Archive for the ‘Healing’ Category
As many of you know, I quit eating sugar back in June. Since then, I’ve blogged about how amazing I feel and my belly ‘fluff’ is melting away. I feel awesome and have been sharing this with everyone. I literally feel like I am experiencing life at a whole new level.
When Hay House asked me if I wanted to share with you a new book by Jorge Cruise. Of course, I wanted to because of his passion and commitment to helping others, but also because of my own experiences of how eating certain foods really makes a difference in this area.
His latest book is all about cutting the sugars and other carbs that add unsightly ‘belly fat’ as he calls it. What I have always admired about Jorge is his passion for helping others live vital, physically-optimal lives. This latest book is a simplified eat this, not that formula for cutting down the belly fat.
If you have ended the summer vowing not to go through another summer without loving your body and looking your best, then I urge you to START TODAY to BEGIN to have an experience with your body that will ensure NEXT SUMMER (and every day until and after) you are fit, trim and vitally healthy. Just imagine what a few pounds a month will turn into by next June.
It really is that easy. Make a decision. Commit today!
If Jorge’s book feels like a fit for you, go to: http://promos.hayhouse.com/bfcfasttrack/
As always, in addition to Jorge’s book, there are 23 gifts you’ll receive from other thought-leaders as well. Plus, there are many other gifts you could win in other drawings!
Here’s to you being all YOU are meant to be!
Today is Mark’s birthday, so 9-11 means many things to me. And, before it marked one of the most memorable dates in U.S. history, it marked a day when the love of my life came into this world – two months premature, less than 2 lbs., barely alive and fighting to live with every breath. Unlike two of his brothers who entered the world the same way and didn’t make it, he was determined to stick around.
Today, his remarkable spirit is similar to the day he was born. Determined, sure, knowing he’ll make it. This energy I felt when I met him ensured I trusted him even though my mind had no idea why. I could feel that he knew – knew what? I wondered.
In the early morning hours of 9-11-2001, Mark and I were driving home from the east coast of Florida with 9-month-old Chance in tow. I felt tense. Something was off. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but when Mark asked me if we should stop and stay in Shreveport, I said, “No, we need to get home. I don’t know why.”
Normally, Mark, in his determined way, is the one pressing to drive all the way to a destination. But, it was 3 am, and he knew I didn’t like to drive past 1 am. He had driven 12 hours to get to Shreveport. He had wanted to make it at least to near the Texas border before staying somewhere. That night, I could feel something was not right, but could not tell if it was something on the highways or at home. All I knew was that something was saying, “Go home.”
He continued to drive toward our home just north of Dallas, and we pulled up at just past six. I checked the house. Nothing. But the feeling wouldn’t leave me. I tossed and turned as we dropped into bed to sleep. At 8:32 am, we both spontaneously woke up even though we had only slept little more than two hours. Mark stumbled into the living room and flipped on the TV. There it was. The twin towers drilled by airplanes. The first attack happened just a half hour earlier, and by then, the news had broadcast it to the world.
The visual shocked me, yet the feeling matched. We were changed, like everyone else in the U.S., that day.
Since then, I have read many accounts about 9-11. Many intuitive, sensitive people dreamed of planes crashing into skyscrapers. Others reported a deep sense of dread. I didn’t notice the feelings until that night. Before that, I was focused on sno cones and the trailer we had just purchased as part of my initial return to ‘me.’
As we remember 9-11. No doubt we all remember where we were, what happened that morning, who we spoke to. I hope that in the future we all, as a society, will honor the intuitive force that could prevent or perhaps initiate action toward something this heinous. Robert Moss, in his book, The Three "Only" Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence, and Imagination, shares his vision of how we can work as a collective to harness the power of imagination and dreams. Can we return to our intuitive nature that moves with the rhythms of energy? I hope so.
Until then, we will take a moment to remember those who left us that day and the many others who have given their lives since then.
Hi everyone… quick note because we are literally about to walk out the door for a much-needed vacation (and some MORE THAN NEEDED cooler weather), but I had to post this before I left.
