sense of wonderment, came as a breath of fresh air to me. What made the biggest impression on me during that class was Rae’s conviction that health is rooted in spirituality, our connection to the earth, sky and all of nature in between; and her call to the choice and responsibility that we can and must embrace in order to grow towards our better selves. Taking responsibility for myself has long been an “issue” for me. Thankfully, I was raised to eat well and exercise, but both have been a perverse struggle for me in adulthood. There was something in the way Rae talked about choice and responsibility that gave me a sense of hope and possibility for the future.

Since then, a lot has changed in my life. Through working closely with Rae on the book she’s writing, and after receiving several NDP sessions with her, I feel I’ve been able to let go of some very old feelings of guilt and remorse that have weighed me down for thirty years. I’ve been able to see more clearly how deeply painful experiences have made other wonderful things possible. Although I’d been in therapy for 10 or more years, and was intellectually familiar with these issues, addressing their underlying energy (through NDP), seems to have been key in releasing them more fully. I have come to truly believe that our emotions reside in our cells and that neuronal pathways can become ruts for negative energy.

The best way I’ve been able to describe NDP is that it’s like being unzipped. It feels as if my outer shell is being removed so that I can reconnect with my energy and the world around me. During the first session I had with Rae, the image came to me of a string being pulled on a pea pod, to reveal the beautiful, juicy peas within. After another session, I felt a familiar tone of openness that I’ve been wanting to re-find for thirty years. Now – at times when I’m doing something I’ve done hundreds of times before, it will feel brand new to me. Rather than feeling that I’m encased in my body, I can feel my energy expanding into the Universe.


A testimonial like this would be incomplete without expressing my appreciation for Rae’s down-to-earth spirit. Although she is finely attuned to subtle vibrations, her feet are firmly planted on the ground. This has enabled me to be receptive to concepts that might otherwise seem fantastical.

Of course, my growth – like yours – is an ongoing process. But I have lost 30 lbs. of physical weight and tons of emotional baggage in the last six months. There is a light-ness in my mood and in my movements. One of the greatest joys that has come with this weight loss is feeling my hips loosen so that my gait is forward-moving rather than just being one foot placed in front of the other. I can now cross my legs without having to pull the upper leg over by hand. I’ve lost my double chin and my cheek bones have re-emerged on my face. People no longer recognize me from a distance because my shape has changed so dramatically. I would still like to lose another 80 lbs., but I now feel that it’s do-able.

A year and a half ago, I had reached the point where I was willing to die prematurely rather than change. I now know I can become the person I want to be, through making positive choices that nurture my indwelling spirit as well as my physical body. I really enjoy fruits and vegetables and Rae has helped me to understand why eating organically is so essential to good health. I realize that scientific reports refute this, but I’m no longer willing to ingest toxic chemicals. Whereas I used to feel that I couldn’t afford organic food, I now feel that I can’t afford to eat otherwise.

Before I close, I want to say something about exercise. It’s still an effort for me to establish a regular routine of exercise in my life, but a few things have changed since Rae and I met. Although I’ve heard all the preventative reasons to exercise and lose weight for years (heart attack, stroke, diabetes, etc.), Rae has taught me an extremely simple concept that has really made a difference in my thinking. Exercise is good for us because it brings large amounts of oxygen into our bodies! Our brain and each of our billions of cells need oxygen to function properly. This is such a basic tenet of health that I wonder why it isn’t part of our collective consciousness. As I exercise now, I try to be mindful of bringing this oxygen into my body ….. and to remember that every step I take is helping me return to a more balanced weight. It also helps to remember that my body and everything in the world is energy, that solidity and separateness are illusory – that, in fact, everything is in motion! No, I’m not conscious of this all the time. But I find it’s a great tonic for pulling me out of old, habitual ways of thinking and being.

Raewyn has been and continues to be a wonderful gift in my life. She is supportive, encouraging, super enthusiastic about life ….. and funny! I look forward to her book being published so I can refer to it often. She is a gifted person who has much to offer. Whether for help with losing physical weight, for other health problems or for healing subtler forms of negative energy, I would encourage you to give Raewyn a call and see what flows from taking that first, courageous step.

a way to use energy

The mind has to be disciplined. Communication is always a discipline of the mind. It is the way we learn and the way we use energy. I hear these thoughts and think of the way i utilized my energy to train this half ton animal to do my bidding and i get a beautiful picture of the ethical values...at least the physical level of them... and i can see now where i have been building on the emotional energy of them. I had not thought of this before now but as i think over the training required to take a novice horse who was learning to be a balanced animal and to compete on a National level... there are no steps missed. Nothing happens without loving communication. Each training session is build on the previous one and there are lots of baby steps needed to provide a solid balanced animal. We are no different.

Horses respond to energy and i learned early on that if i was upset in anyway this was immediately transferred to the horse and my emotional state was mirrored back to me. My emotional energy is determined by how i am thinking. There is no bluffing when working with horses...any animal really. The result of years of training is the intense sense of sympatico between horse and rider--the trust and faith of shared energy.

patterns of love

This is a photo of my great aunt and grandmother showing off their skills as seamstresses. They even made their hats! They were advertising their talents. I look at this old photo and memories rise with the love i have for them and their role in my young life. These same two women bought me my first school supplies...pencils and notebooks and a few things in between.

