After the Fast

I know that it has been over a week since we Sacred and Fit participants completed the seven day gradual fast. We ended the Fast just in time for Thanksgiving. What a contrast from our 2 days on Raw Food, 1 day on liquid, 1 day on Fresh Juice, 1 day on liquid and 2 days on Raw Food- gradual fast.

 One residual effect of the gradual fast was my new appreciation for raw foods. So on Thanksgiving, our family enjoyed, a raw pumpkin pie, nut loaf with herbed gravy and macaroni and cashew milk "cheese" sauce. OK, I'll be honest, not everyone at the table enjoyed the vegetarian, vegan and raw food fare. Some just said "Pass the turkey." However, I must say that you do feel different when you  gorge yourself on Healthy food. Instead of feeling sleepy and stuffed, I felt energized and satisfied.

At our Sunday conference call, there was a clear need for suggestions on how to actually prepare and execute the gradual fast. So, I've begun work on an "Un"cook book- The Sacred and Fit Gradual Fast- Suggestions and Recipes.  I certainly invite your raw food or fresh juice suggestions. We learned from one Sacred and Fit member about carrot and beet juice!

The most important thing about the Fasting week is what happens after the gradual fast. No matter if you were able to do all seven days or just two days, the intention that you had remains the most important thing. Significant breakthroughs are possible when you bring a strong desire to make a change, coupled with a dedicated time of prayer and mediation while giving your appetite a rest.

I'll be sending more recipes in the coming days so that you can begin to incorporate some of the Fasting recipes into your regular life. How about making a meal of fresh juice or dedicating one day a week to raw foods. Any positive change is step in the right direction, no matter how small.

Basic Breakfast Smoothie
Frozen Organic Fruit (found in the freezer section- strawberries, rasberries, or magos)
1 Banana
1 C, Almond milk, soy milk, organic milk or water
For more protein-
1/4 c soaked Chia seeds (optional)
1 scoop of favorite Protein Powder
Add more liquid to get to the right consistency

Place all in blender and blend on high, then medium then high to get everything smooth.
Pour into a smoothie cup with lid and drink while driving to work.
Rinse out the blender top with running water to make clean up easy after work.

(I drink and drive between 8:30 and 9:00. When I add the protein, I don't get hungry again until 11:00 or so. Then it's time for an apple or pear until lunch).

Next time- make your own salad dressing for the lunch time salad.

Week 5 Day 6 Ending the Fast

Yesterday I ended my rawfood fast. I didn't intend to do it but I didn't want to be the only one at the table with my State Senator not eating.
You see, I'm on a Board that planned this big dinner to schmooze with the state legislators. It has been planned for a year, so I had to go. I knew it was going to fall during our Gradual Fast week so that is one reason that I started my own Raw Food Fast nearly 3 weeks ago. I wanted to end tomorrow with all of you but when I was sitting there at the table, and realized that it wasn't buffet that they were bringing plates of steaming food over and that I had no choice, I just ate along with everyone else.

This is not the best way to end a fast.

Coming off of a fast is just as important as starting one....gradually. Sacred and Fit employs a method that is supposed to not shock your system and not deprive you of eating but to focus much more of the intentionality of fasting and the healthy beneifts of giving your digestivie system of break on easy to digest (liquid) and highly nutritious (raw) food.

So, when you come off of the fast, please be gentle to yourself. You may notice as I did that cooked foods are much too salty or sweet. You may want smaller portions. You may also notice that your appetite has changed. What you used to like, you may not want so much now. Just let your body be your guide.

For the last weeks of the program, the aim is to begin to create a more permanent type of lifestyle eating plan. This plan could include smoothies or raw food on a regular basis. I have a friend who eats only one full meal a day but has a breakfast juice and smoothie and a dinner juice and smoothie.  There are many ways to add some of the components of the fast to your lifestyle eating plan. Another choice is to eat one raw food meal a day or to fast one raw food day. There are endless choices. The goal is now that you know you could eat only raw food for at least one day, how could you use this knowledge and incorporate into you regular lifestyle.

Of course, fasting on a regular basis is a good idea for health and spiritual reasons. In the Sacred and Fit curriculum, it is recommended that you repeat the entire 8 week curriculum 5 times within the year and fast for at least 40 days total within that year.  You will find that each time you do the 8 week curriculum you will get better and better at Meditating, more proficient at writing in your journal and more effective at managing yourself during the Fasting week. It is almost impossible to do everything right on the first go round. It is not MEANT to do everything right on the first go round. You are creating a new way of living for yourself. This will take more than a couple of months.

So congratulate yourself on the work you've done, so far. The loss of the weight is a good thing but the changes on the inside are what I'm most proud of for you.

Week 5 Day 6 Fasting with Intention

I am out of town this week but still attempting to do a version of the Fast. It is so good to know that my intention is the most important thing. I have packed a big bag of raw food but without a refrigerator I've been forced to eat the huge salad. The almonds actually starting sprouting!!!! so I ate them too. It's ok, Nweena Kai, says that's the best way to eat almonds, soaked and allowed to stay moist for a day or so to sprout. So, tonight I am taking myself out for more salad but I will turn in early in order to get my prayer/meditation time in. 

I usually have that time in the morning, just before dawn...but during this Fasting Week, I'm attempting to have prayer and meditation in the morning and in the evening. At both times I begin with quieting my mind by focusing on my breathing. I find that it is much more difficult to quiet my mind in the evening than in the morning....where it is hard enough!  Meditation is a practice, like any other. The more you do it the better you get. What I appreciate about meditation is that it can allow you to pray with real integrity. What is praying in integrity? This is what I mean....

The Bible instructs us not to pray amiss...not to pray selfishly or out of fear. When I quiet my mind, I can more easily determine what my true feelings are. If am feeling selfish or fearful, I can deal with those emotions before I actually begin to pray. How do I do that...I use my Morning pages to purge myself of all the clutter that tries to fill my mind on a daily basis. Sure, I could pray to "not be afraid" but once I start writing anything and everything that comes to mind..what will show up are the REASONS that I am afraid in the first place. Once that is out of the way, I can pray, the right way, in Faith.

The Bible says that praying in Faith will generate results. I have several things that I am praying for during this Fast and I want results. I've learned that if I want to see breakthroughs...then I have to do the soul work to get myself out of fear, out of selfishness, into peace and into faith.

As you are drinking much of your meals for the next two days, notice your emotions. Use this time for introspection and get to the root of the issue. Forgive who there is to forgive....even if it is yourself. Determine to bless your enemies, every time you think of them. Say their name and then ask God to richly bless them with an abundance of good things.  Give thanks in the midst of a bad situation. Be thankful for the job, even if it is not fulfilling.  Stop resisting what is and trust God.  WHATEVER is in your life is for your good. Be thankful now while the new situation is coming.

I wouldn't be able to tell you this,if I hadn't done each of those things myself. I know they may seem hard but that is why you are fasting..."Not by might, not by power but by my Spirit....."

