EasyWillpower Blog

Your Real Journey

2010-08-13T15:23:00.002-05:00

"The world can not be discovered by a journey of miles. . . . only by a spiritual journey . . . by which we arrive at the ground at our feet and learn to be at home." - Wendell Berry

Sort of reminds me of the Wizard of Oz - one of my favorite stories. When Dorothy asked the Good Witch why she didn't tell her sooner that she could've gone home all along by clicking her heels together 3 times, the Good Witch replied, "You wouldn't have believed me . . ." Dorothy had to go through her journey to find the Truth and so do we. Safe & Joyful Travels, Rena

The Law of Least Effort

2010-05-19T09:43:00.000-05:00

When it comes to healing, The Chopra Center for Wellbeing defines, "The Law of Least Effort," as this:

Accepting people, situations, and events as they occur. Taking responsibility for your situation and for all events seen as problems.

And relinquishing the need to defend your point of view.

Choose Wisely and Consciously

2010-05-15T15:44:00.000-05:00

Today's thoughts, feelings and actions are creating your tomorrow. Yesterday's thoughts, feelings and actions have created your experience today. Choose wisely and consciously. - Rena Greenberg

You Have No Idea What You Are Capable Of

2010-05-12T18:15:00.001-05:00

"If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves."

- Thomas Edison

What Result do you Desire?

2010-04-21T07:55:00.001-05:00

Today is a great day to remember that thoughts and actions have consequences. They are cumulative. Every thought and action leads to a result, whether we desire it or not.

Keep Your Eyes Open

2010-04-13T16:24:00.001-05:00

No matter how great your trial, keep your eyes open and you will find the gift.

- Rena Greenberg

Use Your Gifts!

2010-04-04T08:10:00.001-05:00

The days come and go like muffled and veiled figures sent from a distant friendly party but they say nothing. And if we do not use the gifts they bring, they carry them silently away.

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Equal in Weight

2010-04-01T13:16:00.001-05:00

"Deeds of kindness are equal in weight to all the commandments."

-The Talmud

This Common Food Ingredient Is As Addictive As Cocaine

2010-03-18T10:11:00.002-05:00

This is a very informative and enlightening article about the dangers of Fructose by Dr. Jim Mercola. Before we can access the subconscious mind to make the changes we want to make, we need to make a conscious decision that it makes sense to make the changes we say we want to make. My hope is that this article will help you to do that.

Overeating is not just psychological - it's physical, too, as a result of the foods that are already in our system.

Warmly,

Rena

By Dr. Jim Mercola:

The majority of Dr. Johnson’s research has focused on how the number one source of calories in the American diet might cause obesity, high blood pressure, and a number of other common diseases.

He didn’t start by looking at fructose however. It began when he realized that uric acid is a major component of obesity high blood pressure and kidney disease.

In fact, he discovered that newly diagnosed adolescents with high blood pressure had elevated uric acid levels 90 percent of the time. And by lowering uric acid in these obese, hypertensive adolescents, he was able to normalize blood pressure in 87 percent of all cases.

The question was: What raises uric acid?

It’s been known that meats and purine rich foods can raise uric acid, but it turns out that one of the most potent ways to raise uric acid is via fructose!

You probably already know that fructose is a sugar, but you may not realize is that it’s distinctly different from other sugars as it’s metabolized through very specific pathways that differ from those of glucose, for example, and through its distinct metabolic action, uric acid is generated.

In fact, fructose typically generates uric acid within minutes of ingestion.

But let’s take a step back and look at what uric acid is, and how it’s linked to fructose consumption.

What is Uric Acid and How Much is Too Much?

Uric acid is a normal waste product found in your blood. High levels of uric acid are normally associated with gout, but it has been known for a long time that people with high blood pressure, overweight, and people with kidney disease, often have high uric acid levels as well.

It used to be thought that the uric acid was secondary in these conditions, and not the cause – but Dr. Johnson’s research indicates that it could be a lead player in the development of these conditions, rather than just a supporting actor, when its levels in your body reach 5.5 mg per dl or higher.

At this level, uric acid is associated with an increased risk for developing high blood pressure, as well as diabetes, obesity and kidney disease.

Interestingly, uric acid functions both as an antioxidant, and as a pro-oxidant once inside your cells.

So, if you lower uric acid too much, you lose its antioxidant benefits. But if your uric acid levels are too high, it tends to significantly increase inside your cells as well, where it acts as a pro-oxidant.

Dr. Johnson believes the ideal range for uric acid lies between 3 to 5.5 mg per dl. As already mentioned, above this range your risk of developing all the problems listed correlate quite well.

In the following statement, Dr. Johnson explains just how closely tied uric acid levels are to fructose consumption:

“If you give animals fructose, they develop diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and fatty liver. And in most of these conditions, if we lower uric acid, we can prevent many of these conditions, [although] not completely.

So lowering uric acid seems to benefit some of the mechanisms by which fructose causes disease.

So a very important point is that if you take two animals and you feed one fructose and feed the other one the exact same number of calories but give it as dextrose or glucose, its only the fructose-fed animal that will develop obesity, insulin resistance, fatty liver, and high triglycerides, signs of inflammation, vascular disease, and high blood pressure.”

This bears out in humans as well. Over the last 20 years, we’ve seen a dramatic increase in fatty liver disease throughout the world, and studies done by Dr. Johnson and a group of researchers at Duke University showed that people who develop fatty liver drink a lot more soft drinks, and ingest far more fructose than the average person in the community.

Folks, this is exactly why I am so passionate about educating you on the dangers of fructose! I am thoroughly convinced that it’s one of the leading causes behind the massive rise in needless suffering from poor health and premature death.

One of the people who truly opened my eyes and educated me on this issue is Dr. Robert Lustig, Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology at University of California in San Francisco.

If you still haven’t watched his excellent lecture on the dangers of fructose and other sugars, I strongly recommend you take the time to do it. (I’ve published it in two parts. Click here for part 1, and here for part 2.)

How Much Fructose are You Consuming?

It’s no secret that we are eating more sugar than at any other time in history. In 1700, the average person ate 4 pounds of sugar a year. By 1800, it was 18 pounds. By 1900 it was about 90 pounds.

Today, about 25 percent of all Americans consume over ½ pound of added sugars a day, according to Dr. Johnson's research. That kind of consumption equates to more than 180 pounds of sugar per year! And it just so happens this statistic dovetails nicely with the statistics showing that one in four Americans is either pre-diabetic or has type 2 diabetes.

The two main sources of that sugar are high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and table sugar.

As a standard recommendation, I strongly advise keeping your TOTAL fructose consumption below 25 grams per day.

However, for most people it would actually be wise to limit your fruit fructose to 15 grams or less, as it is virtually guaranteed that you will consume “hidden” sources of fructose from most beverages and just about any processed food you might eat.

Since 55 percent of HFCS is fructose, one can of soda alone would nearly exceed your daily allotment. It is easy to see that anyone who is drinking three, and certainly four will easily exceed 100 grams of fructose per day,

Are Fruits Good or Bad for You?

Keep in mind that fruits also contain fructose, although an ameliorating factor is that whole fruits also contain vitamins and other antioxidants that reduce the hazardous effects of fructose.

Juices, on the other hand, are nearly as detrimental as soda, because a glass of juice is loaded with fructose, and a lot of the antioxidants are lost.

It is important to remember that fructose alone isn’t evil as fruits are certainly beneficial. But when you consume high levels of fructose it will absolutely devastate your biochemistry and physiology. Remember the AVERAGE fructose dose is 70 grams per day which exceeds the recommend limit by 300 percent.

So please BE CAREFUL with your fruit consumption. You simply MUST understand that because HFCS is so darn cheap, it is added to virtually every processed food. Even if you consumed no soda or fruit, it is very easy to exceed 25 grams of hidden fructose in your diet.

If you are a raw food advocate, have a pristine diet, and exercise very well, then you could be the exception that could exceed this limit and stay healthy. But in my experience that is far less than one in 1,000 people and probably closer to 1 in 10,000 people.

So please, carefully add your fruits based on the table below to keep the total fructose from fruit below 15 grams per day.

Fruit Serving Size Grams of Fructose

Limes 1 medium 0

Lemons 1 medium 0.6

Cranberries 1 cup 0.7

Passion fruit 1 medium 0.9

Prune 1 medium 1.2

Apricot 1 medium 1.3

Guava 2 medium 2.2

Date (Deglet Noor style) 1 medium 2.6

Cantaloupe 1/8 of med. melon 2.8

Raspberries 1 cup 3.0

Clementine 1 medium 3.4

Kiwifruit 1 medium 3.4

Blackberries 1 cup 3.5

Star fruit 1 medium 3.6

Cherries, sweet 10 3.8

Strawberries 1 cup 3.8

Cherries, sour 1 cup 4.0

Pineapple 1 slice

(3.5" x .75") 4.0

Grapefruit, pink or red 1/2 medium 4.3

Fruit Serving Size Grams of Fructose

Boysenberries 1 cup 4.6

Tangerine/mandarin orange 1 medium 4.8

Nectarine 1 medium 5.4

Peach 1 medium 5.9

Orange (navel) 1 medium 6.1

Papaya 1/2 medium 6.3

Honeydew 1/8 of med. melon 6.7

Banana 1 medium 7.1

Blueberries 1 cup 7.4

Date (Medjool) 1 medium 7.7

Apple (composite) 1 medium 9.5

Persimmon 1 medium 10.6

Watermelon 1/16 med. melon 11.3

Pear 1 medium 11.8

Raisins 1/4 cup 12.3

Grapes, seedless (green or red) 1 cup 12.4

Mango 1/2 medium 16.2

Apricots, dried 1 cup 16.4

Figs, dried 1 cup 23.0

Glucose Makes Fructose Even More Potent!

Fructose consumption clearly causes insulin resistance, whereas straight glucose does not. Insulin resistance can eventually lead to full blown diabetes.

Interestingly, glucose actually accelerates fructose absorption. So when you MIX glucose and fructose together, you absorb more fructose than if you consumed fructose alone.

This is an important piece of information for people who want to make a better effort at controlling their weight. With an epidemic of obesity going on in this country – two out of three people are overweight, and one out of three is obese – it has become clear that fructose is the single most important factor in this epidemic.

A Second Uric Acid Trigger

In his studies, Dr. Johnson found one more common substance that also elevates uric acid levels, namely beer!

It turns out that the yeast and all that’s used to make beer work together to make beer another powerful uric acid trigger.

The classic “beer belly syndrome,” is also quite similar to metabolic syndrome, and includes abdominal obesity, hypertriglyceridemia (high triglycerides), high blood pressure, and even insulin resistance.

While this concept is still new, pilot studies support Dr. Johnson’s findings, so beer consumption is also something to definitely consider when you’re watching your weight and trying to improve your health.

How to Restrict Fructose Consumption

In his book, The Sugar Fix, Dr. Johnson reviews the effectiveness of reducing fructose intake to help prevent or treat obesity. He provides detailed tables showing the content of fructose in different foods – an information base that isn’t readily available when you’re trying to find out exactly how much fructose is in various foods.

The fructose content of fruits that I included above came from his work.

The results of following the suggestions in this book are backed up by a controlled clinical trial, in which overweight people who followed the diet saw significant improvements in weight and blood pressure.

Reducing sugar in your diet can be tough for some people. After all, sugar is just as addictive as cocaine! But it’s possible, and Dr. Johnson provides helpful guidelines for doing so in his book.

It calls for following a very low fructose diet for two weeks, which has the effect of “rebooting” your system. Sugar activates its own pathways, and the more sugar you eat, the more sensitive you become to it, and the more your body starts absorbing. By cutting out sugar for a period of time, you can reduce the hyperactive metabolic system that has developed, and start over.

What Sweeteners Can You Use?

It’s worth noting here that some alternatives that would appear healthy to most people are still loaded with fructose.

Agave syrup, for example, is being falsely advertised as “natural.” It is actually HIGHLY processed and is 80 percent fructose. The end product does not even remotely resemble the original agave plant and has virtually no nutritive value. For more information about agave, please see my previous in-depth report on this topic.

Likewise, honey is very high in fructose. Although its fructose content varies, it typically contains about the same amount as HFCS, or more. So even though honey contains many other beneficial nutrients, you’ll want to use honey very sparingly.

A far safer alternative is to use pure glucose.

You can buy pure glucose (dextrose) as a sweetener for about $1 a pound. It is only 70 percent as sweet as sucrose, so you’ll end up using a bit more of it for the same amount of sweetness, making it slightly more expensive than sucrose—but still well worth it for your health as it has ZERO grams of fructose.

Remember, glucose can be used directly by every cell in your body and as such is far safer than the metabolic poison fructose.

Another option is to use the herb stevia.

While you’re making this fresh start, you will want to learn as much as possible about reading labels, which I’ve addressed in many previous articles, and becoming familiar with the fructose content of everything you eat.

Trust me, this isn’t the last time we’ll be talking about fructose, or hearing about Dr. Johnson’s work. I’m passionate about helping you take control of your health and sharing this vital information with you, which can radically change your health for the better.

Craving Love Craving Chocolate

2010-02-22T17:53:00.002-05:00

We all crave love. Whether we have a special love in our life or not, many of us seek a deeper, more encompassing love. Often we reach for chocolate out of a desire for that love. But the chocolate, no matter how comforting, will never satisfy our deeper desires.

In order to experience deeper, unconditional love, we need to be ready to receive such a love. Ask yourself, “How receptive are you to love?” If your answer is disappointing, realize that you have the power to change that, regardless of any past hurts or doubts concerning true love. To make this inner shift from feeling a lack of love to experiencing an abundance of beauty and bliss, begin by using your imagination.

Create an image of the perfect love—what it feels like, looks like, sounds like, tastes like. Make it real, in full color, enhancing your visual image with sound and feeling. Imagine how you’d breathe (deeply) how you’d look (what you’d be wearing) and how you’d sound if you were already experiencing the perfect love. The key is not imagining someone else out there to fulfill you, but creating the feeling (the vibration) within yourself of that in-love, blissful feeling. What we imagine, we bring toward ourselves.

The subconscious mind does not know the difference between what is real and what is imagined, so when you take the time to create an inner state of love, joy and fulfillment, your inner mind begins to act as if this were indeed true for you. When you radiate love, you begin to attract to yourself the same positive, delightful experiences you do when you are actually falling in love.

You can create a loving state and feeling within yourself by changing both your physiology and your mental focus. You know how when you hold your body in a slumped position, with your shoulders forward, and breathe in a shallow way, thinking worrisome thoughts, you tend to feel slightly less powerful and optimistic?

Well the opposite is true as well. Watch what happens inside yourself as you breathe deeply and fully, filling your body with life-giving oxygen, stand tall with your chest out, and put a smile on your face. You can’t help but begin to feel positive when you hold this pose! You can enhance that pleasant state and encourage exhilaration within as you couple your erect posture and full belly breathing with images of love and beauty.

If there was ever a time when you fell in love, imagine how you felt at that time now. Remember your wedding day or the birth of a baby, or the happiest time of your life. Use all your senses. Was there a particular song playing in the background? Were there any fragrances that you recall? How bright and vivid were the colors around you?

As you stand tall, with your mouth in a full smile from ear to ear, breathing fully and deeply, imagining a time when you were experiencing total bliss, increase your connection to your inner power by visualizing that you are standing in a ball of white or golden, radiant, illuminating light.

Create a simple phrase to make the image even more real for you, for example, “I am love,” or “The perfect love dwells in me”.” Remember to continue to bring your awareness to your posture and gently correct it so that it reflects that inner “in-love” state. Give yourself the following challenge. For 24 hours pretend to be this love. Make believe that you are already receiving and experiencing this deep level of love regardless of your 5 senses telling you otherwise.

Act as if it were so and see what happens. It can be very empowering to realize that our outer experience in the world is often a reflection of our inner state. So if we want to improve our outer circumstances and experience deeper levels of connection, love and beauty, it’s necessary for us to take charge of what’s going on inside ourselves.

With compassion for the stress and concerns we have accumulated in life, we can still very tenderly bring ourselves back to a more desirable state—perhaps similar to the state of love and openness we entered the world with. This can be accomplished with breath, movement, posture, facial expression and imagery. What we imagine, we create.

You’ll no longer need to reach for chocolate to experience love and comfort once you make a habit of invoking a loving state within yourself. Though there is evidence that there are health benefits to be had from eating chocolate—especially dark chocolate—there is also a great danger that indulging in too much chocolate could lead you down a slippery slope.

