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Permanent Weight Loss: The Journey
You
are what you are seeking. Your soul has been waiting patiently for you
to find
her. Turn your gaze inward and you will find her.
As a weight loss coach and emotional eating specialist, my clients are
mostly women who are compulsive,
emotional overeaters, food
addicts, and binge eaters. These people
have struggled with
food and weight for a long time. They have tried many different diets
and
approaches, and all have failed.
They
view their weight problem as the barrier to their happiness and success
in life.
They are certain that once they lose the weight their real lives will
begin, and
the story of their lives will have a happy ending, with either prince
charming
arriving on his white horse, and or all their problems magically
disappearing.
The weight is not the problem, it is only a symptom. The larger issue
is one of
separation: a separation of the mind, body, and spirit. Food and weight
obsessions are a calling to wholeness and spiritual unity.
Your weight problem is the way your spiritual uneasiness is manifesting
itself
in the world. When you’re obsessed with food and weight you are focused
on a
surface issue, and on your surface (ego) self. To truly put an end to
the
problem, you must dive into the deepest depths of your Being, into the
heart of
the sacred mystery that is you.
You are not who you think you are. You are not just a mother, wife,
girlfriend, worker bee,
or overweight man or woman. First and foremost, you are spiritual being
yearning to
express your deepest, most divine Self in the world. You are a co
creator. The
secret to permanent weight loss is to remember and recover who you
really are.
Your real job on this planet is to give expression to this higher
Being, to give
birth to this Sacred Self. This Self has come into this life with a
mission
to accomplish. It is only when you start to express and live from this
esssential Self, that life begins to change in the most amazing ways.
The path to permanent weight loss can be a wondrous path of
self-discovery and
spiritual transformation to recover this sacred, essential Self. It can
be viewed as
the mythic Hero’s Journey that the late Joseph Campbell wrote about. It
is the
work of finding and reclaiming your authentic Self.
To find your authentic Self, you must journey to the depths of your
Being (the
underworld or subconscious), illuminate your own darkness, encounter
your demons and befriend them, so that you can recover your soul and
become whole
again. Your greatest gifts are hidden in the dark. You must shine your
light on
your own darkness to uncover the brilliance of your soul.
Healing requires taking the disowned and discarded parts of yourself,
and
tenderly patching them into the loving quilt of self-acceptance. It is
by
embracing your fragile humanness that you discover your greatest
strengths.
Self-forgiveness
is the healing balm that paves the way to self-acceptance. Once
you have
recovered your authentic Self, you are able to reclaim your divine
gifts and bring
these into the world to live out your sacred mission or destiny. This
is what it
means to become the hero of your own life.
And you thought you just needed to lose some weight!
You are the most fascinating creature on the planet. If only you could
believe
that! There is an entire universe inside of you just waiting for you to
discover
it. You’re convinced that an expert, a book, a diet, a workout, or a
new
romance is the answer to your weight problem. You come to me looking
for
answers, yet the answers are locked away inside of you, just waiting
for you to
take the keys and unlock their secrets!
My advice is always to take your attention and put it on yourself. Turn
your
gaze inward to find your authentic Self. She is patiently waiting for
you
to find her. Gaze within yourself with the eyes of a curious lover.
Increase your
openness and trust. Surrender to the greater mystery of you.
Your deeper Self will reveal to you all that you need to know. I cannot
tell you
what your highest good is. No one but you, can penetrate the mystery of
you.
I can only act as a humble guide and point you in the direction
of the
keys.
What are the keys to unlocking this great mystery? The keys are
willingness,
surrender, faith, courage, curiosity, openness, and inquiry.
You must begin to ask the questions. Who am I really? What am I beneath
my
surface (ego) self? Are the stories and the beliefs I hold about myself
really true?
What am I afraid of? What is this obsession with food and weight really
about?
What am I avoiding by focusing on food and weight? What is my true
purpose and
mission in life? How does my soul want to express itself in this
lifetime?