Week 5 Day 3 Becoming a (temporary) Raw Foodist

By the end of the second day of the Gradual Fast have completed two days as "Organic Raw Vegans" according to Nweena Kai, author of "The Goddess of Raw Foods" a (un)cookbook on eating raw. This is what she says on page 16.
   "The organic raw vegan diet is a simple diet and surprisingly an even simpler lifestyle once you learn how to integrate it into your life. The organic raw vegan diet is a diet made up of organic, live or raw, unprocessed, uncooked, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and sprouted grains. We use organic foods because the diet is mainly a detoxifying diet that also properly nourishes and sustains the body, mind and spirit, therefore eating organically eliminates the unnecessary pesticides and toxins that food contains and thus keeps your body and mind free of toxins. Also foods that come from depleted and toxic soils will thus further deplete and add toxins to the body. An organic raw vegan diet supplies the body with all the essential vitamins, nutrients minerals, enzymes and protein that it needs to thrive and flourish. Most raw foodists have stronger bodies that people who eat a mostly cooked food or meat-based diet. The food is so nutritionally dense because the nourishing vitamins, nutrients, enzymes and minerals are still intact in the food and they have not been cooked or processed in anyway, thus destroying them."
   
In preparation for this week, I have actually been on the Raw Vegan diet for the past two weeks. I have noticed no ill-effects. In fact, I feel more awake when I'm awake.--It's hard to describe, but I do have more energy. I can eat whenever I'm hungry so I seem to nibble all of the time but I actually feel BETTER after I eat. I can actually feel the energy that I've gained from the food. Not once have I felt sleepy after eating. My goal is to eat this way for an entire month to see how it feels. Because I will be out of town and away from my kitchen, I won't be changing to liquid foods or raw juice but I will be increasing my prayer and meditation time to more than 1 hour per day, as part of my intention for this fast.

Enjoy the rest of this day.  Today you are drinking your food and giving your digestive system a little rest. You are creating a better, healthier and more peaceful life from the inside out.

Week 5 day 2 Hungering and Thirsting after Rightouesness

The verse for this week is Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they shall be filled.  In the Aramaic, the words "those" is the world "layleyn"  This is what Neal Douglas Klozt writes about the world "layleyn." 
  "The oldest roots of the Aramic word "layleyn (to those) go back to an image of one watching by night, waiting by lamplight for something (specific) to happen. According to the word's most ancient roots, this kind of desire creates a vortex of possibility that draws in the object of the heart."  Douglas-Kltoz goes on to explain that the actual grammar of the word connotes possession, as if the thing is already possessed or is being directed toward the person who is desiring it.

In your prayer time this week, consider yourself a "to those." Consider that the thing desired is now rushing toward you, seeking you out and plans to overtake you.

As you are eating your raw food today, and doing all of the things necessary to feed yourself, just don't think of how inconvenient this is or difficult but think about the thing you most desire being placed a fast-moving stream of light and being sent directly to you.

Week 5 Day 1 The Gradual Fast

As you know, the fast is the pinnacle of the Sacred and Fit curriculum. We have been preparing ourselves for this by:
1. focusing on an intention;
2. identifying an area in which there is a need for a breakthrough- a persistent problem that won't go away,
3. a willingness to release, change or shift a way of thinking.
4. a written 7 day meal plan
5. Vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, juicer, blender
6. A journal to record your insights.

The Sacred and Fit suggested meal plan for the Gradual Fast is
Sunday- Raw food
Monday- Raw Food
Tuesday- Liquid Food
Wednesday- Fresh Juice
Thursday- LIquid Food
Friday Raw Food
Saturday Raw Food

Raw Food is defined as anything that is not cooked nor has been cooked--nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables,
Liquid- Anything that you drink and don't chew
Fresh Juice- Juice that is made from your own juicer
Of course 8 glasses of water

Week 4 Day 4 Generating a joy-filled life from a peaceful mind

I used to think that one of the greatest benefits of reaching an ideal, health-affirming weight would be not having to think about weight anymore. When I consider all of the moments that I have handed my brain over to thinking about the size of my thighs or what makes my butt look big or degrading myself because last year’s jeans are too tight or this year’s jeans are too tight, or wanting to be thin or feeling bad that I’m not thinner…when I add up all of those moments, I wonder what else I could have been doing with my mind.   I wonder what God would have me be doing with my mind?

  I’ve since concluded that the purpose of my life and therefore my mind is to be a full expression of my God given abilities and to be joyful, creative and inspired.

Practicing a peaceful mind is an invitation for joy and a platform for creativity as well as an opening for inspiration.  It is unlikely that joy, creativity and inspiration are going to force their way between thoughts of self-denigration.  The good news is that I don’t have to wait for the weight (ha ha that rhymes—wait for weight!). I  don’t have to postpone the cultivation of a peaceful mind until the conditions are right. In,fact, the cultivation of the peaceful mind will itself generate changes in the outward conditions. As I accept myself as I am with love and compassion, I am then free to create the conditions that will bring the things that I want.

This is not some hairy fairy wishing. I’ve witnessed this phenomenon and more importantly, I have experienced it in my own life. As I make my peace my priority, then conditions around me change to bring more peace. 

This is what I believe is the meaning behind the third Beatitude.

“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”  KJV  

“Healthy are those who have softened what is rigid within; they shall receive physical vigor and strength from the universe.   One Aramaic Interpretation

As we make changes on the inside, the outward environment will change. That’s the good news. The flip side is the bad news. The current environment reflects current  beliefs and attitudes.  Where it looks like outward circumstances are  immobile, or chaotic or lacking it may be because the thinking that connects those circumstances to your life are also immobile chaotic and lacking. What are you believing that is “rigid within?” This Beatitude invites us to soften it.

Changing any thought is simple…but not easy.  It means learning, unlearning and relearning. In your brain it involves changing or re-establishing synaptic pathways that have gotten stronger due to frequent use.  It’s like veering off an interstate highway and trying to drive down a hiking trail.  Takes work. There will be resistance. Obstacles will have to be dealt with. But it can be done.

Sacred and Fit employs Lectio Divina because it is a contemplative meditative practice.  Meditation is the single most effective vehicle for changing thoughts because the focus is not “trying” to change thoughts but to be fully engaged in one single thought…the Beatitude at hand. While you are engaged fully with the verse, your mind is not wandering, not judging or assessing, not worrying or fretting.  While you engage the Sacred and Fit curriculum, it may look like you are eating quietly or concentrating on your exercise but you are actually participating in a powerful revolution of your own life, one thought at a time.

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Sacred and Fit^© -Every life is sacred. Each body a temple

 

Paradigm Shifts

I read a book many years ago about Paradigm shifts. The author was talking about Scientific Revolutions and had concluded that based on the history, no matter how much evidence there was to support a particular theory, if the scientific community wasn’t ready to accept it then it wasn't accepted. In fact, a whole generation of scientist usually had to die off before the new idea could flourish. What kind of new ideas?