One or two pieces melting in your mouth can be quite satisfying, however, beyond that you could easily find yourself in the throes of sugar addiction and compulsive eating. If you can have a little, then enjoy, however if you mindlessly find yourself overindulging, it’s important to realize that the chocolate is triggering your blood sugar causing you to spiral into a state of wanting more and this is a physical reaction to the sugar in your body.

When you find yourself bingeing, it’s also very likely that there is a deeper need wanting to be filled. Return to your love image and phrase. Remember to act as if you actually are already living from the inner state invoked by that illuminating, inspiring image and phrase. If it feels false, remind yourself to fake it until you make it.

Your inner mind truly does not know the difference. It is simply responding to your feelings whether they are induced by “outer reality” or your new, more positive “inner reality” that you are conjuring up. In either case it is this current moment here and now and your reaction to it that will determine your future moments.

Your thoughts and feelings precede and influence all your actions. Whether you are craving love or craving chocolate, you can affect which direction that desire will lead you to, by selecting your inner state. If you choose love—congratulations!

This choice will make it much more likely that your future moments will be filled with that which you desire. If in this moment, you do not make that higher choice to change your state to one of beauty and bliss, know that the option is always there for you. It’s never to late to change the inner pictures that we hold.

All you have to do is imagine that it were already so by nourishing yourself with the sights, sounds, feelings and smells of being happy and in-love. Stand tall, put your chest out and put a smile on your face. Tell yourself the loving phrases you long to hear. Wrap your arms around yourself and give yourself some appreciation and acknowledgement for all that you do and all that you are. Open to the possibility of your life filled with love and see how your desires manifest the life that you are longing for.

By: Rena Greenberg

Truths to Simple Success

2010-01-14T16:37:00.000-05:00

Truths to Simple Success

Albert Einstein said, "Everything should be made as simple a possible, but not simpler." This is an important secret to happy living: realizing goals, projects, and purposes and organizing and accomplishing them in a simple, yet prevailing fashion. This requires us to eliminate what's unnecessary while holding on to the essential details.

As we discover what's truly important, we know where to place our focus. We see what we must scratch in order to succeed. As American writer Richard Bach said, "The simplest things are often the truest."

Here are a few basic truths to simple success.

1. Maintain focus--keep your eye on the ball! Indecision breeds procrastination and the two create huge distractions. We only hit what we aim at. Stay focused on what's important.

2. Be honest--always! Nothing will make your life more complicated than lying--to yourself or others. Facing circumstances squarely may seem challenging, but truly--it's the simplest way to succeed.

3. Prepare. Everything you need or want has a way of showing up as soon as you are ready for it. The sooner you're prepared, the faster you'll realize results.

4. Have faith and persevere. Hopeful wishing is an excellent starter, but a not-so-good finisher. Faith is more than hope, and coupled with perseverance, faith will take you over the finish line.

5. Keep it positive. Negative energy, feedback, and focus complicate everything. The one thing you have full power over is your thoughts, words, and actions. Use them for good.

6. Stay educated. Gaining higher intelligence is fundamental to our growth. No one can really teach us without our permission. We must choose to learn.

7. Be courageous and change old habits. Breaking out of old, complicated patterns takes guts. If your purpose is worthy and your pursuit is sincere, with bravery you can establish behavior patterns, thoughts, and choices that feed simple, happy, and successful lives.

8. Go the extra mile. When you are spiritually compelled to reach out and serve (which we all are at one time or another) do it with high definition. What you put out comes back to you. Serve--and go the extra mile.

9. Drop the ego. You can't become the master of anything until you become the master of your own ego. While believing in yourself is important and healthy, inflating your sense of self by competing, acting, and believing you're better than others, will complicate your life in ways you cannot image. If your success is ego-based, you're failure is immanent. Love others instead and aspire to race only against yourself.

10. Be willing to work. My grandfather was a psychologist and he used to repeat a popular saying, "With all thy get--get going!" Healthy self- esteem grows with good, old-fashioned, hard work and anyone who's truly hit the mark will tell you that success isn't achieved without it.

We create complex lives and inherit difficult problems when we defy these straightforward truths.

For this week's homework, evaluate this list. Pick at least one principle and spend the week focusing on simplifying your path to success by making at least one of these principles part of your everyday life.

Rebecca Linder Hintze is an author, speaker, and family issues expert, who has worked in private practice for more than a decade, completing thousands of private sessions. Her unique ability to help clients unveil core belief patterns and facilitate the healing of dysfunctional family patterns has made her a leading expert on family issues. She is the international, best-selling author of, Healing Your Family History: 5 Steps to Break-free of Destructive Patterns.

Growing Roots

2009-12-26T20:19:00.002-05:00

What a beautiful story by Rana Rajvinder Singh - I love it!

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season!

Rena

One day I decided to quit...I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality... I wanted to quit my life.

I went to the woods to have one last talk with God.

"God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"

His answer surprised me...

"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"

"Yes", I replied.

"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of them. I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew from the earth. Its brilliant green covered the floor.

Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo.

In the second year the Fern grew more vibrant and plentiful. And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed. But I did not quit on the bamboo."

He said, "In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed. But I would not quit. In year four, again, there was nothing from the bamboo seed. I would not quit."

"Then in the fifth year a tiny sprout emerged from the earth.

Compared to the fern it was seemingly small and insignificant...But just 6 months later the bamboo rose to over 100 feet tall.

It had spent the five years growing roots. Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive. I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle." He said to me.

"Did you know, my child, that all this time you have been struggling, you have actually been growing roots?"

"I would not quit on the bamboo. I will never quit on you."

"Don't compare yourself to others." He said. "The bamboo had a different purpose than the fern. Yet they both make the forest beautiful."

"Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high"

"How high should I rise?" I asked.

"How high will the bamboo rise?" He asked in return.

"As high as it can?" I questioned

"Yes." He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."

I left the forest and bring back this story. I hope these words can help you see that God will never give up on you.

He will never give up on you!

Love, Light and Peace

Rana Rajvinder Singh

We Need Each Other

2009-12-08T20:48:00.001-05:00

I had the pleasure of hearing Joe Theismann, the great football player, speak in Los Angeles this past weekend.
During his inspiring talk, Quarterback Joe Theismann recounted that fateful game in December, 1985, when he broke his leg. He told about how arrogant he had become as a young professional football player who had just signed a five million dollar contract. When he walked onto the field at the start of that game, he prided himself on the fact that he didn't need anyone.
What touched me deeply during his talk was when he shared how he felt when just a short time later while he was being carried off the field, never to play football again, 55,000 fans stood up and cheered for the young man who had thought that he didn't need anyone.

Change Your Focus!

2009-11-22T21:27:00.001-05:00

Dodge that thought! We don’t often think about having to duck from an onslaught of negative thoughts that come from either our own mind or someone else’s, but it can be a very good practice.

Though it’s a skill that can always be perfected, the rewards of thinking of thoughts as things to either be dodged or taken in fully, are many. When we stop taking our own and other people’s negative perceptions and judgments seriously, we can have the freedom to honestly assess our own behaviors, notice where they fall short of our goals, and make adjustments accordingly. Judgmental thoughts, whether they are followed by harsh words or not, can be equally damaging if we allow them to penetrate into our heart.

As children most of us were familiar with the taunt, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me.” Though the first part of that phrase is certainly accurate, I seriously doubt the truth of “words can never hurt me.” Words can hurt—in fact they can cripple, and so can thoughts—whether they are our own or others (if we let them). By the same token, words and thoughts can create infinite good and heal the deepest wound. Many times, even a physical wound can be cured when the right words and thoughts are tending to it.

When someone throws a negative thought your way, how can you dodge it? First of all, when you perceive a judgment towards you, it’s important to trust yourself, but it’s equally necessary to question yourself. Can you really know for sure what someone else is thinking? How can you be certain that the other person is judging you? Even if you are getting a really negative vibe from the other person, it could honestly just be a reflection of the pain they are experiencing in that moment. Even though you are experiencing a dark energy exuding from that other person, can you find it within yourself to see the beauty of their true self, underneath, and the pain they are in now? Can you see the small child they once were, who, just like you, only wants to be loved, accepted and happy at the deepest level?

When it’s yourself that you are judging, can you give yourself that same compassion?

It can be even more difficult to be the victim of our own negative thinking. What a blow to our self-image it can be when we find ourselves to be irritable, depressed, anxious or down on ourselves for a behavior we had sworn to ourselves we were writing off—such as over-eating, emotional eating, reaching for a cigarette, withdrawing, or acting aggressively.

Sometimes you may become impatient with yourself and when you realize that you are having a series of destructive thoughts like wanting to eat the rest of the cheesecake in the fridge or tell off your sister because she is acting so self-centered—you may try hard to pull in the reins on those thoughts. You may tell yourself to stop thinking about these things, that they’ll only lead to behavior you’ll regret. While of course this is very true, what is unfortunately, equally true, is that we can’t just stop a thought because we want to. Try not to think about a chocolate chip cookie that just came out of the oven. How’d you do with that? If you are like everyone else I know, you could not avoid that thought.

Whenever we have a thought, if we look closely we see that there is a picture underneath that thought. That picture—in the subconscious mind—is the driver of the thought. We can’t just “get rid of the thought” anymore than we could stop a car without getting the driver to step on the brake or causing the car to crash.

But what we can do is change our focus. There is often more than one truth in any given situation. It may be true that you could be more patient with yourself regarding achieving your weight loss goals. At the same time, it may be equally true that you lost control when the bread-basket arrived at your dinner table. You may notice yourself zeroing in on the fact that you displayed no willpower at the restaurant. You can’t stop yourself from having that thought. What you can do is ask yourself, “What is the deeper truth here? Is there something I could focus on that would be more helpful and help to prevent me from repeating painful mistakes?”

When you self-reflect in this way, you may discover that your best course of action is to look at your thoughts as if you were witnessing them and make a conscious decision about which thoughts you are going to nurture and which ones you are going to ignore.

I’m not suggesting that you ignore your bread binge or what caused it. Doing so would only increase the likelihood of your repeating it. Rather, it would be more helpful to look at what happened without judgment and learn from the mistake.

I conducted a seminar recently for one hundred teachers from the Seminole County Public School System. At the end of the seminar, a young teacher approached me. She told me that she had been bothered by another person’s coughing during the session. As soon as she started thinking about how annoying it was that someone was coughing, all she could do was cough! Try as she did, she could not stop herself from coughing! She then became so distracted with her own inner battle to stifle her need to clear her throat, that she prevented herself from fully relaxing and engaging fully in the seminar.

I felt for her dismay. It was such a perfect example of the teaching that what we think about and judge grows. It’s a law of nature. If we focus on our flaws, or someone else’s shortcomings, they become more and more imbedded in our subconscious mind. The subconscious mind is what drives all of our behavior. Therefore, we have to install the kind of thoughts that will lead us to the result we want.

The question is not: “Is this a good thought or a bad thought?” We must put down the sword and stop fighting with our own thoughts or someone else’s. Doing battle with our thoughts only increases their power. Instead the question we must ask ourselves is, “Where will this thought lead? Is that where I want to go?” If the thought does not contribute towards taking us towards the fulfillment we seek in our lives, we must not nurture it.

Think of your mind like a garden and you are the garden. It’s up to you to plant the kind of seeds in your garden that you want to see flourish and grow. The seeds are your thoughts. Water and fertilize only the thoughts that will ultimately lead to your happiness.

The fact that we think in pictures is a great clue for how to redirect our awareness to help ourselves achieve our own goals. When you notice that you are feeling down on yourself, regretting a thought or action, notice what picture pops up in your mind. Perhaps you see yourself as out of control in one way or another. You may not be able to just erase that thought. Unfortunately our minds don’t have a delete button. But what you can do is create a new picture. Instead of seeing yourself in a judgmental way such as, as a victim, a loser, out of control, or in any other negative light . . . change that image to a positive one. Imagine yourself strong, healthy, fit. See yourself engaging in the behaviors that will lead you to the result you want . . . exercising, eating healthy foods, having positive interactions with others, and being successful in your work.

Athletes know that when they imagine a successful play over and over, their game improves. To improve your game . . . whether that game is achieving health, having a fulfilling marriage, loving relationships with your children or living at your ideal weight, you’ve got to practice! Use your mind to create the life you want. Water and fertilize the thoughts that will lead you to your desired destiny and ignore the rest. From lack of attention, those unwanted thoughts will begin to fade. Don’t fight with them – that will only increase their power. Just dodge that thought! Don’t worry, the next one won’t be too far behind. Decide if that one is worth keeping . . .. and if it’s worth keeping .. is it worth growing?

If it is, turn that thought into an affirmation and repeat it with gusto: “I am strong, healthy, whole, beautiful, happy, wise and growing!” Use strong emotion and repetition to turn this affirmation into your new reality.

By: Rena Greenberg

As a Man Thinketh

2009-10-16T08:00:00.002-05:00

This is an incredible, life-changing book!

If you want to access the entire ebook online

(for free) you can go here:

http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/4507

As A Man Thinketh

You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.

The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, of fortune, and chance. Seeing a man grow rich, they say, "How lucky he is!"

Observing another become intellectual, they exclaim, "How highly favored he is!" And noting the saintly character and wide influence of another, the remark, "How chance aids him at every turn!" They do not see the trials and failures and struggles which these men have voluntarily encountered in order to gain their experience; have no knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of the undaunted efforts they have put forth, of the faith they have exercised, that they might overcome the apparently insurmountable, and realize the Vision of their heart. They do not know the darkness and the heartaches; they only see the light and joy, and call it "luck"; do not see the long and arduous journey, but only behold the pleasant goal, and call it "good fortune"; do not understand the process, but only perceive the result, and call it "chance."

In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results, and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance is not. "Gifts," powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort; they are thoughts completed, objects accomplished, visions realized.

The Vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart - this you will build your life by, this you will become.

Believe in YOU!

2009-10-09T13:03:00.000-05:00

Every achiever that I have ever met says, “My life turned around when I began to believe in me.”

- Dr. Robert Schuller

Minister and Author

Mother Teresa's Wisdom

2009-10-08T17:24:00.001-05:00

" I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, only more love."

~Mother Teresa

Are you impoverished?

2009-09-15T12:32:00.002-05:00

"We are not here merely to make a living. We are here to enrich the world, and we impoverish ourselves if we forget this errand.

- Woodrow Wilson

I love the language of this quote. Often when we impoverish ourselves in one area of life, we may feel empty or hungry . . . filled with yearning. Could this then be a reason we are subconsciously reaching for food or engaging in any other addictive behavior? If so, how can any diet ever fill the void that first needs to be filled by loving ourselves enough to give our full contribution to the world?

Rena

Growth means being willing to let go of who you thought you were

2009-09-13T19:49:00.000-05:00

"How does one become a butterfly? You must want to fly so much that you are willing to give up being a caterpillar."

~Trina Paulus

Join Jen Louden in her fabulous Freedom From Self-Improvement holiday!

2009-09-07T13:25:00.000-05:00

Back by popular demand: Best-selling author and creative life explorer Jen Louden's Freedom From Self-Improvement holiday! If you ever feel like fear, desperation, or the need to "get somewhere" drives you to grow - or to buy things you don't need - then you're going to love this week of light hearted tell-it-like-it-is inspiration created to help you trust your essential goodness. Check out the inspiring videos, short audios by luminaries like Oriah MountainDreamer and Victoria Moran, light hearted coupons you can share with the stressed out self-improvers in your life, plus a chance to win stuff everyday - from a free retreat to a free membership in Jen's Comfort Cafe. The spacious self-mercy starts September 7th and runs all week at http://www.comfortqueen.com <http://www.comfortqueen.com/>

Don't Compare Yourself to Others

2009-09-06T15:58:00.001-05:00

Does the Orchid compare itself to the Rose?

- Rena Greenberg

You Can Do It!

2009-08-26T09:27:00.000-05:00

"If we all did the things we are capable of doing, we would literally astound ourselves."

~Thomas Edison

Unleash Your Inner Power

2009-08-15T07:36:00.001-05:00

"There is a powerful driving force inside every human being that once, unleashed, can make any vision, dream or desire a reality."
-Anthony Robbins

Don't stop Your Mental Movie to Early

2009-06-21T13:31:00.001-05:00

Is this a familiar scenario?

Scene 1: You are flooded with emotion. For
example: Your feelings get hurt over a minor
altercation with someone you
really care about or you are so excited about
a possible job promotion, or
you are sitting around the house at the end
of a long day, feeling bored and
slightly agitated.