Last night, Pam Grout, author of A-MAZING books like, The Girlfriend’s Getaway Guide, God Doesn’t Have Bad Hair Days, Art & Soul and many, many others, including Jumpstart Your Metabolism, has generously offered a free giveaway – an ebook that can help YOU to breathe better!
I remember when I first learned how to breathe properly. I was 34 years old. I had been referred to a new type of chiropractor – this guy did something called Network Care. As a person who has had scoliosis since birth, I have gotten to know chiropractors quite well in my life, but Network… what was that?
The premise is that your spine likes to flow in a gentle wave from your head down to your bottom. When you breathe PROPERLY your spine naturally does this and your internal organs feel happy inside being in ‘rhythm’ with the body.
I have often said that learning how to breathe properly is one of the GREATEST GIFTS I have ever been given. Breathing fully, to me, is the first step to LIVING FULLY!
For those of you who caught the show last night, you KNOW, Pam is all about LIVING FULLY!
Snag her gift right now to help you take the first step to living fully by learning how to breathe at www.PamGrout.com – send her your email in her contact form there. Just let her know you heard this on Queen of Dreams Radio.
Thank you, Pam!
I haven’t blogged for over a week, and many of you have been concerned about me. Usually, if I drop off for a bit, there’s always a reason. I often share what’s going on. And this time is no different.
I’m close to finishing my doctorate. My ‘goal’ was to complete it by my birthday, which is the same thing I did to propel me through finishing my bachelors. Back then, I had been working on my degree for 10 years with hits and misses, starting one degree and abandoning them one after another for various reasons. By the time I turned 28, I made a promise to myself to finish before I turned 30. I had roughly 64 hours left, and it was important to me to get my degree.
That promise took me to 18 to 21 hour semesters while working 60 to 80 hours a week at work, but I did it. And, it didn’t even feel hard. I simply took my work to school and listened while in school. I used all the best parts of who I am to achieve my goal. Because I am highly auditory in learning, I could do my work and ‘listen’… allowing my subconscious to soak in the material. When I graduated, I felt amazing.
This time is turning out to be the same. I just received my Masters of Science degree (part of my doctorate track), and though I am putting in 40 to 50 hours a week on my coursework, I am loving every moment of it. The gifts continue to reveal themselves…something I could not have known when I followed this impulse to ‘finish’ what I had started 5 years ago! In that moment, all I knew was ‘now’ was the time to ‘finish.’
In completing my coursework, I have found a new dimension to my ‘voice.’ Perhaps it is the reverb of the many authors walking this path with me…that we ‘resonate’ to a similar ‘note.’ However, I feel my voice coming through me in a new way…more multi-dimensional. I feel validated at a soul level…I feel whole and complete in my heart. I am reaching for the words, and yet it is the feeling I am most comforted by…the feeling of a ‘tribe.’ I feel supported. I feel I am finding my place, though I don’t yet know exactly what that is – yet.
Two weeks ago, I felt the tremendous pull to detox. This pull has been talking to me for three months now. The last time, right before I was going to do a detox (which, for me, means going off of all sugar, minimizing salt, cutting out processed foods, and sometimes cutting coffee), Miss Debbie made us the most AMAZING blackberry cobbler. I mean, seriously, that cobbler is TO DIE FOR. I’ll share the recipe in a few days. After that, I just didn’t do it. Why? Not sure, but just didn’t do it.
Back to two weeks ago… for a week, I felt the pull, and I thought, “Yes! I’m ready.” I am close to finishing my degree, and I want to be well into my next experience of clean eating by my birthday.
Last Monday, I went off of coffee and sugars and had the WORST reaction to it I’ve ever had in my entire life. My head felt like it was going to explode! I felt really sick to my stomach. I even had COLD SWEATS. I was a mess! Intuitively, I knew it wasn’t just the coffee, so I started looking up sugar withdrawal. I felt like I’ve seen drug addicts look like when they are going through DTs. I’ve shared here before that my doctor had explained that ADHD people have a brain chemistry that requires more ‘sugar.’ Unfortunately, most of us, me included, choose the wrong kind – refined.