How about Copernicus’ radical idea that the earth moved around the sun, when it looked to anyone with eyes that the sun was moving. It was proved later with the technology of the rudimentary telescope that the earth was, indeed, moving but many scientist in Copernicus day, fearing persecution by the powerful Catholic church, refused to support the evidence.

Or how about Ignaz Semmelweis, a 19^th century physician who had a ludicrous suggestion that physicians  should wash their hands before attending to the mother’s in the maternity ward. He collected data showing that when physicians visited the mothers after coming from the morgue more mothers died.  It was decades before the germ theory proved him right. However, many deaths occurred in the meantime.

So, it will seem strange to you that there are people in this country who only eat raw food. That’s all. Nothing exposed to heat higher than that of a light bulb…104℉. The diet is made up primarily of nuts, seeds, fruit and raw vegetables. However, I caution you, not to judge these people to harshly but instead look at the evidence… Here’s a link below.

This is the week we begin to prepare for fasting. It is also our week to prepare for our own paradigm shifts.  Fittingly the verse for this week is

“Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.” (KJV)

Or the Aramaic Translation that I will be using-

“Healthy are those who have softened what is rigid within; they shall receive physical vigor and strength from the universe.

View trailer for "Simply Raw"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzdhBo4pbgE

View entire documentary "Simply Raw"
http://www.56.com/u23/v_NTAwODkwODQ.html

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Sacred and Fit^© -Every life is sacred. Each body a temple

Week 3 Day 5 It's about Time

Dr. Phil once recounted a story in which Oprah urgently summoned him to meet with her and “her girls.”  Oprah sent her private jet to get him and a few hours later, Dr. Phil was in Oprah’s living room to answer the urgent question.  As recounted in the book, “The Time Paradox,” the dialogue went something like this:

Oprah: Dr. Phil, we need you to tell us why we’re fat.

Dr Phil: You interrupted my dinner with my family and flew me hundreds of miles to ask me that?

Oprah: Yes, it troubles us deeply.

Dr. Phil: Hmm, I see. Well, there’s a quick answer. I can probably make it home for dessert. You’re fat because you want to be.

The Girls: We’ve been talking about it all weekend and we can’t figure it out ourselves. So, we really need you to tell us.

Dr. Phil: Oh, so you want the honest answer?

The Girls: Yes, we are ready for it.

Dr. Phil: Okay, you’re fat because you want to be.

Oprah: No really, You can tell us. We can take it.

Dr. Phil: Oh now I see. You want the whole truth…Okay, you’re fat because you want to be.

In the book, Drs. Philip Zimbardo and John Boyd point out that there are two languages being spoken in the dialogue above. The languages are the different Time Orientations.

Dr. Phil comes from a Future-Oriented perspective in which what is most salient, when Oprah is deciding to eat the doughnut, is whether it is good for her in the long run. Dr. Phil wants Oprah to see that she should be thinking about the future consequences of her actions at the moment of decision. By not doing so, Oprah is "choosing" to be fat. Future Oriented people are cognizant of the consequences of their decisions. In fact, the future goal is more important to them since present actions, in their view, are always influencing the future in some way.

Oprah and “her girls” come from a Present-Oriented perspective where the choice is not to be thin or fat but to enjoy the moment of eating. The most salient thought is “the doughnut tastes good right now.” Present-Oriented people focus on the experience, the thoughts, sensations, pains and pleasures of the present moment. The problem is that the constant attention to the taste-good-in-the-moment food and little attention to what-is-the-cumulative-effect-of-these-extra calories?” has the unintended but predictable consequences of weight gain. So in the conversation above, both parties were actually talking in their language of time.

In the book, Zimbardo and Boyd report the result of 30 years of scholarship on psychological time. Unlike clock time, psychological time varies according to culture, person and situation. Furthermore, the authors believe that one’s attitude toward time is “largely learned, and that you generally relate to time in an unconscious, subjective manner.”  According to Zimbardo and Boyd, achievement requires a future orientation but future-oriented people run the risk of achieving for achieving sake and not really enjoying life. On the other hand, present oriented people do take the time “to smell the roses.” However, they are less likely to eat well or exercise as preventive health measures.

What is most helpful is to have some of both: to realize that the current actions DO have future consequences and at the same time enjoy the life that you are living right now. 

Sacred and Fit is about bringing mindfulness to eating in the present but the reason to be mindful is to change future health outcomes. So, while healthy eating may be about time, it is also about balance.

As we’ve said before, Health is not the absence of disease but the presence of wholeness and balance.

[You can take the short test to learn your time orientation and get tips on how to incorporate different time orientations into your life at www.timeparadox.com]

Week 3 Day 2 Change and Self-rule

Change is hard. We all know that. We read about all of the benefits of being at a healthy weight and we know what to do about it….but sometimes you just want what you want.

In Sacred and Fit you are learning to want your health just as much as you want a deeper relationship with God. In fact, the goal is to equate your health with a deeper relationship with God.  This requires some doing because AFTER

 you choose to establish the link in your mind between God and your food

and you have made a firm decision to commit to being healthy,

and you truly are ready to believe that this is God’s will for you

and you are willing to  love and honor yourself enough to be conscious of your health on a daily basis

…then the REAL challenge starts, self-rule.

 Actually, there will be self-“rules.”  These are the rules you will place on yourself. Your own list of do’s and dont’s. You already have certain rules that you have established. You don’t kill. You don’t steal. You don’t commit adultery.  You may have rules about your house. You don’t leave dishes in the sink over night. Or you don’t leave your bed unmade.  We all have rules. We have our own rules about our finances and spending habits, our own rules about our commitments to others, our own rules about our commitments to ourselves.  Even if are rules are rather loose, (some people don’t mind an unmade bed) we all have our limits.

All people with specific dietary habits have rules. People who are on medications that have to be taken with food, will schedule their meals around the medicine. Vegetarians don’t eat meat.  Vegans (pronounced Vee gun) don’t eat anything that comes from an animal including milk or eggs. Raw foodists eat like Vegans PLUS they don’t eat anything that has been heated more than 118 ℉.  What they all have in common is that they eat by their own rules. 

Last week we began establishing the ground work for our personal and permanent rules of engagement around food.  Once we establish and practice the basic ground rules for at least six weeks, then it becomes easier to strengthen or modify the rules that are already in place. This is very different from “dieting” where entire new sets of rules are established for each new diet. When you get off of the diet, there goes the rules.

The first and most important set of rules is associated with our minds. The Lectio Divina helps us to become mindful of eating.  We are learning to associate eating with thinking of a scripture.  We give our minds a task. We remember to eat because we schedule our eating. We eat more purposefully. We are aware of what we are eating. We are conscious of eating for nourishment and for no other reason. This is the groundwork for permanent change- engaging the mind, first.

This week the third Beatitude is also about engaging the mind…for that is where there is “rigidity” that needs to be softened. The rigidity that most needs softening are all of the beliefs and practices that have produced the problem with weight in the first place…they hide behind statements to yourself like, “I can’t do it” or “I’m too busy” or “I deserve a piece of cake” or “I’ll exercise more tomorrow to make up for it.”