Scene II - You begin to fantasize
about that bag of chips and dip in the
cabinet or the cold, refreshing, comforting
mint chocolate chip ice-cream in
the fridge. You imagine how good that glass
(or bottle) of wine would taste
and how soothing it would feel going down.

Scene III - Your inner chatter starts
picking up speed about the pros and
cons of acting on your thoughts. One inner
voice argues that you deserve
something sweet and delicious - that you've
been working so hard, or you've
been so under appreciated, or haven't
socialized in so long.

Countering that is the voice within that
insists that you had promised
yourself that you were going to stop that
self-destructive behavior - that
your eating is out of control, your body is
in terrible shape, and that you
need to pull your life together.

Scene IV - You see the inner image of
yourself looking out of control, out
of shape and feeling deflated and your image
of how comforting the
"forbidden" food or drink would taste/feel
grows bigger, brighter and more
real for you.

Scene V - You decide that change is
hopeless and that you might as well
"enjoy" your life as you reach for the "bad"
chips, wine or ice-cream.

You may assume that the problem with this
chain of events is that you have
no willpower or that you really are out of
control and destined to fail.
This is absolutely not the problem. The
challenge is actually an inner
challenge and that is that you are ending
your mental movie too soon.

It is the above sequence of images
that is setting you up to perpetuate an
internal battle with your weight, that has
you ending up feeling like a
loser. By ending your mental movie with the
sweet, tempting taste and the
perceived comfort of the items that are
ultimately going to keep you
spinning in a cycle of failure when it comes
to living your life healthy, at
your ideal weight and in control of your life
and eating habits, you are
keeping yourself from achieving your goal.
Your mind responds to images and
internal voices. We may think that we are
moved by the outer world, but it
is only the concepts that we accept to be
true and valid for ourselves that
instigate our actions.

Therefore the only way to have success if
your ultimate goal is to be happy,
healthy and live your life at your ideal
weight is to create a new ending to
the perpetual mental movie that's on
auto-pilot in your brain. As long as
you continue to end your unconscious imagery
with scenes of pigging out and
the familiar feeling of failure, or with the
feeling of being satisfied and
comforted with foods that are causing you
harm physically and/or
mentally/emotionally, or with the pleasurable
taste of these foods, you are
going to continue to act on these images
whether you want to or not.

Remember the subconscious mind is not
rational. It responds to the images
that have been planted there, particularly
those images that are so strongly
imbedded over time due to repetition and
strong emotion. When your mind
sees that picture of you enjoying that bowl
of ice-cream, it just says,
"Wow, that looks good. Let's do it!" It
doesn't think about the fact that
you've just starved yourself all day long and
that you really want to fit
into that adorable blue suit, or that you
vowed to yourself just yesterday
that you were going to lose 30 lbs. by next
summer. All it sees is you
eating the ice-cream, deriving pleasure and
it takes going to the fridge to
fulfill this desire, as an order.

In the aftermath, after the joy of the
moment wanes, you sit in disbelief
over what happened, frustrated with yourself,
and filled with remorse. You
either resolve that it won't happen again and
start exercising furiously or
throw your hands up in despair and decide to
give up. "At my age," you tell
yourself, "what's the difference? I might as
well enjoy my life." A
feeling of sadness sinks in . . .

How can you truly avoid this scene playing
out again in the future? It's
actually simple. Observe your mind and
realize that it's the mental movies
that are running your life-both in a positive
and a negative way. If you
imagine yourself getting up, getting dressed,
brushing your teeth and going
to work-work is going to be where you end up.
But if you create a strong
image of feeling too tired to get out of bed,
chances are you'll call in
sick that day. Unless of course you counter
that image with a brighter
vision of the luncheon you've been looking
forward to that day or a letter
of reprimand from your boss that you want to
avoid at all costs-in which
case you'll probably find yourself getting up
and getting off to work.

It's the images we play in our mind that
lead us to take action. Our
brain always wants us to move towards
pleasure and away from pain. If we
create an image of pleasure-whether it leads
to ultimate pleasure or not-we
will find ourselves seeking that activity. If
we create an image of
pain-whether it leads to ultimate pain or
not-we will find ourselves taking
an action to avoid that discomfort.

Therefore to have ultimate success
with our weight loss goals we have to be
vigilant about creating internal mental
movies that support that goal. That
means ONLY running movies that depict the
true, ultimate pain of eating
harmful foods or living a sedentary lifestyle
and bringing to your
consciousness the result they cause in your
life. By not focusing on the
moment's pleasure of an undeniably enjoyable
taste, but instead
concentrating on the unwanted result, your
mind will naturally move you to
take actions away from those foods.

This will only be effective if it happens
at a subconscious level.
Consciously, of course, you tell yourself, "I
should eat the healthy food."
Or "I shouldn't eat the 'bad' foods." You can
tell yourself these things all
day, but if your inner mental movies don't
support the new, desired action
of actually selecting healthy food and
staying away from junk, you won't do
it.

Remember to make the final scene of
your mental movies strong and powerful
and make sure that scene leads you to take
the action you want to take! End
your movie by going further out in time and
seeing what outcome you are
likely to attract. Beyond the sweet taste,
what lies in store for you if
you eat that food? Addiction? Guilt? An
overweight condition? Tight
clothes? Social Embarrassment? Isolation?

Illness? Disease? Discomfort?
Frustration? A need for excessive exercise?
Make movies of these unwanted outcomes. Make
them bright and close and
clear.

As you run the movie, make it clear to
yourself that this is not your
ultimate destiny by any means, but simply the
direct result of what's likely
to occur, if you indulge in that food. Make
sure that the movie runs in the
present tense. This means that you don't
give yourself the luxury of
thinking that this possible fate is unlikely
or will happen in the very
distant, intangible future. Instead make sure
that your mind gets the
picture that this is the result of going down
a road where you eat certain
foods. Let it know that any action you take
today is much more likely to be
repeated tomorrow than if you had not taken
that action today. This way
when a voice pops in that tries to convince
you that you can eat this "just
this one time," you will clearly know deep
within yourself that there's no
such thing as doing something "just one
time." We are always heading in one
direction or another, and every action you
take just reinforces that
pathway.

Choose the pathway to health,
happiness, looking and feeling your best, and
living in control of your life and your
eating habits. Peer into your mind
and see the movie that's running there. That
is the vision that is
literally running the show of your life. If
you don't like where you're
going, change the channel. Eject that DVD and
insert a new one that depicts
you as the heroine-moving your body with
grace and ease, looking beautiful
and glowing from the inside, choosing the
foods from the earth that nourish
and sustain you, and saying "Yes!" to life!

Celebrate Your Success

2009-06-20T10:00:00.003-05:00

In April I had the pleasure of offering a private weight loss seminar to a lovely group of nurses in Hackensack, New Jersey. They were there because one of their fellow nurses had lost 40 lbs. and kept it off for one year after attending my weight loss seminar at Hoboken University Medical Center. I was checking in with one of the ladies, named Sue, yesterday to see how she was doing.

Her response was, "I am doing ok. I have kept off the initial 10 pounds that I dropped and I am definitely making better choices. But, I find myself not listening as diligently as I had in the beginning."

The tone of Sue's response felt flat. I could hear her disappointment in herself. It saddened me to realize that she was not experiencing the possible joy in her incredible feat. Only ten pounds in two months? And feeling stable with that?! That is a fantastic accomplishment! How often do you and I, like Sue, negate or make small our achievements and instead focus on what we haven't yet done? No wonder it's hard for us to feel happy and positive. We're constantly convincing ourselves that whatever we are doing isn't good enough. One of the secrets to success is focusing on our successes! It's absolutely necessary, otherwise the subcosncious mind thinks, "OK, I'm a failure, or I'm not good enough, so I'll just do things that perpetuate that self-image."

Taking off 10 lbs. in two months and keeping it off is a wonderful accomplishment. I advised Sue to, "focus on how much better your clothes feel (and don't rush to get a tighter size that eliminates that good feeling).
Feel how proud you can be of yourself to know that you are still making healthier choices, even if you haven't had a chance to listen to the cd recently."

The more you encourage yourself, the more you'll find yourself doing all the right behaviors, including listening to your hypnosis cd. If you were climbing a mountain that takes 8 hours to climb, would you berate yourself because at 11am you were no where near the peak? Of course, not! Permanent weight loss is a process, like climbing a mountain. Look back at where you were one year ago and acknowledge yourself for every shift you've made, even if those changes are only in your mind and subtle behaviors. Celebrate your success - yes, you are good enough, you are worth it!
-Rena Greenberg

You Are Not Your Habits

2009-06-03T12:18:00.000-05:00

How often have you compared yourself to someone else, only to fall short in the comparison? Do you imagine that if someone else doesn’t have the destructive habit of perusing through the fridge at midnight that they are somehow more evolved than you?

We are all a collection of habits. We like to pride ourselves on being very intelligent—and we may be—but the truth is that everything we think, say and do today, more than likely we have thought, said or done yesterday. Too me, that realization is a little bit embarrassing, but it also actually gives me hope. Because if I realize that I am truly nothing more or nothing less than a collection of automatic responses based on past and present triggers, it gives me a tremendous opportunity to carve out the life that I want.

What this tells me is that my destiny is not necessarily carved in stone. I begin to ponder, “What if each of us had the possibility for several possible destinies, and the one that actually plays out is solely based on our interpretation of our life’s events, and the habits of thought, speech and action we cultivate?”

This mindset is helpful to me because it also makes me realize how crucial it is to choose thoughts, words and deeds that will lift me up and take me down a higher path. If I thought that I could get away with a nasty, judging thought, or if I take the viewpoint that this one little cookie won’t hurt me, I’m probably right. Indulging in the luxury of a negative thought or a sweet treat probably wouldn’t have much of a destructive impact on my life. However, once I admit to myself how much of a creature of habit I am, my motivation to pull in the reins on myself becomes much stronger.

The understanding that judging my human brother or sister based on the hurt I feel that their actions have caused me, or eating foods that are poisonous to my system, will perpetuate negativity within me, helps to increase my motivation to avoid those choices.

When I realize that the sooner I simply sit with my feeling of hurt with acceptance and self-love, while forgiving the one who I think “caused” this feeling and myself for anything I might have done to contribute, the faster my hurt will heal, and the less likely I am to attract more darkness into my life, then I am on the road to creating a better destiny for myself. When I release my urge for the cookie based on my past experience that once the sugar is in my bloodstream, I am like a hound on the hunt for more, my destiny to live my life healthfully, with more happiness, and at my ideal weight, becomes a much greater possibility.

Whether we compare ourselves to another and come up feeling somehow less than or whether we look at another and secretly pat ourselves on the back for seemingly greater success in one area of life or another, we are bringing down our level of ultimate happiness. This is because either way, when we compare ourselves, even if we come out ahead, there is an uneasiness that fills us at a deeper place within. This is because somehow we intuitively know that we may not necessarily be able to maintain our status. Even if we are thinner, prettier, wealthier, or have more dynamic, well-behaved children, there is always a flip-side to all of our life experiences and achievements.

Therefore true happiness can only be found when we accept the fact that we don’t have to take credit for how special and wonderful we are—but only accept these gifts from Spirit with gratitude, and we don’t have to feel guilty or ashamed of our weaknesses, as these are also “gifts” that we are working through in this life, in order to access greater attributes within ourselves, such as strength, patience, compassion and courage. Isn’t it our greatest challenges that mold us into becoming much more authentic and higher versions of what’s possible for ourselves?

By navigating through our difficulties, like the rock that is ground down and polished to become a gem, we access our greater potential and have the opportunity to create a more profound destiny than might have been possible if we only basked in our obvious gifts of beauty, wisdom, and health.

The problems we face give us a chance to see our habitual patterns of coping with difficulty. Once we witness these habits, we come to see that we are so much more than this collection of routines that we are playing out day to day. All of a sudden, we become aware that we are thinking the same thoughts almost every day, and we can ask ourselves, “Where does that thought lead? How does that thought make me feel? What do I want to do with my hands and my tongue when I have that thought? Is the thought even true? What is another thought that I could think right now that would lead me to a greater expression of myself? What is the destiny I want? What thought would I need to think and hold to make that destiny more likely?”

We are so used to judging ourselves and the people in our lives as good, bad, right or wrong. In truth we are all made of the same stuff. It’s the habits of thought and action that mold us and create our differences.

Every thought and action you take today is likely to be repeated tomorrow unless you step in and decide to choose differently. Our repetitive ideas and behaviors create pathways in our brain and reinforce our identity. We begin to believe about ourselves, “I’m a person who is easily distracted.” “I’m a person who needs coffee to get going in the morning.” “I have no patience with my children or elderly parent.” These statements are only true because if you believe them to be.

When I decide to breathe and concentrate, and choose activities that help me with that goal—like exercising or perhaps doing yoga or meditation, then I am no longer so easily distracted. When I conclude that caffeine is having a negative impact on my life, I will realize that I am stronger than that addiction and can decide to take on a new identity as a person who doesn’t drink coffee. When my desire to look back on my life at my time of death and know myself as an excellent parent or daughter becomes important enough to me, patience with my children and parents will become my new mode of operation.

Expand your vision of yourself. Just because you’ve judged yourself as being fat for the last 20 years, and your whole life has revolved around that judgment, doesn’t mean that’s how your next 20 years have to be. How do you know that the weight won’t just melt off you when you finally accept yourself, your mistakes, acknowledge where your patterns have led you, and re-design your whole life to live it fully at your ideal weight—free from struggle?

To me, the greatest freedom is the realization that when left to our own devices, we are going to continue to react to life the way we always have, but that we also have the amazing potential in any moment (including this moment and this breath!) to make a life-changing shift in our perceptions. Instead of berating yourself for past mistakes, take the opportunity to look at your patterns of thought and action. Separate that from the events in your life that you think caused you to think and act as you do. Those reasons really aren’t going to help you – they are only going to give you an excuse to justify your patterns.

Instead ask yourself, “What if I could re-write the script? I can’t necessarily recruit new actors because my play doesn’t have the ability to do that. But what if I changed the lead actor’s role?” You are the lead actor in the drama of your life! Sit down and re-write your qualities, characteristics and responses. Even though you can’t eliminate the other actors in your play, you can add as many new supporting actors as you like. Invite all the people, real or imagined, dead or alive to come into your reality and support you and coach you.

Imagine yourself now responding to the circumstances of your life with all this inner and outer support. Picture yourself going through the days ahead of you with the awareness that every thought and action you choose to repeat more than once is likely to become a way of life for you unless you intervene. Your thoughts and behaviors are being fed into your subconscious mind, which then gives them back to you in the form of automatic thoughts in your head, words that spring forth from your tongue and actions that come from your hands.

Plant the seeds of thought, word and action that will lead to the responses that you would like to receive from life. When life doesn’t give you what you want, you experience pain and suffering. But rather than trying to fix life, which is impossible over the long term as we can’t control other people or situations, focus on what you can control.

Look to your automatic thoughts, feelings, words and actions, and seek to discover which ones are ultimately creating pain for you. Trace them to gain insight into where your thoughts are leading you. When you think to yourself, “I’ll always be fat. What’s the difference? It’s so much work!” Where does that thought lead you? When the thought becomes automatic (as it does with repetition), what kind of a life is it going to give you?

Of course, we can’t choose every thought. And the good news is, every thought isn’t creative. Only the ones that are accompanied with strong emotion do create. Since mind and body are connected, make a decision to keep your body as relaxed and healthy as possible to increase the likelihood that your thoughts and emotions will be gentle and loving. Focus on the things and people that make you feel good and all that you are grateful for. Notice and forgive your mistakes while acknowledging and celebrating your successes.
If you catch yourself comparing yourself with another, re-frame your comparison by seeking to discover what you admire about that other person and finding and developing that same quality within yourself.

If the rose were complaining that she’s not a tulip, we would laugh at its obvious lack of awareness of its own essential beauty. If the rose were demanding that the tulip be more like the rose, it would be obvious to us what a mistake that would be and how that would detract from the magnificence of the entire garden.

When we compare ourselves to another, whether we fall short or come out ahead, there’s no difference. Either way, the judgment causes us to feel uneasy inside. What a relief it can be to realize that there is nothing that needs to be fixed. The only task at hand is to discover the character traits that we are identified with and to look deeper within to determine whether this identification is preventing us from true happiness. If so, change the script, bring in all the supporting actors you need to help you, embrace an expanded vision of who you are, and step into the highest destiny possible for you.

By: Rena Greenberg

Are You Angry About Your Weight?