I found a book called Potatoes Not Prozac by Dr. Kathleen DesMaisons. I took comfort in her description of the ‘withdrawal’ and found I am an identical physiological match to what she calls a ‘sugar sensitive’ person. I read her other book, The Sugar Addict’s Total Recovery Program, too, as I used healing techniques, and aspirin to try to cope with the symptoms. I certainly was in no shape to do coursework! True to her promise, by day 5, I felt amazing. I didn’t plan to do all of this…to me, it was like any other time I had decided to ‘eat clean,’ but this time I had to come to grips with how much sugar I actually was ingesting in its many forms. As I counted up the various ways I was taking in sugar…for me, it is primarily with coffee in the form of cream and sugar, but in other ways, too, like bread and a cookie here and there. Oh, and don’t forget ketchup! I realized that in the past I would taper off of coffee first (and with it, out went a lot of the sugar, too). This time, BAM!, all at once. By day 2, Mark urged me to just motor through it since I had made it nearly 36 hours. I agreed, and though I did eat two or three bananas a day (loaded with natural sugar), though at least they are ‘better’ sugars.
Now, as I looked at myself, I wondered if my properly functioning thyroid also contributed to the severity of the symptoms. I don’t know about that, but what I DO know is I feel AMAZING now!
First, I feel amazing physically. Completely off of any stimulants, I feel my own energy again. I feel vibrant and as ‘good’ as I ever did with two cups of coffee loaded with sugar and cream. Second, I feel like there’s nothing wrong with me in this area. Now, that might sound like an oxymoron, as there is something VERY DIFFERENT about my brain and how it copes and handles sugar, but what I’ve been able to let go of is all of the years of feeling like I couldn’t stick with my clean eating. Now, I can see the brain chemistry that was actually DRIVING ME to get what it needed, and how my ‘clean eating’ programs were deficient in ONE THING that would lead to imminent failure each time!
I am not sure I had an awareness of how much this bothered me until now. I have been able to achieve and create anything I truly committed to, but yet in this area, I could stick with it and then I couldn’t even though I was conscious. Each moment, I would reach for coffee or reach for something else, I knew I was doing it – to get myself to ‘feel’ like doing something. With the ‘cocktail’ as I call it, I could do anything…and quickly and easily! Turns out there’s a reason why I was reaching for it – both physiologically and psychologically.
The brain of a sugar sensitive person renders them shy, anxious (I’ve written many times about anxiety) and with ‘sugar’ all of a sudden we turn from Clark Kent to Superman! Wow, what an amazing discovery! This goes beyond understanding sugar, giving it up – it goes to the root of the cause.
I remember tracking my cravings and linking these to my feelings many years ago… sure enough, the top of the list was peanut butter and chocolate for stress and uncertainty. I actually feel ‘normal’ just knowing what ‘normal’ is for my constitution and make-up. I feel like 100 lbs. of guilt and shame have been released. I feel free!
I mentioned to Mark that I found it remarkable that I had never researched sugar addiction before. To say it never crossed my mind is actually true…I mean, I had thought I was ‘addicted,’ and using sugar like a drug but I had never been…willing (maybe that’s the word) to really face it. There’s a saying that says when you are ready, the door will appear.
I’ve found my door!
Am I saying I’m 100% sugar-free? No, I’m not. Dr. DesMaisons’s ‘sugar-free’ and mine look like two totally different ends of the spectrum, but I am ready to be. What she wrote so ‘spoke’ to my truth in how I have used sugar my entire life that I ‘know’ it is true. Her background in addiction has framed it in a way that makes sense to me…this is bio-chemical. My brain works better when it is given different fuel. However, the reasons we use the ‘sugar’ is for all of the reasons any addict does…to overcome how s/he feels in the moment. But what happens when it is how your BRAIN is affecting how you feel???