 The Lectio Divina begins to “soften” the mind and slowly, by slowly put in a new tape…. “I can do this.” “I’m not too busy to take care of myself because my health is my priority.” “ Actually I deserve an apple instead of a piece of cake.”  “I’ll exercise today and tomorrow.”

Just like Shug said to Celie. “You are your most important thing”

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Sacred and Fit^© -Every life is sacred. Each body a temple.

Lectio Divina: In theory and practice

Once in an interview, the Daili Lama was asked to name the single most important skill of a spiritual master. One might think that a spiritual master needs to have half of the Bible memorized or spend the majority of time in prayer. However, the Daili Lama said just two words…”daily habits.” A spiritual master first masters himself.

At first glance it might appear that being overweight is a problem but seen from a spiritual perspective it could be the mechanism by which you will develop a closer relationship with God.  That would mean that being overweight is a blessing! No, I’m not kidding.  Consider all of the times you interact with food or in some cases—need to eat but don’t. If each of those instances were turned into a spiritual activity in which you are honoring your Body by mindfully eating healthy life-giving foods, think of all of all those additional moments that your thoughts would be turned toward God. Moments that were causing your problem are now providing a blessing.

The Lectio Divina is theoretically a means to provide your mind with a task. In theory, if you continue to associate eating with the sacred scripture, eventually eating and devotion will become linked in your mind. As I said, this is the theory. The actual practice, is another thing.  This week your assignment was to choose a version of the first Beatitude from one of the seven Greek translations from the website or from one of the 6 Aramaic interpretations found on page 47 of the book “Prayers of the Cosmos.” You were to then bring that verse to the practice of Lectio Divina throughout the day.

In order to be really connected to your version of the  Beatitude, you have to remember to practice the Moments of the Lectio Divina when you eat anything during one of the four time periods (before 10:00, 10:00-2:00, 2:00-6:00 and after 6:00). In order to remember that practice you have to mindful and attentive. In order to be mindful and attentive you need a slower mind not a busy, frantic, racing to the next thing mind. 

How do you slow your mind down when half the time you are eating at your desk or in the car or standing up by the sink or forgetting to eat all together because you are so busy. That’s the problem and that’s the practice. The practice becomes allowing the times of the day- when you eat your four meals and two snacks -to become an oasis of calm and quiet—even if the calm only lasts for two minutes.

The practice of Lectio Divina is just that, practice. It is the practice of being present to only what is happening when you are eating and thinking of your verse. And like any other skill the more dedication and commitment you bring to the practice sessions the better your game will be.

Listening for the Unspoken

 One of the assignments during this second week is to view yourself naked and to notice what there is to notice. I don’t mean noticing any particular feature about your body. I mean noticing your own mind as you observe your body.

As you are noticing your thoughts and feelings about your body, notice also how the feelings translate into the way you breath. How your posture is affected. How the feelings can become mood. Notice if you want to avert your eyes. Notice if you feel more comfortable NOT looking at yourself.

The reason for this exercise is to listen for the unspoken. You are examining the products of your mind that are not given to language. One of the greatest benefits of cultivating a quiet mind is the ability to notice when your mind is not quiet.  As you begin to notice all of the different type of disquieting messages- words, moods, feelings, images- that your mind uses, you will begin to understand what you are actually up against, when you determine to make a permanent life change….which is in reality, a  permanent “thinking” change.

The thoughts you think of AND BELIEVE ABOUT yourself are not all thought in words. They are what showed up when you looked at your body. If the experience of looking at your body, was one bit negative, then there is a potential problem….lack of acceptance. “Accepting what is” is the single most powerful antidote to stress.  Accepting where you are; accepting your body for what it is at this very moment, allows a space for gratitude, appreciation and compassion.  While self-loathing can generate thinness, it cannot generate health- the presence of wholeness and balance.

The first Beatitude from the Sermon on the Mount begins a journey of “thinking” change.  Being a master teacher, Jesus the Christ, fully accepts where his students are. Yet, he looks out at the crowd, gathered on a hill side and calls them Blessed. He tells a group of people who are weary on so many levels that they are connected to God. He speaks to a deeper part of them, a part that will recognize his words as the truth, despite the outer circumstances....and from that knowing, the Word will cause a shift.

Sacred and Fit^© -Every life is sacred. Each body a temple.

Healing a Fast Mind

A mind that is fast is sick. A mind that is slow is sound.
A mind that is still is divine.

 Meher Baba, Indian Mystic

Psychological stress is a fact of life. Our lives are fast paced and busy. Some of us have jobs that literally deal with life and death. There are always competing demands on our time. There is never enough time. 

The problem is that our bodies were not designed for the kind of never-ending stress that is so common in American life. We were designed for short bursts of stress, like that caused by the presence of predator. When the threat to life is gone, our body returns to homeostasis. We become calm, again. We stay calm until the next encounter with the predator. But what happens when a "threat" is always present. The body responds to the stressful thoughts- shallow breathing, tenseness in muscles, slowed digestion and the release of  hormones that aid in escape and which also hold on to fat!

There is no escape from internal predators....  Until we create one.

Jesus the Christ had stress reducing habits, early morning prayer and meditation, time away from people, walks in Nature. Then he would return to his stress-filled ministry that never seemed to be stressful to him. This is a model for Balance.

This week is the introduction to Lectio Divina (Lex see oh Da vee na). This is a practice for slowing down the mind and giving it a single activity to dwell upon. Stress is multi-tasking gone amuck! We are never really present for the one thing we are doing because there is always the next thing or the thing we should be doing, or the thing we wish we were doing or even the thing we wish we hadn't done.

Lectio Divina is practice for doing one thing at a time.  Slowing down enough to be present to the Beatitude before eating your meal or snack. Learning how to bring full awareness to the Beatitude so that you will bring full awareness to the food. No more mindless, thoughtless, knee-jerk, put anything-in-my-mouth-because-I-want-to-chew kind of eating.

Slow and mindful thinking.

Slow and mindful eating.

Slow and mindful living

Sacred and Fit^© -Every life is sacred. Each body a temple.

Health as an act of Worship

This is week two of Sacred and Fit and the emphasis shifts from the outer to the inner. The curriculum for week two includes homework that focuses on our thoughts. This is the introduction of being mindful of the scriptures throughout the day, generating appreciation and love for ourselves as we drift off to sleep, capturing the first thoughts of the morning  and learning to be more sensitive to the "still small voice."  These type of activities are what will make this experience different from any mere weight loss plan. Inclusion of Spirit is what will enable us to permanently adopt healthy habits. 

Your health is about to become a part of your service to God.

If we were motivated to lose weight only to be thin, I could perhaps see why it would be hard to think of weight loss as a worshipful act. However, weight loss is a natural result of eating healthy food, exercise, good water and low stress. Bringing a sense of the sacred to maintaining a healthy life style is I believe, just as important as any other sacred duty, especially since we ARE the church.