2009-05-31T18:56:00.004-05:00

Yesterday, I was giving a weight loss hypnosis seminar at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, when a woman raised her hand and confessed that she felt very angry that she was in so much pain due to her overweight condition.

If you are feeling angry about your life situation - accept that is how you feel. Don't beat yourself up about it or try to paste a positive spin on it. Instead let the anger motivate you to make the change that you want to make in your life. Let the anger be the force that propels you to believe in yourself and choose the actions that are going to lead you to the results that you want.

There's nothing wrong with anger. The question is, "What are you going to do about it?" Don't judge yourself as wrong for being angry. Instead, make a decision to do everything in your power to alleviate the source of your pain--which is your overweight condition and how it negatively impacts your life physically, mentally and emotionally. Forgive yourself for past mistakes. Dwelling on the past only leaves you feeling disempowered and uninspired.

Go behind the anger and find your true power - the untapped power within you to create a life for yourself that reflects what you are truly worthy of.

You can do it!
Rena

What Pictures Are Running Through Your Mind?

2009-05-12T17:40:00.001-05:00

Every action is preceded by thought. So often when we want to make positive changes in our life, we focus on the behavior we wish to eliminate. We tell ourselves that we are not going to smoke, overeat, curse, drive recklessly, procrastinate or we focus on a multitude of other ills we need to eradicate from our lives.

The problem is that the subconscious mind doesn’t compute when we tell it what we are not going to do. In fact, it’s just the opposite because the subconscious mind responds to our inner pictures, and we can’t tell the subconscious mind what not to do without making a picture of it in our mind first.

If I think that I’m not going to eat that cookie or I think that I am going to eat that cookie, either way the same image of eating the cookie comes to mind. The subconscious mind is like a computer responding to these images as if they were orders from the boss. When it sees the picture, all it hears is, “eat the cookie.”

Knowing that our conscious, analytic, rational mind is the boss, we must be vigilant about what orders we send to the subconscious mind if we wish to achieve a positive outcome in our life. It’s time to realize that if we keep telling ourselves what we are not going to do, we are inadvertently only reinforcing those negative behaviors. These repetitive thoughts only become more imbedded in our subconscious mind. Remember that it’s the subconscious mind that drives all of our behavior so the more deeply these thoughts of what we are not going to do are ingrained in our mind, the more likely it is that we are going to continue with the unwanted behavior.

Because we are likely to feel guilty, ashamed or annoyed by the unwanted behavior, we begin to give it more attention, coupled with our strong negative emotion and judgment of what we are doing, thereby “charging” the inner image and making it even more compelling.

Do you see how this perpetuates a cycle of failure and feeling bad? Understanding this, it’s so important to realize that we are not destined to fail, we simply have to understand and use the knowledge of how to successfully reprogram out subconscious mind so that we get the results that we want. The great news is that the conscious mind holds tremendous power in a way, because ultimately it is the programmer. The only reason our conscious self has felt so powerless is because once the program is in place, our subconscious mind is running the show, and we are often left to feel like a victim to it’s powerful control over our life.

The key to success is making a conscious, committed decision about what you DO want—not what you don’t want—and then consciously installing a new program into the subconscious mind that will turn your dream into a reality. For example, if your longing is to “stop eating so much candy or chips,” rather than thinking about not eating candy or chips (which is impossible), turn that productive desire into positive language. What is it that you DO want?

Most likely you wish to create a life where you are healthy physically, mentally and emotionally, happy and at your ideal weight. Therefore this is the picture you need to create in your mind and reinforce by bringing the image of yourself at your ideal weight to mind over and over again.

At my hypnosis seminars held in hospitals throughout the country and in private hypnosis phone sessions, I guide participants through a hypnotic experience to help them get in touch with their personal power, strength and self-love. From this place of empowerment and inner peace and focused concentration, people are able to stop thinking about what they don’t want, and instead create in their minds a new, positive reality of enjoying healthy food, pushing food away when they’re not hungry, moving their bodies with ease and joy and looking fabulous in their clothes. Everyone is able to conjure up this positive image to one degree or another—some see the image, others just feel it or sense that it’s there, and others are more in touch with how their self-talk changes and becomes more gentle.

This is the same technique athletes use to improve their game. The subconscious mind does not know the difference between what’s real and what’s imagined. In fact, in a University study there were three groups of athletes. One practiced their basketball game on the court, another didn’t practice at all and a third group practiced using visualization. It was the third group that demonstrated the most improvement! When we imagine a new behavior with focused concentration, we are able to create new pathways in the subconscious mind that make this new set of actions feel natural to us. We can actually begin to break or create a habit in our mind!

Because another key to success is repetition, I give each person who comes to me for hypnosis a reinforcement cd. It may seem unbelievable that many of my clients who have been through a live or phone hypnosis experience with me from only 1-5 times, have lost substantial amounts of weight—sometimes up to 100 lbs. The reason why this is not only possible, but common, is because I emphasize the importance of reinforcing my hypnosis session with a reinforcement cd. Remember that we didn’t learn our unhealthy eating habits overnight (“finish everything on the plate”; “have some cookies and milk—you’ll feel better”), and so it takes some reinforcement to unlearn them, as well. If you have difficulty achieving a relaxed, focused state on your own, playing a hypnotic cd that you resonate with is a wonderful way to help you re-program your own mind to do what you consciously want to do.

We are getting hypnotic messages all day long from friends, family, advertising and the media. Some times it may feel like all your efforts to “be good” are undermined with statements such as, “Aren’t you hungry,” “Please eat this, I prepared it just for you,” “You deserve it,” “Oh come on, let’s have fun. You can start your diet Monday.” Do these voices sound familiar? They can be very tempting, and that’s why it is so important to make sure that you are programming your own mind for success. When you rehearse your response to these scenarios and have an action plan, you’ll be amazed at how well you can handle these situations when they come up.

By practicing self-hypnosis, either with or without the aid of a cd, in time your wise, intelligent and creative deeper subconscious mind will provide you with solutions that will lead to the result you want—freedom from food addiction, health, happiness and comfort. You’ll be amazed that after a while, it won’t even matter what the outer world is saying to you—whether they approve or disapprove—because you will begin to have certainty that your new level of self-care, self-love and self-respect is leading you to exactly where you wish to go.

It is so easy to get caught up in the world-wind of outer drama, and forget that we have a huge storehouse of wisdom, power, strength, love and creativity inside ourselves. This is the part of us that can show us exactly how to live the life that we long for. If we could have gotten there with the conscious mind alone, we already would have. We need the deeper, subconscious mind to guide us, help us and give us the strength and courage to believe in ourselves and stay steadfast on the path that’s best for us.
Our thoughts create our reality. But we can’t will ourselves to think any differently that we already do. However when we make a decision to employ the powerful resources of the subconscious mind, we can re-direct our habitual way of thinking by installing a new, positive program.

Imagine yourself free from food addiction—free from any addiction—pushing any addictive substance away from you and seeing it fade into nothingness, breathing fully, smiling, moving your body, feeling vital and alive, your creativity and love of life bursting forth like a thousand brilliant suns radiating from your heart. Now hold that image and return to it over and over again. Self-hypnosis is nothing more than a state of focused concentration and deep relaxation where these suggestions for your health and happiness are more easily accepted by your subconscious mind. Practice daily. Believe in yourself—the power is within you!

By: Rena Greenberg

Take Action Today

2009-05-05T09:20:00.000-05:00

"Life is too short to waste. Dreams are fulfilled
only through action, not through endless planning
to take action." -David Schwartz (author)

Fate

2009-04-22T08:35:00.000-05:00

"Every human being is the artificer of his own fate - Events, circumstances, etc., have their origin in ourselves. They spring from seeds which we have sown."
-Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Are You Dancing With Joy?

2009-04-16T14:29:00.003-05:00

I love this article by Marta Davidovich Ockuly and wanted to share it with you. May it remind you to connect with your inner joy no matter where you are in this moment on your journey to health and wellness. Regards, Rena

Are you dancing with joy?

Many of us are feeling called to “live our purpose” - but what is it? We have many interests. Great ideas. Varied passions. But the big questions is…”What were we born to do?”

As a person who has taught/coached/counseled people on this very topic for the past ten years, I’ve made an interesting discovery. Joy can lead us to our purpose - baby step by baby step. It does not require quitting our current job, or moving someplace else, or getting a divorce, or meeting our soulmate. It is about putting J.O.Y.at the top of our daily priority list.

Giving ourselves J.O.Y. (just one yes) affirms our worthiness and sets in motion an army of ‘helpers’ dedicated to alligning us with everything we need to claim our destiny. We were all born to express our joy in totally unique ways. Joy is anything that makes your heart sing. It is always harmless. And joy cannot be present if you try to impose your will on another. It’s all about you and expressing your unique self in a way that makes a positive difference in the world.

If I ask, “what aggravates you?” or “what drives you crazy?” you could probably rattle off a list of things. When I ask “what brings you joy?” what comes up? Honestly? If you are like most people, very little comes to mind. It takes a bit of prompting because we are not raised in a culture that values joy. Given a few prompts you could come up with some things. The more you think about what brings you joy, the more joy will show up in your life.

Thinking about joy and visualizing joy are geat first steps, but they only go so far. Creative action is what stimulates joy attraction.

Every one of us is a magical ‘creator’. We literally attract what we think (or worry) about the most. What we think about expands - so it’s just plain smart to spend time every day thinking about people, places and things that bring you joy. I want to share with you a simple tool I call a ‘joy magnet mandala’. The more you use it, the more joy will come rushing into your life.

It’s easy. Just take a sheet of blank paper. Draw a heart or circle in the center big enough to hold the words: MY JOYS and the date. Next draw lines out all around the shape until it looks like a sun you might have drawn in kindergarden. Now write something that brings you joy on each line.

Your joy list can include things you love: massages, your lover’s kiss, the sound of a loved ones’ laughter, your favorite music, flowers, fragrances, or foods. Add activities you enjoy: hiking, biking, jogging, beach walks, boating, cruising, golf, dancing, sex, yoga, whatever. Include a place (or places) in the world you’d love to visit and sights that always make you smile like: sunsets, rainbows, butterflies, waterfalls, the mountains, the ocean, the high dessert, or anyplace in the world that calls to you, wildlife that charms you, your pets, your hobbies, your cherished goals, and something you dream of accomplishing. Notice how more joys show up the longer you spend thinking about your joys.

Now comes the magical step. Hang your joy mandala up somewhere you’ll see it every day. The bathroom mirror works great. Next, promise yourself to look at your joy mandala every day and commit to taking one ‘creative joy action’ daily. It can be something as small as sniffing a favorite scent you listed among your joys, or checking out a trip itinerary on-line for a location you’d love to visit.

Making joy a priority will stimulate many positive changes. Notice joys as they show up in big and little ways in your life and express gratitude. Make choices based on what brings you joy. Try new things, even if they feel scary. Joy will stimulate positive change in your life and lead you, baby step by baby step, in the direction of your dreams.

Remember…dancing with joy starts with Just One Yes. Go for it!

By: Marta Davidovich Ockuly
http://beajoymagnet.wordpress.com and http://1crazyeater.wordpress.com

The Power of Your Mind

2009-04-14T13:05:00.001-05:00

"The only place where your dream becomes
impossible is in your own thinking."

- Robert H. Schuller  - Minister and
Author Norman Vincent Peale

The Power to Choose

2009-04-03T16:59:00.001-05:00

"Whatever you have experienced in your life is carved in stone. But today--at this very moment--you have the power to make the shift from where you are to where you want to be. You are never stuck . . . you always have a choice. You just have to give yourself permission to grow, to love, to thrive."
-DavidJi

Breaking the Pattern That Has You Stuck

2009-03-22T21:19:00.000-05:00

“Yes, I’ll take a burger and fries and a coke.” “That looks so good – I’m just going to indulge, then I’ll start my diet next week.” “These chips are so delicious – I deserve to relax while I munch on them.” Do you hear yourself uttering these phrases mindlessly as the days of your life go by? And just as predictably do you find yourself having immediate feelings of regret about your actions no sooner than your satiated feelings subside? “How long is this cycle going to consume my life?” you ask yourself as you throw your hands up in frustration. “How much time, energy and money am I going to continue to throw at this problem only to experience the unbearable sting of defeat? How can I be so intelligent and successful in other aspects of my life and keep coming back to this place of despair regarding my relationship with food?”

Be assured that your cycle of failure has nothing to do with intelligence or willpower. The fact that you feed yourself too much food and foods that cause you to gain weight without doing enough physical activity to burn those calories off, is nothing more than a habitual response that you have developed to cope with the stresses (good and bad) of life. It’s a stimulus-response mechanism. Something out there in your environment such as seeing food, smelling food, or even a certain person or place, or something internally such as the emotion of worry, fear or joy triggers you and your immediate knee jerk response is to reach for food. You may not even be aware that it’s happening until the damage has been done (and you’ve eaten more than your body needed or foods that are actually harmful to your system).

So the cycle goes like this. You tell yourself that you are not going to eat certain foods. You think about the foods you are not going to eat because the harder you “try” not to think about them, the more they permeate your consciousness. You “try” to ignore these thoughts and believe that you are going along fine using all the willpower that you can muster. Then – boom – the trigger happens. Perhaps you feel a strong emotion such as boredom, anxiety, anger or joy. Or maybe you pass a familiar fast-food restaurant or you let yourself get really hungry. You start to feel a bit out of control. There’s your stimulus. And the response . . . well you know it well enough. You eat the foods you swore that you’d never touch again and then you feel that old familiar awful feeling of self-disgust and remorse.

Is it your destiny to just keep living and re-living this painful drama around food? Absolutely, not! Here are 5 keys to help you break this cycle of pain and live a life of being in control of your eating habits.

1. Have a Plan
Know what your triggers are and have a contingency plan for responding to them. If you know that you are typically starving when you walk through the door at the end of a long day, then plan ahead and carry with you a healthy snack for the drive home . . . perhaps a slice of cheese or a piece of fruit. If your pattern is to walk through the door and crack open a beer or a bottle of wine and then munch mindlessly while you fix dinner for the kids, nibble on a small piece of meat and some celery to take the edge off your hunger.

If you had a baby, you wouldn’t leave the house without making sure that you were supplied with enough diapers and milk, so why do you walk around completely unprepared when you know that it’s inevitable that you, too, will need to eat? Letting yourself get ravenous without a plan is the number one mistake you can make.

2. Be aware

Pay more attention to your own thoughts and feelings so that they don’t get out of control. As soon as you notice the inner voices that start saying, “Eating healthy is hard,” or “I really want a piece of carrot cake,” listen up. Remember that thought ALWAYS precedes action. You might have heard the expression that “people don’t change.” That’s only true if their thoughts don’t change. When we have new thoughts, we will generate new behaviors. It’s a fact. So when your thoughts genuinely become, “I love to exercise,” or “I can’t wait to have that delicious salad with all the wonderful, healthy fixings on top,” or “the moment’s pleasure of eating that cake is so not worth the long term pain of addiction and fat,” then you will find it easy to forgo the cake, put on your gym shorts, or reach for the salad.

Remember that it’s up to you to program your own mind. Our beliefs become true for us and create the life we either want or don’t want. Think about the results that you long for and program your thinking to get you there. There is no benefit to thinking that what you need to do to get the results you want is hard – it only makes it so. Maintain a heightened awareness of your thoughts and feelings and make the adjustments you need to achieve what you so desire.

Change Your Thoughts by Accessing Your Subconscious Mind

You can’t force yourself not to think about something but you can re-program your mind by introducing new, positive thoughts and feelings into it. Take time every day to practice self-hypnosis and install a new, positive program about your relationship to food. In the morning when you wake up, or at night before you fall asleep, close your eyes, take several deep breaths and imagine yourself thin, healthy, happy, moving your body easily, pushing harmful foods away from you and preferring healthy foods and drinking lots of water. Affirm to your self, “I am in control of my life and my eating habits.” “I love my youthful, healthy, fit body.” “I am absolutely determined to succeed, I am succeeding,” over and over again. In order to be successful, you need your subconscious mind as an ally. If you could have done this with your conscious mind alone, you would have. Remember that you can’t solve a problem at the same level it was created, as Einstein brilliantly stated. We must go to a deeper level and self-hypnosis will help you do just that.