You feel anxious, just have some sugar! You feel depressed, just have some sugar! You feel lousy about yourself, just have some sugar! I had come to a place of telling myself the truth about my feelings and being okay with being hurt, or upset or angry, but I had not been able to figure out how to get my brain to function when I needed it to – without the sugar. It was like if I was eating clean, I had to rely on my other behavioral tools to ‘get’ myself to do something. A doctor I went to years ago when I first suspected I might be ADD told me I had ‘mastered’ the ‘getting around ADD symptomology.’ That’s what achievers do…we improvise, innovate, change the game … anything to reach the finish line. I often would say it ‘wasn’t worth it’ … it takes too much effort to ‘manage’ myself. Then, in a weak moment, I would go back to the stand-by and sugar, my good old friend, would power-up my brain and I would be off again!
Thankfully…GRATEFULLY… I am so happy to be on to a new adventure of now noticing how much of certain complex sugars my body will allow. I feel like I have a plan that works with my mind and body. For many years, I have wondered how I could have worked with clients for healing cancer and many other things, yet my thyroid has not healed (hmmm, think that might have something to do with self-expression?) nor has this brain chemistry.
Regardless, one thing I noticed this time that was strikingly different… it wasn’t about ‘what I was going to have to give up’…this time it is all about what I’m going to GAIN from being myself…fully and completely, without any ‘drugs’ so to speak, and how good can I stand feeling! So far, so good, I feel amazing.
Last night, I thought about all of the things I don’t have to worry about giving up… I don’t smoke, I’m not addicted to alcohol (like a lot of sugar sensitive people are), I don’t have a drug dependency, I am not addicted to Diet Cokes or other diet foods (again, another addictive area). I’ve done the hardest part by kicking the caffeine and overt sugar, and now it’s just discovery of what works and what doesn’t for me since we are all different.
I share all of this for any of you out there who may be experiencing similar things…if I could shout from the rooftops about Dr. DesMaison’s work (she is a pioneer in this field of study, actually creating her own doctorate program to work on this at the age of 50!),I would. For now, I’ll write this blog for those looking for an answer and who are ‘ready.’
Love to you all…thanks for checking in on me… more blog posts to follow!
Tina
P.S. One of the greatest gifts this discovery has given is the gift of sharing. We can help guide Chance so he doesn’t follow in my tracks, and the gift of sharing it with my mom (who is SOOO similar as it is hereditary) so she can reach optimal health, too!
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If you like Oprah like I like Oprah, you’ve been checking out the various shows on OWN – Oprah Winfrey Network. One I knew I wanted to see is Why Not? with Shania Twain. I have loved Shania’s music ever since she came out with The Woman in Me. At the time, I worked part-time at Circuit City as a sales person and her video played repeatedly throughout the store.
Like many others, I felt mesmerized by her voice, her beauty and her authenticity. I could feel that her lyrics came from a true place inside.
As I watched her show, heard her tell the story of unraveling and losing her way – in the process losing herself and her voice – I felt a surge of tears that came from someplace true inside of me. She spoke of not being able to sing, of not being able to write songs, of not being able to find her voice, and I knew that feeling. I’ve been there. I have stood outside of myself wondering why I couldn’t force myself to just ‘do’ what I knew and had done before.
My tears flowed not for her pain, but for the thought of her never writing a song or singing again. I could not fathom never hearing another song written from her heart. I felt that if she never sang again, this world would be less because of it. I cried for the loss I felt inside my heart and the ache I felt for the songs my heart was already connecting to and longing for – something I had no conscious awareness of!
The intensity of the feelings overwhelmed me because in that moment I realized this is how God feels for each one of us…when we do not express what is true inside, when we withhold our beauty…our highest expression of the love we are, then the world is less somehow.
I sat, by myself, watching Shania struggle to reconnect to her voice again, and I knew, in that moment, we are all the same. And, it is this connection that uplifts us and others all at the same time. Each one, a shiny gem of the divine, sparkling like a radiant diamond.
That path back to this connection is different for each one of us, but it is essentially the same process…surrendering, trusting and, eventually, opening to the love we are.
We are all worthy of expression… each person’s as valuable as every other person’s. Let your light and love shine!