It will be hard to convince ourselves of this. Expect much resistance.

It is easier to focus on our faults than it is to own our own holiness.

Why is that?

Week 1 Day 4 The 50 Million Pound Challenge

Sacred and Fit requires new healthy habits and healthy habits call for order and organization.  This week we are organizing ourselves for success.

The Homework this week involves an examination of the “50 Million Pound Challenge” website.

The 50 Million Pound Challenge provides some information and services that may be of value to our Sacred and Fit community. It is offered as a suggestion, only. You don’t have to use it to get the benefits of Sacred and Fit.   The website does allow you to keep track of your Body Mass Index, which is a more accurate health indicator than weight alone. However, there are other sites on the Web that do that also. And of course, you are keeping a paper copy of this data in your S&F notebook. 

The 50 Million pound challenge encourages community building and sharing via small groups. A community of support is important to any long-term behavioral change. That is why Sacred and Fit includes personal coaching and conference calls.

The Challenge website also has good nutrition information.  However, for those who are no longer interested in dieting, the menus may not work for you. The diet looks like a lot of food. It is. The diet was designed by a medical doctor, Dr. Ian Smith and there is a physiological reason to encourage overweight people to eat 4 times a day. It seems like that would be defeating the purpose but that is not the case.

   Let’s suppose that in the earliest days of human beings, there were times of feast and famine. During the feast time, the body stored fat. During famine the body lived off of the fat reserves. The primary signal for a famine to your physiological systems is lack of food. When you don’t eat enough nourishing food, the signals turn on. Your body thinks there is a famine and holds on to fat. (The same type of thing happens when you are stressed, since fear of starving or being killed were probably the original stressors for the caveman or woman.—More about the impact of stress later.)  In the past, before Sacred and Fit you may have been feeding your body but not nourishing your body, so the famine signals were still activated.

 Now, our goal is to retrain your physiology by introducing nourishing food and lots of it. Eating 4 nourishing meals, 2 nourishing snacks and at least 8 glasses of water per day is the new message to your physiology….”You can release the fat, now. All is well.” 

Week 1- The Power of Intention

 
Why write a commitment letter?  Because a statement, even a statement made to yourself is a declaration to the Universe that you are about to create.

 Creating is what humans do best. Our brains have evolved to solve problems. Sure, sometimes humans create problems but not you. Not this time. Your intention to live a healthy life is a positive, proactive creation generating action. It is positive because your new lifestyle is health promoting and life affirming. It is a proactive because you have determined that You must act and you are not waiting for someone else to do something for you. It is creative because you will have to design a life-style plan for the long-term that will fit your specific needs.

It is more than a letter. It is more than a statement. It is a declaration of Independence. You are free.

Just remember, declarations are not declared “after the fact.” Talking about something after it has happened is simply reporting. Your declaration is an act of faith. Faith is fueled by intention. Creation comes from intention. Intention is powerful.

As you intend a healthy life begin to look for little affirmations along the way. These affirmations may come in the form of people, information or resources. They will appear “ just in time.”   They come into your life as if to say…”That’s it,  You’re doing great. Keep up the good work.”  Some call them coincidental or serendipitous. I call them little miracles fueled by intention.

Know that the entire Universe has gathered behind your commitment to health. As you focus on your commitment begin to notice your little miracles. You will find them.  You will attract everything you need. You will succeed.

Week One- Habits of Mind

            “Little foxes spoil the vine.” “Despise not small beginnings.”

There we have it. The science of behavioral change condensed to two verses.

The Sacred and Fit program makes big promises. We promise that there will be changes on all levels, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. Your ideal weight will be achieved. You will regain an appreciation for yourself and for your unique gifts and callings. Your relationship with God will grow deeper and more profound. You will learn more about the science of nutrition and physiology and be able to apply your learning to your own body and lifestyle. However, all of these are promised  only IF you do the program.

Sacred and Fit is not about providing you with more information. You already KNOW how live a healthy life style. Ultimately, Sacred and Fit is about changing the way you ACT. A change in behavior requires changes in the way you THINK. To be mindful of your health means that you are conscious and aware of what you are eating. You sense in your body the need for exertion and movement. You recognize the effects of stress in your body and mind. You value your peace and act to maintain it. Your lifestyle is a reflection of the honor and respect you have for yourself.  Simply, you are awake to your own life.

 It may not seem that the your ideal weight and health regimen will ever be achieved. You may not believe at this moment that you are capable of eating a diet consisting of 50%  or more of fresh fruit and vegetables. You may not see yourself enjoying movement and exertion. You may not know how to manage/eliminate stress.  However,  these things are accomplished one act at a time and one thought at a time. You do have power over the thoughts you choose to think…..and to choose not to think is also a thought.

Examples of little foxes:

 “forgetting” to eat or to pack a nutritious lunch

grocery shopping without a list

entering a grocery store without a plan

oversleeping because you watched TV until 2a.m.

watching more than 4 hours of TV per day.

Stressed out due to looking for a lost item

Not having a place to put things so items can get lost

You get the gist….

Small beginnings:  Doing the Homework!

Creating your notebook with five dividers and creating a place for it  (along with a pen) near your bed.

Writing a letter to yourself indicating whether you are ready to commit to the Sacred and Fit program at this time. 

Include in the letter a forgiveness statement to yourself -for anything in your past that needs forgiving.

Despise not small beginnings.

SEMESTER TWO

The Blog is back.
  Today marks the beginning of the Second Semester of Sacred and Fit.  For those of you continuing for another eight weeks, Congratulations! For those of you just starting, Congratulations!

For the second semester, we have made some major changes. Those of you who have committed to join the program should have received the entire curriculum for the Week One. The information posted on this Blog is similar to what you have but not exactly the same. We're always monitoring and making changes based on what is working best. We also incorporate new relevant information as it becomes available. All of this to say, you are welcome to read the previous blog posts for your information, but your should follow the guidelines set forth in the Week One curriculum that was emailed to you.

Additionally, because the curriculum will be sent in weekly installments, the Blog will serve as just a friendly reminder to stay on the path. That means that the postings will be shorter in length!  Still, if you choose to no longer receive emails, please respond and your name will be removed from the list.

In Peace

Cheryl

My Lectio Beatitudes for #8, #9, #10

Beatitude #8 Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake for there is the kingdom of heaven. KJV

Blessings to those who are dislocated for the cause of justice; their new home is the province of the universe.  Neil Douglas-Klotz

Beatitude #9 Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake.

Renewal when you are reproached and driven away by the clamor of evil on all sides, for my sake…

Beatitude #10 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad; for great is your reward in heaven; for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

Do everything extreme, including letting your ego disappear for this is the secret of claiming your expanded home in the universe.