Eat foods That you Like

There are so many contradictions in life and the area of food is no exception. Yes, you want to change your taste so that you prefer healthy food and yes, the more you eat healthy food, the more you will grow to really enjoy the taste and even prefer it. I love the fact that I would rather eat vegetables now than a pizza! Twenty years ago I never would have thought that were possible. On the other hand, you must enjoy the food that you are eating in order to be successful. That’s why diets don’t work – because they leave you feeling deprived and always wanting something else. Make sure that you are eating enough food. If you let yourself get too hungry, you’ll just end up bingeing.

A key to making food taste good is making sure that you are including enough healthy fat in your diet. Olive oil, nuts, seeds, nut butters, avocado and cheese in moderation (if it isn’t a huge trigger food for you – meaning you can’t stop) are all good sources of healthy fat that will keep you from feeling dissatisfied and ravenous. The trick is not to make the fatty foods the cornerstone of your meals, but rather to use the healthy fat to make the healthy complex carbohydrates and proteins that you eat taste good. The best way to get off junk food is to make sure that the nutritious foods that you are eating are tasty and satisfying to you. Then it’s easier to push the empty-calorie food away because you know that you have something wonderful to look forward to that will not only satisfy your taste buds but lead you to the healthy, happier, addiction-free life you ultimately want.

Be Patient
Finally, the most important key is to let go of the results. You have your vision that you are reinforcing daily with self-hypnosis, you are planning ahead, learning new ways to cope with your thoughts, feelings and stressors, and you are eating healthy food that you are enjoying. Make sure that you are exercising every day, too, and find some kind of movement that you absolutely enjoy and wouldn’t want to miss. Through out the day fantasize about how good it’s going to feel to move your body in this way because thought always precedes action.

Now, stop focusing on your result! When the sperm meets the egg, you can relax knowing that it takes 9 months for the result. No amount of hopping on and off the scale will make it happen any faster. The more you micro-manage your results, the more you actually retard your own progress. You didn’t gain the weight overnight so give yourself the gift of time when shedding it.

In the meantime, enjoy all the rewards of your new journey – the increased self-awareness, mindfulness, heightened sense of self-empowerment and inner strength and the discovery that you are so much more than just your conscious thoughts and transient emotions. Relish in the understanding that your persistent weight problems were a wonderful vehicle to learn to know, forgive and love yourself. Take time to absorb the wonderful gift of self-discovery, realizing that it’s not so much about the number on the scale, but your deep desire to step into the fullest expression of yourself. This journey is a way for you to turn on your own inner light and let it shine forth as you affirm to yourself, “I am absolutely determined to succeed. I am succeeding!”

By: Rena Greenberg

A fabulous Menu Planner

2009-03-03T09:19:00.003-05:00

If you suffer from any kind of food sensitivities or just aren't sure how to plan and create a variety of easy, quick, delicious, healthy meals for yourself, then I HIGHLY recommend Sarah's fabulous meal planner. Please read on to find out more about how Sarah's meal planner can uniquely help you, or try it for one week for free. I have personally found Sarah's recipes to be delicious, healthy, easy to prepare and the best part is they are adaptable to any kind of food sensitivity (if, for example, you need to avoid certain foods like sugar, wheat, eggs, meat, etc). Enjoy! Rena

From Sarah:
When I was a kid, I remember mashing bananas and blueberries with my bare hands to make smoothies. The only reason I think I did this was the sheer joy I got from using my bare hands before I put them in the blender to mix them with the milk and sometimes ice cream.

After being diagnosed with food allergies in my late teens, my number one question became “What can I eat?” Fortunately, I used my creativity and the joy I found in cooking to create new and delicious ways to enjoy food that was free of dairy, wheat and other common allergens.

Although I don’t find myself mashing bananas with my bare hands anymore, everyday I enjoy discovering new ways to create beautiful and allergen-free food.

Every week, I compile the recipes I have tested or created into a weekly menu planner for people who are looking for fresh, creative and allergen-free meals. An organized shopping list is included to make shopping a piece of cake.

On top of this, I have found that no two people’s diet is the same. When it comes to people with food allergies, their diets vary as greatly as the types of flowers that grow on the earth. While one person can’t eat gluten and dairy, another person can’t eat nightshades, eggs and fish.

Presently, I solve this problem by creating a “Substitutions” section for each recipe. For each main ingredient of each recipe, I offer suggestions for alternate foods one can substitute if they can’t eat an ingredient or they don’t care for it.

My subscribers love this feature of the menu planner. They say that it is very helpful and gives them “permission” to experiment and use the foods that work for them. And they say that the food still tastes great with the substitutions.

Another feature of the menu planner is that it works for meat-eaters, seafood-eaters, vegetarians and vegans because there is a vegetarian/vegan option for each recipe. Also, the recipes use whole foods such as fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, nuts and seeds. Nothing artificial or processed is used.

It is really an amazing value because people report that they save money and time from using the menu planner. Having a detailed shopping list prevents people from buying things they don’t need or buying expensive prepackaged foods instead of whole ingredients. For these reasons, people say they save between $20 and $70 per shopping trip.

People save time because when they walk in the door at night, the recipes and ingredients are waiting for them. Best of all, every recipe takes only 30 minutes or less to prepare.
They also report feeling healthy and happy from eating a varied and allergen-free diet.

Simply put, my subscribers love the menu planner. I am very happy to be able to give people something that contributes so much to their well-being.

They even tell me I should charge more but for now, I am offering the menu planner for $20 a month. Interested? You can receive a free week of the menu planner when you visit my website: http://www.heartofcooking.com

What’s in the works: My plans for the menu planner include creating a member site where subscribers can search for recipes that specifically work for their diet. They will still receive a menu planner every week, but if something doesn’t work for them, they can swap it out with a recipe from the website.

Premium Moist & Chewy Chocolate Brownies Recipe

2009-02-23T14:59:00.002-05:00

From the new recipe book published by Hay House titled Recipes for Health Bliss

By Susan Smith Jones, PhD

Premium Moist & Chewy Chocolate Brownies
Serves 12

You won’t miss the butter, sugar, eggs or other animal fat in these moist and luscious brownies. Here are two versions that are equally delicious and will garner you rave reviews. You can make them in a glass or metal pan or you also can make them in a muffin tin. I like using a mini-muffin tin for smaller treats, as well as a heart-shaped muffin tin.

1 cup oat flour (you can make this fresh, as I do, using a Kitchen Mill—see the Resources for ordering information)
2/3 cup cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. arrowroot
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. sea salt
¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp. agave nectar (all natural food stores and many supermarkets carry this natural sweetener)
1/3 cup pitted, chopped dates
¼ cup raisins
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350° F. degrees. Mix together the dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine remaining wet ingredients and add to the dry mixture stirring thoroughly. Spoon batter into an 8 x 8” glass or metal baking pan coated with nonstick spray. Bake in a preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. Bake for 10-12 minutes if making mini muffins. Bake for 12-15 minutes if making regular-size muffins. Test with a toothpick for doneness.

FYI: Each of the 12 bars has 90 calories, 15 grams of carbohydrate, and 5 grams of fiber.

Double Chocolate Omega Brownies
Serves 12

With either of these two brownie recipes, I usually quadruple the ingredients and make lots of extra mini muffin brownies. They freeze well. And when you have the desire for just a touch of delicious chocolate, that’s good for you to boot, these mini muffins hit the spot. In fact, they are delicious right out of the freezer and popped into your mouth.

1 cup oat flour (I grind it fresh in my Kitchen Mill; see the Resources for ordering information.)
½ cup cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. arrowroot
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. sea salt
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup pitted, chopped dates
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
¼ cup raisins
1/3 cup agave nectar
¼ cup chocolate hemp milk (I recommend Living Harvest Hemp Milk, rich in Omega 3’s)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat over to 350° F. Mix together the first six dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Combine the remaining wet ingredients and add to the dry mixture, stirring thoroughly. Pour into an 8 x 8” glass or metal baking pan, or a muffin tin that is coated with a nonstick spray. Bake in a preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes for the 8 x 8” pan, 10 to 12 minutes for a mini muffin pan, and 12 to 15 minutes for a regular size muffin pan. Test for doneness with a toothpick.

FYI: Each brownie square or muffin has 90 calories, 13 grams of carbohydrate, and 5 grams of fiber.

Recipes for Health Bliss: Using NatureFoods to Rejuvenate Your Body & Life by Susan Smith Jones is available from Hay House - 1-800-654-5126

If you'd like to learn about being healthy and stay in a castle in France, please check out this link: www.worldarttours.com/ssj.html http://www.worldarttours.com/ssj.html

The Diet Fallacy

2009-02-20T13:39:00.002-05:00

The belief that consuming artificially sweetened foods and drinks will help you to lose or maintain weight is a carefully orchestrated deception. So if you are still opting for diet choices for this reason, please understand that you have been sorely misled.

In reality, these diet foods and drinks can cause serious distortions in your biochemistry and ruin your body's ability to control calories. As a matter of fact, it's been shown that diet soft drinks can double your risk of obesity!

Nearly a decade ago, studies were already revealing that artificial sweeteners can:

* Stimulate your appetite
* Increase carbohydrate cravings
* Stimulate fat storage and weight gain

Unfortunately, most public health agencies and nutritionists in the United States still recommend these toxic artificial sweeteners as an acceptable alternative to sugar.

Now, I am definitely not a fan of sugar, but if I had to choose between sugar and any artificial sweetener, I would choose sugar, hands down, without question. I strongly believe artificial sweeteners are even more dangerous to your health than an excess of sugar.

The Health Dangers of Splenda

According to James Turner, the chairman of the national consumer education group Citizens for Health:

"This report followed accepted policies and procedures and the results make clear the potential for disturbing side effects from the ingestion of Splenda.

It is like putting a pesticide in your body. And this is at levels of intake erroneously approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

A person eating two slices of cake and drinking two cups of coffee containing Splenda would ingest enough sucralose to affect the P-glycoprotein, while consuming just seven little Splenda packages reduces good bacteria."

The web site www.truthaboutsplenda.com lists a variety of consumer complaints from Splenda consumption, such as:

* Gastrointestinal problems
* Migraines
* Seizures
* Dizziness
* Blurred vision
* Allergic reactions
* Blood sugar increases
* Weight gain

Excerpt from Jim Mercola's article on the harmful effect of Diet Soda

Please continue to research the effects of drinking diet soda. It is my hope that reading articles such as this one will help you to make the decision to eliminate sugar substitutes from your diet. I am not an advocate of eating sugar and I personally stopped 25 years ago, but I truly believe that sugar substitutes are worse. It's amazing how sweet and delicious fruit and dried fruit and even root vegetables will taste to you when you change your diet and your mindset. You can do it!
Warmly,
Rena

Expand Your Thinking

2009-02-13T20:45:00.001-05:00

The mind, once expanded to the dimensions of larger ideas, never returns to its original size.
- Oliver Wendell Holmes

Ending Emotional Eating

2009-01-20T11:18:00.003-05:00

“I just love to eat.” Does this statement ring true for you? You may, indeed, greatly enjoy the fabulous taste sensations of rich, sweet, delicious foods. Food is one of the pleasures of life and if you enjoy the foods you eat—but eat only enough food to satisfy your physical hunger while staying active—you are not likely to have an issue with your weight. However, if you’re like so many people who come to me for help losing extra pounds, chances are you are eating more food than your body can use. The extra food is then stored in your body as fat, leaving you feeling unhappy and uncomfortable.

The irony is that if you look at the truth about why you are eating more food than your body is burning off, there’s more to it than simply the fact that you enjoy eating or that food tastes good. Most likely, you are eating as a way to satisfy your emotional needs. Food was never meant to be used as a substitute for feeling your emotions and honoring your own needs. When you turn to food to meet your deeper needs, you end up feeling dissatisfied and frustrated—and are left with a much greater problem on your hands. Now, not only do you have the initial emotional discomfort that you were reluctant to face, but you now have to deal with a weight condition that may be causing you deep emotional and/or physical pain.

If you then turn your focus to the new “problem” of your weight gain, by addressing it only on a physical level, it actually gives you an excuse to continue to avoid the original situation in your life that you were not wanting to face. Perhaps you turned to food as a way to avoid feeling lonely, angry, sad, bored, anxious, frustrated or unhappy. Rather than turning to food to suppress or console these emotions (and ending up with a much bigger challenge) you can instead choose to be a warrior, go inward, and face what you are feeling head on.

Now the reason you didn’t do that in the first place is because strong emotions can feel very scary and unmanageable. In fact, they can be so overwhelming, many people will choose to numb themselves with food, alcohol, constant activity, or drugs as a way to avoid being left to deal with their intense emotions. This can work only in the short run. Over the long term, coping this way creates a deeper sense of despair, and takes us further from the happiness and peace we are truly longing for.

Here are five ways to help you make friends with your emotions—stop turning to food to quell them—and begin to use your emotions as a way to step into your higher potential.

Stop Judging Yourself

Don’t judge yourself or your emotions and stop labeling them as “good” or “bad”. We are made up of energy and some emotions we experience carry a higher frequency than others. Some emotions are definitely more painful, but they are not inherently good or bad. Increase your ability to tolerate the difficult ones and know that they, too, will pass just like the weather. Judging yourself and what you are feeling in any given moment ONLY INCREASES IT—as does justifying your thoughts and feelings. This is a difficult concept to grasp as our tendency is to judge, thinking that what we condemn will go away. It doesn’t. It’s only what we accept without justifying, give space to, listen to and offer compassion to, that then has the ability to transform into a higher vibration—and a more loving expression of itself. Given space, time, love, acknowledgment and positive intention, anger turns into genuine strength and power. Sadness becomes an open-hearted vulnerability and gentleness. Fear turns into courage and hope, withholding turns into generosity, and constriction turns into expansion. It’s only by surrounding your emotions with compassion and embracing yourself in the midst of your emotional pain that you can avoid causing greater harm to yourself or others. The key is to look for the underlying need that is behind the unpleasant feeling. Negative emotions aren’t “bad” – they just need space to express themselves, be heard and be given the opportunity to evolve into something greater.

What’s the Worst that Could Happen?

Often we are reluctant to face our emotions because we dread what they might be telling us. Are we being asked to relocate, leave a marriage, or put a pet to sleep? It can be helpful to ask yourself, “What’s the worst that could happen?” Sometimes we fear that we couldn’t handle it if the worst case scenario did come to fruition. But the truth is that we are never given more than we can ultimately handle. The impending situation may not be your preference—but most likely some good will indeed come out of it, even if it’s just finding your own strength, resilience and connection to your own greater abilities. Look back at your life up until this point. It’s amazing everything you have been through and here you are. You had and do have all the resources you need to live your life. Acknowledge yourself for your bravery, tenacity and love—look for the good that you have in your life now, and forgive yourself for the mistakes you made. Life without mistakes is impossible. The key now is to look at those missteps and make a decision to make a new choice beginning today, with the strength that is available to you now.

The Fact That You Overeat Doesn’t Mean Anything About You . . .

Don’t come to any conclusions about the discovery that you reach for food to soothe your soul. Who you are at the deepest level has nothing to do with how much you eat, or any other fact about how you live your life. Your essence doesn’t change regardless of your outer circumstances. Allow that Truth to bring you peace. The important understanding for you to absorb is that overeating leads to feeling bad—either sooner or later, or both. Eating more food than your body can use causes you to feel uncomfortable, guilty and possibly even diseased and sick. It doesn’t mean anything about your character. It is just an indicator that you are choosing to hurt yourself on a daily basis. Your intention, of course, is to give yourself pleasure. But just as the jailed bank robber ultimately gets no pleasure from the large sums of money he stole—even though he may have had a moment’s pleasure counting the money—you are not getting any return on your investment of overeating or eating the wrong foods. The number on the scale doesn’t make you good or bad, but it does affect how you feel—physically and emotionally. Choose to start treating yourself well by eating right without assigning meaning to the choices you regret making in the past.

Are You Eating to Get Even?

It’s not uncommon for people to gain weight as a means to getting even with a spouse or even a parent. This may be conscious or unconscious. Look within to see if this is true for you. Sometimes we use food to get even since our food intake is one area of our life that we can control. We may be inwardly saying to our spouse, “If you can’t give me what I need, I’ll show you! I’ll embarrass and upset you by getting fat!” It’s true that you may be hurting your parent or partner by gaining weight, but there’s no-one who your weight problem brings greater suffering to than you. Being overweight can plague you and rob you of your self-esteem and so many other pleasures in your life, including deeper and richer relationships. Find the courage to go within and explore the real issue. Write a letter to the person you are wanting to get even with and be honest about your feelings. Use “I” statements rather than blaming ones. Check in with your intuition to determine if it’s safe to send the letter. Either way, continue to write your feelings down in a journal. To avoid over-identifying with your difficult feelings, always follow up by writing a letter filled with wisdom and compassion for yourself by setting an intention to write a second letter, not from the place of pain and emotional wounding, but from your soul’s strength. You can imagine that the letter is coming from a wise teacher, if that feels easier to do. The key is to remember that your wounded place does exist and needs to be honored, but you are so much more than that place of pain. Don’t identify with painful thoughts and feelings. Accept them, allow them to be and at the same time, always acknowledge that who you are is so much greater than whatever feeling is up for you in this moment.

