Have we not all experienced things in life that prompted us to say, “That was not my proudest moment” …or something similar?
Here, I’ll go first.
Nineteen years old, walking the campus of my university with a double eye infection (I wore contacts at the time) holding a single lens from my glasses up to one of my eyes (my glasses were broken to literal pieces) just to try and see where I was going.
- I will pause so you can imagine this lovely scene –
On top of this, I was getting over a bad cold and also was recovering from an evening of going “off the plan” and eating a large amount of “college food” which resulted in a stomach ache and pretty big case of the blues.
This, as you may have guessed, was not one of my proudest moments.
In fact, it was such a vulnerable time, not knowing up from down nutritionally and feeling victim to confusing and frustrating eating habits despite my efforts to be healthy.
Needless to say, 18 years later, I still have a special place in my heart for working professionally with anyone navigating eating or health challenges (more on my story here).
Simply having a body and needing to care for it can bring with it all sorts of vulnerabilities.
This includes those vulnerable moments right before we make choices that we know won’t make us feel well.
These are moments you might want to go unconscious with your eating
…or moments before you take the first (of far too many) drink(s)
…or sitting alone around empty wrappers or cartons with an urge to reach for more
…or a glance in the mirror that triggers painful emotions or a desire to escape through control or numbing out
…or the moments you have a diet book or a juice cleanse in your online shopping cart for the 20th time…
These are all vulnerable moments, moments that need the energy of transpersonal love and our deeper inner resources.
I mean it, really.
For some of us, unbeknownst to us, our work with our eating has a profoundly deep side.
In it, we learn how to actually live in and care for our bodies, how to face change, how to use our own will and the power of self-love to grow and to heal…we learn to draw on creativity, compassion, and courage. With these energies, what once felt like a brick wall…becomes a doorway.
For many of us, working with pain surrounding our eating or challenges with our health IS the doorway. Yes, things CAN change.
Wherever you find yourself right now, I know deep in my heart you are not doomed to a body, eating habits, or health concerns you struggle with. In fact, quality of life can change dramatically by learning how to heal and skillfully care for these very things.
As a result we may reflect on past painful experiences while now gratefully having much more positive experiences in our lives.
With love,
Laura