Until you begin to ask yourself the questions you will not receive the
answers.
As it is said in the bible, “Ask and you will receive, knock and the
door will
be opened.”
You must ask. Many of you are afraid to look within because you think
there will
be nothing there! This is simply not true.
Where will you find her? Beneath the reverberant chatter of your mind,
lays the
ground of your Being. The heart of this Being is pure love. Your spirit
is love
itself! All that you are seeking is contained within you. As it is said
in the
bible, “The kingdom of heaven is within you.”
Your
ego self is an illusion. It is the veil of unreality. Underneath the
persona of
the small self that you identify as you, lays a much deeper reality. It
is a
vastness of Self that holds the mystery of life itself. Your higher,
essential Self contains
the entire world. You are a universe unto yourself!
Your authentic Self is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Your
self-seeking
in the world of outer illusion will never bring you what you seek. It
creates a
hunger that can never be satisfied through external things because the
source of
your hunger is your sacred Self that is calling out for nourishment and
expression. Your job is to find her, and listen to her secret wisdom
and
guidance. Only she knows how to
quench your deepest hunger and longings.
How
do you find her? She exists in the silence. She speaks in whispers. You
must get
still to hear her speak. She will answer you in prayer, yoga, meditation, art or in nature.
She can be found wherever stillness exists. Her clues are
everywhere.
Her
only requirement is awareness, the awareness of a deeper reality and
oneness
that is at the core of all creation. She can be found in the fullness
of the
moment; she exists at the center of your every breath.
When you begin to express your deeper, most essential Self, life will
take on a
joyous, magical quality unlike anything your surface self could ever
imagine.
You will no longer sleep walk through life in a trance of
self-delusion. You
will begin to feel truly alive, and vibrant. The whole world will open
up to you
because your star will be shining brightly!
There is nothing more radiant and attractive in the world than a person
who is
lit from within. When the divine spark roars into a spiritual bonfire,
it draws
and warms others like a moth to a flame.
Your real life can only begin when you act from this deeper Self, this
core at
the heart of your Being. The great love affair of your life is the one
you have
with yourself. That is why the greatest secret and tool of the weight
loss master is self-love.
My wish for you is that you fall madly, deeply in love with yourself.
There is
such joy in this journey! It’s also true that you will find some pain,
but
beneath this pain lays true freedom. The path of liberation is through
the
facing of pain. The Buddha taught that pain and suffering are a part of
life.
All addictions and compulsions serve as a way of avoiding the pain and
unpleasantness of life.
You must not let your resistance and the fear of pain stop you. Most
people run
as soon as they begin to experience a little discomfort. They never get
to the
pot of gold on the other side!
This path requires courage. If you are willing to stay the course you
will find
it. I promise you that. This freedom offers an unbounded joy that
cannot be
attained by strivings in the external world. Joy is your natural
default button.
It is your sacred birthright.
Amazing things happen when you begin to align with your Self and
connect to
your higher purpose in the world. You will find much support. You are
never
alone on this journey. The universe has a way of supporting you and
giving you
what you need. People and opportunities will begin to show up
everywhere.
Synchronicities and miracles begin to happen as you live from a state
of flow
connected to your spiritual power source.
You will know you have reached this place when feelings of peace,
harmony, and
contentment are with you most of the time. Weight and food will no
longer be an
issue. You will be joyfully engaged in the dance of life. When you are
fully alive with
the fierce radiance of an open heart, you will know that you have come
home to
yourself. You will be filled with a sense of wonder for the sacred
mystery that is
alive in the very heart of you.
May you awaken to the joy and wonder of you!
Catherine L. Taylor
Related
Articles
The
Creed Of The Weight Loss Master
The
Benefits Of Mindfulness
The
Decision To Choose Life
Healing
Emotional Eating
Spiritual
Awakening - Eternal Springtime Of The Heart
Awakening
To Your Real Beauty
Interested in weight loss, emotional eating coaching or life clarity? Contact Catherine for a free consultation!
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