Turn to the Vast Power in Your Subconscious

How can you stop identifying with the inherent weakness in your thoughts and emotions? By making a conscious choice to make contact with your wise, powerful, subconscious mind. Bring your awareness to your breathing and begin to connect with the power that is breathing you, beyond your thoughts. Use self-hypnosis to transcend the limitations of your conscious thought—because it’s your thoughts that lead to the emotions you experience. Connect with the Presence of the Life Force that breathes you, fills you and surrounds you. From this perspective, your emotions will have less power over you.

Remember that any behavior repeated more than once is likely to create a habit. A habit impacts how you feel about yourself, your identity and your future choices. Your perceived identity affects your destiny. Regardless of the past, you have the rest of your life to live. Think of your life as a blank canvas—it can be created into anything you’d like it to be. Don’t let your transient emotions stop you from living as the greatest expression of yourself. Use your imagination . . . dare to vision yourself strong, beautiful, happy, laughing, smiling, grateful, contributing fully . .. in control of your life and your eating habits . . . your emotions moving through you letting you know that you are alive!

-Rena Greenberg

Timeless Wisdom for the New Year

2009-01-02T13:26:00.002-05:00

The new frontier lies not beyond the planets but within each one of us.
Pierre Elliot Trudeau

Do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

It's All in your Perspective

2008-12-15T11:31:00.001-05:00

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
Sir Winston Churchill

Baked Salmon Recipe

2008-12-04T13:21:00.002-05:00

Baked Salmon
Serves 4; 3 ounces fish and 1/2 cup vegetables per serving

1 teaspoon olive oil
2 ounces fresh spinach leaves
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1/4 cup chopped roasted red bell peppers, rinsed and drained if bottled
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
Cooking spray
4 salmon fillets (about 4 ounces each), rinsed and patted dry with paper towels
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons plain dry bread crumbs
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat, swirling to coat the bottom. Cook the spinach and lemon zest for 2 minutes, or until the spinach is wilted, stirring constantly. Transfer to a medium bowl. Stir in the bell peppers, basil, and walnuts. Let cool for 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Lightly spray the foil with cooking spray.

Cut a lengthwise slit in the side of each fillet to make a pocket for the stuffing. Be careful to not cut through to the other side. With a spoon or your fingers, carefully stuff a scant 1/2 cup spinach mixture into each fillet. Transfer to the baking sheet. With a pastry brush or spoon, spread the mustard over the fish.

In a small bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients. Sprinkle over the fish. Lightly spray the tops with cooking spray. Bake for 12 to 13 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily when tested with a fork and the filling is warmed through.

This recipe is reprinted with permission from Light & Easy Recipes, Copyright @ 2008 by the American Heart Association. Published by Publications International, Ltd. Available at ShopGoRed.com, while supplies last..

Is The Economic Crisis Driving You To The Fridge?

2008-11-18T12:26:00.002-05:00

Economy . . . Two Wars . . . Plunging Stock Market . . .The Great Depression . . . How do these words make you feel? Do you find yourself cringing when you hear such dire news and predictions for the future? As much as words have the power to hurt us, to lower our energy level and cause us to suffer, by the same token, words have a tremendous power to heal.

This is a difficult time for many of us. If you are an emotional eater, you may feel particularly trapped in a negative cycle due to the state of the world today. While in the past, it may have been easier to “block out” world events, now the unpleasant effects of some of our decisions as a human race, are increasingly impossible to get away from.
You would have to virtually live in a bubble not to be effected by the fear, worry, and anxiety that is plaguing our country at the present time.

So how do you react to uncertainty and loss? Do you tend to reach for the refrigerator – fueled by fears that there won’t be enough? Do you react physically with headaches or a knot in your stomach—and then focus on these ailments? Or are you overcome with lethargy, hopelessness or fatigue, turning to food to boost your energy?

Though any of the above responses are certainly common, they only perpetuate a negative state. So even though the recent chain of events in world history may be spurring you to positive action on the outside—caring for the needs of your family, getting involved politically or working to help those less fortunate than yourself—if you are being torn apart on the inside, it is likely that you will effect your own ability to stay healthy and steady, as you move forward.

The underlying reason why we often turn to food to soothe our emotions, aside from the habit of doing so since childhood and perhaps learning to reach for food mindlessly from within our environment, is because we have the positive intention to comfort ourselves, relax, and giving ourselves love and nurturance. Unfortunately, despite having such noble goals, the act of eating to comfort oneself only leads down a road of increased pain.

So how can you comfort yourself and stay calm during such trying times? On a physical level, take care of yourself! Make sure that you are drinking plenty of pure water, getting lots of physical exercise and eating healthy, nourishing unprocessed food, from the earth, as much as possible. Also make sure to balance your intake of protein, complex carbohydrate and healthy fat (olive oil) with lots of fresh vegetables.

On an emotional level, what is it that you are truly craving when you reach for the sugar-laden or greasy treats, or when you are just eating excessive amounts of food, in general?
Most likely you are seeking love, comfort, safety, control, peace and relaxation.
Unfortunately, there’s no amount of food that can satisfy these genuine needs that we all have. How can you comfort yourself emotionally, in a healthy way?

There are some physical steps that you can take to quell emotions, as well. For example, instead of rushing through your day—going from one activity to the next, mindlessly, slow down even if it’s just a little bit. Notice your breathing and make the shift from rapid, shallow breathing, to deep, slow abdominal breathing, as much as possible. Even just becoming aware of your breathing without attempting to change it, can be incredibly healing. That’s because as soon as you become conscious of your breath, it automatically becomes slower, steadier and more even, without any conscious effort on your part.
The body wants to maintain a state of balance, so all we need to do is open our awareness. Take time to stretch your muscles as much as possible, throughout the day, even by doing small physical movements such as tensing and relaxing your muscles.

The body and mind are intricately connected. When you make an adjustment in your breathing or posture, the emotions are affected. So make a decision to put your shoulders back, hold your head up high and put a big, fake smile on your lips. You will find that it’s difficult to maintain a depressing thought while you hold this posture.

Now, remember the power of words I was speaking of? Nothing can cause your shoulders to slump and your head to hang low faster than contemplating phrases such as, “a devastating economic blow,” “a stalled economy,” “a trillion dollar deficit that keeps growing,” “escalating health-care costs,” etc. If these concerns cause you to get motivated to help the world in the unique way that you are able, then they have served a wonderful purpose. But if they are causing you sleepless nights, binge-eating attacks, or physical symptoms such as migraines or neck pain, then you need to “fight-back” with the same weapon, or in this case healer—words!

How do you feel when you contemplate words such as safety, love, beauty, truth, peace, calm, love, generosity, warmth, life, holiness, sacredness, strength, comfort, friendliness, compassion and infinite freedom? Allow yourself to contemplate each of the words above. The reason words have such power over us is because they are not just words. Every word has the power to evoke an image and these images create feelings. The result is when we hear certain words, particularly when they are spoken, either internally or externally, with a certain tonality, we feel either good or bad, to one degree or another.

You can’t not conjure up a picture when you are impacted by someone’s words or your own thoughts. If I utter the phrase “pink elephant” what comes to mind for you? Exactly, that! So you may think that you are innocently watching the news without much emotional attachment—perhaps you are not personally invested in the stock market at this time—but the words and the tone of fear are bound to effect you. As human beings, we are made up of energy and this energy travels . . . so if you are surrounded with the energy of fear, it would be very difficult not to be effected by this vibration of doubt.

The good news is that you also have the potential to lift your vibration by surrounding yourself with more positive people, and filling your own heart and mind, with thoughts that uplift you and give you hope. Since we are all connected at the level of energy, by doing so, you would automatically be effecting the people around you in a positive, healing way.

It takes a conscious decision to lift your own vibration. The first thing to do is turn off the News. Next look inside your own mind and heart and see the places that are blocked by negative predictions about the present and future. Let the words that are infiltrating your awareness become conscious. Perhaps you’ll notice the thoughts, “lower home values,” or “no money for education,” or “no jobs.” Now imagine that these thoughts were written in your mental field in black ink. Shrink the words and the pictures they conjure up for you down and move them outside of your body . . . Then take a moment and allow words of hope and comfort to come to you. Imagine that you are now resting in a cloud of love and safety. Perhaps the words, “Loving,” and “Patience,” enter your awareness. Allow the deepest meaning of these words to fill you with light and safety and with connection to the most healing power in the Universe. If there is an image of that healing power for you, allow it to come to you and fill every cell of your body. Bask in the idea, “I am a magnificent, resilient person.” Allow images that confirm how resilient you truly are to infiltrate your body and mind. Feel the gratitude for all the help you have been given in your life, thus far—and for the people who have truly been angels for you.

In this time of uncertainty, we must have faith that something better is emerging for us. Words have the power to destroy and they have the capacity to build us up and take us to a whole new way of thinking about ourselves and our world. If you find yourself responding to events by hurting yourself in any way, immediately command yourself to STOP. Be firm but also gentle and loving with yourself. Let go of any judgments about past actions you have taken, and in this moment, realize what you are truly craving. . . Love, Safety, Courage . . . Hope. Give yourself what you are truly needing. As you raise your own level of energy in this way . . . you are now making a vital contribution to all of us by becoming part of the solution. . . . and you are paving the way for a much, brighter, more desirable outcome.

By: Rena Greenberg

Something to Consider . . .

2008-11-03T11:21:00.001-05:00

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Courage

2008-10-24T09:14:00.001-05:00

Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.
- Ambrose Redmoon

Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear - not absence of fear.
- Mark Twain

Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.
- John Wayne

Don't Let Fear Stop You

2008-10-14T16:19:00.001-05:00

Leap, and the net will appear.
Julia Cameron, The Artist's Way

Love is Stronger Than Fear

2008-09-16T11:50:00.002-05:00

How can you change your thoughts? You can’t. Try not to think of a blue elephant . . . It's impossible! But you can drop into your heart -- to the reservoir of pure potential within you and allow the infinite love and power that resides in your deep, metaphorical heart, in the center of your chest, to wash the thoughts of doubt and fear away.

The impact of your positive thoughts

2008-08-31T17:20:00.001-05:00

Every positive thought is like a drop of water. Imagine that your consciousness is a bottle of impure water. Drop pure, positive thoughts in. Each drop purifies the water until the entire bottle is filled with pure water.

Which part of yourself do you identify with?

2008-08-07T20:23:00.003-05:00

Which part of yourself do you identify with? If you don’t want to workout or you think it’s too hard, it’s because you identify with yourself the way you are . . your identity is that of someone who doesn’t work out. When you shift your identity to someone who loves to exercise, you’ll find that you can’t not move – you'll feel compelled to exercise in one way or another.

If you look within you may discover that there's a part of you that wants to exercise and a part of you that does not. The action you ultimately take or don't take will depend on which part you identify with. I encourage you to make the choice that takes you to where you want to go and most importantly, believe in yourself!
Rena

Breaking Free From Obstacles

2008-07-24T23:31:00.001-05:00

Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have.
- Norman Vincent Peale

Thought Precedes All Action

2008-06-17T09:54:00.001-05:00

Man's whole conduct in life depends upon what he holds in his thought.

- Hazrat Inayat Khan

Your Subconscious Mind is a Storehouse

2008-06-12T19:36:00.000-05:00

Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.
Earl Nightingale

The Importance of Planning

2008-06-02T14:36:00.002-05:00

I got a wonderful comment from one of the readers of my newsletter, Laura, about my last article, "Oops, Why Did I Eat That?"

Laura wrote that what made the most sense to her was the reminder to plan ahead. She said it reminded her of a quote from
Alan Aiken, a Harvard MBA who does training on time management. His remark is, "Failure to plan is planning to fail." I love it! Isn't that true in so many areas of our life?

I believe that understanding this concept is the difference between someone who is successful at weight management and someone who isn't. Failing to plan is not a sign of some inborn deficiency -- it's simply a mistake that needs to be corrected to achieve the results you desire.

Be Patient With Your Imperfections

2008-05-27T10:20:00.002-05:00

Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them--every day begin the task anew.
- Francis De Sales

To change the outer, first change the inner

2008-05-18T16:16:00.001-05:00

Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, cam change the outer aspects of their lives.
- William James

Eat When you are Hungry!

2008-04-18T12:27:00.002-05:00

One of the biggest mistakes any of us can make is ignoring our physical hunger and just pressing on. Doing so almost insures overeating later on. Sometimes, we are so in the habit of ignoring our own needs that we don't even acknowledge the fact that we are getting hungry. Take time every hour to feel into your body and assess how it's doing. Take a deep breath into your abdomen. If you are feeling light headed or tense, you may need to balance your blood sugar with some food. I find that protein and a vegetable (or a small amount of complex carb such as a whole grain cracker) can do the trick very nicely. A great pick me up is a slice of fresh roasted turkey wrapped in Romaine. It's always worthwhile to take the necessary time to fill your need for food, and rest. Not doing so is a surefire way to fall into the old trap of bingeing on carbohydrates later on. The wonderful thing about caring for yourself is that those actions also create momentum and before you know it, you have created a positive habit of keeping your blood sugar steady and meeting your own physical needs.
You Can Do It!
Rena

The Power In You

2008-04-12T10:03:00.002-05:00

All is in Silence waiting to be brought
Forth to form and substance by the builder, Thought.
That is how God fashioned everything He wrought,
Everything you long for, in the Silence wait.
Yours the power to shape them either soon or late,
But be very careful how you form your fate.

- Wilcox

The Road to Happiness

2008-04-01T09:47:00.001-05:00

The road to happiness and prosperity begins in one's secret thoughts, and the motive power by which we progress along that road is constructive emotion expressed in right action.
Venice Bloodworth, PH.D

My Prayer

2008-03-02T15:48:00.000-05:00

May Your Strength
Overshadow my weakness

May the Goodness and Generosity You have placed in me
Be greater than my withholding

May my Love
Overshadow my fear

May my Gentleness
Be greater than my hardness

May my Forgiveness
Seep into my judging nature

May my Softness
Infiltrate my rigidity

May Beauty
Color my vision

May Deep Peace
Permeate my worries

May my experience of Kindness
Re-instill my faith

May Your Patience
Slow me down

May Understanding and Compassion
Pour forth from my eyes and tongue

May Your Wisdom
Infuse my thoughts and words

May I always remember
the vastness of Your Universe and the healing nature of time

May Your Eternal Presence
Kindle everlasting hope in me.

By: Rena Greenberg

Believe in Yourself!

2008-02-26T13:56:00.001-05:00

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don't;
If you'd like to win, but you think you can't,
It's almost a cinch you won't;
If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
For out in the world you'll find
Success begins with a fellow's will;
It's all in the state of mind.
- Unknown

Finding Your True Wisdom

2008-02-22T19:33:00.002-05:00

Increase in me that wisdom that discovers
my truest interest, Strengthen my resolution
to perform that which wisdom dictates
- Franklin

We Are Not Alone in the Universe!

2008-02-19T10:00:00.003-05:00

A human being is part of the whole, called by us "universe," limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest--a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a prison, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons close to us.

Our task must be to free ourselves from our prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all humanity and the whole of nature in its beauty.
- Albert Einstein

contact your core of inner silence and power

2008-02-17T13:28:00.002-05:00

Spend time contacting your core of inner silence and power daily. The Sufi poet Rumi wrote,
"Only let the moving waters calm down, and the sun and moon will be reflected on the surface of your Being."

Know Your True Self

2008-01-31T11:49:00.000-05:00

Absolute Consciousness

Whenever a thought arises, do not be carried away by it. You
become aware of the body when you forget the Self. But can you
forget the Self ? Being the Self how can you forget it?
There must be two selves for one to forget the other. It is absurd.
So the Self is not depressed, nor is it imperfect. It is very happy.
The contrary feeling is a mere thought which actually has no
stamina in it. Be rid of thoughts. Being the Self one remains
always realised. Only be free from thoughts.
Ramana Maharshi

Delicious Recipes to Enjoy . . .

