Sunday, December 12, 2010

Introducing a New e-program for January!!!!


The thing about food or weight issues is that they have very little to do with food at all. What that means is that you cannot solve an issue with food by controlling, manipulating, or altering the food. It may seem to “work” for a little while but unless you get to the issues behind the problem it’s like painting over rotten wood. It may look better but underneath the rot is actually growing worse. It’s why diets don’t work. Why we gain the weight back or fall back into destructive cycles. It’s why as a nation we keep getting larger. You can’t solve a food problem with food because food is really not the problem. To really clear the food issue from our lives we have to look at the deeper causes, the insecurities, the fear, the comfort, the alleviation of boredom - all the stuff food fills for us other than true hunger. Somewhere, somehow we have linked food to feelings in way that has elevated it to savior , comforter, calmer, friend, or lover. Somewhere along the journey we have given food power it doesn’t inherently posses. At the same time we have lost our connection with ourselves, our inner radiant expression, and our natural hunger cues that is our birthright. In that sense, our relationship with food is really a mirror for our relationship with ourselves and the rest of our life We have swallowed our feelings to the point we are weighed down by them both physically and mentally and we feel trapped. Trapped because we have given our power away to something that seemingly has both the ability to soothe our hurts and enslave us. Like a very good friend that embraces us and then kicks us on their way out the door.


And for me in my food crazy times what was worse than any behavior with food, any issue with weight, was the despair, hatred, and loneliness I felt in my own skin. The disconnect and punishment I felt I deserved. As is the case in all obsessions there seems to be a vicious cycle of wanting to feel better and subsequent despair and self recrimination. This endless cycle drove me crazy- thinking about food, deciding, planning, and denying myself what I wanted, only to succumb at some point. I felt crazy. At some point I realized what I was doing wasn’t working. I was sick and tired of being sick and tired and I wanted freedom. And I found it. My path of recovery spurred me to help others on their own journey and I have spent the greater part of the last 10 years doing just that. I was fortunate to work at Ai Pono Intensive Outpatient Recovery Center on Maui, Hawaii for five years as the head nutritional counselor and then in private practice. Here I was initiated into the real world of food recovery. Wherever the case was on the spectrum of severity there were common threads that I began to witness on the road to healing. There were the feelings being denied. There were the familiar feelings of judgment, punishment, and blame. There was the aching for freedom from the grip of the cycle of despair, frustration, and unworthiness. You may be reading this feeling the same way. Not knowing if there is a way out.

Let me be clear by saying there is absolutely a road to freedom. There is a way out. The way out is by going in. The following program is based on much of the work I have done with clients over the last 10 years as well as my own personal journey. This program is not another diet. We won’t be talking about calories, fat grams, exercise in the way you may be used to. I have no diet pills, shakes, or bars to sell you. This is not about managing food but uncovering the parts of you that believe you need to be managed. The parts of you that don’t trust yourself. The parts of you that seeks comfort, peace, love and is mistakenly using food to do it. But we are never going to find happiness, peace, or contentment by having thoughts of deprivation, self judgment, and lack. If you want to find your way back to love you have to study that. This program is about identifying the barriers you have erected, the errors in perception you have about yourself, the beliefs you wrongly perpetuate that keep you from the true expression of who you are.

"The purpose of life is not to be safe. It is to be open. To be dedicated to the truth, to the joy as it streams through your life. Because if you are not, then no matter what you have, you will always want more, you will be forever hungry. And if you are, than no matter what happens, you will one day discover that it is you who you have been hungering for. It has been you, not the food you eat, the clothes you buy, the people you love, the money you make. For lifetimes, for eons, for as long as it takes for a mountain to become a mountain, it has always been you. You are the feast. You." ~Geneen Roth

There is a language we can begin to decipher as we listen to our inner selves speaking to us, telling us what we must do to feel whole. And it is speaking through our relationship with food. Together we will find the blocks, the weight on your heart that echoes the weight on your body, that is keeping you from your natural hunger. We can shed our layers of pain, getting back in touch with our inner wisdom and innate guidance system. Because our birthright is freedom and peace in our minds and our bodies. We are already perfect. We have just forgotten. Now it’s time to remember.


So I ask you…

What would you do if food were not an issue in your life? If you didn’t plan, deny, crave, and judge yourself around food?
What would you have time for?
What it would feel like to be free?

The Program..Food and Feelings Phase 1- Starting January 10th
This is a completely online 6 week course that you can complete on your own time and on your own terms. Every week there will be a main theme and everyday a bit of insight, a exercise, an affirmation etc. to help you go further into that weeks theme. Each week will build on itself as we go deeper into our process of healing. This course is private, confidential, and enlightening. No matter where you fall on the spectrum of eating or body image issues you can find healing.

The Details
  • I will use a mixture of media to reveal our lessons. Video, Audio, and writing. All will be sent directly to you via email.
  • The Private chat room- All members will have access to process through emotions, share personal insights and reflections, give feedback on others, ask questions, and generally support each other in the process of recovery. I will also be commenting, answering questions, and giving feedback as necessary throughout the day.
  • Private sessions- Included in the full session are 4 private sessions with me in person, via skype or phone to help you go deeper into your personal process. I will also be available by email or additional private sessions as needed.

There are three choices of participation depending on what works best for you. Click here to find out more information under the heading "food and feelings"

As always please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns.
I look forward to working with you.

“The more you identify with the light of your being, the lighter you will feel. You will materialize a lighter body when you have a more light filled mind. Fear literally weighs you down, but love enlightens you”~ Marianne Williamson

1 comment:

  1. What a wonderful program, Aleka! You are one of the only people I've ever met who truly has the ability to help women move beyond the troubled relationships with food, weight, and body image. This looks amazing!!!!!

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