We are all affected by a culture that contributes to obesity and ill health.  Consider the foods that take up space in an average grocery store. Although we know that our diet should consist MOSTLY of fruits and vegetables, you would not be able to tell that by looking a modern grocery store.  Television commercials entice us to eat and there is constant advertising of unhealthy food choices to adults and to children. We are urged to consume foods containing white flour, white sugar, salt, high fructose corn syrup, transfats, MSG and other preservatives. Think for a moment of the type of items on most restaurant menus and the portion sizes.  Start to notice how easy and convenient it is to purchase unhealthy food vs the time and effort that is required to prepare healthy daily menus. Add to this to the pace of modern life, the allure of sedentary forms of relaxation vs. activities that require exertion. Not to mention, daily hassle stress and the additional stress-causing “burden” of being a minority in the U.S. and you can begin to understand what we are up against when we determine to live a healthy life style.

The first seven Beatitudes have the potential to produce radical changes in the way we think of our health. Bringing our health regimen more in line with the Five Basic Health Habits (be positive, normal weight, no smoking, at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day and 30 minutes of exercise 5 days per week) requires adjustment on all levels; spiritual emotional mental and physical. We now understand through much of the right brain activities introduced in this Sacred and Fit program that there are spiritual, emotional, mental and physical reasons that we haven’t already fostered the Five Basic Health Habits.  By examining the issues underlying unhealthy choices and making their resolution a part of our spiritual development we will slowly change our beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. An ideal weight and healthy life style habits will inevitably result.  Our bodies, just like any temple, will express on the outside, the sacredness and reverence we hold on the inside. Our own life will be infused with the Christ's presence.

However, in the last three Beatitudes, Jesus the Christ explains what will happen when a person takes on a spiritual commitment to “grow deeper.” It is not good news. In the Textual Notes of Beatitude #8, Neil Douglas-Klotz says “society does not easily tolerate the prophetic spirit” A deeper spiritual walk that exposes a need for change is not necessarily a message that is welcomed by our society or quite possibly by the Church.  However change is certainly needed according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health.

·       African American women have the highest rates of being overweight or obese compared to other groups in the U.S.

·       About four out of five African American women are overweight or obese.

·       In 2007, African Americans were 1.4 times as likely to be obese as Non- Hispanic Whites.

·       From 2003-2006, African American women were 70% more likely to be obese than Non-Hispanic White women.

·       In 2003-2004, African American children between ages 6 -17 were 1.3 times as likely to be overweight than Non-Hispanic Whites.

Smoking is the leading cause of premature death in the U.S. Obesity is now the second. With the majority of African American women being overweight there is a tacit acceptance of it. A decision to pass up the fried chicken and mashed potatoes at the Pastors Appreciation dinner or to suggest that the Bereavement committee contribute to a fruit basket instead of sending baked goods may not put you in good stead with other parishioners. Eating is a huge part of our cultural expression but eating healthy is not….not yet.  The Bible shows us many examples where the prophet’s message is rejected at first but then slowly, eventually there is a shift. 

This final week is a culmination of the first seven Beatitudes in which we have created intentions and affirmations concering our health habits. My personal intentions and affirmations are below. Based on the past seven weeks of study of the Beatitudes, I believe that I have now

1.     Linked myself to Spirit for the purpose of affecting change in my health habits

2.     Tuned myself to the Source so that I may cease my confusion and bring my health habits into the spiritual domain .

3.     Softened those rigid areas of unforgiveness, bitterness or stress by shifting my attitude and asking for forgiveness when necessary.

4.     Committed myself to allowing the transformative grace of God to infuse my every act around my health. In so doing, I see myself as a child of God.

5.     Received mercy grace and compassion to grant to myself and I am therefore able to grant mercy grace and compassion to others. I love myself

6.     Received the ability to see the spirit of God everywhere, I love others.

7.     Received the peace of God.  I am at peace.

My affirmation for Beatitudes #8, #9 and #10 

8.     I now am willing to consider that identifying myself internally and primarily as a child of God may have me look at my place in the universe differently. 

9.     I am willing to be excluded or reproached by those who don’t yet see themselves as children of God. 

10.   I fully expect that the reward for “growing deeper” is experiencing a closer and more intimate relationship with the Christ presence within me.

If you so choose, create your own Affirmations for the final three Beatitudes and use them this week along with your translations.

My Contemplatio of Beatitudes #7

Years ago when I was a graduate student, my daily commute took about an hour. It was a beautiful drive from the Shenandoah Valley to the University of Virginia east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. About five years into the seven year process, I was not doing well. Actually I was failing.  It wasn’t the course work. At that point I was done with course work. It was “Me” work. I didn’t have the slightest idea how to organize and discipline myself for the work of the Ph.D.  I wasn’t confident that I had the intelligence to continue in the program.  I was discouraged.

I wish it had been the coursework. Classes I knew how to do. Papers I knew how to write. During all of my previous years as a student someone had been there to tell me what to study and what to write about. The Ph.D. is the degree that indicates you have created new knowledge. You have to tell yourself what there is to do and first you have to create a plan for the knowledge creation. This is called the proposal. You are to document your understanding of the new knowledge in a document called the dissertation. You get to answer questions about the new knowledge during the oral defense. So you have to create the knowledge and then write about it and then speak about it. But first you must create it.

 There are many people who begin the Ph.D. process and fail to complete it because they haven’t put the time in learning themselves or to learn how best they create. Because creating is thought to be a “right” brain activity and regular schooling is generally a “left” brain activity, many of the skills used in the creative process haven't been practiced. In addition, no one tells you that you will need to access deeper areas of understanding within yourself or that the process is designed to test your self-confidence. Graduate school is not unlike the rest of life. Challenges can make you stronger and better if they don't defeat you. You are much less likely to be defeated once you have a Ph.D in yourself.

To get a Ph.D in yourself is almost as daunting as being in an academic program.  For one thing the subject matter is complex. There are no advisors, no counselors and no teachers who know the material better than you know yourself. You are both the student and the teacher. And that brings me to the point of this writing- the discovery of the teacher of  Me within me…a deeper and wiser part of myself.

During my final two years in graduate school, I retook the oral exam for my thesis and passed it, started over in a new lab, recruited undergraduate assistants, completed the studies, analyzed the data, wrote the dissertation and defended it.  The difference between those two years and the previous three years, when I’d been attempting to do those very same things was the granting of a Ph.D in Me to myself.

During the final two years, I turned off the radio during my daily commute. I spent two hours driving in silence, asking myself questions, listening for answers. The first question, (which took several months to answer) was “did I really believe that I was intelligent enough to finish the program”. Actually, it was the flip side, why did I believe that I was too dumb to finish the program. In answering that question, I provided myself with ample evidence that I was not stupid and what’s more, I discovered a deeper, calmer place within me that was completely undaunted by this process, was more than capable of doing what was required and extremely confident. I decided to act like her. It was pure “fake it until you make it.” It was also, watch-the-world-relate-to-you-as-if-you-were-not-faking. Resources came to me. People started helping me instead of avoiding me. A Ph.D in Me came with benefits.