2008-01-13T17:44:00.000-05:00

Enjoy these fabulous recipes from Darryl Schumacher who lost 123 lbs. after attending the Wellness Seminar for Weight Control at University Community Hospital in January 2006. Way to go, Darryl and thanks for the recipes!

Broccoli / Squash / Chicken Casserole

2 lbs chicken breast
3 lbs broccoli (frozen or fresh) florets or broccoli cut up into small pieces
1 lb squash (frozen or fresh) cubed or small pieces
3-4 tablespoons Italian salad dressing
10-12 0z Velveeta cheese

Cube chicken meat into 1" or smaller pieces & stir Italian dressing into meat.
(Note: This can be done earlier & put in refrigerator to act as a marinade if you want.)
Place chicken in large pot season with garlic, salt & pepper to taste
Cook on med - high until meat turns white
Pour in broccoli & squash with chicken - season to taste & cover pot
Cook on med-high & stir frequently until vegetables are done - I cook mine until they are soft & mixed well
(Note: Vegetables are usually done @ same time that water/juices cook out of the mixture)
Pour mixture from pot into large baking pan (9x13 or larger) & set aside

Cut up velveeta into chunks & add 2-3 tablespoons of milk -
Put velveeta into microwave & melt down - will need to stop & stir often
When cheese is liquid --- pour cheese over mixture in baking dish & serve

Cold Broccoli Salad

1 lb Broccoli florets or chopped up Broccoli
¼ Cup Red Onion - Chopped (optional)
½ cup of Bacon Bits or 4-5 slices of crispy bacon pieces
¼ Cup - Salted Sunflower seeds
¼ - 1/3 Cup - Raisins
½ cup of Cheddar or Mozzarella shredded cheese
1/3 Cup Mayonaise
¼ Cup Sugar (I use Splenda)
2-3 Tbsp of Apple Cider Vinegar

Combine dry ingredients in large bowl
Stir together the Mayonaise , Sweetener , & Apple Cider vinegar until mixture is smooth
Pour dressing over your salad & mix together
Chill salad for 30 minutes --- up to 24 hrs & serve

Cold Chicken Salad

1 Whole roasted chicken deboned & cubed or shredded ( I prefer the chicken's from Sam's)
3 Apples Diced ( Fuji Apples are my preference)
1 to 1 ½ cup of grapes cut up
½ to ¾ cup of Cashew nuts chopped
½ Cup Mayonaise
¼ to ½ cup of Raisins ( optional)
2-3 stalks of chopped up celery (optional)
Mrs Dash original seasoning (yellow top)

Chop up chicken - dice up apples - cut up grapes
Combine together in a large bowl & add raisins now if you like - Add cashews last
Season with Mrs Dash seasoning & salt to taste
Stir in mayonnaise until salad sticks together.
Cover & refrigerate - Serve alone, on lettuce, or on a sandwich

Darryl's Eggplant Pizza (Baked Eggplant)

1-3 Eggplants (or as many as you want to serve)
Tomatoes - enough when sliced to cover eggplants
Olive Oil & Minced Garlic
Grated Cheese of your choice (Parmesan, Mozzarella, Cheddar)

Peel eggplants & slice @ ¼" thick --- Place eggplant in a baking pan ( I use a cookie sheet)
Baste both sides with mixture of olive oil & minced garlic - Salt / Pepper / season to your taste
Slice tomatoes @ 1/8" to 1/4" thick & place on top of each slice of eggplant
Bake eggplant / tomato @ 400 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the eggplant is tender
Put parmesan / mozzarella / cheddar cheese of your choice on top of each eggplant slice
Put pan back in oven until cheese melts - Take pan out & serve. (They resemble small pizza's)

Eggplant Cheyenne --- My Grand daughter (the light of my life) helped me come up with this idea!

2-3 eggplants
2 cans of stewed tomatoes (can use Italian or Mexican style if you prefer)
1 ½ lb of lean ground beef
Olive oil
Minced Garlic
Oregano / Garlic / Salt / Pepper or Mrs Dash Italian style seasoning
Parmesan Cheese - shaker style

Season the hamburger & stir fry meat until done (sloppy joe consistency) - Set aside
Peel eggplants & cube them up into ½ "-- ¾ " pieces ----
Place in large pot with 3-4 tbsp of olive oil & minced / chopped garlic to your taste
Add cans of tomatoes & season mixture to your liking with Oregano / Salt / Pepper etc
Cover pot & cook mixture slowly - stirring occasionally to keep from sticking until mixture is soft
Once mixture is cooked soft - add in the cooked hamburger & then stir in parmesan cheese to taste.
Serve as a stand alone dish or over rice. It is delicious

Words of Wisdom

2007-12-24T11:55:00.000-05:00

Bear in mind that you should conduct yourself in life as at a feast Control thy passions, lest they take vengeance on thee.
- Epictetus: Ancient Greek Philosopher

Success Comes From Failure

2007-12-10T14:03:00.001-05:00

Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.
- Napoleon Hill:

The Power to Change is Within

2007-12-04T18:00:00.001-05:00

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
– Carl Jung

The Power to Change is Within

2007-12-04T18:00:00.000-05:00

“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.”
– Carl Jung

Breaking out of The Box

2007-11-15T10:09:00.000-05:00

"Once we rid ourselves of traditional thinking we can get on
with creating the future."
- James Bertrand

Wisdom from a Wise Woman

2007-10-30T10:58:00.000-05:00

83 year old Barbara Sartor came to me saying, "I have been an active, normal-weight person most of my life, but in the past two years I've gained 30 lbs. When it comes to controlling cookie cravings, my insides insist on doing their own thing. Freedom to do as you darn please is sometimes a trap."

Lesson: Creating rules for yourself, that work for you, is often the greater freedom in the long run.

Recipe: BAKED HALIBUT WITH CILANTRO-ALMOND PESTO

2007-10-01T11:21:00.001-05:00

Serves: 4

0 Grams Saturated Fat per Serving

Ingredients

* ½ cup loosely packed fresh cilantro
* ¼ cup slivered almonds
* 2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
* 1 teaspoon minced garlic
* Juice from one whole lemon
* 1/8 teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
* 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
* 1 ½ pounds halibut fillets (or any other firm white fish such as snapper or flounder)
* Extra virgin olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. In a food processor, process the cilantro, almonds, Parmesan cheese, garlic, lemon juice, measured salt and extra virgin olive oil for 15 to 20 seconds, or until well blended.
3. Brush the extra virgin olive oil on both sides of the halibut and season lightly with salt. Place the cod on a lightly oiled baking dish and spread the pesto over the fillets. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until fish is cooked through. Serve at once.

Chef’s Notes

This quick-fix dish provides a burst of both flavor and nutrients including omega-3 essential fats, antioxidant vitamin E, heart-healthy magnesium and phytonutrients (plant substances that help support a healthy immune system.) Serve with sides of baked sweet potatoes and green beans.

Recipe by Ivy Larson
GoldCoastCure.com

Making Your Mistakes Count

2007-09-28T11:12:00.001-05:00

Brandi Chastain plays soccer. In 1999 she accidentally scored a goal in the wrong net. The other team got the point. This wasn’t just any old game. It was the quarterfinals for the Women’s World Cup. Did Brandi sulk and ask to get taken out of the game? No! Did she let it rattle her confidence? No! She let it motivate her to recover and persevere to tie the game, which the U.S. team won.

Lots of people saw Brandi’s mistake. It was a big deal. She could have let embarrassment deflate her and play on her nerves for other games. Because she didn’t, Brandi isn’t remembered for her blunder. Nine days later in the final game, she scored the goal that won the Cup. Brandi proved that mistakes don’t hurt you! You hurt you when you respond to them in ways that negatively affect what you do later.

Brandi says, “It’s what your do after the mistakes that counts.” You can deal with one and move on, or dwell on embarrassment and let it make you feel incompetent. Mistakes can teach you what you have to do differently, if you keep them in perspective and not let them make you question your competency or feel inadequate. You choose whether to let a goof hurt you or to cut yourself slack and get back on track. Become more conscious of your reaction to mistakes.

* Don’t insult yourself. If you keep referring to yourself as an idiot or stupid, you’ll eventually believe it. Don’t use words that you wouldn’t use on your best friend if she made a mistake. How often do you tell a friend, “You’re an idiot and should be punished?” Yet we call ourselves names and punish ourselves. Allow a kinder perception of what you did. You goofed, not screwed up. You’re silly, not an idiot or loser. Pay attention to your self-perception and choose a kinder outlook.

* Don’t blow what you did out of proportion. It’s common to magnify faults and drag out misery by rehashing what you did in your mind. It’s a mistake, not a sin! Don’t make it more than it is. If people say it’s no big deal, accept that it’s no big deal. It’s done—you can only do what’s necessary to be fix it, without making it a catastrophe.

* No more “should haves”! Saying “I should have…” makes you feel wrong. It does you no good to look back and think about how you wish you could change what you can’t change. Your mistake is over. Look ahead!

* Let it go quickly. Every day you hold onto guilt or blame or horror of a past action is another day you’re punished unnecessarily. That damages your spirit. Don’t hold yourself to a higher standard than your friends. You don’t punish them, so why punish you? List all your feelings – anger, inconvenience, embarrassment, etc. – read it aloud, and then burn it. That helps let it go.

* Forgive YOU. You can’t do this while beating yourself up. Forgive you for being human and imperfect. Until you forgive, you can’t let it go. Be loving to you!

* Learn to laugh at yourself. Don’t put yourself down but laugh when you goof up. Say oops if you forget something. Allow yourself to feel the humor instead of gritting teeth and feeling stupid. If you trip and fall with people watching, ask how many points you get. Learn to find humor in mistakes to lighten them.

* Remember that most people are supportive. Others don’t judge us nearly as harshly as we judge ourselves. They don’t want you to feel bad and aren’t gleeful if you do something wrong. Most mistakes aren’t important to others. And those who don’t feel bad for you won’t feel good for you when you succeed so who cares about them!

* Be open to reassurance from others. When people try to say nice things after you goof, do you scoff them off or minimize their kind words? Don’t! Everyone goofs and knows how lousy it feels so they want to make you feel better. Allow them to.

* Do affirmations to reassure yourself. ”I’m a winner.” “I’m not my mistakes and can do things well.” Saying affirmations helps heal bruised confidence and facilitates moving on. They also drown out negative thoughts since it’s hard to think both at once.

* Look for lessons and be more conscious / careful in the future. What can you do differently? If you didn’t prepare enough for a presentation, prepare more. If you goofed because you’re tired, try to rest more. And if it was an accident that you broke something or tripped, accept that accidents happen and you can only do your best.

Cut yourself slack if you fail your perfection standards! When you focus on imperfections, they become bigger than they are and distract you from good qualities. You can balance what you don’t have with your strengths.

Michael Jordan said, "I've missed over 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot...and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." Don’t let mistakes take you out. Conquer them instead! Keep what you did in perspective. Ask yourself if it will matter ten, or even one year from now. The faster you let it go, the less damage to your confidence. Never forget that everyone makes mistakes – that’s being human. It’s how you let them affect you – or not – that counts. Make sure that your main perception is how terrific and talented you are!
------------------------------
This article originally appeared on Daylle Deanna Schwartz’s blog, Lessons from a Recovering DoorMat. http://www.lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat.com/ Daylle is a speaker, self-empowerment counselor, music industry consultant, and best-selling author of 9 books, including All Men Are Jerks until Proven Otherwise How to Please a Woman In & Out of Bed and Straight Talk with Gay Guys. Her next is Nice Girls on Top. She is regularly quoted in publications including the New York Times, Cosmo and Men’s Health, and on TV and radio as an expert, including Oprah, Good Morning America, Inside Edition, Howard Stern, and Montel Williams.
daylle@daylle.com http://www.daylle.com. She also publishes Self-Empowerment Quarterly newsletter. daylle@daylle.com http://www.daylle.com

Your Creative Mind

2007-09-21T11:31:00.000-05:00

Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere.
- Carl Sagan

Keep Your Eye on the Goal

2007-09-19T12:26:00.000-05:00

Aim at nothing and you'll hit it--every time!
--Ancient Indian Proverb

Choose Your Direction

2007-09-14T10:00:00.000-05:00

"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he had imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."
- Thoreau

Say Yes to Life!

2007-09-09T19:26:00.000-05:00

A word that frightens me and limits ninety percent of our population is no. "No" sends chills up my spine when I hear somebody say it. And they say no to life and no to love and no to beauty and no to art and nature and God! And they just no, no, no their way through life!

It's terrifying because life is yes, and love is yes, and beauty is yes and joy is yes. And even pain is yes, not no to pain. The greatest lessons I've ever learned in my life I've leared through pain. Now, I'd prefer learning through joy, that would be the best way, but sometimes life isn't like that. There are no bad experiences. The only bad experiences are the ones we don't learn from.
-Leo Buscaglia

Opening to New Possiblities

2007-08-22T12:58:00.000-05:00

What the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve.
- Napolean Hill

Try a NEW approach

2007-08-20T21:40:00.001-05:00

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
- Albert Einstein

No Need for Perfection

2007-08-02T15:09:00.000-05:00

"We are constantly in the process of becoming."
Soren Kierkegaard

The Only One Who Fails is the One Who Gives Up

2007-07-18T11:12:00.000-05:00

"I've failed my way to success."
Thomas Edison

Is Your Scale a Friend or a Foe?

2007-07-10T21:00:00.001-05:00

The benefit of a scale is that it gives you feedback. Like a compass, it lets you know what direction you are headed in, and allows you to make adjustments accordingly. However there are a few possible pitfalls that arise when you begin to rely solely on a scale to determine your feelings about yourself and your behavior.

One of the most common hazards of the bathroom scale is that, although it appears to be helping you to lose the extra weight and achieve a life of slenderness, it can insidiously begin to control you.

When you rely on a scale to tell you how you are doing, you are looking outside of yourself for acknowledgement. It’s very easy to get caught in the game of “trying to beat the scale.” For example, you may have eaten a very salty meal, causing the numbers on the scale to go up. Instantly you become consumed by a sense of defeat. In reality the only thing that is being measured is the water content of your body, which fluctuates widely, even throughout a single day.

Weighing yourself can become an obsession. Did you ever weigh yourself, go to the bathroom, and weigh yourself again? Another common scenario for the perpetual dieter is stepping on the scale in the morning, working out furiously, and then quickly making a beeline for the bathroom scale again, in the hopes of getting a new response. Many dieters can relate to the painful obsession caused by a subtle or not so subtle addiction to the scale.

The scale can often be a way to convince the subconscious mind that we are on some kind of a temporary mission to lower our body weight. As soon as that occurs, and we succeed, either by starving ourselves or exercising excessively, then we can go back to our normal way of eating. We may try to beat the scale or trick the scale in an effort to insure that we get the results we so desperately wish to see. Though the scale may appear to be keeping us in line and helping us to work towards our coveted goal, in reality the scale often serves as a way to continue to put distance between our selves and our true goals.

This is because our true goal, if we look deep inside our hearts, is to learn to live in harmony with food on a permanent basis, to honor and care for ourselves, and most of all to learn to trust ourselves around food. Yes, of course you want to live at your ideal weight. But don’t you also want to live in freedom? Being a slave to the scale robs you of the liberty from compulsion around food that you long for.

The only way to have permanent results with weight loss is to learn to trust ourselves when it comes to food. When we are eating out of physical hunger, and selecting those foods which nourish our bodies and sustain our lives, we no longer need to cling to a scale to tell us whether we’ve been “good” or “bad.” We have an innate knowing that, although we may be overweight in the moment, we are heading in the right direction. We also know that slow and steady is what is going to win the race. Even if we accidentally overeat one day, we begin to automatically balance that by eating less the next day, or taking an extra walk. We get a feeling sense that we are heading in the desired direction—that of our ideal weight, and even more importantly, freedom from food addiction.

The scale keeps us looking outward for feedback. If we “trick” the scale by measuring water weight, we are keeping our compulsion with food in place. Over the long haul, the only way to succeed is to make peace with food, and learn to truly enjoy the healthy foods that sustain our health and our quality of life. When exercise is used as a tool to get the scale to tell us what we want it to, it becomes a tedious chore that we tolerate in order to gain a specific result. Instead, when activity becomes a way of life—something that we miss when we don’t have a chance to do it—we find more and better ways to incorporate exercise into the day.

When used correctly, the scale can be a wonderful way to confirm what you already know—that you are in the process of mastering your relationship with food, your body and your self. A once-a-week weigh-in can be a lovely ritual to help you celebrate your commitment to yourself and your health.