My great aunt Liz read a lot of the classics to my brothers and me. Oh what joy! She was wonderful at accents and each character was brought to life in my mind with them. From windswept moors and Jane Arye, Heathcliff, Oliver Twist and David Copperfield to name a few; my young mind was fed with these characters. I reflect back and I have had a rich patterning in love and sharing and these two women played a tremendous role. I feel i have given myself a huge gift by going back through these old photos and allowing these memories to surface and remind me that i have been richly loved.

These two women were unlimited reservoirs of love for me and i continue to be grateful for their presence in my life. Along with the love and support that was constant, they shared their pleasure of learning and reading. What a gift! I have associated the feeling of love with the feeling of learning...and the older i get i recognize that they are indeed inseparable. To learn, to change and grow is the pattern of our soul and spirit consciousness.

Cafe Tempest....

Cafe Tempest, Adventures on a Small Greek Island

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eWDnTQxxgI#watch-main-area

I am enchanted by this, so much so that i just have to share. I hope you to find your way to buy this book.

butter vs margarine

This is not new information, although i did not know the original purpose of margarine was to fatten turkeys. This piece was sent to me by a friend. I do not know the author to give acknowledgment. Someone "out there" took the time to piece together information and make it coherent. Thank you who ever you are.
The "lack of bug appeal" of margarine reminds me of problems had in storing processed foods...the mice ate the cardboard boxes and left the contents! All i can say is....Bright mice!

Pass The Butter ... Please.

This is interesting . ....Margarine was originally manufactured to fatten turkeys. When it killed the turkeys, the people who had put all the money into the research wanted a payback so they
Put their heads together to figure out what to do with this product to get their money back. It was a white substance with
No food appeal so they added the yellow coloring and sold it to people to use in place of butter. How do you like it? They have come out with some clever new flavorings....

DO YOU KNOW... the difference between margarine and butter?
Read on to the end...gets very interesting!

Both have the same amount of calories.
Butter is slightly higher in saturated fats at 8 grams compared to 5 grams.
Eating margarine can increase heart disease in women by< /U> 53% over eating the same amount of butter, according to a recent Harvard Medical Study.
Eating butter increases the absorption of many other nutrients in other foods.
Butter has many nutritional benefits where margarine has a few
only because they are added!
Butter tastes much better than margarine and it can enhance the flavors of other foods.
Butter has been around for centuries where margarine has been around for less than 100 years ..

And now, for Margarine..

Very high in Trans fatty acids.
Triple risk of coronary heart disease ..
Increases total cholesterol and LDL (this is the bad cholesterol) and lowers HDL cholesterol, (the good cholesterol)
Increases the risk of cancers up to five fold..
Lowers quality of breast milk.
Decreases immune response.
Decreases insulin response.

And here's the most disturbing fact..... HERE IS THE PART THAT IS VERY INTERESTING!

Margarine is but one molecule away from being PLASTIC..

This fact alone was enough to have me avoiding margarine for life and anything else that is hydrogenated (this means hydrogen is added, changing the molecular structure of the substance).

You can try this yourself:

Purchase a tub of margarine and leave it in your garage or shaded area. Within a couple of days you will note a couple of things:

* no flies, not even those pesky fruit flies will go near it (that should tell you something)
* it does not rot or smell differently because it has no nutritional value ; nothing will grow on it. Even those teeny weenie microorganisms will not a find a home to grow.

Why? Because it is nearly plastic .. Would you melt your Tupperware and spread that on your toast?

Share This With Your Friends.....(If you want to 'butter them up')!

Chinese Proverb:
'When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.
Pass the BUTTER PLEASE...

Nations health care....some random thoughts

National Health Care is an emotional issue for most people and I am no exception. There are the “talking heads” whose utterances are geared to controversy rather than unity of common goal, and of course in the blog-a-sphere there are a lot of opinions on the subject that show the diversity of thoughts around this topic. I am no different as I to have an opinion.

My concern is if it (NHC) becomes mandated that I have to buy insurance. I do not have “health insurance” and have not had it by choice, because I see what is offered is “disease insurance” that is opposite to my views and definition on what constitutes health. It is my personal responsibility to educate myself in how to nourish my physical, emotional and mental self just as surely it is my personal responsibility to be a productive member of my community. This is my body and my responsibility to nurture it in the best way I know how.

Everything boils down to money. What if half of this money was allotted to prevention of disease? Now there is something to ponder! What about simple steps such as encouraging organic gardens for schools and communities and educating people on the value of good foods from Nature, and being hydrated with clean water and getting plenty of movement for the body? How can people think well if they have not dined well? (apologies to Virginia Wolfe) What if families went just one month without processed foods? What would it mean really…probably a drop in excess weight, clearer skin, better energy reserves, more together time with family, feeling better, thinking clearer, saving money… and so the list goes on….what this really comes down to is about change (of thinking /lifestyle) and taking personal responsibility for our health and well being. I can hear the gasps of horror now! I have found that most people tend to want others to do for them than they are willing to want to do for themselves when it comes to nurturing and nourishing self.

These are just some snippets of my thoughts on the subject….

There are a couple of blogs that cover varying views on health care www.maat45.blogdumps.net and http://gjimsonandfriends.blogspot.com
…that are worthy of reading.