The Beatitudes helped me to make this discovery through slow and thoughtful meditations as I drove up and over Mt. Jackson twice a day. So now, more than a decade later, I am using the Beatitude again to help me to act like a healthy person….a healthy person that is not overweight…..a healthy person that is not overweight and that truly truly loves herself. It’s like getting another Ph.D in Me.

Contemplatio of Beatitude #7-  Sacred and Fit is based on the Beatitudes which, in my view, provide a framework for change in ANY area of life. The process outlines a three step process of 1. Self inquiry and identification of the issue; 2. Deep introspection with Fasting and Prayer aimed at the solution 3. Emergence of a stronger faith and deeper insights that allow for changed beliefs and actions. The process concluding with the planting of peace is not static. The Aramaic translation of “Those who plant peace each season” suggest that the sowing and reaping of peace are cyclical and on-going processes. There are deeper and deeper realms of non-peace to discover within ourselves and more and more peace to be planted at the appropriate time.

As we close this week of focus on Beatitudes #6 and #7, what areas can you identify in your own life,  other than your weight, that could warrant changed beliefs and actions. Make a list and place it in your notebook. Choose from the right brain activities we have discussed over the last seven weeks and apply one or more of them to this new issue. In the coming weeks write about the process in your notebook.

MY ORATIO BEATITUDES #6 and #7

Beatitude #6 Blessed are the pure in spirit for they shall see God.

Aligned with the One are those whose lives radiate from a core of love; they shall see God everywhere.

THE TRUTH ABOUT MYSELF IS THAT I RADIATE FROM PURE LOVE. I SEE GOD EVERYWHERE, INCLUDING WITHIN ME.  I KNOW THAT I AM OF GOD. I SEE AND EXPERIENCE MY GOODNES. I SEE AND EXPERIENCE MY GOD-NESS.

Beatitude #7 Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.

Blessed are those who plant peace each season they shall be named the children of God.

AS THE REVELATION OF THE TRUTH OF WHO I AM GROWS BRIGHTER,  I AM MORE AT PEACE WITH MY BODY EVERY DAY.  I WANT TO TREAT MY BODY WITH LOVE AND CARE.  I NO LONGER PRACTICE JUDGMENT, CRITICISM OR COMPARISON. OTHERS RECOGNIZE THIS PEACE AS THE PEACE THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING. IT IS THE PEACE OF GOD.

I guess it had to happen this week. The let down. I’ve been cruising on my Lectio Divina and my personal affirmations and eating right, exercising, drinking water and then out of the blue comes a bad day.  Actually, not out of the blue but the gray. It's cool, cloudy and rainy. I’m tired because I didn’t sleep well. I didn’t sleep well because I have an unresolved disagreement with someone close to me.  So, I spent a longer time in prayer this morning but now I’m behind schedule. When I get to work I am greeted by a comment at the elevator. “This day sucks.”  And I heard myself agreeing, even though I completely understand that the day is neutral. It is my attitude about the day that sucks. 

I need to pray.

Once off the elevator I began to think about the Beatitudes-seeing God everywhere and being in peace. I realized that Living the Beatitudes is not a “normal” way to live. I am going to have to be willing to be “not normal”. 

I need to pray to want to be "not normal."

Being “not normal” is one of the most difficult things for the social human to do. We all want to fit in. We don’t want to be considered  “weird” or “strange” or  God forbid “new age.” However, make no mistake, in order to adopt a healthy life style we will automatically be different from the unhealthy culture in which we live.  It will be like thinking that everyday is a “good day." People will think you are strange.

Today my Oratio is about praying to be positive and praying to adopt all of the healthy habits. I know that I will appear to be selfish or weird or not normal.  However, I realize that this is the price I am paying for the peace of being well and avoiding illness into old age.

If Dr. Shealy is correct (see newsletter below), then by being selfish now I prevent my family from a decade of caring for someone who is sick or debilitated. I may not prevent myself from having a health condition in old age but I certainly reduce the chances by adopting the Dr. Shealy's Basic Health Habits.

Today I  can begin by being “not normal” and thinking positively about this good day.  I can consider the rain a good thing. After all, we do need the rain. I can stop a get a cup of coffee. I can make a decision to resolve my disagreement or to just put some space between us.

I pray to stay in peace.

Living the Beatitudes helps to keep my mind in a higher more positive place. While doing Lectio Divina I am less stressed because I am constantly monitoring my thoughts.  I am filling my day with scriptures. I am reminded to pray. I am vigilant about eating and exercise.  To be Sacred and Fit is about adopting a new lifestyle and that means a new way of thinking. The new thinking is just that "new." It's a new thing to be conscious of your thoughts about yourself and your health. No more sleepwalking. Other people may not understand it or even like it. Adopting Sacred and Fit means not being normal.

The FIVE  BASIC HEALTH HABITS (my additions in parentheses)

   By C.  Norman Shealy, M.D., Ph.D.

1.     Think Positively(.... about Everything and Everyone- Especially yourself ; Eliminate Stress including criticisms, bitterness, unforgiveness etc.)
2.  BMI 18 to 24 (This is a normal weight range, 2/3 of Americans are either overweight or obese)
3.  No Smoking (This is obvious)
4. Eating a minimum of 5 servings of fruits and  veggies daily (A single serving is 4 oz, if you can't eat that much green take a good multivitamin)
5. Exercise at least 30 minutes 5 days a week

Dr. Shealy goes on to write in his Newsletter-

The April 26, 2010 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine  stated that people who smoke, drink excessively, rarely exercise and skimp on fruits and veggies die prematurely. In fact, those with these misbehaviors are THREE times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease or cancer; FOUR times more likely to die of other causes; and die an average of 12 years earlier than those with better habits!

THE BOTTOM LINE IS:
These unhealthy habits are significant components of the Death Wish!  Expressed or not, the choice of ignoring common sense health habits seems compatible with Freud's concept that most people have a death wish and my surveys which conclude that only 20% of people are reasonably happy! You cannot afford the luxury of ignoring health!! Death may not be so bad but most of the time unhealthy--sickly disease--leads to at least a decade of suffering before death.  Why is it that a huge majority of people fail to accept the simplicity of essential healthy habits?  Suffering should be optional. Premature death should also be optional and mostly avoidable!.

My Meditatio on Beatitdue #6

My students usually balk at having to read a book that’s about reading a book but I have them read it anyway. The book is called How to read a Book: The classic guide to intelligent reading by Mortimer J. Adler and Charles Van Doren. It was written in the middle of the last century and it is still in print because it addresses the different types of ways to read for understanding. One of the most important criteria is to read the book from the author’s perspective. According to Adler and Van Doren, you cannot understand a book until you have read it at least twice, outlined it in detail, compared it to other similar books and deciphered the words that the author uses in a unique way. Then and only then are you prepared to engage the work for the deeper meaning that the author intended.  Fortunately, not all books require that much work. Only those books that you wish to know well enough that they become a part of you are worth this kind of deep analytical reading. 