If you do choose to own a scale, make sure that it is not your only feedback mechanism. Remember to celebrate all your victories—not just the numbers on the scale moving in the desired direction. Your jeans feeling loose, realizing that you are no longer tempted by the ringing bell of the ice-cream truck, or going out to dinner and making the healthier choice when ordering, are all causes to acknowledge yourself and rejoice in the fact that you are indeed moving forward towards your goal. The ultimate freedom is the deep sense of satisfaction that comes when you absolutely know that you can trust yourself around food. With or without a scale, the only place to gain that sense of security around food is within your own self. Remember, the true power for the permanent change that is reflected on the numbers of the bathroom scale is inside of you always.
By: Rena Greenberg

Staying on Track

2007-06-22T09:12:00.000-05:00

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal." - Henry Ford

Aim High

2007-06-08T16:41:00.000-05:00

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars." - Les Brown

The Power of Belief

2007-05-28T19:48:00.000-05:00

"Whether you think you can or think you can't - you are right." - Unknown

Become the Observer

2007-05-18T11:43:00.000-05:00

Through self-observation, more presence comes into your life automatically. Whenever you are able to observe your mind, you are no longer trapped by it.
- Eckhart Tolle

Seeking Beauty Within

2007-05-12T18:37:00.000-05:00

People often say that 'beauty is in the eye of the beholder,' and I say that the most liberating thing about beauty is realizing that you are the beholder. This empowers us to find beauty in places where others have not dared to look, including inside ourselves.
- Salma Hayek

Helen Keller's Wisdom

2007-05-04T08:24:00.001-05:00

The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard, but must be felt with the heart.
- Helen Keller

Facing Fear

2007-04-19T11:44:00.000-05:00

We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face . . .We must do that which we think we cannot.
-Eleanor Roosevelt

Ancient Chinese Proverb

2007-04-15T18:44:00.000-05:00

That the birds of worry and care fly over your head, this you cannot change, but that they build nests in your hair, this you can prevent.

Quote from Michael Jordan

2007-04-11T20:28:00.000-05:00

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 hundred games. Twenty-six times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."
Michael Jordan

Finding a Weight Loss Buddy

2007-04-09T09:28:00.000-05:00

When you're serious about losing that excess weight, enlisting the support of a buddy can be an incredible source of support. Your buddy is someone who can help you move beyond any potential obstacles, rather than commiserate with you.

Though there are challenges to be had when you take on any goal, a true buddy is there to help you keep your eye on what you desire, rather than succumb to the temptation to focus on any apparent difficulties. You want a buddy who is compassionate about your problems, but someone who chiefly wants to help you celebrate and grow your successes.

It's essential that your weight loss buddy believe that it's possible for you to change your life and your eating habits and can imagine you in a new way. Both of you must know that a pattern is only a matter of conditioning in the brain, and as human beings we absolutely have the ability to break through old mental programs that no longer serve us.

What it takes is a deep desire, a belief that it's possible succeed, and a commitment to taking the actions that lead us to the result that we desire. It also requires the willingness to forgive ourselves each time we mess up, because "failure" is inevitable as we move toward ultimate success. Whether we are caring for an elderly parent, raising a "difficult" child, struggling with financial issues, or living with an insensitive spouse, no matter what our impediments, it doesn't benefit us to have a buddy who gets as “caught” by our difficulties as we do. A weight loss buddy is someone who can see us reaching our highest potential, even when we can’t.

If you are in need of someone to be there for you in this way, I recommend you go to WeightLossBuddy.com, where you can be matched up with a Weight Loss Buddy, at no charge. When looking for your Buddy, share this Blog entry with them to make sure that you are both in agreement about what you want to do for each other. I wish you the best of success and please let me know how it goes. I love to hear success stories about the buddy system because I know that it works.

Cherish the Moment

2007-04-04T16:24:00.000-05:00

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift;
that's why they call it the present."
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

The Number One Ingredient for Success

2007-03-31T18:16:00.000-05:00

I can't emphasize enought the importance of belief in yourself when it comes to success. The number one hindrance to permanent weight loss is the lack of belief an individual has in his or her ability to be successful.

To help build your own belief in yourself, think of an area of your life where you were previously stuck and then managed to overcome the difficulty. Perhaps you were addicted to alcohol, cigarettes, nail biting, or even a person. Remember the obsession and how you thought you'd never be able to move past that particular compulsion . . . and of course, in time, you did change.

Use that experience as an example to yourself that change on the inside is absolutely possible. Believe in yourself no matter how challenging things may seem in the moment. Did you know that as a young man Elvis Presley was told that he couldn't sing? Isn't it wonderful that he did not let that negative statement influence his conviction in himself or his perseverance? You may have heard that at one time, Babe Ruth, the legendary baseball star, had more homeruns than any other player. Did you know that he also had the most strike outs?

Each "failure" brings you one step closer towards achieving your goal. Studies show that people who succeed in taking weight off and keeping it off for at least twenty years, had tried a minimum of 3-5 times in the past. The only one who fails is the one who gives up. Keep your eye on the goal, and know that every "mistake" is an opportunity to learn about yourself and help you to fine tune what is ultimately going to work for you so that you can achieve your goal of health and permanent weight loss.

Was I Even Hypnotized?

2007-02-19T23:43:00.000-05:00

For some people, hypnosis can be very dramatic. However, for others, its powerful effects may be much more subtle. When Zara left the smoking cessation seminar at Central Florida Regional Hospital in Sanford, Florida, she felt very skeptical. "Was I even hypnotized?" she wondered. It was the day before her birthday and she desperately wanted to quit. However, after the hypnosis, she wasn't quite sure if any great change had taken place. But she did notice something different inside herself. To her delight, she wasn't reaching for a cigarette, the way she normally would. She decided to give the program a shot and
re-inforce the hypnosis with her audio recording. A month later, she hasn't had a single cigerette!

Zara was a smoker for approximately 40 years. She had tried to quit 3 or 4 times in the past with no luck. She'd get very angry and out of control after just 5 or 6 hours without a cigarette. So she always gave up. This time she came out of the seminar still wanting a cigarette. But it was different somehow. She could control what she would do! The physical withdraw symptoms were not nearly as bad as in the past. On top of everything, a few days after the seminar, her brother passed away. He had lung cancer, and other complications. Zara went to the hospital with her sister, and on the way, though she wanted a cigarette very badly, she remembered that she had told her brother, Greg, on Sunday evening that she had quit. He was very pleased. So she held on to that thought and did a lot of deep breathing!

We can all learn from Zara's commitment to herself and belief in the possiblity for personal change. Whether your hypnosis experiences are dramatic or subtle, one thing is for sure. You can create the future you desire by clinging to and replaying the images, phrases and strong emotions that reflect the life that you want. What you focus on grows! So if you want to be a non-smoker, focus on the thrill of living in freedom, cleanliness and in control of your life and your habits. If you long to fit into those comfortable jeans, create a vision in your mind's eye of how great you'll look and feel as you stroll through town in your youthful, attractive outfit. Drop any doubt and hold the vision of the life that you deserve. Step into your new image, leave the past behind, and say, "yes" to your new and fabulous creation--the new you! Thank you, Zara, for your inspiration.
EasyWillpower.com

Changing Your Focus

2007-02-06T13:42:00.000-05:00

I've been working with a lovely young woman, named Judy, on her cravings. She was telling me that she was really feeling upset the other morning and had a huge craving for a big salt bagel with cream cheese. She even got into the right hand turn lane so that she could pull into Dunkin Donuts.....but she stopped herself!

How did she do it? Judy has been practicing self-hypnosis daily by running mental movies of herself in control of her life and her eating habits. She's been practicing looking beyond the desire for certain foods to the real needs within herself that are screaming to be fulfilled. At the top of the list is her need to honor and care for herself by letting little upsets pass, all the while respecting her body.

As she crawled along waiting to turn into the fast food restaurant, instead of making mental pictures of how good that bagel would taste, she used her time wisely and went through some of the exercises she had learned from my book, in her head, and realized that a bagel would not fix whatever she was upset with and would only make her feel worse in the long run. What relief she felt to be in control of that situation!

You can do the same! The next time you're in a situation where you find yourself reaching for foods that you know are harmful to you, don't dwell of the taste of these foods, rather imagine their effect on your mind, body and emotions. Instead of the moment's pleasure you may receive, focus on the hours of guilt, shame as well as the physical pain (lack of health) these foods are likely to inflict on you. By shifting your focus, your desires change. There's no willpower involved at all . . . because you'll now feel differently--you'll no longer want the items that cause you harm.

Like Judy, you too can prefer to eat the foods that sustain your health as you become aware of and shift your inner world. The first step is to notice what you are focused on, and change that focus to reflect what you truly desire--health, happiness and freedom from food addiction.
EasyWillpower.com

The Past Does Not Equal The Future

2007-02-06T12:36:00.000-05:00

Ronald used to come home from work everyday, plop down on the sofa, feeling exhausted, grab a bag of chips and the remote control and zone out for a few hours. The feeling of dissastisfaction that began to gnaw at him was a wonderful thing. Sometimes feeling discontent is a good sign that something is about to change. And it was. Ronald began to feel so disgusted with himself that as a last resort he began to read a book about using the power of the mind to lose weight, that a friend had lent him. As he began to apply the teachings from my book The Right Weigh, to himself, he noticed to his surprise and delight, he was changing. One thing he began to realize was that the way he imagined his day would go was pretty much how it turned out.

He began to visualize a "success scenario." For Ronald, that meant coming home from work feeling energized enough to do some activity. He spent 10 minutes every morning and 10 minutes every evening visualizing this new scenario, even though it didn't seem true or real to him yet. He knew that sometimes you have to fake it 'till you make it. He imagined the new scenario using all his senses so he would feel what it felt like, looked like, sounded like and smelled like to feel energized at the end of the work day.

After practicing this imagery for only a few days, Ronald felt compelled to be active after work. If there was snow on the ground, he went out and shoveled the lawn. In the Fall, he raked the leaves, and in the Spring, he planted a garden. When it was cold or rainy out, new projects around the house brought alive Ron's creativity and joy of workmanship. Without even trying, within six month's time, Ron realized that he had gone down 2 notches on his belt and felt better than ever. It's never too late to begin again.
EasyWillpower.com

A New Beginning

2007-02-06T12:24:00.000-05:00

We at EasyWillpower.com want you to know it's never too late to begin again. How long would you give a child to learn to walk? As long as it takes would be the obvious response. You would not berate the child for failures, bumps or bruises along the way. What would happen if you gave yourself that same luxury when in comes to achieving a body weight that you are comfortable with?

You may assume that by being hard on yourself, beating yourself up, and giving yourself a strong scolding when you “mess up,” you are giving yourself the kick in the behind that will magically get you to stop your self-sabotaging behaviors. However, the opposite is more likely to be true. When you can open your heart to yourself and give yourself love and compassion for your struggle with food instead, you can begin to relax and take an honest assessment of your situation. As long as you take a hard stance against yourself, you will find yourself bracing against the inner onslaught, and even rebelling against your inner critic.

Of course, this inner critic has only your best interest in mind. It wants the same thing that you deeply desire—to be healthy, happy and at your ideal weight. It believes that you need “tough love.” The problem is that your inner child needs gentle love and compassion in order to change her deep-seated, negative behavior patterns—not more criticism. She may appear to be compliant when the critic shows up and starts spewing advice and admonition regarding your latest chocolate binge, but in reality she is very likely cringing inside with shame and regret. Unfortunately these negative feelings begin to spin into the type of pain that all too often sets you up for the next binge.

Take a look at the cycle. You have “bad” feelings inside just lurking below the surface. Perhaps there is an incident that triggered you. Your mother-in-law criticized your cooking, you exchanged some harsh words with your spouse, or your 12-year old flunked his science exam. As you ruminate about the situation, you begin to feel uncomfortable. Before you even realize it, you are finishing off a bag of chips that had been left on the counter. As soon as you become conscious of what you are doing, your inner critic forges in, full steam ahead, “What is wrong with you? You are so weak! You said that you were going on a diet this week. You can not stick with anything. You’ll always be fat. Don’t even complain about it . . .”

How do you feel inside when subjected to this type of internal attack? Ashamed, humiliated, weak? Any of those reactions would be perfectly understandable given the tone of your harsh critic. And what do you do when you feel embarrassed and low? Chances are you just throw in the towel and agree with your critic’s assertion that you deserve to be fat and nothing will ever change for you.

What would happen if you broke the cycle with a new, more productive response to mistakes that are bound to occur on the road to permanent weight loss? Imagine a new scenario with a much preferred outcome. An event occurs in your life that is upsetting to you. Perhaps you discover that you weren’t invited to a local social event and you feel rejected. In this new scenario, rather than ignore your feelings or judge them or the situation, you simply respond to it (take responsibility for it).

You feel the feeling of rejection in your body. Perhaps you become aware of the inner voices that accompany this feeling and write them down. You may write down the following sentences:

“I should have been invited to Lori’s party.”
“I wish I had been invited to the get-together.”

Then notice the assumptions that your mind may automatically make, for example:

“I never get invited to any social events.”
“I am always left out.”

Allow yourself full freedom to write down the chain of thought that continues,

“I am so lonely.”
“I’m always alone.”
“My only friend is chocolate.”
“I am going to treat myself to a candy bar so that I’ll feel better.”
“I deserve it.”
“Then I’ll enjoy my time alone with my candy bar and soap opera.”
“I’ll just forget about them.”

When you have the opportunity to observe your thoughts on paper like this, you gain perspective. You can begin to discern your own irrational thinking and recognize the voice of pain. Some obvious examples of unrealistic thinking are words like “always,” “never,” and “should.” When you hear these inner words, you can begin to notice that inner pain is alive and operating in the moment.

Let go of any judgment you may have about that. If you can accept the fact that pain is a part of the human experience and you are simply experiencing your share, at this particular time, then you can let go of any desperate need to do something about it or “fix” it. Just sit with it, knowing that it will move.

Your wisest course of action right now is to continue to write down any thoughts as they pop in to your head so that you can separate your identity from them. They are not who you are. They are simply a manifestation of the inner pain that is activated in this moment. Witness your strong urge to drown the pain and the incessant mental chatter with your drug of choice—food. Notice that you do have a choice. This is your opportunity to break the vicious cycle of self-sabotage.

As you listen to the negative voices urging you to indulge in chocolate or sugary, fattening food to deaden the pain, create an internal mental image of this dark, hurtful and fearful energy. Perhaps it is nothing more that a big cloud of smoke. Stand up to that voice of pain, and tell it that you are not listening to it anymore. Demand that it go away and leave you alone. Be firm and strong. Tell that voice that you are not succumbing to its fear-based thinking. No matter how solid the fear feels, it can only dissolve in the presence of true strength and self-care.

Now feel your own body. Send some appreciation and mercy into your being. Breathe into your chest and belly fully. Notice that you are separate from that negative thinking. It is not who you are—it is simply an energy passing through you. This energy actually feeds on your reaction to it. By disengaging from it, you stop it dead in its tracks.

Now is the time, to give yourself love and support. Repeat positive phrases to yourself, such as the affirmations listed at our site: EasyWillpower.com. In the energy of love, pain and fear dissolve. You can not get rid of discomfort, but you can submerge it in a higher vibration of love, rendering it lifeless.

Hold yourself the way you would hold a small child who you just rescued from an adult abuser. Support yourself in this new way and soon it will become a new, positive habit. Ask yourself what you are needing. If you are hungry, take a moment to hold an inner picture of various food choices, and see which one will actually support the health of your entire system—mind, body and spirit.

If you are not physically hungry, take this opportunity to let your inner child play. Turn off the mindless soap opera and go for a walk outside. Turn your cd player or iPod to your favorite music and enjoy the thrill of moving your body. Go out and smell the flowers—literally. Celebrate this day and your inner victory.

It’s only by releasing your old way of responding to the pain you inevitably encounter on this journey called life, that you can begin to embrace something new for yourself. The old way of beating ourselves up for getting it wrong just isn’t going to work. When you take space for yourself and give yourself the love and gentleness your being craves, while at the same time redirecting old, harmful, self-sabotaging behaviors, you slowly learn to relate to yourself in a new way. You can truly begin to rejoice in the preciousness of your life and this new beginning that is being created. Be patient with yourself. In the same way that every baby who is physically healthy learns to walk eventually, we do ultimately learn from our mistakes as long as we stay focused on a new, positive outcome.
EasyWillpower.com