For the last six weeks, we have treated the Beatitudes in a similar way. We have read them deeply and introspectively. We have allowed ourselves to interpret broader meanings. We have personalized them with our own affirmations. We have memorized, meditated and contemplated them. We have prayed them.  We have, in effect, sought the author’s perspective.

Studying the sacred texts should not be only an academic exercise. If we presume that the words have the power to affect our lives than we must be open to not just “knowing” more but actually “becoming” more.  I believe that this is what the Beatitudes teach us, that our spiritual walk starts with us wanting to change but ends with us making a change in the world. We bring love, grace, mercy, compassion and peace into whatever situation we find ourselves.  The more we study and grow, the deeper the love, the kinder the grace and mercy, the more wondrous the peace. 

From my years of teaching and my lifetime of being a student, I understand that words do not teach.  Words get memorized. Words can be recalled and tested and regurgitated but true learning is an activity, an experience. To experience the teaching of the Bible we need more than the Left brain because the author did not write for just the Left brain. This is obvious to me because it takes more than Left brain understanding to “see God everywhere,” especially when we are looking at God within ourselves.

As I meditate on Beatitudes #6, I feel like I’ve traveled a great distance from where I was when I meditated on Beatitude #1 six weeks ago.   I find that having a practice of keeping the scriptures present through out the day has had a profound effect on me. True, I relate to my body differently and I think of eating in a different way than I did when we started. But there’s more, I feel less stress. I don’t move as fast. I don’t feel pressured by my TO DO list, in fact, I’ve actually been more productive and focused over the last six weeks.  My desk is organized!  

Maybe, just maybe, utilizing the Left  brain and Right brain while studying/experiencing the Beatitudes has made it easier to bring an expanded awareness to the rest of my life.  My meditation today was the thought that if I look for God everywhere I see God everywhere....so did God just get there or is it me?

Can you identify areas of your life, other than eating and exercise that have been affected by your participation in the Sacred and Fit program. If so,  write about what has changed in your Notebook.

Consider the question I've been pondering..Did God just get here, or is it me? In other words, As I commit to think thoughts of love I see more love around me.  What does this mean? ( I'm actually asking myself this question.)

Loving my entire self: Lectio of Beatitudes #6 & #7

We are now entering into the last two weeks of the Sacred and Feet program and the final phase of fully incorporating weight loss and health into our spiritual practice.  We have used the Beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount  (Matthew 5 ) because these verses out line the steps to creating a profound spiritual, mental/emotional and physical shift in one’s being.  These steps are actually repeated throughout scripture but in the Sermon on the Mount they are presented as part of a teaching on spiritual growth in a succinct and logical progression. In my view, the steps outline the following TO DO list for spiritual growth and change; an acknowledgement of our inability to change a behavior; an honest inquiry into the reasons behind the behavior;  a willingness to change an old belief system, pattern or habit; and then finally receiving grace, in the form of a new revelation or understanding resulting a radical change of actions or behaviors

 If we were to make these seven Beatitudes into the kind of affirmations used in a 12-step program, it might read like the following (IN CAPS).  Note that these affirmations are the result of my personal journey with spirituality and weight.  I understand that they will not be yours, especially since you may have used different translations or interpretations over the last six weeks. 

Beatitude #1, Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven OR 

Healed are those who devote themselves to the link of spirit; the design of the universe is rendered through their form.

ALTHOUGH I HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO AFFECT PERMANENT CHANGE IN THIS AREA IN THE PAST, I NOW BELIEVE THAT IT IS POSSIBLE TO INVOLVE THE SPIRT OF GOD AND TO CHANGE MY HEALTH HABITS ONCE AND FOR ALL.

Beatitude #2 Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted

Tuned to the Source are those feeling deeply confused by life; they shall be returned from their wandering.

BEFORE NOW I THOUGHT OF MY BODY AND MY HEALTH AS SOMEHOW NOT CONNECTED TO MY RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD. I WAS CONFUSED.

Beatitude #3 Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth

Healthy are those who have softened what is rigid within; they shall receive physical vigor and strength from the universe

I KNOW THAT THE REASONS BEHIND MY WEIGHT GAIN HAVE BEEN HIDDEN AND DIFFICULT TO ADMIT, EVEN TO MYSELF. AS I NOW ACKNOWLEDGE AND RELEASE THE REASONS FOR MY UNHEALTHY HABITS, I AM ALSO RELEASING THE WEIGHT.

Beatitude #4 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, they shall be filled.

Healed are those who persistently feel inside: “If only I could find new strength and a clear purpose on which to base my life”; they shall be embraced by birthing power.

Integrated, resisting delusion are those who long clearly for a foundation of peace between the warring parts of themselves; they shall find all around them the materials to build it.

ULTIMATELY, MY ISSUES WITH WEIGHT REPRESENTED FALSE BELIEFS WHICH SHOWED THAT I HAD FORGOTTEN THE TRUTH ABOUT MYSELF.  THE ABSENCE OF THIS TRUTH LEFT ME WANTING. THE PRESENCE OF THIS TRUTH NOW FILLS ME. 

Beatitude #5 Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy.

Healthy is the one who extends mercy for they shall have their prayers answered.

WITHIN THIS TRUTH, I AM ABLE TO GRANT MERCY, GRACE AND COMPASSION TO MYSELF.  WITHIN THIS TRUTH, I AM ABLE TO GRANT MERCY, GRACE AND COMPASSION TO OTHERS, EVEN MY ENEMIES.  THEREFORE, THERE IS NOTHING TO HINDER MY PRAYERS.

Beatitude #6 Blessed are the pure in spirit for they shall see God.

Aligned with the One are those whose lives radiate from a core of love; they shall see God everywhere.

THE TRUTH ABOUT MYSELF IS THAT I RADIATE FROM PURE LOVE. I SEE GOD EVERYWHERE, INCLUDING WITHIN ME.  I KNOW THAT I AM OF GOD. I SEE AND EXPERIENCE MY GOODNES. I SEE AND EXPERIENCE MY GOD-NESS.

Beatitude #7 Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.

Blessed are those who plant peace each season they shall be named the children of God.

AS THE REVELATION OF THE TRUTH OF WHO I AM GROWS BRIGHTER,  I AM MORE AT PEACE WITH MY BODY.  EVERY DAY I TREAT MY BODY WITH LOVE AND CARE.  I NO LONGER PRACTICE JUDGMENT, CRITICISM OR COMPARISON. OTHERS RECOGNIZE THIS PEACE AS THE PEACE THAT PASSES ALL UNDERSTANDING. IT IS THE PEACE OF GOD.

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Create your own Affirmations that are based on your participation in the Sacred and Fit Program.  Do this activity slowly and take your time. This week  think about how you would interpret the scriptures  if they had been written just for you and focused on your health regimen. Utilize all of the tools that have been introduced to you during the course of the program, especially those aimed at heightening your intuitive senses; morning pages, dreams,  self-suggestion before sleeping, vision pages, mindfulness and  Lectio Divina.   During the course of this week, write down at least one Affirmation and place it where you can see it on a daily basis.